(Thaurak loomed, magma dripping from his jaws, his breath like a furnace. The ground shook under his weight. Asura cracked his neck, unimpressed.)
Asura (grumbling): "Tch. All that noise… and he's just a fat lizard covered in rocks."
(Atreus blinked, then smirked.)
Atreus: "More like if a troll and a volcano had the world's ugliest baby."
(Thaurak growled, lava bubbling in his throat. He stomped forward, sending tremors through the ground.)
Asura (snorting): "Hmph. I've crushed uglier."
Atreus (mocking, hand cupped to his mouth): "Don't listen to him! You're… uh… terrifying in your own special way!"
(The beast roared furiously, embers spraying from his maw. Lava veins erupted around them as if the realm itself shared his anger.)
Asura (clenching his fists, stepping forward): "Good. Now he's mad. Easier to hit that way."
Atreus (grinning, drawing his bow): "Let's see if ugly here can keep up."
(Thaurak's magma veins pulsed brighter as he slammed his fists into the molten ground, sending a shockwave that cracked the stone. His four burning eyes narrowed on them.)
Thaurak (roaring):"YOU DARE MOCK THE MIGHTY THAURAK?!"
(Atreus twirled his bow in his hand, smirking despite the beast's fury.)
Atreus: "Oh, sorry—didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It's just… we don't see a talking volcano every day."
(Thaurak bared his jagged teeth, molten saliva dripping between them. Atreus raised an eyebrow and added, sly grin in place:)
Atreus: "And, uh… I can see a hundred reasons why your sister betrayed Eon. But honestly? She probably had a million reasons to disown you as a brother. No offense."
(Asura let out a booming laugh, arms crossed despite his missing limbs.)
Asura: "Hah! The boy's got fangs after all."
(Asura lifted his knee toward Atreus, who met it with a fist bump.)
(Thaurak bellowed, lava bursting from his back like geysers, the entire realm trembling with his rage.)
Thaurak: "I WILL BURN THE BOTH OF YOU TO ASHES!"
Clash of flames
(Thaurak's bellow shook the flaming realm. His molten belly heaved as cracks of lava split across his body. With a guttural roar, his back split open—jets of magma spraying out as twisted Voidspawns clawed their way from his flesh. Their eyes glowed like coals, their screeches echoing in the inferno.)
Atreus (eyes widening): "Oh, great. He's a volcano and a nursery."
Asura (snarling): "Then we burn his brood first."
(Thaurak swung one colossal arm, the impact sending Voidspawns flying toward the pair like burning meteors. Asura charged forward, headbutting the first spawn to ash, his kicks smashing through two more. Atreus rolled to the side, firing arrows that exploded into bursts of searing light, cutting through the swarming horde.)
(But Thaurak's laughter rumbled like an earthquake. More Voidspawns crawled out from the molten cracks in his back, dripping fire and ash as they joined the fray.)
Thaurak (mocking roar): "YOU CANNOT STAND AGAINST ME OR MY LEGION!"
(Asura crushed a Voidspawn beneath his heel, glaring at the massive beast towering above them.)
Asura (growling): "I've crushed legions before."
Atreus (quickly nocking another arrow, smirking): "Guess we'll just have to outnumber him for once."
(The two stood shoulder to shoulder, Voidspawns falling in heaps of molten ash. Suddenly, Thaurak leaned forward, magma bubbling in his throat. His massive jaw split wide as a grotesque tongue of lava-flesh lashed out—straight toward Atreus.)
Atreus (eyes widening): "Oh, come on—gross!"
(But before the tongue could reach him, Asura stomped down midair, slamming it into the molten stone with a thunderous crack.)
Asura (snarling): "The kid's under my protection, you scum!"
(Thaurak didn't even flinch. Instead, his four blazing eyes narrowed—and the massive tongue twisted, wrapping around Asura's legs like burning chains. With a violent yank, the beast reeled him in toward its gaping maw.)
Asura (dragged through the air, roaring): "WHY DO I HAVE TO BE THE ONE SAVING YOU—AND YOUR DAMN FATH—!"
(His words cut off as Thaurak's jaws snapped shut, swallowing him whole in one gulp.)
Atreus (staring, jaw dropping, voice cracking): "AAAHHHH—ASURAAAAA!"
(Atreus loosed arrow after arrow, shouting with every shot.)
Atreus (furious): "Spit him out! Spit him out! SPIT—HIM—OUT!"
(Inside Thaurak's belly, muffled booms echoed as Asura kicked and rammed against molten flesh. The monster snarled, his gut bulging with every strike. Atreus drew in a deep breath, channeling more energy into his next arrow until it glowed like a miniature sun. He fired straight into Thaurak's stomach—light bursting against the beast's swollen hide.)
Atreus (yelling): "SPIT—HIM—OUUUUT!"
(Thaurak gagged violently, molten drool spilling from his jaws. With a furious roar, Asura's head burst out of the monster's mouth, his body half lodged inside, teeth bared in disgust.)
Asura (snarling): "DISGUSTING!!"
Atreus (relieved, shouting): "Asura! Are you alright?!"
Asura (roaring back): "How do I look alright? I just got swallowed by this trash bag!!"
(He clawed forward, rage burning in his eyes, lava and slime dripping from his face.)
Asura (grumbling): "But… thanks to your shot. I was confused between two… spotlights inside this thing. You guided me to the right one."
(Atreus froze, then covered his mouth, trying not to laugh.)
Atreus (smirking): "Yeah… I guess I don't wanna know where the other spotlight would've led."
Asura (snapping, furious): "SHUT UP!!"