Their swords clashed with the Titan Hammer, causing a wave of sparks that illuminated the faces of the two enemies. They were decayed, but one thing was clear. They were alive, yet at the same time, dead.

The Goat Horse moved closer, still in its equine form. "Get on my back!" it shouted with urgency in its voice. With a jump, Marshmallow climbed onto the Goat Horse, which immediately began to gallop away from the two corrupted beings.

They needed a strategy. Marshmallow couldn't use light, and these enemies were not to be underestimated. As they galloped, the Goat Horse asked Marshmallow, "Do you know anything about those two?"

"They're A Rank Novgovians, Goat Horse," Marshmallow replied with a worried tone. "And I have no idea how they could have ended up in this state. This isn't simple corruption; there's something much more sinister behind all this."

The Goat Horse nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. A Rank Novgovians were practically the most powerful players in the Survivor Game, and the fact that they had been reduced to mute, corrupted monsters was a sign of something very dangerous.

But what really scared him wasn't those two beings. No, what made him shiver to the core was the realization that Marshmallow might suffer the same fate. This was no time to hesitate. Action was imperative. With a mighty whinny of challenge, the Goat Horse charged forward, galloping away from the two corrupted beings. Marshmallow was firmly in the saddle, clutching the Titan Hammer with an iron grip.

I have to do something! Lumokinesis doesn't work here, I only have the Titan Hammer and Stasis Shock left. Wait, of course!

Marshmallow had a revelation, something he had already done during the training in the Crypt of Valor. His hands ignited with sparks, activating his Stasis Shock.

"Marshmallow, what the hell are you doing?" the Goat Horse asked as it galloped swiftly away from the two corrupted beings. "Your light attacks don't seem to work on them!"

"I know, I know! It's not Lumokinesis," Marshmallow replied, his brow furrowed in intense concentration. "I still have one more trick up my sleeve."

The Goat Horse looked at him in astonishment as Marshmallow raised the Titan Hammer and began to infuse a different kind of energy into its metallic head. "What are you doing?"

"I'm charging the hammer with Stasis Shock," Marshmallow replied with a sly smile. "Let's see how they react to this. Now listen, dodge their attacks until I'm ready to strike!" he shouted to his steed. "When I tell you to, swing wide to position me!"

The Goat Horse nodded sharply, focusing on the uneven ground in front of them as the two rusted colossi lumbered forward unsteadily. Their chipped armors creaked in sync, and their rusted swords swung slowly in a menacing threat.

In the blink of an eye, one of the two vanished in a flash of violet light, reappearing in front of Marshmallow with a staggering step. The warrior barely noticed in time to see a huge, dented fist coming at him without warning.

The blow hit him squarely in the chest, sending him crashing into a pile of rubble with a dry thud, and he was dismounted. Marshmallow screamed from the sharp pain that exploded in his ribs, and the Titan Hammer rolled out of his hand as he tumbled awkwardly among the debris.

"Argh! Damn bastards!" he growled, then coughed up a jet of dark blood.

He could clearly feel a broken bone, or perhaps more than one. But before he could recover, the shadowy figure reappeared in another flash of violet light, looming over him with a sword raised for the killing blow.

"NO!" The Goat Horse suddenly reared up, charging full force with its goat-like horns against the rusted giant. The giant's swing came down.

SWUM!

But the Goat Horse had destabilized him just enough so that the blade missed Marshmallow, landing to the side. Then, without any warning, it vanished again into a black hole that burst out of nowhere.

Marshmallow gasped for air as he struggled to get up with the little strength he had left. His broken rib throbbed with blinding pain, his breath growing more labored and shallow.

"Not... able to react..." he gasped, spitting another clot of dark blood. "How do I stop him if he teleports like that instantly?"

"Don't give up, damn it!" the Goat Horse encouraged him, pawing the ground bellicosely. "Show those two bastards why you're the strongest of all! You survived Balor's flames, what are these carcasses to you?"

"Oh right, don't worry about me..." Marshmallow growled with a hoarse voice but filled with indomitable determination. "I just wanted to catch them off guard! I was just leading them to underestimate me a bit..."

With a beastly effort, Marshmallow gathered all his strength and stood up firmly. His legs only trembled imperceptibly as he turned towards his animal companion.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Come here, old friend! It's time for another ride!"

The Goat Horse wasted no time in obeying. In a few bounds, Marshmallow was back on its back, holding tightly to the mane to keep his balance. And not a moment too soon.

Around the two corrupted titans, pools of blackish liquid erupted from the cracked ground as a prelude to an even more chilling darkness. From those boiling sludges, rotten bones and human remains began to writhe and crawl out, gathering around the skeletal monster in a macabre jumble of skeletons and rusted armor.

"Oh shit, I see..." Marshmallow tightened his legs around the sides of the Goat Horse, while a light of ancient terror shone in the latter's eyes. "One can create portals and manipulate space... and the other is a necromancer! Spatiokinesis and Necrokinesis, what a nasty pair."

A first pair of armored skeletons lunged forward, wielding battered swords and rusted lances in their bony pest-ridden arms. The Goat Horse kicked vigorously, sending a cloud of debris to scatter them, while Marshmallow effortlessly mowed them down with a rapid series of swings of the Titan Hammer. The Stasis Shock infused in the hammer made Marshmallow's strikes even more powerful.

More skeletons joined the assault. Marshmallow did not miss a beat in pulverizing them, striking repeatedly with his weapon and riding furiously.

"Bring down as many as you want, bastards!" Marshmallow roared as he continued to scythe down each enemy skeleton. "These are empty corpses to me! Come on, if you dare!"

The necromantic giant moved with stiff and unnatural movements as Marshmallow continued to rout the wave of skeletons. The abomination of deformed bones began to swirl its arms in an arcane gesture, channeling all its nefarious energy into the ground in front of it.

With a dull rumble, a wall of compact putrid sludge rose from the cracked earth, slowly forming the shape of a huge skeletal dragon. Stripped bones, shreds of rotten flesh, and ruined armor began to levitate towards that horrendous construction, reassembling into an immense and inhuman creature.

"Look!" the Goat Horse shrieked in a gasp of pure terror. "He's summoning a Bone Dragon!"

Marshmallow grinned through clenched teeth, his eyes glowing with incandescent fury. "Perfect! The bigger they are, the harder they fall!"

The Bone Dragon finished taking shape with a disjointed roar, rising on mighty pulverized legs. Its massive body was a disgusting jumble of bone debris and rotten flesh, and fangs hung like razors from its enormous toothless mouth.

Marshmallow did not waste a single moment admiring the horrendous sight. With a battle cry, he charged forward on the Goat Horse, swinging the Stasis Shock-infused Titan Hammer in wide circles to gather all his power. He had decided that he would destroy it in one blow.

"Die!" Marshmallow's roar resounded like an explosion and transformed into a devastating blow. The impact against the neck of the Bone Dragon was so powerful that it triggered a shockwave that scattered the bones and remains of the monster in a vortex of smoking debris. The skeletal head flew off and rolled on the ground.

"You can do it, buddy!" the Goat Horse shouted joyously with a triumphant neigh. "We've--"

Without warning, one of those dimensional vortices opened right beside the Goat Horse. A huge dented fist burst out... and Marshmallow was violently thrown off the saddle.

Marshmallow flew like a projectile, tumbling awkwardly across the rough terrain before crashing against a wall of cracked rock. A clot of dark blood spurted from his lips as the breath was knocked out of him by the monstrous impact.

"Aaaargh!" he cried out in agony, his hand convulsively clutching at his ribs where he felt the bones crushed. The Titan Hammer rolled away as he struggled to remain conscious.

The Spatiokinesis giant advanced towards him with a wobbling step, other dark vortices opening and closing around its massive body. Along with him approached the Necrokinesis giant, bringing with it a miasma of death.

Was this the end?

"Marshmallow! No!" The Goat Horse neighed sharply while kicking furiously at the enemy. "Leave him alone, you bastards!"

But before it could charge, the massive black blade of the Spatiokinesis giant planted into the ground in front of its hooves, causing it to recoil scared backward.

"N-no... we can't fight them together anymore..." Marshmallow gasped as he struggled to stand up. The piercing pain blinded his sight, but once again his stubbornness urged him not to give up. "Horse... run... save yourself..."

"Don't even say that as a joke!" the animal snarled with a flame of courage in its eyes. "I'll never leave you behind, Marshmallow! We're a team, remember?"

A faint smile played on Marshmallow's bloodied lips as he slowly raised his gaze towards his faithful companion. "Goat Horse... you are the best friend I could have had in this crazy battle..."

With supreme effort, Marshmallow managed to stand up despite his horrific injuries. Blood poured copiously from his mouth, the continuous blunt impacts had reduced his body to a pulp, but the flame of determination continued to burn wild in his eyes. He picked up the Titan Hammer from the ground resolutely. It wasn't over yet.

"I... will defeat them..." he growled through clenched teeth, breathing more intense and furious. "No matter what it costs me, I won't let these two scoundrels escape the oblivion they deserve!"

As one of the colossi approached to deliver the coup de grâce, the Amulet of Flames that Marshmallow kept in his pocket began to glow with a blinding light. Intense heat emanated from the talisman, enveloping Marshmallow's battered body in a crimson aura.

"What the hell is happening?" Marshmallow muttered through clenched teeth, squinting against the intensity of that light.

But inexplicably, he no longer felt pain. His wounds seemed to heal at an incredible speed, his bones were re-knitting, and his injured skin was regenerating. In just a few moments, Marshmallow felt as if reborn, just like when he had defeated Balor the Immortal.

When the glow from the Amulet faded, Marshmallow found himself actually healed, with his strength fully restored. Wide-eyed with astonishment, he then saw his faithful Titan Hammer begin to transform.

"I can't believe it..." he gasped with a hint of reverential awe in his voice.

The large metal head became incandescent, melting and reshaping into a more streamlined form. At the center, a core of pure fire burned like a massive star, wrapped in a layer of molten magma-colored metal. The handle was remodeled, with dark flame tongues wrapping around its surface in a spiral.

A power-up display appeared, detailing the new stats of the weapon:

Weapon Evolution!

Titan Hammer → Supernova Titan Hammer

Power: 30% → 200%

Fire Element: None → Hellfire Infusion

Bonus Effect: None → Cauterizing Strikes

Rarity: Rare → Legendary

“Eh eh, really?” Marshmallow whispered with a thin voice loaded with awe. "I think you're screwed now."