Tiburcio couldn’t let the enemy lord finish his spell, but he didn’t really think he could stop him. He had one good arm now, while the enemy only had a cracked jaw and had been winning the whole time. Even so, Tiburcio wasn’t going to stand there and let himself get ripped apart by strange magic.

Tiburcio had to approach, but the enemy lord was ready. He swung down his lucerne hammer down- the pointy side instead of the hammer side. Normally it was easy to dodge such attacks, but Tiburcio wasn’t in top form- and the enemy was fast. All he could do was lean to the side… and let it pierce into his shoulder. There was the horrible sound of rending metal and the squelching of flesh and the spray of blood… and of course pain. However, there was already so much pain on that side that Tiburcio didn’t really worry about it. The only problem was that the hammer was now sort of embedded in his shoulder.

With a tug, the enemy lord tore at his shoulder and tossed him around like a sack of potatoes. The point was deep into armor, bone, and flesh. Tiburcio couldn’t resist the pull… but he dropped his weapon and grabbed onto the shaft of the lucerne hammer.

Though the enemy lord was strong, he couldn’t actually lift Tiburcio off the ground… so instead he settled for holding him at a distance while he continued chanting his spell. Tiburcio could see there was even more mana going into this one… and knew it would be the end of him.

Using his grip on the hammer’s shaft as leverage, Tiburcio twisted it. The lord had a good grip on his end… and the other end was in Tiburcio’s shoulder. It was stuck in there- held in by bone and magic armor’s toughness. That same magic armor had stopped his entire arm from being chopped off, so Tiburcio was willing to forgive it for his current predicament. He wasn’t going to forgive the hammer, though.

Tiburcio’s muscles bulged, swelling as they strained against the inside of his own armor. Then there was a creaking sound as the shaft of the lucerne hammer bent- and then snapped. Tiburcio still had a grip on the side of the shaft that the lord was holding onto, and used that to pull himself close. His opponent let go with his right hand and punched Tiburcio in the face.

The lord apparently wore magical gauntlets, as Tiburcio could feel the indent of the fist and his own helmet in his face- but he didn’t have time to think about that. The spell was almost done. He couldn’t use his right arm, because if his muscled untensed he wasn’t sure if they would function properly again. Besides, his opponent was holding onto it still.

Tiburcio used that to his advantage as he pulled himself forward once more. He swung his arm- his left arm- up and around. The lord blocked it with his right arm… but the collision only made a tiny clinking sound. It had taken everything Tiburcio had to even move that arm. With his other hand busy, he only had one good chance.

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His knee came up, hard. Unfortunately, it went directly into armor with enough force to shatter it… but the armor gave way as well. As an instinctual reaction, the lord bent forward slightly… as Tiburcio’s head came to meet it.

Gevai had different types of horns. The most common were straight, pointy horns. They were best, because it was easiest to find helmets that would work with them- both because they were common and their shape. Tiburcio, however, had ram horns. Rams used their horns for headbutting… but Tiburcio had learned that gevai skulls weren’t made to withstand that kind of force.

There was a terrible crack as his head and horns collided with the enemy lord’s- and then a boom. Tiburcio staggered back. He couldn’t see, and he knew his skull was cracked. He felt blood trickling down his forehead. He shook his head to try to clear the stars. He was still fighting.

Through squinted eyes, Tiburcio could see the enemy lord. His horns were snapped almost at the base, and there was a nice imprint in his helmet. Most importantly… his spell had stopped. That would be the boom, Tiburcio supposed. He watched with glee as the lord spit out a mouthful of blood. Then Tiburcio collapsed to the ground, his single working leg unable to support his weight anymore. As he watched the lord walk toward him with a scavenged spear… Tiburcio wondered if he had lasted long enough.

-----

William found himself facing off against Lord Neroni. Lord Neroni used a halberd, which gave him a small advantage in reach. Coupled with the fact that William was only wielding Chris with his left hand, it became rather difficult to fight him.

Not that William was in imminent danger. His legs worked just fine, and he could duck and weave around any slashes his opponent threw at him. As for magic- William didn’t need two hands to use it. He frustrated Lord Neroni with sudden mud pits, ice, flashes of light, and anything else William could think of to throw him off. Even so, Lord Neroni maintained an advantage with his own spells managing to make life difficult for WIlliam as well.

“Is this all you’ve got, Eternal King? Even when your arm was good, I’m surprised you managed to beat Lord Stirling- even if just barely. With your right arm being useless, it’s simple to beat you. I was always stronger than him… but I was wondering if you were hiding anything.” With that, Lord Neroni swept his halberd in a slash that was too fast for William to avoid. He could move forward to avoid the blade but he would still take a hit to his side. If he moved back he would probably take a slice across his belly. He couldn’t block it with one hand- regardless of whether his strength was enough, he didn’t have the right leverage for that.

So… he blocked it. His right hand now gripped the bottom of the staff, and the halberd trembled as it struck against William, who seemed like an immovable object. “Here’s the thing… I was thinking the same about you. I thought you might have some tricks, but I guess you’re not much.”

Lord Neroni shrugged, “So what if your right arm works? I already said that wouldn’t be enough.”

William merely grinned in response.