Kyle braced himself as the Abomination reached him, its horrid stench being the first thing that defiled his nose.
Up close, the Abomination was far larger than it had looked in the distance. Its massive frame loomed over him like a living cloud of flesh and twisted limbs as it leapt into the air, claws raised high and ready to plummet down on Kyle and crush his entire being in one devastating blow.
Lord Roach moved immediately, jumping in front of Kyle with its arms raised to block the attack.
The claws of the Abomination tore deeply into the flesh of his summon, green blood raining through the air as the impact forced Lord Roach’s body downward.
"Attack now!" Kyle yelled out, lurching at the monstrosity.
He rammed the end of his blade into the side of the monster, the weapon sparking violently against the veiny skin of the Abomination and leaving behind nothing more than a shallow scratch.
The beast snarled at this, its face slowly turning to face Kyle.
It was clearly pissed.
It opened its mouth and let out another violent bellow, displaying rows upon rows of jagged teeth as it prepared to leap directly at Kyle and kill him right there.
The Iron Giant made its move before it could.
The massive creature jumped onto the Abomination with its crude clubs raised high overhead, then brought them crashing down upon the skull of the beast with enough force to shake the surrounding ground.
A loud cracking sound echoed through the battlefield.
Lord Roach did not allow it to recover.
Already recovering from the pain of the claws buried in its body, the summon made its way toward the neck of the Tainted, digging both of its sharp claws as deeply into the flesh as they could go.
The Tainted Veined Beast let out a shriek, violently jerking backwards at the sudden pain that tore through its body.
At this, Kyle crouched lower.
Instead of going for the monster’s tough body, he cleaved at its legs.
The veiny carapace covering the sides of its legs was not as tough as the thick armor protecting the rest of its body.
So he was able to injure them deeply.
Blood splattered across the snow.
The three of them were a menace.
Each moved with desperate but well-coordinated attacks against the Tainted, giving the beast no breathing space, no opportunity to regain its footing, and not even a single second to rest beneath their relentless assault.
The Iron Giant used its clubs to land devastating, bone-quaking attacks, each impact sending tremors through the ground and disorienting the beast.
While Lord Roach attacked the sensitive parts of the monster, impairing the few vulnerable spaces it could find along the monstrosity’s thick carapace.
Kyle did the same, mostly cleaving at the legs of the Veined Abomination, forcing it to stagger backwards whenever it attempted to retaliate against his summons.
The battle was ugly.
Brutal.
But it was working.
With the way they fought against the Tainted, landing one fatal wound after another and slowly pushing it into a corner, maybe... Just maybe, they might actually win.
But they were awfully wrong.
Another ear-deafening screech escaped the mouth of the Tainted as it tanked another ruthless blow from the club of the Iron Giant, one that sent its entire bone structure shuddering from the impact.
Unlike the other attacks, though, the monster did not stagger backwards from the effects of the blow.
Its head jerked forward instead.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of jagged rows of teeth clamped down on the club and the entire arm of the Iron Giant.
Snap!
The sound was sickening.
In one horrid bite, it tore off the arm of the Iron Giant.
Then it struck again.
Its claws flashed through the air like blades, slamming directly into the body of the giant and sending the massive summon hurtling dozens of meters away.
The Iron Giant crashed into the snow with enough force to disappear beneath the white surface.
The Tainted’s enraged face swiftly shifted.
Its intent changed.
Its attention shifted to Kyle, who had just cleaved through its right leg.
The expression on the young player’s face slowly grew pale.
"Fucking..."
He was unable to react in time to what came next.
Kyle watched as the clawed hand of the monster slammed into his entire being.
The impact felt as though he had run directly into a concrete wall.
Pain exploded through his entire body for a singular moment before his body was sent crashing deep into the cold embrace of the snow.
The world spun.
"Argggh!"
Kyle grunted, rolling backwards and forcing himself into a shaky stance almost immediately.
His boots dug into the snow as he steadied himself, his eyes narrowing at the horrid, veiny Abomination standing before him.
The Monstrosity and Lord Roach were locked in a difficult stalemate.
Lord Roach had its hands tightly clamped around as much of the beast’s throat as it could hold, desperately trying to choke the life out of the monster while its claws tore through the creature’s chest and gut.
Blood pooled beneath their feet.
The snow beneath them was no longer white.
It had become a gruesome mixture of red and green.
"Fuck..." Kyle grunted, coughing out blood.
He glanced down at his armor for a moment.
It was filled with cracks, his own blood staining the surface alongside that of the monster. Beneath the armor, his internal organs felt like a broken mess, and he could feel every ragged breath scraping painfully through his chest.
The attack had done a number on him.
It was only thanks to his tenacity as a Roach that he had managed to withstand it.
Kyle glanced back at the Tainted Veined Beast.
The creature stood proudly, bathed in both its own blood and that of Lord Roach.
His valiant summon was now on its knees, having lost both of its hands, which were still tightly clenched around the neck of the Veined Abomination.
Lord Roach was barely alive.
Its body was unmoving.
It was out of the battle.
Kyle’s eyes shifted.
He turned to glance at the Iron Giant, and the same went for it.
The giant was missing an arm and still lay buried in the snow from the earlier attack, its massive body barely moving beneath the frozen landscape.
Kyle stared at the two summons.
Then he slowly turned his attention back to the monster.
’I guess it’s just me now.’
Kyle grunted, glancing back at the Tainted Abomination.
The beast let out a strange, gurgling sound.
It almost sounded like mocking laughter.
Kyle frowned at this.
Something dark flickered within his eyes.
He raised his sword, resting the blade against his shoulder plate as a disgusted scowl formed across his expression.
"Who are you to laugh down at me, beast?"
He gritted his teeth.
Then he took a stance.
His feet shifted against the snow as he lowered his center of gravity, holding his sword in both hands and tightening his grasp around the hilt until his knuckles nearly turned white.
"It is you that will die today."
For a moment, neither moved.
The wind howled around them.
Blood dripped from the Abomination’s wounds.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The sound seemed strangely loud in the silence that followed.
Then the Abomination opened its bloodied maws.
A guttural roar escaped its ghastly mouth, shaking the surrounding snow as the monster answered his declaration with a challenge of its own.
Kyle’s eyes narrowed.
His grip tightened.
And then, once again...
The Tainted charged.