The first impact pierced her side. Then another slash cut across her thigh. Then more of them stabbed into her arms, her chest, and her skin. Wounds on her body splitting open as rotten bone tore through her.
Nadine’s scream caught in her throat just as a strangled gasp.
The green ichor burned into her wounds, sizzling as acid tears on her flesh. Her nerves lit up with agony that she nearly blacked out.
Her body convulsed under the rain of bone, and for a fleeting heartbeat, despair flooded her.
"Is this it? After everything I’ve done... am I really going to die here?"
She rembered days spent killing monsters, pushing herself to keep up and never be a burden. She rembered the fleeting monts of laughter and excitent and the fierce determination in his eyes.
Every mory felt like it was slipping from her fingers and fading into the dark.
But even as her blood spilled, sothing in her heart felt eased. She had fought hard and experienced more than she had ever dread. If this was her end, she could accept it.
"At least... I’m not going to be a burden anymore."
Then a pulse ripped through the storm.
A thunderous crack split the air, followed by the shnk-shnk-shnk of bones being severed in rapid succession.
Nadine’s blurry vision caught flashes of black-red light and the violent hum of vibrating magical power. Tendrils that had been inches from tearing her apart shattered in the air and spraying ichor as they fell lifeless to the ground.
She didn’t need to see clearly to know that power. She could feel it in her chest that it was Myles.
Dozens of rapid slashes carved a path, Fangblade tearing through bone with inhuman speed.
Another surge of fire burst outward, blowing tendrils apart in an inferno.
The chaos was done and through the haze, his figure cut into her vision.
"I’ve got you," Myles growled, face hard with fury.
Her body jerked as he scooped her into his arms. For a mont the world spun around her. Dust and ichor blurring together.
She felt only the warmth of his chest and the rapid beat of his heart against her bloodied body.
The battlefield rushed by in fragnts, until he dropped to one knee beside Kade.
The screams had stopped because Kade was lying slack and unconscious.
Myles gently lowered Nadine next to him, brushing damp strands of hair away from her face.
"Stay here," he ordered, voice low but still steady.
She managed a weak nod before her eyes slid shut again, darkness tugging her under.
"Clara," Myles snapped, his gaze sharp. "Protect them."
Clara’s lips trembled but she nodded, clutching her weapon tighter. "I will."
Myles stood again, turning back to the titan.
The massive creature still writhed, but its form sagged.
Its movents had lost strength, tendrils thrashing wildly but without the sa crushing force.
Acid dripped sluggishly from the shredded ichor sacs and its deep roar carried more desperation than power.
"It’s weakened," Myles muttered under his breath, fingers tightening around Fangblade’s hilt.
His eyes locked on the great ribcage where he was certain the core still pulsed within just like the titan he faced before.
"It won’t last long."
He broke into a sprint.
The titan reacted at that mont, sensing the threat. Bone tendrils whipped out like a wall of spears at him.
Myles gritted his teeth, raising his free hand. Veins of energy lit up along his arm as he burned through his MP.
Fireballs erupted one after another, streaking into the air and exploding against the tendrils.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Bone shards and green ichor rained down and he didn’t stop.
More tendrils lashed for him. Fangblade carved them apart in rapid arcs of slashes that humd with black and red energy.
The speed of his movents blurred together to weaving destruction as he cut deeper through the wall of bone.
His legs pounded harder, carrying him straight into the heart of the storm.
He reached the sa spot where Nadine had fallen, his eyes narrowing with killing intent.
The core was close. He could feel it.
—
On the far side of the battlefield, Victor and Ethan, also fought tooth and nail against the thrashing titan.
Just when the tide threatened to drown them, three figures broke through the storm.
Ryan, Sam, and Daniel burst onto the scene, their weapons already drawn and eyes locked on the monster.
George, slumped against a broken slab of stone, lifted his head with visible relief. Blood stained his side where the bone had torn through his ribs, his face pale with exhaustion.
"You ca..." His voice rasped, but gratitude glimred in his eyes. "Thank you."
Ryan crouched beside him, scanning the wound quickly.
"Where’s Myles?" George asked.
"He went to help Nadine’s group," Ryan answered.
Then Goerge’s face grimaced.
"They were being overwheld. I wanted to go too but—" His jaw clenched. He forced himself to et Ryan’s gaze, guilt twisting his expression. "I can’t. My body won’t move anymore and I will just be a burden."
Ryan’s hand gripped George’s shoulder firmly, cutting through the weight of guilt. "It’s fine. You’ve already done more than enough so you can rest now and let us handle this."
For a heartbeat, George looked ready to argue. But the strength left his eyes, and all he could do was nod.
Ryan rose, his tone turning hard to look at Samantha and Daniel.
"Alright. Victor and Ethan can’t hold that thing on their own."
Then the three of them surged forward to reinforce Victor and Ethan.
—
The lanterns on the giant hand swinging harder. From behind its hood a pair of eyes with blue fla co to life.
It was looking at the battles that unfolded in front of it with great interest, even though nobody could possibly know about its feelings.
Then suddenly light on the two lanterns that was orange before turned into dark blue.
Myles suddenly feels chills run down his spine. But he ignored it for now.
—
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