Restraint came down in a heady rush, sending soft blue light splaying across the interior of the tunnel. The heavy warhammer smashed against the nearest Aarthriin Defender as it battered away at the sides of the tunnel in a desperate attempt to reach its enemies. Puffs of stone dust spilled into the air in response to its efforts, small gouges appearing in the rock - a testament to the insectile monster’s great strength.

The hammer’s blow landed on the side of the creature’s head once more. Though the arc of the swing was hindered slightly by the lack of space, Dharen still managed to place the hammer’s strike within the same area as before. Chitin plating cracked further with a snap, repeated a few more times as the other Aarthriin Defenders suffered similar damage. Just as before, however, the attack did far less damage than it should have been capable of. Once more, the same Shield of Protection ability that they had used previously had served to protect the insectile monster from the vast majority of the damage.

Fortunately, being controlled by one single emotion had done much to dull the intelligence of the enemy. It appeared that all they wished to do was protect the colony’s home from the invaders; thus, they continued to try to attack Dharen and the Nulzan hunters despite the unfavorable environment. While they could back away and simply leave, forcing the fight to occur in more favorable circumstances, they did not.

Dharen could only assume that there was some secondary mechanism through which the Queen of the colony controlled the Aarthriin - otherwise, the insectile creatures would be absolutely hopeless. The mindless and emotionless drones might allow themselves to slowly starve, while the others would be so subsumed by their given emotion that they provided no real benefit and might even harm the colony itself.

However, whatever other commands they followed were not present. Thus, they persisted in their folly. Foolishly, they continued to smash ineffectually at the corpses that bred the apparitions, along with the walls of the tunnel that hindered their progress.

Dharen charged up Restraint once more, slamming it against the same spot in the hopes of fracturing the plate. This time, it cracked a little bit more, bringing him closer to his goal. Once more, the damage spread among each of the nearby Aarthriin Defenders, slowly whittling down the group as a whole.

He charged it up once more, bringing the hammer down as soon as the enchantment was ready. Yet, unlike before, the Defender paused in its attempts to smash away enough of the stone walls to reach its quarry. It raised one of its shield-like arms and blocked the strike. Though it was relatively mindless, it had enough intelligence to not wish to continue to take such potentially devastating blows for free. As Restraint landed, the thick-plated limb took on a metallic sheen - the effect of a secondary Boon.The hammer connected with it and let out a loud ring, leaving behind only a slight dent on the metal surface.

Dharen grimaced. Suddenly, wearing down the Aarthriin Defenders felt like it would be a far more strenuous task than before.

Hopefully, he would have a great enough stamina to outlast their efforts.

The flurry of hammer blows went on and on, a neverending onslaught that brought to mind the sounds of a blacksmith at work. Soon, he didn’t even bother only striking with Restraint at its peak strength; with the advantageous location, he was quick enough to get out of the way before the Aarthriin Defender could land any blows in retaliation. However, that did not mean that the monster achieved no progress. Dharen found himself slowly backing up as notable chunks of stone began to fall away from the tunnel wall, victims of the creature’s great determination and strength.

Under his hammer’s assault, the Aarthriin’s greatly-boosted defenses were slowly whittled down. Small scratches and cracks also began to appear on other various locations of its body, small amounts of blood seeping from the damaged areas - the result of the work of the ghostly apparitions attacking the other Defenders.

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Finally, Dharen completed the arduous work. Yet, in the end, he was no blacksmith. His hammer blows did not create. They could only destroy.

Crack. Broken under the strain of numerous blows, the Aarthriin Defender’s heavily reinforced arm finally began to crumble away under the strain. Acidic blood poured out in a gush, spilling onto the stone below.

Sweat coated Dharen’s body, and his breath came out in heavy puffs of air. It ran in a stream from his hair, dripping from above in a stinging rain as it landed upon his vulnerable eyes. Wiping his brow and blinking away the sweat, he smiled at the sign of progress. Then, another blow came down, and the limb snapped. The remnants of the monster’s arm spilled to the floor, followed by a river of blood that pooled around it.

With the monster now less able to deflect his blows, he continued to direct a constant series of strikes upon it - this time free to aim for the head where he had initially landed damaging attacks. The heavy plate guarding its head began to split and shatter, eventually crumbling under the pressure of the oft-repeated hammer strikes. With a tired grunt, Dharen swung once more. This time, he was met with very little in the way of resistance; the creature’s head buckled under the weight of the blow, sending it toppling to the floor lifelessly.

The other Aarthriin Defenders were not quite dead yet - though they were able to share the burden of damage among themselves, the one who was attacked still suffered slightly more damage than the others. That said, they were in a deplorable state. Cracked chitin littered the floor like forgotten refuse. Blood poured in rivulets along the floor, spilling between the fissures and furrows that lined the stone floor of the cavern. Each possessed an arm that seemed to hang by a tenuously thin strip of flesh, mangled beyond belief.

The ghostly apparitions of the dead Aarthriin continued to damage the Aarthriin Defenders slowly, whittling away at the remainder of their health. His work done, Dharen tiredly stepped out of the narrow passage, allowing the Nulzan to exit behind him.

They fell upon the wounded Aarthriin with a vengeance, darting in and out of their range. Each encounter ended with a new slash or puncture placed upon the dying creatures. They were far from able to defend themselves, their damaged bodies moving in slow motion relative to the agile Nulzan. Large puffs of dust and rocks flew up with their flurried passage, the toils of the now-dead Aarthriin Defender that layered the ground in a chalky blanket.

Dharen stepped back into the narrow crevice, legs shaking and weak from the strain of the battle. While he had been relatively safe throughout the fight due to the combination of the monsters’ poor intelligence and the environment, it had exhausted him deeply. The abilities that the Aarthriin Defenders held, coupled with their natural vitality and defenses, had forced him to expend a staggering amount of energy. In the end, he had come out victorious, but it was a victory borne on the back of overwhelming fatigue.

With a flick of his fingers, he summoned a canister of water from his Spatial Ring. He raised it to his lips, drinking deeply from the life-sustaining liquid contained within. His parched throat soothed greatly at its touch, the cold water coursing down and suffusing his body with its replenishing vigor.

His exhaustion slightly alleviated as one source of weakness was defeated, he lifted the canister just above his head, allowing it to pour out in a small stream. It flowed downwards, soaking him and tempering the heat of his exertions. Dharen felt his muscles begin to untwist themselves, pulling out of the vice-like postures that they had contorted themselves into.

As he dealt with the remnant effects of his long toils, the Nulzan continued to deal with the flagging Defenders. The Aarthriin apparitions vanished, wisping away in clouds of ethereal smoke. A light thud spilled out from beside him. Dharen looked over, seeing Ekzel laying down to his side and combating an exhaustion of his own.

He offered the canister to the enervated spirit-summoner, receiving a grateful look in response. After a quick guzzle that depleted the remaining water within, the young Nulzan returned it to his care. Dharen silently sent the canister back into his Spatial Ring, pulling his gaze back to the battle that was underfoot.

One by one, the Aarthriin Defenders began to fall. Finally, the last toppled to the floor, sending an echoing boom bouncing across the cavern walls. Then, there was only silence.