"Hold the rest of the Outland Beasts," Ethan barked to the team. "This one's mine."
Then he surged forward to meet the Stoneplate Behemoth head-on.
"ROAR—!"
The Behemoth bellowed, and a massive mountain peak materialized out of thin air overhead—then slammed straight down at Ethan like a divine hammer.
"Jesus—starting with that?" Ethan's eyelid twitched.
He didn't hesitate. Teleportation.
His body blinked away, reappearing at the Behemoth's side. His poleaxe whipped up and crashed down toward its head with everything he had.
At the last possible second, the Behemoth's head snapped back—
And vanished into its shell.
"CLANG—!"
Metal-on-stone screeched across the clearing.
Ethan's poleaxe struck the shell…and the recoil damn near tore the weapon out of his hands. He held on, but the shock split the skin at his palm. His whole body got blasted backward, boots carving a trench through the dirt.
