The fog from Slann's palm did not remain fog for long.
It thickened.
Folded inward.
The mist condensed with the same wet, wrong sound that had birthed the hundred green lizards before it—except slower this time. Heavier. The noise stretched on, less like something being summoned and more like something being built.
Then it stood.
Horse-sized.
Red scales bled into green along its limbs. A long neck curved upward before bending back toward its body, while jagged spines ran from the crown of its skull all the way to its tail. Its mouth parted, revealing long, hooked fangs. Thick strands of saliva hung between them before snapping onto the mud below.
Then its slit purple eyes swept across the battlefield.
There was no confusion in them.
Only awareness.
Kairo's Command Nexus screamed.
[ TIER 5 UNIT DETECTED ]
His stomach sank.
(A Tier 5...)
He had seen what Tier 5 monsters could do.
The Alpha.
Even with Garth, Ham, traps, preparation... that fight had nearly ended in disaster.
And this one had been summoned by a mage who looked like he barely understood what he'd just created.
(...This is going to be ugly.)
Across the field, Slann slowly straightened.
He raised his staff—the broken one, the two halves clumsily bound together with strips torn from his own robe. The carved mouth at its tip was split clean through, yet violet light still seeped from the crack.
He pointed it at Theo and Onyx.
"That staff..."
His voice cracked.
He swallowed before forcing the words out anyway.
"It was the only thing my master ever gave me. The only proof that I was—that I was ever..."
His jaw tightened.
"You destroyed it."
The staff trembled in his grip.
"And for that... you'll face the wrath I unleash upon you!"
Behind the furious declaration, another thought quietly screamed through his mind.
(...How did I even summon that?)
The enormous lizard slowly lowered its head, Its gaze settled on Slann.
The mage froze.
(It isn't going to eat me...)
...
(Right?)
Theo sighed.
"Gosh" he said "Quiet the monologue."
"Just get on with it already!"
He twirled his blade once before lowering it toward Slann.
Onyx drove his lance into the mud beside him.
For one heartbeat...
Nothing happened.
Then the battlefield exploded into motion.
Theo disappeared first.
Dash carried him forward in a streak of pale light, the ground blurring beneath his feet.
Onyx followed a heartbeat later, launching off his planted lance. The weapon dissolved into shadow beneath him before reforming in his grasp the instant he landed, both warriors closing from opposite angles.
The Great Red Lizard answered with a deafening roar.
Its tail swept across the field.
A massive crimson blur.
Onyx met it head-on, his armor absorbing the blow as his boots carved two deep trenches through the soaked earth instead of sending him flying.
Theo simply vaulted over it.
He tucked his legs, cleared the strike by inches, and landed already sprinting toward Slann.
"What's a summon gonna do," Theo called. "When the summoner is dead!"
Slann snorted.
"Confident, aren't you?"
Tano stepped into the path between them.
He moved with almost no warning.
Theo's blade struck the shaft of a spear instead of flesh.
Something had changed in Tano.
The exhaustion from earlier was still there, but buried beneath fresh determination.
"You talked a lot about real battle before."
He lowered his stance.
"Now watch carefully."
He drove forward.
Theo slid backward despite himself.
"Hurry!" Slann shouted.
His cracked staff flared red.
Then gold.
Then deep violet.
"Increased Strength!"
"Increased Speed!"
"Fortification!"
Each spell wrapped around Tano before sinking beneath his skin. The lightning dancing across his body brightened with every layer.
He rolled one shoulder.
Then charged.
Meanwhile, Onyx continued circling the Great Red Lizard, watching every shift of muscle instead of committing too early.
The beast lunged.
Its jaws snapped shut on empty air.
Onyx slipped beneath the bite, his lance already thrusting toward its exposed throat.
Steel met scale.
A shower of sparks burst outward.
Nothing else.
His weapon barely scratched it. The creature's tail whipped around again.This time it caught him.
Rather than resisting the force, Onyx let it carry him, his shadow stretching unnaturally before swallowing him whole.
He vanished.
A heartbeat later—
He emerged behind Slann. The mage reacted almost instantly.
His fingers flicked.
Mud erupted upward, swallowing the exact space where Onyx's lance would have struck. The weapon buried itself deep in the hardened earth before the assassin could pull it free.
The Great Red Lizard slammed into him from the side.
The collision hurled him away.
Onyx rolled across the ground, using the momentum to fling a fan of shadow daggers toward the monster.
Most bounced harmlessly away.
One slipped between overlapping scales.
The creature hissed.
The frills along its neck suddenly flared open, revealing vivid crimson flesh beneath.
Its throat swelled.
Onyx's eyes narrowed.
He moved before it fired.
A thick stream of acid crashed into the spot he'd occupied a split second earlier.
The mud sizzled.
Blackened.
Bubbled like boiling tar. Onyx glanced at the smoking crater.
Then slowly looked back at Slann.
The expression on his face hadn't changed much throughout the fight.
It somehow looked even more disgusted now.
Elsewhere—
Theo's blade locked against Tano's spear.
The buffs had changed everything.
For the first time since their duel began, Theo actually had to strain.
His boots dug furrows through the mud as Tano forced him backward.
"You're quicker," Theo admitted.
"And stronger."
Tano grinned.
"You thought the Thunder Form was my only trick?"
Theo smirked.
"I was starting to think—"
"Bad assumption."
Tano shoved forward with everything he had.
Theo allowed his grip to give just enough.
Instead of resisting, he flowed with the pressure.
He slipped around the spear, pivoted behind Tano's guard, and carved a shallow line across the man's ribs.
Leather split.
Blood followed.
Tano didn't even flinch.
Fortification absorbed enough of the strike that he simply powered through it.
A heartbeat later his shoulder slammed squarely into Theo's chest.
Theo was knocked off his feet.
He hit the ground, rolled once, then sprang back up before Tano could capitalize.
Across the battlefield, the Great Red Lizard ignored everyone else.
Its attention settled entirely on Onyx.
The creature's throat expanded once more.
Another stream of acid gathered behind rows of curved fangs.
The battle had changed.
Everyone could feel it.
Tano didn't waste the opening.
He surged forward, spear weaving in tight, efficient arcs instead of wide swings. The blade darted toward Theo's ankle.
Theo skipped back.
The spear snapped upward, aiming for his knee.
Blocked.
A thrust followed almost immediately, forcing Theo to bring his light blade across his body.
Steel rang against steel.
Again.
And again.
Tano never overcommitted. Every strike targeted a joint, a tendon, somewhere that would slow Theo down instead of simply cutting him. Ankles. Elbows. Wrists. Shoulders. His spear moved like it had a mind of its own, flowing from one attack into the next without ever stopping.
Theo found himself giving ground.
His boots slid through the churned battlefield as another thrust skimmed past his thigh by inches.
"Persistent..." Theo muttered.
Tano answered with another jab.
Theo finally had enough.
His blade flashed.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The rhythm changed instantly.
Now it was Tano who was forced backward.
The spear became a shield as much as a weapon, knocking Theo's blade aside again and again while the swordsman pressed harder with every exchange.
"What's wrong?" Theo grinned. "Thought you were going to show me real battle."
Tano said nothing.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
Theo's strikes came faster.
A horizontal slash.
An overhead cut.
A sudden stab toward the chest.
Tano caught every one of them—
Then, without warning, he changed the angle.
Instead of blocking downward, he snapped the butt of his spear upward.
THUNK!
The wooden end crashed squarely into Theo's chin.
Theo's head jerked back.
He stumbled away, eyes wide.
"What the hell?!"
For the first time since the duel began, Tano smiled.
He spun the spear once overhead.
His grip shifted lower.
His stance widened.
Theo frowned.
"...Seriously?"
Tano drew one sharp breath.
Then threw it.
The spear shot across the battlefield like a bolt from a ballista.
Theo's eyes widened.
"What—?!"
He barely managed to twist.
The light blade scraped across the spear's shaft, changing its course by the smallest margin.
The weapon screamed past his shoulder.
THOOM!
The spear buried itself deep into the muddy earth several meters behind him, the shaft quivering violently.
Theo stared at it for half a second.
"...You just threw your weapon."
He turned back toward Tano with a grin spreading across his face.
"You idiot—"
A fist filled his vision.
CRACK!
It smashed straight into his nose.
Blood sprayed through the air.
Theo stumbled backward, both hands flying to his face.
"Shit!"
He spat crimson into the mud.
"You bastard..."
Tano lowered his fist.
His breathing had grown heavier, but his eyes hadn't lost their focus.
Theo slowly looked back up.
One eye was already beginning to swell shut.
"...Alright."
He wiped the blood across the back of his hand.
"If you want it this way..."
A smile spread across his face.
"...then you'll get it this damn way."
Without another word, he drove his light blade point-first into the ground.
The glowing weapon stood there between them.
Abandoned.
Theo rolled his shoulders.
His fingers curled into fists.
(Alright...)
(Just swing)
Tano rushed him.
A straight jab.
Theo caught the punch with an open palm, twisting just enough to throw the force aside before driving his own fist toward Tano's jaw.
Tano leaned back.
The punch whistled past his nose.
His own fist answered immediately.
THUD!
Theo's cheek snapped to one side.
Pain exploded across his face.
He grinned through it.
"Got you."
His left hook slammed into Tano's ribs.
Air burst from Tano's lungs.
"Ghk—!"
Theo didn't let him recover.
He stepped inside Tano's guard and hammered a heavy overhand punch down toward his face.
Tano barely managed to turn.
The blow clipped his temple instead of landing cleanly.
His vision blurred.
Instinct took over.
He spun.
His leg whipped around.
WHAM!
The kick smashed into Theo's side.
The impact knocked both of them off balance.
Theo crashed into the mud.
Tano hit the ground only a heartbeat later.
For a moment...
Neither moved.
Then—
Theo planted a hand against the earth.
Tano did the same.
Slowly...
Both men climbed back to their feet.
Theo wiped another streak of blood from beneath his nose.
Tano reached up and touched the cut along his ribs.
Neither spoke.
Neither smiled.
Around them, the roar of the Great Red Lizard and the clash of Onyx's battle echoed across the battlefield.
But between the two warriors...
There was only silence.
This fight...
Wasn't over.
To be continued...