Threatened by the unexpected techniques utilized by the opponent before them, the creature vibrates violently as its deafening wails pierce the ears of those within the laboratory. Its six legs retract into its torso and promptly break into countless miniscule fragments. By cracking the bones in its body into countless microscopic pieces, it leveraged the tar to morph its entire frame into a thin, slimy black sheet that was flexible enough to twist and bend to fit any shape or form.

Jargen: ... Coward.

Though the transformation had caught him off-guard, Jargen did not hesitate. He moved toward the shiny dark blanket, with the skin of his fists glowing red as they distorted the very air around them. As he delivers a powerful punch to his opponent, a gaping hole forms around the area where the blow would land, causing Jargen's hand to smash against brick instead. Its clay cracks, but so do his knuckles. Unfazed, he retracts his hand.

Tyssa: Oh my god... He just punched the wall with all his strength...! How is he not in pain?!

Punjo shook his head in response to Tyssa's question.

Punjo: When he'sh like that... Jahgen's body... Feelsh no pain.

Rel: What...?!

Though Punjo wished he could do more for his friend, his wounds would not permit it. Saving the last of his energy, he merely watches as the battle before his eyes unfolds.

Jargen: STOP DELAYING THIS!

Jargen unleashes a barrage of lightning-fast strikes against the creature, yet every time it manages to dodge them. It was inhumanely fast in its current form, faster even than Jargen's perception itself. Though his body's heat kept him safe from the enemy's attacks, he himself was unable to damage them. It would only be a matter of time until he exhausted all of his energy, which would all but ensure his own defeat as his temperature would drop, taking with it his precious advantage against the tar. As he switches up his moves, utilizing every tool in his arsenal to try and land a blow on his opponent, Tyssa and Rel watch in despair.

Rel: Dammit... He's not even thinking anymore. He's just going berserk! At this rate he's going to collapse...

Tyssa: Then we need to be the brains here...

Tyssa's eyes dart around the laboratory, desperately attempting to identify a solution to their predicament.

Rel: Tyssa, I know that look! What are you thinking?!

Tyssa bites her bottom lip in frustration.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Tyssa: Heat. That's its weakness, right? Jargen's body is so hot that the tar melts right off. But what if we had a larger heat source? Something that could melt all of the tar off at once...?

Rel's eyes widen in realization.

Rel: Without the tar to move its body, we might be able to slow it down to a crawl... Maybe even halt it completely, if that is its sole means of locomotion.

Tyssa: That's what I'm hoping... But it's no use. There's nothing around here we can use, and a heat source that large... It would melt more than just that thing.

Catalysed by Tyssa's plan, Rel himself examines the laboratory.

Rel: No tapestry... And the light sources here are few and much too weak. Not to mention neither of us know enough about alchemy to even begin to take a guess at which of Dmitri's concoctions might produce a substance hot enough to melt the tar... He didn't make this easy. I don't think we're defeating this thing if we keep it confined to the laboratory. But then again... We can take this outside.

Tyssa: ... W-what are you trying to say? You want to release it?!

Rel: It'd be more of a... "Controlled" release. Letting it run rampant in the city would be a death sentence for the citizens... But we could take the battle elsewhere within the mansion. Somewhere where we could use the environment to our advantage.

Tyssa: ... A flammable environment.

Rel: That would be ideal.

Tyssa: Then... Then just leave it to me!

Fuelled by a greater sense of purpose, Tyssa bolts towards the laboratory's door

Rel: Goddamnit Tyssa...! Where are you going now?!

Tyssa: You know where! The only place we've seen that could be lit up like a fireball... Just make sure you tell Jargen to meet me there in a few minutes. I'll get everything ready...!

In a rush, she abandons the laboratory, leaving Rel, Punjo and Jargen behind.

Rel: Of course she gets the easy part... How are we supposed to even get Jargen's attention?!

Rel and Punjo look at Jargen, his skin now turning a red-brown color as his body started showing clear signs of overexhertion.

Rel: JARGEN! YOU NEED TO SLOW DOWN!

It was no use. Jargen was a man possessed, the only concern in his mind being the immediate obliteration of his foe.

Punjo: Heh... Won't lishten. Not like that.

Rel: Then how?! Punjo we're stuck to the damn floor, there's nothing else we can do.

Punjo takes a deep breath as he nods.

Punjo: Aye... 'S not a problem wid talkin'... 'S what yer sayin'...

Rel: What...? I can barely understand you...

Punjo lets out a short laugh, spitting up some blood. He knew full well his speech was hard to decipher -- even more so than usual. Under laboured breath, he mustered what little energy he could to project his voice loudly and clearly enough for it to reach Jargen's ears.

Punjo: THISH... ISH NOT WHATH YOU PROMISHED HER, JARGEN!!

In extreme confusion, Rel's mouth was held agape as he witnessed how Punjo used the last of his energy to shout those words. Even though, to him, they held little meaning... Jargen's consciousness was pierced deeply by them. Tears began welling up in his eyes shortly after hearing them, like a part of him was silently thinking the exact same thing.

Jargen: I... I-I know, Punjo...

His body started slowing down, regaining its natural color.

Punjo: S-she died happily becaush she believed you had left it behind. ISH THISH HOW YOU HONOR YOUR PROMISH?! IS THISH HOW YOU HONOR HER MEM'RY?!

A sudden coughing fit grips Punjo, triggered by his critical condition paired with his outburst of shouting. With a saddened expression in his face, Jargen takes a couple of quicksteps back from the enemy. He looked at his bloody, broken hands.

Jargen: ... I honored them for as long as I lived. Now... I am but a dead man walking.