The Great Warrior

Despite the considerable distance, the spear flew true toward the Etoroki's head.

The Etoroki intercepted it with its cleaver, producing an ear-splitting clang.

It managed to deflect the spear, but astonishingly, the force behind it knocked the cleaver wide and sent the Etoroki stumbling.

Azu couldn't begin to fathom how much power had to be packed into a throw to achieve that.

The Spartian warrior drew a sword with his free hand and planted himself between the Etoroki and the four of them.

The Etoroki had eyes only for the Spartian warrior. The Spartian warrior never looked away from the Etoroki.

"Mage, charge your strongest spell."

The Spartian warrior raised his shield and issued the order to Alexia.

Alexia started to object, but Master silenced her.

"Understood. You make the opening."

Alexia began her incantation.

"Priestess, bless me."

"Of course."

Elza bestowed her blessing on the Spartian warrior, bolstering his strength.

Finally, the Spartian warrior spared Azu a brief glance before turning back to face the enemy.

"Young warrior, move as you see fit."

Azu nodded.

The Spartian warrior advanced.

The Etoroki surged forward to meet him.

They were already within striking distance.

The Etoroki moved first. It raised its cleaver and brought it crashing down with everything it had.

Where Azu could only dodge, the Spartian warrior caught the blow head-on with the shield in his left hand.

His feet sank into the earth.

But his stance didn't waver. Unbelievably, he wasn't being overpowered.

Azu felt a pang of envy watching it.

Her build and strength made it utterly impossible. Even with the gradual power gained from hunting monsters, she had no idea how long it would take to reach that level.

The Spartian warrior blocked, deflected, and turned aside every attack the Etoroki threw.

And with each opening he created, his sword bit into the monster's flesh.

Through the thick fur. Through the meat beneath.

They clashed in a dizzying exchange, a storm of violence and a collision of raw power.

The sight reminded Azu of the catacombs.

The Ash King against the undead Apostle of the Sun God.

Not quite on that scale, but the battle before her was undeniably one between titans.

Yet there was one difference between the Azu of then and the Azu of now.

Back then, she'd been far too weak to intervene in the fight between the Ash King and the Apostle.

Now was different.

She was outmatched by both combatants, certainly. But she had real ability as a warrior.

The Etoroki had eyes only for the Spartian warrior.

Azu circled behind it and slashed at its legs and arms.

The wounds regenerated instantly, but the moment of each cut caused a brief flinch, a dip in the Etoroki's power.

With the pressure on her drastically reduced, Azu's agility came into full play.

She timed her strikes to the instant the Etoroki tried to move, easing the load on the Spartian warrior and giving him room to maneuver. That was what the current Azu could contribute.

The Spartian warrior's eyes met hers.

He gave her the faintest smile of acknowledgment.

The Etoroki's movements quickened. Its muscles were warming up, its heart pounding faster.

When the shield alone couldn't keep up, the Spartian warrior used his sword as well to deflect the cleaver.

Bit by bit, the Etoroki began to push him back.

The Etoroki forced its way forward despite Azu's constant interference.

But the Spartian warrior stayed calm.

When he could no longer block head-on, he deliberately left openings in his guard to bait attacks, steering the battle where he wanted it.

It was a tightrope act, but for a seasoned veteran, it was just another fight.

"Haaaah!"

With a thunderous war cry, the Spartian warrior shoved the momentum back.

The Etoroki gripped its cleaver in both hands. The Spartian warrior dropped his sword and took his shield in both hands to receive it.

In a pure contest of raw strength, the Etoroki naturally had the edge.

Ignoring Azu's attacks entirely, the Etoroki bore down, trying to crush the Spartian warrior beneath it.

Every shred of the Etoroki's focus narrowed to the enemy in front of it.

"Now!"

At the call, magic circles unfurled around Alexia.

This was different from anything she'd cast before.

The extended incantation and the magic power drawn ruthlessly from her reserves fed through the brooch's amplification into a conflagration of unprecedented scale.

The fire swelled until it engulfed Alexia herself, then compressed into a sphere small enough to fit in her palm.

"Excellent distraction!"

Alexia released the compressed fireball.

It streaked in a straight line toward the Etoroki.

The Etoroki noticed only at the last moment. In that same instant, the Spartian warrior scooped up his sword and pinned one of the creature's feet to the ground while Azu drove her blade through the other.

The fireball struck the Etoroki's chest, and the compressed flame detonated.

The released fire kept its piercing force, stretching into a lance that punched clean through the Etoroki's heart and incinerated it whole.

A gaping hole opened in the Etoroki's chest. Without a heart, its regeneration ceased.

For the first time, the Etoroki screamed.

But the Etoroki, too, was a warrior.

Even with a mortal wound, even with death assured, it did not stop fighting.

Every muscle in the Etoroki's body swelled. Despite having no heart, it forced blood through its muscles by brute will alone, the fluid gushing from the crater in its chest. The Etoroki wrung out every last drop of its strength.

"Behind me!"

Azu scrambled back behind the Spartian warrior and his shield.

The Etoroki's final power erupted as a shockwave.

The Spartian warrior drove his shield into the earth, braced his shoulder against it, and held.

The shield shuddered violently, but the Spartian warrior stood unmoved like a great tree.

At last the wave subsided, and the Etoroki toppled forward.