Jonathan slowly got to his feet, and tried to ignore the pain in his leg. It was quickly becoming all consuming however, and only his iron will allowed him to keep going. He had been tempered in hotter fires than this, but to be fair, none of his thresholds had been passed in the middle of an active battle.
Jonathan straightened up, and raised his gauntlets in a boxing stance, getting ready to fight. Ralnar laughed again, and began to stride forwards, repeating his attack from earlier where he built up durability and strength. This time, Jonathan did not try to go in for a strike, rather keeping his distance. He knew that Ralnar would not attack until he had made his move, so he waited a little bit to plan what to do.
As Ralnar stomped his way across the ground, one of the fighters in the back awoke. Jakarthi, the man with the enhancing abilities, looked over at the scene playing out in front of him, and his face fell noticeably as he saw that Jonathan was losing. Jonathan kept his face blank, so as to not alert Ralnar to the awakening of the other man, but as Jakarthi began to draw up a piece of rubble from the ground, imbuing it with white light, a tiny smile cracked his face. Ralnar paused, and scowled at Jonathan.
“What the hell are you smiling at? I have you now. You will not survive my next attack.”
Jonathan did not deign to respond, instead holding out his hand to the side as the rock came hurtling in from Jakarthi’s direction. Ralnar looked around, which proved to be a mistake. Jonathan grabbed the rock out of the air and punted it at Ralnar, sending it flying towards his face faster than he could shift out of his durability form. The rock exploded with a shower of dust as it made contact, and Ralnar grunted. He started to come out of his durability form, getting ready to swing his greatsword at lightning speeds, but this time, Jonathan was already there.
He slammed his fist into Ralnar’s jaw, lifting the man off his feet. Another strike took him in the gut, propelling him backwards a dozen feet. Ralnar rolled as he landed, massaging his jaw. No visible damage had been dealt, but it had certainly been a victory for Jonathan. Jonathan raced forwards, hobbling slightly, and imbued his fists with mana and Divinity. Using the Rune of Beckoning, he punched out towards the side of Ralnar’s head.
The man was too strong to be fully ensnared by the attack, but he looked briefly to the side, allowing Jonathan to drive his other fist, the one imbued with the power of his Rune of Hatred, into his face. There was an explosion of red light, and Ralnar was blasted backwards, skipping along the ground. Jonathan tried to follow up, but his broken leg gave out on him on the way there, allowing Ralnar to recover enough to enter his durability form again. There was a large path of missing skin on his face, and his jaw looked to be dislocated, but as he popped it back into place, Ralnar grinned.
“That’s more like it. It would have been a disgrace to my brother for you to be so weak.” Jonathan only grunted in response. He did not care for the whole diabolic honor thing this other man had going on. He served Granath, which meant he was evil. It didn't matter whether he was here to avenge his brother or not.
Jonathan had run out of Divinity from that last attack, and until he had recovered it, he would need to use his mana instead. Twin balls of blue light appeared on the ends of his fists, condensed to the utmost degree. Jonathan raced forwards, using his arms to propel him faster than he could have otherwise managed with his broken limb, Ralnar opened his hands wide, laughing maniacally, as Jonathan came in.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
The aura of red light was thicker than it had been before on the man, and Jonathan knew that punching him in this state would be no more effective than driving his fist into a boulder. Jonathan instead feigned an attack,only brushing his fist against Ralnar. The man reflexively began to come out of his defensive mode, but by the time that he had realized he had been tricked, it was too late.
Jonathan punched the man in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. A thin spray of blood was expelled out of the man’s mouth, painting the ground beneath a patina of red. Before Jonathan could strike again, Ralnar shot out his free hand and grabbed his wrist, holding him tight. Jonathan struggled to extricate himself from his predicament, but Ralnar was too strong. The man leaned in close, blasting Jonathan with warm, rancid breath, and whispered softly.
“It’s time for revenge, you bastard. Ralnax is watching now, and I will gratify his thirst for blood with your corpse.”
“I don’t think that Ralnax is anywhere that he can see us right now, you idiot. If we’re in the Hells, then if somebody dies here, they just disappear. Your brother is gone, Ralnar. And I killed him.” Ralnar roared in rage, and Jonathan headbutted the man, breaking his nose. Ralnar stumbled backwards, and Jonathan jerked his hand free. Ralnar whipped his greatsword around, grasping it tightly with both hands. Jonathan ducked under the blow, but Ralnar reversed, catching him in the left arm. His bones twisted unnaturally, and Jonathan grunted in pain as his arm was forced out of its socket. Ralnar laughed bitterly, and raced forwards, punching Jonathan in the gut.
Jonathan was lifted off his feet, and he rocketed back, feeling as if his organs had been expelled out the small of his back. He landed on his feet, and barely dodged a titanic blow from Ralnar’s greatsword. It wasn't looking too good for Jonathan anymore, He had inflicted some damage on his opponent, but it was mostly superficial. In contrast, he was quite heavily damaged. His leg was completely broken, and his arm was out of its socket.
Jonathan quickly tried to slam his arm back into where it was supposed to be, but he only managed to render it usable again. Every time he moved it however bolts of sickening pain raced up and down its length. Jonathan sighed, and ran forwards, towards his doom. It was shaping up to be a battle where he would have to use his final skill, Smite, in order to win. The only problem was that he was so damaged that he wasn't sure if it would kill him before he had a chance to level up. He had been lucky so far with his fights against higher leveled opponents, but was this the one that finally spelled his end?
Jonathan reached Ralnar a moment later, punching forwards with all of his momentum directed into the blow. Ralnar grinned, and swept up his sword with both hands, blocking the blow. Jonathan’s fist slammed into the sword, and he pushed it backwards, almost bowling Ralnar over. The man was not in his durability form, but he was still strong enough to resist such an attack.
Ralnar shot out his fist, and caved in Jonathan’s ribs with the blow, turning them into shattered shards of bone. Before Jonathan could react, Ralnar swept his legs out from underneath him, and brought his greatsword swinging down onto his other leg. Jonathan screamed in pain, and tried to crawl away, but it was too late. Both of his legs were now crippled, and even if he were able to get to his feet, using the muscular enhancement trick, he wouldn't be able to get very far.
Ralnar raised his sword once more, and brought it whistling down. This time, Jonathan dodged, but it was a near miss. Almost all of his limbs were out of commission, and only his right arm was still functioning. Jonathan scrambled to the side as yet another blow came crashing down, and Ralnar snarled in bestial rage.
“Stay still, damn you! Stop wriggling around like a spineless worm!”
Jonathan kept wriggling. He was contemplating using Smite, but he had no idea how it would combine with his current level of injury. He was almost completely incapacitated, and he knew that if he used the skill, then there would be no coming back if he failed. However, there seemed to be no other options. Jakarthi had collapsed backwards after throwing the rock, unconscious or dead, and there was clearly no help coming from that direction. Instead, Jonathan would have to figure this out on his own.