How was it still alive? Err, magic, basically. Magical beasts don't always operate by your esoteric rules of how a body works. In this case, the demon used stamina and body mass as energy. As it grows weaker or takes more damage, it reconfigures into smaller and smaller body shapes to remain operational on some level. This made complete sense to Rena as soon as she saw it eating itself to grow a new head before. For Exon, who would find all of it taboo and heinous, he wouldn't be able to have the same understanding. Then again, neither would Yoreiqi, Essyrni, or many Connlaothians. Why? Because they just weren't immersed. Rena was less panicked than she had been by it before, because now it'd been downgraded from a menace to everyone on this island to merely dangerous.
"Calm down, Exon! Remember that the artifact itself is really durable. It stayed intact and gathered whatever it could around itself to stay active. We just need to keep up the pressure, because it has
nothing to fall back on. It
must feed now or go back to sitting idle!"
Arrok:
"What if it burrows into the ground to eat worms and bugs?""Can't be enough to sustain it."
Arrok:
"What if it takes root in a tree like before?""Still not enough to make it a danger. No one ever got attacked when you first found it."
Presumably, that meant that plants and little lifeforms were too weak in lifeforce to make much of a difference in its appetite. Rena stepped closer to the area in which it was hiding. Then, she pretended to be unaware, closing her eyes and keeping her ears perked. When she heard the sound - that telltale sound of something small launching itself in a predatory fashion -
she struck! She hit it right in the teeth, and the creature didn't even
nick her sword. She followed quickly, wincing at the pain in her legs, whacking it around before finally stabbing it into a tree trunk! There, it was pinned and stuck, even if she let the sword go. The double-point had pressed far into the wood.
"There... It's not going anywhere. My sword is a durable artifact too. It's one of the reasons Uncle Zan thought my father would be suited to this. With his skill and Flint at his side, he might've taken it on
himself."
The one remaining unharmed guard - ironically, the messanger guy - looked at it now.
"Won't it...take root in there? Stick to the tree?""So what? The flesh'll break down, it'll be a helpless artifact, and then we can deal with it."
Arrok:
"I've yet to see a manner in which anybody can 'deal with it'. I'd almost consider forbidden magic to destroy this forbidden magic."Rena sat down and had a look at it. The thing was durable as hell. Then...she smiled.
"I know how to kill it. It means taking it off of the island - which I know you'd rather happen, anyway - but we can do it. We just have to take it to Connlaoth, summon an
Adhara, and then
anyone can smash it."