Kenji looked up, eyes widening in horror as he realized what was happening. That James was offering his life to save Kenji’s own. That he was helpless to stop it. Nick saw the older man steel himself before turning away and committing to his attack, intent on not letting James’s sacrifice be in vain.
Focused on slaying Kenji, the rhino had yet to notice James’s abrupt acceleration. It lowered its horn with a growl, preparing to deflect the spear and then run the man through. Every crook of its posture conveyed a savage satisfaction. A hunger for carnage that would soon be sated.
A bare second before Kenji entered the mutant’s kill zone, James was there, moving so fast that Nick’s eyes had trouble tracking him.
The brave young man raised his sword above his head in a two-handed grip, let loose a battle cry, and then plunged the tip straight into the beast’s left eye. The blade penetrated several inches before its progress was halted by the thick ridge of bone comprising the creature’s eye socket. Nick cast his final mana dart, hoping against hope that it would distract the mutant long enough to let James get away. But the enraged creature ignored it completely, taking the hit without aborting its lunge.
The fallen beast screamed and bit in a single motion, severing James’s torso at the waist in a spectacular geyser of gore, Kenji forgotten as it exacted its revenge.
Half a heartbeat later, Kenji struck, driving his long spear into the rhino’s frozen knee with the full force of his charge behind it. Flesh and bone shattered like glass, shearing the entire leg off at the knee. Letting loose his fury, Kenji whipped the spear around in a high arc, then thrust it deep into the beast’s guts before leaping out of the way.
The rhino lurched as it fought to regain its balance, but it was unable to recover before gravity took hold. The hideous creature came crashing to the arena floor with a sickening thud that Nick could feel in his bones, shards of frozen tissue sliding along the stone.
At that signal, team Earth charged as one, converging on the fallen beast, vengeance thick in their cries. The Herald-touched rhinoceros flailed, splashing in a pool of its own blood, afraid for the first time since the fight had begun. At last, the tables had turned, and the predator had become their prey.
Thanks to James’s heroic act, it was blinded in the eye that was facing up, accelerating its burgeoning terror into full-on panic. It clawed frantically at the ground, gouging fresh scars into the arena floor as it fought to right itself. But Nick and his allies never gave it a chance.
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They came sliding to a stop as one, forming a ring around the flailing beast, hacking away at its neck and exposed limbs. Side-by-side with Kenji and Devin, Nick struck out at the leg that had been weakened by Bret’s epic attack, carving it off at the hip, ducking claws and blocking sweeps of its horn all the while.
Meanwhile, Paul planted arrow after arrow into its underbelly, striking vital organs now that the creature couldn’t defend itself. That was when Sophia and Veronica darted forward as one. Sophia planted another stinger straight into the rhino’s good eye, blinding it completely, while Veronica tore out its throat with her claws. As the women leapt back, Kenji charged in from the side, sliding his spear straight through its neck.
“That was for James, you bastard.” Kenji held onto the shaft of his weapon, preventing the weakened rhino from lunging with its horn. Devin and Nick came darting around the side, sword and axe coming down together onto the side of its neck, almost severing it but failing to penetrate its spine. With a furious roar, Bret appeared from behind their line, one arm dangling at his side as he brought his claymore down in a wicked arc.
The palm-wide blade struck true, shattering vertebrae with a great hollow crunch, before coming out the other side and colliding with the rock below. The force of the blow popped the rhino’s head from its shoulders like a grape plucked from the vine, as Bret leapt away from the spasming remains. Just to be safe, Nick plunged his sword into the mutant’s head, as the last glimmer of life faded from its eyes.
With that act, dead silence descended upon the arena, before a single spectator began to cheer. As if waiting for that signal, a million voices cried out as one, roaring out their approval, accompanied by the thunder of their applause.
“I can’t believe it,” the announcer spoke above the rising cheers, tone indicating that he was shocked to his core. “They did it. They actually did it. In one of the greatest upsets in the history of our humble establishment, team Earth has defeated a chosen beast and won their match. In addition to living to see the sun set, they have secured a vital class upgrade not only for themselves but for their entire species.
“What a day it has been, ladies and gentlemen. I’m proud to have stood at your side to witness history in the making. My sincere congratulations to the fighters below. They’ve managed to pull off the impossible and deserve every bit of their reward. Stay seated for some post-fight entertainment after we open our prizes, provided by some local talent, but that marks the official end of today’s event. Please give a big round of applause for our winners, the underdog, team Earth!”
Nick turned to regard his blood-splattered teammates, triumph and tragedy carved deep into their features as the crowd’s adulation washed over them. Kenji rose to his feet and picked up the length of horn that Devin had shorn off, opening his mouth to speak.
But Nick could already feel an inescapable force pulling him away.