Rusa had been right. Rathe was not a good fighter. Drim was able to tell that much just after a few exchanges. She had the strength and speed that would overpower just about anyone, to the point that Drim had to fight mostly on the defensive, his own might ultimately lacking in comparison. But when it came to control and technique, well, she virtually had none, like a child flailing their limbs when they didn’t know what else to do.

It made sense. If she’d always crushed her opponents with raw power, there was no reason to hone her prowess further, no need to actually learn the art of fighting. And odds were she found such acts primitive, rather relying on her supernatural abilities than actually using her body to fight. It was quite possibly a proper first for the ancient demigod.

Still, even though The Slayer had the obvious technical edge, it wouldn’t be an easy battle by any means. The man’s strategy was fairly simple, fend off attacks and wait for openings to strike back, of which there were many. Though Rathe wasn’t entirely oblivious. She at least understood what her weak spots were, the cracks between the rocks that comprised her skin, and did well to defend them.

Meaning most of Drim’s attacks landed on the woman’s hard outer shell. He caused damage, but they could hardly even be called scratches. But he did eventually land a solid blow using a bit of trickery. The man snuck a few vines behind the demigod, and she wound back to strike at him, they’d nabbed her arms, leaving her torso completely exposed.

That was when the group got to hear what it was like when the woman actually yelped in genuine pain for the first time. Up until then, they’d heard a few grunts and winces before from the bigger versions of herself, but the myriad of minions always had silent deaths. Perhaps because it was her primary form, it meant she was genuinely feeling the effects.

And to the rash woman’s credit, from there she wised up. With her initial rage and outburst subsided, Rathe became more careful with actions, not wanting to experience the anguish of losing a bout again. She also didn’t fall for the same trick twice, more cautious of vines creeping around her, spawning nimble gremlins to dispatch of them before they could make their move.

Regrettably, most of the other tricks in Drim’s arsenal didn’t pan out. When he tried to dispatch spores, they had seemingly no effect, nor did anything else that would ail her. And when he tried to encase her in wood, the woman broke free before he could make any significant progress. There were still a few more things to try, but The Slayer would rather save them for a crucial moment when a radical change in tactic was needed.

So started the long drawn out spar where not much progress was made on either side. Thorn was genuinely surprised that thus far Rathe had kept to the good faith of a duel, not trying to ambush or overwhelm him with her own soldiers. Perhaps to her it really was all just a game, maybe she didn’t actually feel her life was on the line, or it could have been a sign of genuine respect amongst the divine.

While normally Drim would adhere to such honorable action himself, and stay committed to keeping things fair, this was a fight he couldn’t lose. So he had to win by any means necessary, use any tool at his disposal, rely on the help of any and every ally, even act a little fiendish.

Their battle was quickly drawn into an everlasting stalemate with both of their actions becoming far too predictable and easy to outmaneuver. At their current rate, they really would be fighting until one of them died of exhaustion. So Drim needed to shake things up.

❝Nachi!❞ The king made his first call for aid, and The Trainer suddenly appeared next to him, already knowing what to do.

“Mind if I cut in on this dance?” Nachi shamelessly joined the fray, targeting one of Rathe’s bladed hands while allowing Drim to focus his attention entirely on the other. And the woman already had music playing, receiving an unexpected boost from Egawo to help drown out the other wails of war, quickly forcing the demigod to be drawn into the woman’s pace.

But that was all just a trap waiting to be sprung. Perhaps it was Drim’s own eccentricities leaking into The Trainer when he used his divinity to beckon her, but Nachi was clearly compelled to create and call out the name of her next move. “Rhythm Breaker!”

Rathe was suddenly thrown off-guard as the music changed, Nachi sending her hand reeling, leaving the demigod open to attack, and the woman followed up by shoving her polearm straight into a crack on the stone woman’s waist. And Drim took advantage himself, matching the attack on her side.

But that wasn’t the end of it, when the demigod tried to slash back, anticipating how to retaliate, the music changed again to an entirely new tempo, and Nachi was able to surprise her again, leading to two more decisive blows. Then time and time again, Rathe succumbed to the broken rhythm until her own cries of pain began to overshadow the ever changing tunes.

❝No more!❞ the Demigod of Haste decreed as she jumped a step back and held out her arms. Reinforced rock armor surrounded her body on all sides, barely even leaving the eyes on her face visible. It seemed she didn’t care much for pain after getting a proper taste of it. And the armor proved effective, both fighter’s metal weapons bouncing off of it with a reverberating clang. It was a useful ability and appropriate response for the beating she’d been taking, but her opponent had already suspected such action and was ready for it.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

❝Niloy!❞ When The Fiendish King called the second woman’s name, Nachi abruptly vanished and was immediately replaced. The Flesh-Eater readily sprung into action without a second thought. Using her newfound speed, she zoomed around the entrenched Rathe in a circle, dousing her with water from every side. Then when the armor was sufficiently soaked, it was time to alter the composition.

“Acid Bath!” Niloy continued to spray even though it was likely no longer needed, just wanting to make sure no spot remained dry. And beneath the rampaging water, the armor quickly began to dissolve and crack. Though due to its thickness, the acid would take a while, and Rathe could possibly replenish it, so they needed a definitive blow to properly break through.

❝Laurim!❞ When The Zoo appeared it sounded like she grunted something along the lines of an attack name, but her grumbled monster noises didn’t properly form anything coherent. But she began her attack nonetheless. The Ankylodillo curled into a ball and zoomed forward with blazing speed. It was too quick. Drim didn’t even see her connect with the demigod before she appeared on the other side.

But the damage was clear, and Rathe was left staggered, about to trip over and fall victim to her armor's weight. Though that wasn’t enough to achieve their needed outcome so Laurim followed it up with even more. She adjusted her angle and zoomed back across, smacking the demigod again, and then again, again a dozens times more in rapid succession, not giving their foe a chance to ever fall in a single direction. If kept it up, she’d steal Itsy’s moniker in no time.

Then finally, when Laurim came to a screeching halt next to the king, Rathe was actually left properly upright, back to balanced thanks to all the smacks. But she was once again exposed, because her stone armor shattered to smithereens all around her, resigned to dust back at her feet.

“Sufficient and agitating,” Rathe spat both a compliment and disdain at the same time while she recovered from her rattling. “But try breaking this!” The woman punched forward, hitting nothing but the air. But then rock sprouted from her arm, causing the fist to massively grow in size, even bigger than her already gargantuan body.

The two Fiends had barely a moment to react to the humongous knuckles that were about to push their zjik in, and didn’t even have enough time to dash away in any meaningful direction that wasn’t blocked by the rest of the battle. But they didn’t need to move at all.

❝Xard!❞ The monster was replaced by the redhead. And the only action The Artillery needed to take was to merely raise his own hand in turn. The massive fist came to a full and complete stop, as if the punch had never been thrown in the first place. Then to ensure Rathe didn’t try anything else with it now that they’d made contact, he needed to take the first move and ensure its destruction.

“Karmic Justice: Retribution!” A bit of Xard’s own weirdness mixed in since Drim would never willingly go so far as to make a move name that sported a subtitle, though it seemed to be forced with any divine acts. Every ounce of energy from Rathe’s attack was returned to her, along with a bit extra the man had stored up for good measure. He sent Kinets surging down her stone arm while also making sure to swirl some around and carve away at the oversized appendaged from the outside, leaving no chance for the demigod to try and repair it.

Rathe was left in anguish once more as the behemoth fist was crushed and the remnants blasted behind her, even taking the rest of her arm with it, crippling her all the way up to the shoulder. But she fought through the pain and spawned a new regular arm in place of the one she’d just lost.

While she was recuperating, though, it was an opening Drim had to take advantage of. Rathe would now expect attacks from either of the two men, likely lessened in effectiveness as a result. But there was one that came to mind who could throw chaos into any situation.

❝Itsy!❞ The woman didn’t actually appear by Drim’s side like all the others had, nor did she replace Xard who was shooting a few shots of his own at the weakened woman. But The Wrecking Ball didn’t need to make an appearance to cause devastation.

“Big Boulder Bash!” As the name suggested, a rather big boulder was suddenly falling from the sky, hurled from who-knows-where amidst the battlefield. It meant that on command, The Wrecking Ball had managed to rip the rock of such encumbering magnitude out of the ground and toss it an exorbitant distance like it was nothing more than chucking something for sport.

Rathe couldn’t dodge in time, too late even for the Demigod of Haste by the time she noticed the eclipsing shadow. But just before impact, the light left her eyes, and cracks around her body that were illuminated with her divinity suddenly went dark. She must have abandoned that form before it was too late. And the now empty shell was crushed to bits, the rubble of her body sent careening in all directions.

But Rathe wasn’t gone or defeated, just temporarily displaced and incorporeal. And it wasn’t long before she had a new form, taking advantage of the stone she’d just been delivered. The boulder quickly crunched and chiseled away into a new woman, smaller than the Rathe from before but packing more artillery of her own. Her hands had been replaced with what could only be described as turrets and they began to fire.

Large shards of shrapnel were sent flying at the Fiends, but then weren’t straight like bullets, and went weaving through the air like Drim controlled his arrows. It became immediately obvious that it was more than Xard could ever absorb and would likely struggle to protect against with his veil if he also had to defend his friend from every angle.

A more defensive measure was needed. The king’s mind first went to Chorus since they could hide underneath a turtle-shell-shaped dresser to ensure they survived. But that would leave The Slayer without the ability to fight back, and ultimately would lead to his defeat no matter how much he delayed it.

But then another took over his thoughts, someone he could always rely on to keep him safe. ❝Phon!❞