A Desperate Fight

[Location: Abandoned Iron Mine Depths - Kingdom of Tevell]

[A week and 6 days have passed]

With a powerful roar that huge beast made the whole place tremble aggressively, dust fell from the sky along with some pieces of rocks, its imposing presence surprised us all but seeing it with so many injuries and those weapons stuck in its back showed how much that has been struggling.

-Zyrus: Wh-what the hell is that thing!?

-Celes: No...Impossible, but what is something like that doing here!?

From Celes' expression she clearly knew what it was and from that reaction it wasn't good, if Celes was scared when she saw this thing obviously we were in serious trouble.

-Zyrus: Celes, wake up! It is not time to panic.

-Celes: Huh!? yeah... yeah, you're right.

-Zyrus: Well, you know what it is, tell me, can we win?

-Celes: It is a Disaster Beast, a monster that is only found in the territory of the Demon King and if it were in perfect condition I would say that we have no salvation, but due to its injuries and clear exhaustion I would dare to say that if we fight strategically we have a 35% to win.

-Mei: Wait, wait, really!? Only 35% of getting out of here alive!?

I understood Mei's concern, I was also scared but panicking now wouldn't help us at all, we already had the monster in front of us and it was injured and exhausted.

-Celes: If we're going to win, follow my instructions, Aeryn uses protection magic for the three of us.

-Aeryn: R-Right away.

-Celes: Mei, My Lord, we must spread out and focus on attacking his already open wounds, do not waste energy trying to open others, his skin is very resistant.

-Zyrus: Understood.

-Mei: S-Sure.

It was nice to have Celes leading the attack, clearly someone with military training knows best how to lead and use her group's strengths. while Aeryn prepared her protection spell, the huge beast also seemed to be ready to attack, despite its state it seemed that it didn't care when someone invaded her territory.

-Aeryn: *Sacred mantle of Divinity, please protect my allies with your light* [Protection Veil!]

A light began to surround Celes, Mei and me leaving a bright orange aura around our bodies, it was a strange sensation, I had never been under the effect of enhancement magic before and before begin the fight I left my bag at the entrance to the cavern to safeguard our supplies..

-Celes: Excellent, this will reduce the physical damage we receive but given the strength of that monster, it would be best not to be hit by it, so be careful.

Mei and I nodded, we knew that this battle would not be easy so every action had to matter.

-Celes: Aeryn, stay back and keep lifting the spell if it starts to wear off but remember to save some magical power for heals.

-Aeryn: Understood, the spell won't last more than 5 minutes so don't let your guard down.

As Aeryn backed up to the wall, the three of us prepared to attack.

-Celes: Very well, I'll distract him while you attack his wounds, ready?

At the moment of giving our confirmation with the sight, Celes started the attack against the Disaster Beast head on while Mei and I separated to attack its legs from both sides, when it was threatened the wounded beast gave a quick roar and charged at Celes launching claws. and attacking with her only horn, she was able to block and dodge his attacks but the difficulty with which she did so was noticeable.

-Zyrus: Now Mei!

-Mei: Y-Yes!

As Celes told us, we attacked the most open wounds of the Disaster Beast with cuts and stabs, but as Celes also mentioned, these wounds were not easy to pierce.

-Zyrus: Damn, even with these injuries I barely managed to do any damage to him.

Although we managed to hurt it, the damage wasn't deep enough to cause any real damage, even so the beast was warned of us since from time to time it would turn to try to give a tail sweep to Mei or an attack with its claws towards me.

-Mei: E-even with those injuries, how can he move so aggressively?

-Celes: An injured beast is more violent than when it is in perfect condition, don't let your guard down, you never know what it can do!

Just like she mentioned, the Disaster Beast started to get more agitated the more time passed. changing from attacking with her claws to tackles and jumps around the area.

-Zyrus: Da-Damn, at this rate it will make the whole mine fall on us.

Mei: Ahhh! What is he doing now!?

Suddenly the Disaster Beast stood up on its two hind legs very high looking down.

-Celes: Oh no! Be careful, it will cause a big shock wave!

But before we managed to prepare for its attack the beast suddenly came down at full speed on its two front legs causing the huge shock wave which caused the ground under it to leave a small crater and a violent force pushed us all back. Mei and I crashed into the wall but fortunately thanks to Aeryn's protection the damage was not serious but it also caused its effect to dissipate.

-Zyrus: Argh... that could have ended worse

-Mei: (Coughing) Da-Damn, doesn't that beast ever get tired?

Celes managed to get Aeryn to safety before impact and they both flew almost to the entrance of the cavern.

-Celes: Aeryn, are you okay?

-Aeryn: Y-Yeah, thanks Celes, huh?..Ah! watch out Celes!

Before Celes realized it, the Disaster Beast had launched itself to attack the two that were on the ground, giving them no time to react, they just stared at the imminent attack.

-Mei [Aerial Pirouette!]

Just before the beast managed to land its attack on the two of them, Mei elegantly leapt on it stabbing into its right eye with one of her daggers causing the beast to roar in pain and flail violently trying to throw it off. as she clung tightly to the dagger that had pierced the beast's eye.

-Celes & Aeryn: Mei!!

-Mei: In-Infernal beast, I won't let you kill my friends, they are the only thing I have!!

From above, resting on her knees and hands watching the fight from a safe place, Leah watched as her friends risked her life while she was unable to get up from fear.

-Leah: Mei...

I managed to stand up watching Mei risk her life to keep the beast away from Celes and Aeryn, things weren't going well, we were exhausting ourselves faster than we were damaging it.

"Shit, at this rate we won't have the strength to continue fighting, am I going to have to use that now?"

-Celes: Beware My Lord!

Celes's scream made me come out of my thoughts and in front of me I could see Mei's body flying towards my direction, I managed to react in time to catch her with my arms, which caused me to back off abruptly until I hit the wall again and fell sitting on the floor.

-Zyrus: Ugh....Mei, are you alright!?

-Mei: I-I think so, I'm...a little dizzy and I think...I lost one of my daggers...

In fact, one of Mei's daggers was embedded in the Disaster Beast's eye and although he tried to remove it with his paw, it was impossible since the dagger was deeply embedded.

-Zyrus: Rest a moment, you did incredible, Mei.

She just smiled at me forcefully as she leaned against the wall, once again I got up and took my sword, it was not the time to doubt about the victory we had, I ran to Celes and Aeryn to make sure they were okay while the beast was still there. distracted

-Zyrus: Everything okay?

-Celes: Yes, luckily it was only a few minor scratches, Aeryn see help Mei, she could be hurt after that.

She nodded and ran over to Mei to help her with her healing magic, while Celes and I watched the monster still struggling to remove the dagger from its eye.

-Zyrus: Any ideas? At this rate we will end up just like the rest.

-Celes: I could use my Lightning Blade, but I doubt I'd be strong enough to defeat him in one hit.

-Zyrus: How about we amplify it?

-Celes: Amplify it? How?

-Zyrus: Maybe I don't have that much magical power but if you extend your lightning power to me, I could use my own energy to increase its attack power.

-Celes: Is that possible!?

-Zyrus: I already saw your attacks from afar and up close, I'm sure it's possible, ready for a combined attack?

She smiled as she nodded and proceeded to prepare her attack by channeling the blade of her sword with lightning power, once the blade was engulfed in sparks we brought our swords together to amplify the energy emanating from her blade. At the moment of joining the swords I could feel how a weight passed through my body so I also let my magical power run through my sword to amplify the stream of lightning that began to form from both swords.

-Zyrus: Shit this is more difficult than I thought.

-Celes: It's working, don't lose concentration, we may not have a second try.

This concentration would undoubtedly consume all of our magical power or at least all of mine, the swords little by little began to be surrounded by more sparks and to shine more strongly. but that ended up drawing the attention of the Disaster Beast who had already lost interest in removing the dagger from his eye.

-Zyrus: Damn it! It is coming!.

-Celes: It's ready My Lord, it's now or never!

The beast began to charge towards us ferociously making the entire cavern shake and he gave a great leap to crush us, Celes and I looked at each other almost as if we were reading each other's thoughts and before the huge beast reached us, we launched our combined attack.

-Zyrus & Celes: Aaaaaahhhhh!! [Lightning Crossblade!]

Just before the beast managed to reach us we managed to execute the attack in time allowing us to land a direct hit right on the body before it fell on us, launching Celes' technique this time in the form of a cross charged with the power of lightning that not only hit the beast but also boosted it back into the air, hitting the wall above the entrance to its burro, exploding and finally falling to the ground wrapped in static that ran through his entire body and smoke emanating from him.

-Zyrus: (Gasping) Auughh...we...we did it...

-Celes: (Gasping) Y-Yes....but...that attack exhausted me more than normal.

I fell to the ground leaning on my knees and arms as beads of sweat fell from my face while Celes fell onto one of her knees leaning on her sword and equally dropping beads of sweat from her face.

-Celes: (Gasping) My... My Lord, how... are you?

-Zyrus: (Gasping) I think... that... that I exhausted all... my strength in that attack.

Aeryn and Mei came running from afar, very happy to see how our attack had sent that monster flying.

-Mei: You two made it, you defeated him!

-Aeryn: You guys are amazing!

Even in the midst of our exhaustion Celes shook her head still looking at the fallen Disaster Beast.

-Celes: (Gasping) I'm afraid...it's not over yet.

-Mei: huh!? wait, wait, are you telling me that after receiving that attack, he's still alive!?

-Celes: (Gasping) I hate...to admit it...but...but that's how it is.

She managed to catch her breath before and stood up showing an expression of frustration in her eyes.

-Celes: Being a beast that lives in the territory of the Demon King, his body was corrupted by his dark energies, so once he dies, all his flesh rots almost instantly, remaining only in the bones.

We all looked terrified as the beast was still complete, its flesh had not started to rot so we all assumed that it was still alive.

-Aeryn: No...it can't be...

-Mei: You're kidding, right?

Celes took a few steps forward, approaching the beast that was still on the ground.

-Celes: Mei, Aeryn, take My Lord and step back, I'm going to finish this.

-Aeryn: But you exhausted almost all your magical power in that attack, even if you have strength, you won't resist for long.

-Mei: She is right, we will fight by your side.

-Celes: No, you two must be exhausted too, you'll just be easy prey for him.

I managed to stand up once more, still panting from exhaustion and wiping the sweat from my forehead, I looked back at the entrance where I left my bag and thinking about the vial that I left inside, I turned around and walked towards him. .

-Aeryn: Zyrus?

-Zyrus: (Gasping) Don't worry...about me, you must...finish this, I've reached my limit.

-Celes: My Lord....

While Aeryn and Mei tried to convince Celes to let them continue fighting, I went to my bag and looked in it for the vial that Duane gave me, the "Hero's Elixir".

"If I use this now, I may not live to tell the tale but I can't let any of them die just because of my fear of the side effect."

In that instant out of nowhere the beast stands up aggressively and releases a powerful roar that makes the entire cavern tremble again.

-Zyrus: Aahh...!

Due to the sudden and windy tremor caused by the Disaster Beast I accidentally dropped the yellow vial that I had in my hand and while maintaining my balance I tried to grab it with my hands but finally I couldn't and it ended up falling to the ground, rolling towards the interior of the battlefield and ending up being crushed by one of the pieces of rock that fell from the top of the cavern.

-Zyrus: Ohhh...crap, this is bad...

While I watched as my emergency plan was crushed by a rock, the others also tried to keep their balance while taking cover from the falling rocks, but shortly after the tremor stopped, other loud noises began to be heard.

-Celes: Mei, watch out!

The Disaste Beast charged at Mei head on and tried to hit her with its horn and who was clearly still upset about losing an eye because of his dagger but before he managed to land the impalement Celes deflected his attack with his sword and although she managed to avoid the attack, the beast took an aggressive turn pushing Celes to the other side and smacking Mei with its tail who was thrown against the wall near the entrance.

-Zyrus & Aeryn: Mei!!

-Celes: D-Damn beast!

Mei's body fell to the ground as blood came out of her mouth, Aeryn rushed to her side with tears in her eyes to help her but the moment she touched her right arm, Mei let go out a groan of pain.

-Aeryn: Oh no!, she...she has her right arm dislocated!

-Mei: A-Aeryn....tell me at least...that...Im still ...be-beautiful...

After that, Mei fall unconscious, she was still alive but she could no longer continue fighting, leaving us in a worse position than we were before.

-Leah: No...Mei...

From the top in her safe place, Leah continued to observe the development of the combat, as her friend Mei suffered a violent blow that left her unconscious and badly injured, tears fell from her eyes unable to do anything about it.

-Leah: Why? why am i still here?

Celes kept the beast busy but it looked on her as exhaustion and injuries began to affect her movements and attacks, it was only a matter of time until she failed to block or dodge an attack.

"Damn, this beast doesn't run out of energy? there has to be a way to finish him off once and for all"

Time was running out, Mei was unconscious, Aeryn healing her injuries as best has she can , Leah was still paralyzed with fear and Celes could barely keep that monster at bay despite all the damage we had already done to it, I was still exhausted from using all my strength in the previous attack but I was the only one at that time who kept calm and if we wanted to beat him I had to think of something.

"If only he had some weak point we could exploit but despite everything the other Hunters have done plus what we did, that monster is still on his feet, even with those weapons stuck in his back he can…wait a moment"

At that moment I saw the weapons of the other Hunters on his back, spears and swords of all sizes were deeply embedded in his back from which blood emanated, which meant that they had penetrated into his body past his thick skin and that gave me an idea, although I wasn't sure if it would really work but at this point what else could we try.

-Celes: Gaaahhh!!

-Aeryn: Celes!

After an attack with her claws, Celes is pushed to the ground, just as I feared her strength already began to wane and she could barely continue fighting. I tried to get up to run to her aid but as soon as I took a step I felt how my legs lost their strength and I fell to the ground again unable to get up and seeing how that monster slowly approached her who remained on the ground but raised her sword still trying to defend himself.

-Zyrus: Ce-Celes!

Aeryn ran towards Celes before the monster managed to deliver the final blow, she positioned herself between the two looking at the monster and stretched out her hands looking at him scared, tears running through his eyes but also determined not to abandon a friend in distress.

-Aeryn: I-I won't let you hurt my friends anymore! *Oh heavenly light, raise your shield before me and protect us from evil!* [Sacred Barrier!]

A light began to emanate from the ground until a curtain of light raise between Aeryn and the Disaster Beast who ended up hitting the barrier that she had raised, we were all amazed to see her perform such a spell.

-Celes: A-Aeryn....that...that's Advanced Holy Magic!

-Leah: Aeryn...you too have become stronger....instead I...

A sigh of relief came from me when I saw that Aeryn managed to protect Celes from that monster but the relief did not last long as the beast continued its aggressive attack against the barrier that Aeryn raised, which she began to feel the pressure to keep the barrier up with each attack, it was something incredible but it would not last long so I gathered my strength to raise my voice and tell Celes my plan.

-Zyrus: Celes, use your lightning magic!

-Celes: What!? but...I don't have enough magic power to perform a spell, besides, even if I could, it wouldn't work.

-Zyrus: Not on him, on the weapons on his back!

-Celes: The weapons...on his back?

She looked quickly over the beast's back and saw all the weapons that were piercing it and then she realized what I was trying to tell her, it wasn't a safe plan but if she could cast the strongest lightning spell she can cast, the discharge should travel all the way to the interior of the weapon and damage its internal organs.

-Celes: I understand, I'll try, but I'll need time to concentrate the rest of my magical power.

-Aeryn: Ahhh!

The barrier that Aeryn had raised began to crackle with each attack the Disaster Beast landed. Her arms began to tremble while her face showed a clear expression of fatigue from the effort she made to keep the barrier up but in the end it was all useless as the next blow ended up destroying the barrier which caused Aeryn to fall back to the ground but Celes managed to catch her before falling.

-Celes: Aeryn!

-Aeryn: (Gasping) I-I'm sorry, I held on as long as I could.

-Celes: Don't worrie, you did great.

Aeryn was fine still panting and clearly showing signs of exhaustion but her strength were not enough to contain the beast any longer, the beast slowly approached the two girls who were already helpless. I tried to do what I could to help them but my body did not respond, when we thought that everything was over, something fell on the face of the beast with great force.

-Leah: [Piercing Thrust!]

Leah, who until now had withdrawn from entering into combat leaving her safe place and with her spear delivered a powerful thrust into the beast's face, forcing him to retreat while he recovered from the impact.

-Celes & Aeryn: Leah!

-Leah: I'm so sorry to have left all of you alone, but for now, Celes, I'll keep the Disaster Beast busy while you prepare the spell.

-Celes: Understood.

-Leah: Aeryn, transfer the rest of your magical power to Celes, that spell must go with all possible force.

-Aeryn: Yes, I'll do what you say Leah.

Somehow, seeing how her friends had become stronger not only in ability but also in her soul had made her come to her senses and take up arms to fight for them. Leah then called the monster's attention and guided it to the other end of the cavern so that it wouldn't interrupt Celes' attack.

-Celes: Alright, let's start.

-Aeryn: Here goes the rest of my magical power Celes, *My magical essence, transfer yourself to this new vessel* [Magic Transfer!]

Still on her knees, Celes raised her right hand channeling her magical power to point towards the weapons behind the beast's back while Aeryn positioned herself behind Celes and placed her right hand on Celes's back to transfer her magical power to her.

"Well done Leah, I knew you wouldn't be left behind but I just hope this plan works"

Since Leah had not participated in the battle until now, she still had all her strength compared to the beast, so she managed to face it without much difficulty but for how long it would last, I also did not know how long it would take Celes to cast her spell, I could not stay in the ground while the others gave everything to continue fighting.

"I only have one option, I can't be the only one who doesn't push himself beyond his limits.

I hit the ground with my fist in frustration and tried to get up with all I could.

-Zyrus: Even if it's for a few seconds, give me some strength.

I knew that this would strain my body more than it already could but if I manage to release some more of the power of my Blessing, even if it's just for a few moments to help Leah and distract the beast, it would be enough for me.

-Leah: (Gasping) I-Isn't it ready yet!?

While still distracting the beast, Leah was already beginning to show signs of exhaustion, the long wait for Celes to finish channeling her power was not over yet.

-Celes: No....it's still not enough, it must be stronger or it won't be able to penetrate to the interior.

A surprising blow ended up pushing Leah against the wall where she had run out of space to move, the Disaster Beast had cornered her and she knew that a direct hit even blocking would be fatal, the beast raised its right leg to launch another blow and Leah who was in a defensive position ready to block him.

-Zyrus: Hoooah!

A strange sensation began to run through my body and I felt how my strength returned to me, without realizing it my body began to be surrounded by a blue aura and when I realized it I ran against the Disaster Beast to stop its attack with my sword and force it back.

-Leah: Zyrus!?

-Zyrus: Did you forget? I told you that I would protect you.

-Leah: It's true, thank you, but what is that light that comes out of you?

-Zyrus: I'll tell you later, now we have something more important to do.

She nodded and we both prepared to face the Disaster Beast, unsure if we would hold out long enough for Celes to finish setting up her spell.