[ The attack with the sword– he's seen Akechi do something similar with Loki. Not exactly the same, but familiar enough. He's been on the receiving end of it, knows exactly how brutal it is.

But lightning is new.

Phenomenally useful, too. The wolf fries, goes limp in Azathoth's grip. It may only be downed, not yet dead – the beasts are terribly strong, Maruki knows that too well – but he's more than happy to clean up and make sure the job is done.

Those bizarre cosmic eyes appear in the sky again, an eerie blue that matches the neon striation on Azathoth's tentacles this time. These ones don't irradiate the area with beams of concentrated holy light; they rain down themselves, pummeling the wolves down into the ground by sheer force.

Which is good, great, excellent, but–

Well, Maruki doesn't want to draw this out any more than is necessary. A growing power brews in his mind, percolating at the base of his skull – and it shows clearly in Azathoth, rising higher into the sky, manifesting yet more tentacles from inside its chassis.

He doesn't look over at Adachi as he shouts quickly over the din of the wolves being bludgeoned: ]

Can– that hit a large area? Hard? The longer this goes, the more will come running, so if we can just take them all out at once–

[ OH YEAH THAT'S. THAT'S A WHOLE OTHER PACK OF WOLVES BOUNDING THROUGH THE TREELINE NOT TOO FAR OFF. COOL COOL COOL ]

Quickly!