Book 1: Chapter 67: Hellish Rebuke.
No greater foe. No sweeter glory.
Malice roiled off the dreadknight in low waves that pounded away at my sanity, eldritch force that commanded I yield. Naught but refusal was given to these requests. The voice of darkness was at first a whisper, then as thunder, it demanded fealty. It received only cold steel in return. Pressure cracked the stone around me, glass and metal crumpled beneath sheer will as Valencia approached.
Relentless Charge carried me through the crushing weight, Brutal Swing turned my blade into a steel blur as I roared with Cloven Crash. The dreadknight shattered the skill, stepped into the blow and slammed one fist into my gut. The metal that encased my flesh give way as a sickening feeling spread through me. Head Smash rocketed me forward, only to collide with a solid force.
Bared teeth mimicked a twisted smile as Valencia stood unfazed, my face pressed against hers.
Violence exploded as she jerked her head back and slammed it forward into my own. Sick, wet sounds followed by pain were what I experienced as my snout crumpled under the force. Long legs carried me backwards, one hand over my face as sheer agony bloomed across my skull. My back struck a stone slab that jutted from the ground, my journey backward at and end.
Defiance was all I roared as Valencia stalked near, fists at ready. I saw the blow that wove round and planted itself in my chest at lightning speed, yet I could not avoid it.
Rock shattered as sheer force passed through me, through my front and out my back. A wild swing of retaliation bit only air as the dreadknight ducked beneath the blow. Scream of Fury came just in time, almost choked off as a black-clad fist slammed into my throat. I dropped down and rolled, as Valencia loomed overhead. Her fists tore through steel on the missed swing even as I coughed dust and blood.
Cloven Crash gave me but a heartbeats reprieve before it was shattered once more. All I needed to regain my feet and distance. Valencia pressed in with unnatural speed, battering past my own attacks. Her strikes seemed as titan-blows, each punch the heaviest I had ever been struck. Even beneath Ironhide and Thickened Fur, I was battered.
Berserk fed me strength beyond mortal hands, made pain an afterthought as I struck blow for blow with the fiend. Rage and bloodlust and hatred screamed within, the howls of fury that kept the flame alive beneath this oppressive gale of darkness.
The claymore slammed into Valencias side and bellows of triumph came. Only to fade as she gripped the blow and twisted the sword from my hands. The smallest nick now decorated her armor.
Now came the reckoning.
Dark suns glowed in each fists as the dreadknight hammered away at my body, each blow shockwaves of heat, force and pain that ripped into the veil of Berserk. I struck back, a messy roundhouse across her face only slightly staggering her. A black fist crashed into my stomach, and I saw burning blood as she withdrew. Huge hands seized her as I attempted to grapple and throw her away.
My strength failed to so much as budge her. Feet set and body swinging, she tore into me even as I moved forward to envelop her. Crushing force struck my side as I charged in, and her elbow smashed into my ribs.
Sanguine bloodfury held me now as I bit and tore, every attack doing pitiful amounts of damage. Explosive force erupted into my chest, and I found myself flung backward, a ragdoll struck by the hurricane.
Stone and steel greeted me, glass shattering as I was flung through a tube, its occupant crushed.
If darkness could ever shine like sunlight, it came from Valencia now. The dreadknight blazed with dark glory, her very being a nova of hellish flame and unbridled malice. She stepped from shadow to shadow, in relentless pursuit. Some semblance of thought felt, I tore a flask from my belt and hurled the acid across her face.
She licked it clean.
Wide, frenzied eyes beheld me, a storm within as the acid melted her skin. With a laugh, she brought her will to bear and I watched in horror as the flesh was knit. A hastily hurled burst-pod was easily caught in her grasp and crushed beneath her fingers as the metal oozed foreign substance.
Is this all? Came the demand from on high. Have ye no more rage for me?
Plenty. I snarled, upon my feet once more.
A lie.
The Behemoth was not content to heed my call, for I had just summoned it. It was on the verge of agreeing, but that meant I had to survive against her for some time more. No other ploy in mind, I threw the entire bag of biters at her and watched with some satisfaction as they latched on across her body.
Only to recoil as flame consumed her being and seared them from existence. The distraction, small though it was, allowed me to retrieve the claymore. Another to swallow as much healing milk as possible. The warmth of divinity spread through me for a mere heartbeat before the howling void was once more before me.
Stone shattered beneath Valencias feet as she stomped forward and swung overhead, her weight behind this blow. Once more, I saw it draw near, yet could not move. A meteor-impact crashed into my chest and stopped my heart on impact. Flesh gave way, bones shattered and heaven pierced me. My eyes locked on the black form even as the laws of reality threw me away.
Blood for Blood delivered the blow back to her with all might. A wall could not stop me, not another. Rest came only once I was buried in rubble. Yet this would not be my bed for long. Weak roars petered out in my throat, dead in their inception as I struggled to regain lost footing. There was blood in my eyes as I heaved upright and downed another few mouthfuls of milk.
Valencias wild laughter roared across the broken chamber, the dreadknight ablaze with glory and might. To fight her was foolishness, I realized. But I battled not to win, but to withhold her from the others.
Thy flesh unmade. The words rolled across the chamber as she drew near once more. Thy life consumed.
Ye will feed the inferno that comes. She promised, and I saw not a hint of deception within her.
Only once you have returned me to the cold, hard dirt. Blood followed the vow from my throat as I strode to meet her, blade in hand.
I like you, minotaur. Came the fiendish smile, a rictus of emotion on her dead features. Burn all the same. The only fate your kind deserves.
Every skill used at once, I stepped forward and brought the claymore down with both hands. The dreadknight laughed as the mass of steel I deigned to call a sword descended upon her.
And then she caught the blade. Both arms above her head, the horror laughed as I pressed the claymore down. Muscles strained and my eyes bulged as I applied every ounce of strength my body possessed. Rock cracked beneath me as Valencias form was shoved down, the stone giving way before she did. Then I was stumbling backwards, overwhelmed as she threw the blade back and slammed forward to headbutt my chest.
Pain. Caved ribs and shattered things I wished not to think upon.
A sideswipe caught her and staggered her ever so slightly off-course. But she was a storm, and one could not stand before natures relentless wrath. Blows that would have torn humans to pieces ripped into my side even as I returned all the strength I had left to give.
Defence an afterthought, I ground my hooves and traded blows with her as I raced fatigue and pain. Every wound she inflicted upon me was returned by Blood for Blood, yet one needed not eyes to see the dreadknight did not care.
Savagery unrelenting washed over me, and I struggled to withstand the tide.
My form crumpled backward and rested against a heap of shattered rubble as Valencia stood, her breath heavy and blood-stained smile upon her face.
Arrogance betrays your kind, minotaur. The dread being that pretended to be human smiled down at me. You think yourself the strongest, the most fearsome. They will fear me, for I have come to guide them to depths their minds cannot comprehend.
Not this one. Not today.
Someone loomed from the darkness. Lerish. The brave, foolish huntress, returned to save me. No match for the dreadknight. Yet even as she spoke, my eyes went wide. Her body writhed and stretched, beast-folks features gone as something more emerged in her place. Steel feathered headdress, metallic wings, draconic features.
The Apex.
Valencia roared and spread her arms as the beast Lerish had become tore through the air and struck her with an almighty blow. Laughter cracked through the air as the dreadknight returned the favor in kind. Muslces flexed up and down her mighty body as Lerish grabbed Valencia in one hand and ripped through the wall with her.
She came out swinging. Lightning greeted her as Lerishs maw gaped open and storm-fury blasted loose, shearing paths through stone and crystallizing stray goo through shear heat. The void gleamed with irreverent light as Valencia raced forward, the stream of bolts taken dead-on.
This is what I have sought! She screamed with joy and pounced. Her form blurred through the air and crashed into Lerish to send the Apex tumbling backward. Claws and fangs clashed with fists and heat as the two brawled. Meanwhile, I clutched blankly at my wounds and consumed milk as much as the pain would allow. I mended, but far, far too slow.
I needed to be back in the fight. To be the lynchpin that could sway the deathduel either way. Even after all the energy she had expanded upon me, Valencia fought like a caged tigress, and monster with its back to the wall. Every blow was one too many for the Apex as it tried to strike back for every hit it took.
Depths take you! Came the primal roar. Lerish hauled Valencia overhead and slammed her into the floor with all her might. Too hard. The stone, already weakened from my battle with the dreadknight, gave way. I watched in horror as stones collapsed downwards, tonnes of rock suddenly in a freefall.
Only once I was upon my feet and racing towards the edge did I realize my folly. Fate compelled me to continue, however. And there I found Lerish, clung to the edge, dangling above a sheer void. No time wasted, I plopped down to one knee and fought through the pain to grab her arm. There was very little strength left within me, yet I managed to haul her skyward.
Weakened already, my throat shuddered with a singular sigh as I collapsed backwards. Lerish crouched above me, her expression shrouded. Another time, my head might have reeled from the revelation. Lerish was the Apex?
Here and now, I was simply too fired.
Thank you. I rumbled.
Shes not dead. came the clipped, pained reply.
I know. We will see her again I pray it it later, rather than sooner.
There was precious little healing milk left, yet I offered it to Lerish instead of myself. Though her face showed little emotion, her body was battered and torn to the same extent as I.
This, I groaned and heaved myself up. Was a complication we did not strictly need.
Fate delivered it all the same. But she has been removed, for now.
Onwards, then. Down and deeper into the heart of darkness. I offered one hand to Lerish, and after a moment, she accepted.
You have a story to tell me once this has all been concluded. I grunted.
Aye. But for now, one last battle awaits.
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