“Definitive that they can drain you more than once.” A penguin pointed out.

Chilly turned from the incoming behemoths to look at the little guy.

“Resplendency is the only safe choice.” Mr. Season continued, but then held up a flipper, “but not for this fight, watch.”

Chilly turned back to see the Brine King get within range.

It hunkered down, hiding its pincers underneath its gem-encrusted shell as a glimmer of light shot up from the base of one of the crystal spires jutting from its back. The light intensified as it ascended until the entire crystal was illuminated by a bright vermillion star that burst out the top with savage luminance. It rose into the sky for another second, before exploding in a blinding flash that washed the cerulean landscape in carmine light.

A bone-deep weariness settled over him as he followed the wave of red radiance across the frozen tundra. It washed over the Wendigo, finally catching its attention as the hostile magic settled over its undead form.

He Who Walks Behind raised its bloody skull up to the horizon and sniffed the air. Its claw ascended, dropping an errant thigh, then slowly turned until it looked upon the Brine King who had risen from its defensive posture to once more lumber forward. The ground shook beneath its feet, but the Wendigo looked unfazed. Instead, a savage grin revealed its needle-like teeth as it leaned forwards and let loose a roar of challenge.

Before it could charge towards the colossal crab, the carmine wave of light released by the Brine King reached the Endless One.

The light passed over the huge worm, causing the numerous bristles along its length to shudder, then settled into its gray hide. The Endless One shivered and opened its mouth to reveal a circular cavern lined with endless rows of serrated teeth. In the back of its throat, a skill gathered blue motes of light that condensed into a solid sphere. With a roar, the sphere burst out, releasing a shockwave that washed the landscape in an azure glow.

It washed outwards, clashing in sparks of light with the existing vermillion aura as it flooded the environment with its own debuff.

Chilly grunted as the second status ailment hit him, but couldn’t help but grin as he watched the Wendigo spin around and behold the second threat; its beady eyes widened the faintest amount in surprise.

Intimidated, the Wendigo pointed a clawed hand at the Brine King and let loose a gurgling bark. The line of low-leveled monsters instantly responded, sprinting towards the titanic crab with the mindless aggression of thralls. Just then, the Wendigo’s eyes flared and the Brine King shuddered, its shell losing luster and its motions becoming slow as the Drained status ailment took hold over it.

Despite this, the crystals upon the Brine King’s back glowed in response to the army’s approach. Before any even managed to get within range, beams of red artillery slammed into the force, splattering bodies, and throwing the ranks into panicked confusion.

The Named saw this, and sprinted forwards on silver wisps of wind, easily blowing past the slower members of its army, before leaping headfirst at the Brine King. Its antlers lit up as its skill took hold, but before it could rip into the Brine King’s shell, a powerful pincer blurred forwards to bat the Wendigo out of the air.

It spun through the air, limbs flailing before the silver wisps stabilized its trajectory and it managed to gain purchase on the freezing winds that scoured the tundra. With an enormous effort, its cloven hooves pushed against the air and launched it right back at the crab.

Swarmed by the little minions that slipped past its defense in its moment of distraction, the Brine King was too busy squashing Wendigos and Pistol Shrimp alike to notice the return of the Named. Antlers glowed, and the Named shot down from the sky to crash into the largest of the red crystal spires with an earthshaking boom.

Sparks flew and the Brine King wailed as a huge chunk of the crystal sheared off and tumbled down its gemmed shell. Instantly, the artillery focused on the monster army changed target and blasted the Named with dozens of red blasts that tore chunks of diseased flesh from its bones. It shuddered, hunching down to endure the onslaught as desecrated ground spread under its cloven hooves. Its antlers glowed and with a violent jerk of its neck, its antlers slammed hard into the base of the main crystal spire once again.

This time, the crystal shattered under the skill-empowered blow, causing the tall pillar to lean dangerously over before gravity took hold and pulled the huge weight to the ground.

The Named leaped into the air, using its silver wisps to redirect its momentum mid-flight to dodge the numerous blast of artillery fire, and give it time to naturally regenerate from the damage that it had taken. It flew through the air, flipping around, and kicking off once more then practically blurred as its form shot towards the next crystal spire, head first.

A lance made of pure dark blue ice impaled it right through the stomach and launched it away with a shriek of tortured frost. It let loose a frustrated roar, shattering the ice with its horns and claws before once more taking to the air on its silver hooves, only for it to be forced to retreat as the titanic form of the Endless One shook the air with its passage.

Thousands of sharp bristles exploded outwards from the worm's hide as it neared the apex of its jump and impaled both the Wendigo and the Brine King with meter-long spikes of hardened keratin. Wails split the air, as practically all the nearby monsters were eradicated by the projectiles. Any that missed, slammed into the ground and formed a minefield of upright spikes that glittered with frosty light.

Ice crystals formed along every bristle, growing larger by the second and freezing any monster that was unfortunate enough to get impaled. In seconds the temperature in the air dropped, heat wave distortions making the landscape look like it was rippling as a bubble of frigid air surrounded the battlefield.

The Named growled, strafing through the air as it ripped out the frosty bristles from its torso, taking with them pounds of flesh that slowly recovered as its regeneration took hold. It then twisted its upper body in an overwhelming overhand throw that launched the spikes like giant javelins with enough force that the air itself tore at their passing.

The Brine King chittered piteously as more projectiles slammed into it, and it hunkered down. The remaining spires on its back pulsed once before retreating into its shell and vanishing within its depths. The earth shook, and a pillar of superheated steam spewed from underneath the Brine King’s shell as literal magma began to ooze out from beneath it.

Frozen bristles melted into the lava as the center of the battlefield transformed into a caldera whose edge contested against the domain of ice that the Endless One had set up around the perimeter.

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The great worm flinched back from the lava, remaining in the outer perimeter as it slithered on columns of skill-produced ice to chase after the retreating Wendigo. Bursts of blue mist puffed out of the numerous bristles reappearing along its hide, accelerating the worm into a wrecking ball that launched itself directly at the flying Wendigo. As it neared its prey, the Endless One opened its gaping maw and released a breath of blue mist that rushed out to engulf the Named.

The Wendigo tried to dodge, leaping to the side on silver hooves, but the deceptive speed of the great worm surpassed its ability to navigate the air, and the tail edge of the cerulean mist washed over its clawed arm. Cracks resounded across the tundra, and in an instant, the Wendigo’s limb shattered into glittering diamonds that rained onto the land below.

It roared, frantically making distance, as a bud of growing bone and diseased flesh poked out of its shoulder. The Endless One responded, sending a pulse through the numerous frozen bristles in the ground and granting it an unnatural burst of speed that had its great body slithering into the Wendigo’s path of retreat. With a flick of its grand tail, the Wendigo flew inwards towards the waking caldera.

Silver mist sputtered as the Named flew through the barrier of steam marking the border between the icy cold and the steaming heat. Its remaining flesh ignited, lighting up its body like a torch as it neared the lava. With a desperate kick, it focused the silver mist around its hooves and redirected itself away from the ferocious pool of corrosive rock.

Before it could land, the Brine King rose from its crouch, and a titanic claw whipped out to snap closed around the Wendigo’s lower body. Glowing red horns flashed, but failed to do anything more than leave deep gouges in the hard exoskeleton of the crab’s pincer before the pincer retracted with blistering speed and dunked the undead beneath the roiling lava.

The Brine King pulled the undead out of the lava, then quickly slammed it back in. Magmatic waves washed outwards as it brought its other pincer high in the air. Then, using the weaponized limb as the hammer to its anvil, brought it down with titanic force.

Bone flew through the air and combusted in the superheated environment as the Wendigo choked. Once more it was dunked under the lava, only for it to be lifted out as the superheated stone corroded deep furrows in its eye sockets.

With a roar of indignation, the Wendigo’s horns flared one more time, and with a decisive slash, it chopped right through the vulnerable vertebrae at its waist. With a pop, its upper body escaped the grasp of the enraged boss, as its lower body was slammed back into the lava.

Bone instantly began reforming around its pelvis, as silver wisps flared around the Wendigo’s claws. It swiped at the air, tearing through and propelling its broken body past the wall of superheated steam and into the relative safety of the frigid waste beyond.

While it was busy with the Brine King, however, the Endless One had prepared a grand spellwork that triggered the moment the Named emerged. Azure beams flashed out of every upright bristle and lit up the broken Wendigo’s body like a spotlight.

Instantly, the Wendigo froze. Its motions stopped and even the inevitable pull of gravity halted as even the air around it solidified into vitreous crystal.

The Endless One slithered over, spawning columns of ice to aid its passing as it neared the Wendigo. Its gaping maw opened, with rows and rows of serrated teeth clenching in excitement as the great worm lifted its titanic body high into the air and then slammed its teeth closed on the frozen crystal of ice hanging in the air.

Ice shattered, as the Endless One completed its arc to land upon the frozen tundra. Its teeth grated, as even from the great distance Chilly heard ice being ground to dust in its meat-grinder of a maw.

Chilly let out a pent-up breath that he hadn’t even been aware he had been holding.

It was over. The Wendigo was dead.

“Well done laddie.” Rahlin rumbled, his meaty palm slamming into his shoulder and nearly bowling him over with its enthusiasm. “Right hooch of a plan, but it worked out marvelously.”

“Retreat,” Gar-Khan said, already signaling for the rest of the villagers. “Before the titans decide that we are their next meal.”

“Eh, you worry too much old friend, those two’ll be at each other’s throats ‘fore that Named’s fully digested.” Rahlin chuckled but turned with the Yawm to rally the villagers in an orderly retreat.

“Yeah,” Chilly said, watching the two titans in awe at the forces he had bore witness to.

He turned, halfway prepared to retreat with the others but couldn’t help but shoot another glance at the bosses. He froze, spotting a discrepancy in the Endless One’s behavior.

“Wait. Is the worm supposed to be doing that?”

The two leaders turned and dual frowns graced their faces as they spotted the Endless One wriggling in place where it had fallen. Its tough, segmented hide scraped deep gouges in the rime-covered earth, dislodging bristles as it squirmed. The air noticeably warmed as more and more of its spell’s framework broke beneath its bulk.

An errant shudder threw the tip of its tail into the magma pool beneath the Brine King. A thick pillar of red mist erupted from the point of contact, completely eradicating the tip of its tail as the magma corroded through its hide as if it wasn’t there. It screamed, flinching back from the magma, but not before the Brine King reached out with a massive claw and clamped it tight around the Endless One’s tail.

With a mighty heave, the Brine King pulled the worm closer, and submerged its entire rear end in the magma. More blood-tinged steam rose, as the worm struggled vainly in the crustacean’s undeniable grip.

“See,” Rahlin spoke up. “Told’j’ya. Those two hate each other’s guts. We’ll just back up a bit more and they’ll kill each other in the meanwhiles.”

Chilly frowned. Staring at the two titans with suspicion as they struggled against each other. Something seemed off. The Endless One was behaving oddly even before its tail had fallen in the lava. It had been writhing on the ground, almost as if...almost as if it was in pain from something.

Chilly gasped as he spotted a bulge pushing out from inside the Endless One’s girth. Faint purple miasma seeped through the worm’s hide, decaying the flesh into festering sores before his eyes. The worm shuddered, as something moved beneath its skin, distending the thick hide in a grotesque display. Then the bulge disappeared only for a razor-sharp horn to erupt from within in a spray of vermillion viscera.

The Endless One wailed as a river of viscera poured out of the gash, and a blood-soaked deer skull poked out of the hole on streamers of silver wind. Gleaming red eyes scanned the surroundings, as it opened its needle-filled mouth and took a colossal bite out of the worm’s juicy flesh.

Buckets of blood splattered over the lava, cooling it sufficiently for a layer of rime to rise around the great worm. The magma steamed, erupting into transient pillars of fire as the opposing elements combined in pyroclastic fashion. The red crystal spires rose from the Brine King’s back, glowing bright and unleashing a salvo of burning projectiles that seared caustic scars into the Endless One’s thick hide. It roared, then twisted in a sudden undulation that sent its colossal weight directly onto the crab’s back.

The earth shook at the impact.

Blood splattered, as crystal pillars shattered and broke as their sharp tips impaled the huge worm all along its length. Both monsters roared in pain, and beams of blue and red clashed brightly as they struggled for dominance. Pincers opened and shut, as bristles regrew and scraped off layers of hard exoskeleton.

Ice fought against fire all while a certain undead continued to feast like an engorged tick. The Named shook as its host raged, but nothing could slake its hunger or dislodge it as it consumed the bright red meat and used its glowing scarlet horns to keep the hole in the side of the beast wide open. Blood and viscera poured out, specks of black contaminating the blood, as the Wendigo lashed out with its teeth.

Every bite it took, ripped chunks of meat off the worm, disappearing down its non-existent throat as if by magic to fuel its incredible recovery. Diseased flesh reformed atop its skull, then bone erupted from the base and displaced the silver streamers with dozens of vertebrae appearing and splitting off into ribcage, arms and legs. Needle-sharp claws materialized out of nothing and immediately set to work ripping the hole in the side of the beast ever wider.

Chilly took a terrified step back as he beheld the speck on the side of the worm recovering as the two titans busied themselves with battering each other with mighty blows.

The Drained Brine King faltered as its shell cracked with each engagement, but literal rivers of blood were pouring out of the side of the Endless One. Rime grew along the side of the wound, only for the Wendigo to destroy the protective ice, and continue its feast.

With each passing moment, the bosses weakened while the Wendigo healed and grew stronger by bathing in the blood of its enemies.

“The Wendigo needs a chilly pilly.” a penguin frowned at the carnage, throwing Chilly out of the stupor he had fallen into.

“We’ve gotta do something,” Chilly whispered. “It’s...winning.”