The earth shook underneath Erden's feet, the draconic monstrosity before him approached slowly. The man backed away five steps for each one the monster took, leading it away from his fallen comrade being only part of the plan. After five steps Noir stopped, then a sound echoed. The sound of two enormous whips piercing the air. The wolf's tails emerged from Erden's shadows, towering above him as they struck the ground, shattering the very soil.
He dodged left, Noir following his pace and in a split second Erden was devoured.
Smoke began to escape from some of the gaps between Noir's teeth, the amount increasing with every passing moment until finally his mouth burst from inside into blue flames.
The beast's mouth opened just a tiny bit. That moment was more than enough for Erden to jam his sword between Noir's teeth. Using one hand whilst the other was spewing flames into Noir's throat, Erden forced the maw open.
The monster shook its head violently, thrashing it around into trees and the ground, hoping to break the concentration of the insect it had bitten.
The man did not let up, his will unbroken as the flames were spewing everywhere and not reaching the beast's throat. The gauntlet on his hand began to melt from the intense flames, and the monster was not stopping its relentless thrashing. His hands were getting tired, for a moment they let up, the waves of flames got weaker and the small gap he had opened became smaller.
The wolf slammed its head into the ground and pressed its jaws with all the strength it had. And with that began the war of attrition.
Ten seconds
Twenty seconds
Thirty seconds
Forty seconds
Erden summoned all his body's strength as the nearly closed mouth didn't let the flames escape, as they heated his armor the pain became unbearable.
In the sixtieth second the wolf let up for a bit. Erden concentrated the waves of flames into a single stream, blasting the membrane protecting the creature's throat.
In response the wolf bit down even harder, the sword embedded in his teeth beginning to crack them.
Both gave everything they had , but in the deciding moment fate chose the human. After an excruciating struggle Erden's flames burned a hole through the membrane and reached the wolf's throat.
The reaction was instant, Noir snapped in pain, shook his head and spat out Erden.
As Noir was coughing, Erden struggled on the ground, he jammed the top of his sword between the plates of his gauntlet and broke the half melted glove off his hand.
What a tenacious monster... he thought as he cut his palm and smeared the blood on his blade until it was completely stained. In his bleeding hand he made a small fireball whose colours changed from light blue to black and red and shot it into the sky, as it exploded it illuminated everything around them. He then tore off a piece of his mantle and wrapped it around his hand. This fight is not going to be easy. His eyes met Noirs who had recovered from the hole in his throat. If only she was not so far away, we could have alreadyended things here.
Shaken Erden stood up, When was it again? He slapped himself, then smiled and took a step forward. When was the last time I felt so pressed ? He ignited his sword in flames that flared a reddish hue and took a stance. It doesn't matter. "I apologize but cannot waste any more time on you." He raised his sword above his head with the flames concentrated on the edge and swung it.
It sent an instantaneous slash at the wolf. One of Noir's eyes closed before it reached, when it did it cleaved off the monster's left side. Its front and back legs were separated from his body with his shoulder and parts of his stomach.
Noir collapsed on the ground convulsing, foaming from the mouth as Erden sent another slash splitting the monster in half ending its misery.
The man began panting and fell on one knee, all the snow around him evaporating from the heat coming from his body. Erden stood back up and sent a third slash for good measure. Now all that is left is the other one.
He took a step forward, the ground beneath it disappeared as he once again found himself between Noir's teeth. The corpse before him turned into black sludge. Exhausted and on the verge of collapse Erden could not escape.
The wolf bit down on his leg as it lunged out of the shadows, now significantly smaller than before.
He thrashed his head violently, dragging Erden through the ground and into trees.
Erden ignited his sword once again and put all his focus into the tip of the blade, he then thrust it into the dog's mouth.
All the flames focused on the tip were released, creating a stunning explosion sending both of them flying in opposite directions. To think it can strategize! He thought as he flew through the forest What an absolute monster!!
After crashing into numerous trees he found himself where it had all begun. The boy-monster was laying on the ground unconscious. The flames around the fallen soldier had disappeared. Erden's head was spinning, and that was all there was to it, he didn't feel any pain. He looked down and saw his right leg, everything below the knee was missing, what had remained was a piece of charred flesh.
Using his sword as a support he managed to stand up, he looked at Beleth who had reverted back to his human form and headed towards him.
Erden knelt next to the boy and raised his sword above his head. His resolve unbreakable, until he saw the tears running down the boy's red cheeks.
His hands began to tremble, This is far beyond normal mimicry.
The sound of armor rustling broke his focus as twenty soldiers surrounded him, all wearing black plates and armor with masks made out of cloth that covered their faces. The moment they saw him they prostrated themselves on one knee, and looked at the ground.
Erden smiled and put down his sword, "You are all late. Things here have already been settled."
"We apologize for our incompetence, my Lord." One of them said as he looked up. "I will take on whatever punishment you decide. But first, we need to secure you and our comrade!"
With a single wave of his hand, the unit got to work, some went to the fallen soldier, whilst others started investigating the scene of the slaughter.
The one who spoke approached Erden. "My Lord… who is this child?"
"This one here is a very important suspect to the scene you are witnessing. Although I am not certain if it is human or not."