Ascension Of The Villain

Despite their plans failing many times due to the Nocturnus Titan's impenetrable scales, the four of them devised a new strategy.

Iyana's breath came in ragged gasps, and her body ached, but she knew they had to give it their all. She locked eyes with Theodore. A silent understanding passed between them. This was their chance to turn the tide.

"Sir Jacques, I will go for the left eye, and you take the right," Iyana clarified, her voice steady despite the exhaustion etched into every fiber of her being.

Blinding the Titan was their only hope—the eyes were the only spots not protected by rock-hard scales. The beast's scales covered it from head to toe without a single gap, like armor forged by nature itself, except it had no blind spots like a soldier's armor did.

Theodore nodded, his face grim with determination. "Spencer, Clyde, keep it distracted."

"You got it," the two of them responded in unison.

"On the count of three, go for it," Iyana commanded, her voice a mix of urgency and resolve. Everyone nodded, senses sharpened to their limits. "One. Two. Three!"

Spencer dashed forward, his movements a blur despite his fatigue. To the Titan, he appeared like a particularly bothersome fly, prompting it to swipe its heavy arms in an attempt to catch the pest.

As the monstrous hands reached out, Clyde clasped his palms together, freezing the Titan's arms solid from fingertips to shoulders.

Their previous strategy had been to freeze its heart and shatter it, hoping the scales would crack like delicate ice. However, the ice only immobilized the creature briefly, offering little advantage. To maximize their chances of success this time, Clyde focused his remaining mana on intensifying the ice around the monster's arms, knowing the entire body was too large to cover.

With the beast's arms immobilized, Iyana and Theodore sprang into action, leaping into the air in perfect unison.

Iyana's sword flared with renewed intensity as she leaped towards the Titan's left eye, while Theodore aimed for the right. Their swords struck true, piercing its eyes with a sickening crunch.

"Rawr!" Blinded in agony, the Titan started thrashing around, his heavy feet thumping on the ground so hard that it almost called for an earthquake.

Seizing the moment, Theodore and Iyana darted toward its crying open mouth. They knew this was their chance to deliver a critical blow. With a mighty leap, they drove her sword into the Titan's maw, slicing through its hard flesh and bone with every ounce of their remaining divine strength.

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They could hear the cracks starting to form on their supposedly unbreakable swords, while their faces and clothes were splattered with the splashing blood from the wounds they drove into the creature.

"Skree!" The Titan screamed, a sound that tore through the air like a thunderclap. And the next moment, it broke free from the ice cases and swung one of its massive arms. It struck Theodore with a force that sent him flying across the ground.

"Sir Jacques!" Spencer screamed.

Theodore landed with a sickening thud, his body crumpled and motionless. Spencer was about to rush to him when the Titan uprooted a tree nearby and swung it around haphazardly, hitting him with it.

Meanwhile, Iyana kept narrowly avoiding the Titan's frenzied swipes and pressed her attack.

Using the last of his mana, Clyde casted a restraining spell around the Titan, holding the entire abomination in place. "Go for it, Lady Iyana!" he shouted.

With a final, desperate surge, Iyana forced her blade upward, slicing through the Titan's head from its jaw to the crown. Its roar became a gurgle as its head split open, blood and viscera spilling forth.

Iyana leaped back, narrowly avoiding the cascade of more gore. She landed, her body trembling with exhaustion, but a fierce smile spread across her face. "We did it," she breathed, her voice barely a whisper.

The Nocturnus Titan's colossal form swayed before collapsing with a thunderous crash.

"Oh, wow. If I had held that spell for another second, I might have passed out," Clyde sighed in relief. "Good thing it ended just in time."

"Yeah, yeah, you are a hero. Now, let's get Sir Jacques and Sir Spencer to—" Iyana's words froze as the Titan began to rise again. "Oh, for Heaven's sake, are you kidding me? Is this thing immortal?"

"What the hell?" Clyde groaned, then his eyes widened in realization. "The heart... We have to destroy its heart! The monsters don't die if their heart's still beating."

"Don't you think I know that?" Iyana snapped. "But how are we supposed to get to its heart when it has got those impenetrable scales? Wait," she paused, her face brightening up as an idea struck her, "What if I go down its throat and destroy its heart from the inside?"

Clyde's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Are you out of your mind? What if it decides to roast you with fire while you are on your way down there?"

"From what I have observed, it can't breathe fire continuously. I mean, it didn't when Sir Jacques and I were splitting its head open."

"I don't know, Lady Iyana. It sounds incredibly risky. What would I tell Vyan if something happened to you?" Clyde's voice quivered with panic.

Iyana raised an eyebrow. "Why are you worried about Vyan? Shouldn't you be more concerned about my fiancé?"

Clyde blinked dumbly. "Right, that would make more sense," he murmured like a kid caught in the midst of a prank. He instantly did a one-eighty and slapped his forehead dramatically. "Lady Iyana, is that really important right now?" he chided with his other hand placed on his hip. "We have a massive Titan to deal with. Please focus on that."

"That's exactly what I am focused on," she muttered under her breath, confused at the sudden swap of accusations.

Clyde rummaged through his pockets. "And I don't even have any mana amplifiers left—" He pulled one out, eyes widening in surprise. "Wow, how did this get here?" He shrugged. "No time to question it. Down the hatch." Swallowing the glassy pill, he felt a surge of energy and gave an enthusiastic clap. "Okay, I am ready.

What's the plan?"

"It's simple. You restrain it, and I will dive right into its heart," she said with a nonchalant shrug, as if dividing cooking duties.

Clyde nodded, steeling himself. "You got it."

Clyde immediately cast a powerful restraining spell. With fierce determination, Iyana leaped up, her sword gleaming as she aimed for the open, bleeding maw of the Titan.

But as she drove her blade downward, it shattered against the Titan's throat, scattering fragments around her.

Shit, I should have checked my blade, she thought, cursing her oversight.

Just then, reacting to the sting of the fresh cut, the monster unleashed a torrent of fire from its throat. Iyana leaped back, but exhaustion had finally caught up to her brain and she slipped on the saliva coating its tongue.

She rolled down the Titan's eighteen-foot body, unable to find footing due to being covered in slick saliva.

It's all over now, she thought, a wave of failure and disappointment washing over her. She could have ended the battle right there, if only she had checked her sword. Why did she assume just because she had Aura, her blade would never betray her? Well, all of those things were meaningless now.

She closed her eyes and put her hands behind her head, bracing her back for the painful impact of the ground.

But the impact never came.

Instead, her descent was cushioned by a sudden gust of wind, and she landed softly into a pair of strong arms. Opening her eyes, she met the familiar red ones, and all her negative feelings evaporated, replaced by a surge of hope.

She smiled with relief and whispered, "Vyan."