I love the sound design and the super creative concept! I wonder if the "attack" could be themed as trap setting? Seemed a bit strange that an attack (presumably on the enemy) would injure me. Calling it a trap you're setting (or some other wonderfully themed tidbit) I think would more effectively/intuitively communicate to the player what's going on. I wish that the attack pattern matched the side closest to the attack. It honestly felt counterintuitive to me.(could be just a my perception thing though)
overall, really interesting concept