Bloody Juggernaut

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/BOOOOOOOM!/

/TREMBLE!/

'The Dungeon trembled as the impact between the blade and the claw ensued.'

'An explosion of extreme proportions with Ottar as the center spread out, blowing out everything, be it rock or monster into pieces.'

'This included the people of the Freya Familia…'

"ARG!"

'Even if they tried to resist, the ground beneath them was destroyed, their foothold crushed to pieces.'

/Crackle…/

'As the dust cloud rose into the skies the entire Floor became eerily silent, with the only sounds in the air being the noises of stone and rabble falling from the sky.'

/Crack!/

'But suddenly, the sound of metal cracking echoed in the plains.'

/Thud…/

'From within the dust, Ottar's sword broke into pieces as half of its metallic blade fell onto the ground with a heavy thud.'

'Behind it, Ottar stood, clutching onto the sword's handle, the only thing left of the blade.'

/Drip drip…/

'Droplets of blood fell like rain onto the ground from multiple corners of his body, traveling from his face down his arm and into his fingers...'

'He was extremely injured, but he remained tall, unflinching.'

/SHAA!/

/CRACK!/

/BREAK!/

'In front of him, the Juggernaut quickly rose from the ground as it jumped back to create distance...'

'Unburing itself from all the rabble that fell atop it, a translucent layer started to peel and crack as it moved, very much like a lizard's skin.'

'It's protective barrier had been broken in a single strike!'

/Bleed.../

'Its flesh was torn, bleeding heavily onto the red sand, but its gaze was even more ferocious.'

'Just as Ottar was a Champion amidst mortals, this creature was a Beast amidst monsters, it wouldn't fall just because it lost a single confrontation.'

/GRR…/

'It growled, gazing at him from afar, it was studying Ottar, figuring out his strengths and powers... While also scanning for any visible weaknesses.'

'His last strike almost killed it, albeit its survival came at the cost of one arm and its defensive later, both being lost in exchange to shake off Ottar's strongest attack with only major injuries.'

'It now knew that it couldn't receive another one of those hits head on, it had to seek an opportunity in-between...'

'It was looking for a chance.'

/Step…/

'But what the creature didn't expect was for Ottar to recover in the blink of an eye.'

'True to his name as King, Ottar took a step forward, not back.'

'His bleeding had already stopped, his gaze was focused…'

'His wounds were still open, but that was inconsequential to him, as his body could still fight, he could still move, his sword...'

/FWOOSH!/

'From the skies, a large sword made its way to him, being thrown by someone else!'

/Grab!/

'Ottar raised his hand and grabbed it without looking back, his expression not changing as if he expected this.'

'This was obviously Ottar's second sword, as he always walked around with two black blades specifically for situations like this one.'

'Ottar was used to his weapons breaking due to his raw physical power, even a pure Adamantite sword would break to his swings, while a pure Orichalchum blade was too inefficient for him to us.'

'And right now, his experience saved him the trouble of fighting unarmed.'

"COUGH!"

I think I punctured my eardrums...

'From behind him, the others slowly got up.'

'Allen rested his bleeding body on his spear, breathing heavily as he tried to study the creature in front of him.'

"..."

I liked that pair.

'Hedin looked at his broken glasses, sighing at his unsightly appearance through their broken reflection.'

"What a monster."

But I shall persevere, as I am...

'Hogni, under the effect of his Magic was like a proud warrior, his chest puffed in heroic glory.'

'Successfully predicting Ottar's power, he evaded the monster's attack, as such, he was the least affected by their clash.

'And so, he was also the one that threw Ottar his spare sword.'

"Urg..."

"Haa..."

"..."

"Dvalinn?"

"I-I'm here..."

'Finally, the brothers started to move, helping each other up as some of them were buried beneath the sand.'

'They were the weakest but their willpower was just as great as theirs!'

/Silence.../

'As for the monsters… There were none left, they had all died to the berserking energies released by the clash between Ottars magic and the Juggernaut's barrier.'

'Indeed, the reason why Ottar had been damaged so much was that a considerable portion of his own attack had been reflected right at his face.'

'If he wasn't ready for it, then perhaps... The Juggernaut might've found an opening and struck... What would've happened after that is a mystery.'

'Even then, there was no need to worry about interferences, as with the amount of damage they just caused, no more monsters would spawn and ambush them for a good while.'

"... Hogni… Can you still move?" Hedin asked with a broken smile as he put his shattered  glasses inside his cloak

"I'm barely heated up." The dark elf spoke with a confident smile

"..."

I fucking hate that magic...

"Alright then… What about you cat boy?"

"Haa… Fucking hell… Don't get so cocky… Sharp ears... urg..."

'Allen tried really hard not to grunt, but a painful welp left his mouth, even then, Hedin ignored it as it wasn't the time to make fun of them.'

"What about the 4 little twerps?" Allen asked as he raised his head from his spear's handle

"S-Speak... For yourself cat." Grer spoke as he lifted his Greatsword

"If we're going to fall... It'll only be after you." Alfrigg said as he readied his Spear

"Don't get so full of yourself!" Dvalinn spoke rudely as he smashed his hammer on the ground

"Didn't you... S-Shit your pants a while ago?" Berling said with a sly smile as he removed his axe from within the sand

'The for of them spoke at the same time, making it very hard to understand what any of them was saying, so in the end, Allen just ignored their ramblings.'

'Even their famed coordination seemed to have been blown off due to the clash.'

'But they were alive… Barely, as it was evident how much blood they lost due to stains on their armor.'

'Barely had they even seen the monster, but it dealt more damage to them than anything combined so far in the Expedition.'

/Clench…/

'Enough time had passed.'

/Roar…/

'The Juggernaut… No, the transformed Demi-Spirit gazed at Ottar with hate and anger.'

/Shine…/

'Its chest started to pulsate with red light as something seemed to move inside it…'

'If Silver was here, he might've said the monster was entering phase two...'

/Splurge…/

'Through its wound, it was possible to see that its flesh wasn't red, and it was, in fact, green.'

'It started to squirm and contort as if something was trying to escape its confines.'

/Echo… Echo…/

/Music…/

"Huh?!... What is… This music?" Allen questioned as he looked around

'Suddenly, as the Juggernaut's wounds squirmed, music started to play on their ears…'

"?! That's Spirit Magic!" Hedin exclaimed loudly as he recognized what was happening

Where is it coming from?!

Why is a monster utilizing Spiritual Magic?!

'For him, seeing such a thing was an affront to everything he knew, and even, in a sense, heretical to his beliefs and culture.'

/Fuom!/

'Above its head, a green magic circle formed, and in its chest, right where the dark light was, a hole opened as a melodic voice echoed outside:'

"Bloom, the birth of life, the first creation."

""!!""

'A gentle and soothing feminine voice echoed from within the Juggernaut as its chant started.'

'But its monotone was eerie, as if devoid of the very thing it sang about… Life.'

"Birth and death, return to the earth to start anew."

'With each syllable, its chanting became faster, better, stronger, as if this creature was getting used to it.'

/FWOOSH!/

'Ottar started to run as his expression turned fierce.'

"From a sprout to a mighty tree, bring forth its unending Vitality."

'This was the call for everyone to wake up, Hedin immediately started to cast his own Spells, Allen started to chant his own magic, and Hogni rushed forward with courage.'

"Your envoy beseeches you, Deva. Incarnate of Nature. Queen of forests."

"HUAAAA!"

/SLASH!/

'Ottar delivered a powerful slash against the Juggernaut, but the creature did not try to evade, it instead let another one of its arms be cut…'

"Breath of Life." The gentle female voice said as a green flash took over the Juggernaut, healing all of its wounds as two new pairs of legs grew over its previous ones

/SLASH!/

'Taking Ottar's strange position, the creature slashed with extreme power, trying to capitalize on its foe's oversight…'

/SLASH!/

/PIERCE!/

/SLAM!/

'But it was the one that committed a mistake.'

'The insects that it had disregarded, the creatures it cast aside appeared, slashing and piercing its body from its sides.'

'It tried to block them, send them away, but this gave Ottar the opportunity to slam the back of his sword against its head with everything he had.'

'Ottar would never commit a blunder like this, he had purposely baited the Juggernaut into entering his strike range!'

'Even if it was smart, it had just been born, its combat experience was miles away from them all, a being that moved based solely on instinct was only so good at the end of the day.'

/CRACK!/

'The Juggernaut's skull cracked!'

…

/Below…/

/Crunch…/

/Crunch…/

'A woman with red hair and simple clothes sat down at a rock as she seemed to eat a crystal of some kind.'

(Image?)

/Crunch…/

'One by one, she ate more and more of those crystals, her appetite seemingly endless.'

/Raise…/

'She looked above, feeling something, listening.'

"Looks like those maniacs succeeded… Somehow."

/Crunch/

'But she seemed neither impressed nor disappointed.'

'She only ate the crystals, one by one with a blank expression, from a dozen to a thousand.'

'As if everything above was inconsequential to her.'

/Whispers…/

'She turned her head and looked at the horizon where a large distorted tree rose to the skies.'

'Though it may be better to call it a flower.'

"You want me to what?... Really?"

Bring her... Toys?

That seems like a bother.

Especially considering the people above are...

'This red-haired woman thought for a moment before getting up.'

"I guess there's no harm in checking things out, at least see if their goals were accomplished in any way shape, or form."

I'm sure none of them survived whatever's rampaging up there anyway.

I can't even get to it, that beast is uncontrollable.

"I didn't want to get more work on my hands, but if this is enough to have them all shut up, then it's worth it."

/Crunch/

'Taking one last bite of a magic stone, she climbed to the 58th floor.'

…

/Later.../

/BOOOOOOOOM!!/

"HUAAAAAAAAA!"

/SMASH!/

/BOOOOOOOOM!/

'The terrific fight between the buffed Beasyfied Ottar and the Juggernaut was so intense everyone was forced to stay away.'

"... Dammit..." Allen muttered as he stared at their clash from afar

'The image of an event from the past seemed to flash before his eyes.'

Even after so long... After so much bloodshed, I can still only watch.

I'm still just a bug.

Weakling.

Pathetic.

'He grasped his spear with intense anger and humiliation.'

/BOOOOOOOOM!/

/CLANG!/

/SHAAAAAAAA!/

/TREMBLE!/

'Even from afar, the air pressure from their confrontation shook their surroundings as the ground rumbled as if an Earthquake had struck the Dungeon.'

"..."

It's way stronger than Balor.

The Executioner? How did I never hear about it before?

There are no records of it, nothing... Such a monster...

'Hedin observed their fight as well, trying to figure out what he was seeing.'

'And so did the others.'

/BOOOOOOOM!/

'But... Wasn't this strange?'

'Why were they all staring and not joining?'

'Well... This had to do with Ottar's pride.'

'Upon seeing this creature, something ignited within him, a desire to face an opponent he only heard of before... He finally had the opportunity to settle the scores of a discussion from the distant past.'

'He didn't care why it had changed, he didn't care why it looked different, this time, he was going to end this beast's existence!'

/ROARRR!/

/BOOOOM!/

/Music.../

"Night skies of dark stars..."

/BAM!/

/CRACK!/

"Hildis Vini!!"

/SLASH!/

/SCREAM!/

'The moment the Juggernaut started to chant, Ottar smashed the ground, forcing it to jump away.'

'But it was at that moment that Ottar finished his own chant, slashing his blade at the Juggernaut's chest, cutting whatever was singing in half!!'

'Ottar wasn't a Spell Knight, he couldn't chant and fight at the same time, but he had the ability to finish one verse at a time, switching between attacking and defending whenever the opportunity rose.'

'Ottar had been holding his chant for this very moment!'

...

/At the same time.../

"..."

'The red-haired woman stared at this scene from afar.'

So that is Ottar, the strongest above.

As expected, his strength is overwhelming, if it wasn't for his lowly equipment, his position would be much better.

If this monster goes down... It's over.

'Her eyes turned to the other people on the side...'

But it's different if I take them out first.

A tired boar like him won't be able to escape... At least not in one piece...

"Hum?..."

/BOOOOOM!/

"Tsk."

'She turned around and left.'

...

/Back at the fight.../

'Ottar used his powerful body to tear apart the monster's spine as one of its claws punctured his stomach.'

"HAAAAAAAAAAA!"

'Screaming with extreme rage, Ottar split the monster into two, spraying dark red blood across the ground as its green flesh fell onto the sand...'

'The fight had ended, Ottar defeated the nightmare.'

'His body was battered and he was half dead, but he was still alive, and that was enough for him.'

'He was Ottar, if he didn't die, then he didn't.'

'Especially since...'

"Here, take this." Hogni said as he approached Ottar, giving him a potent Elixir

"..."

/Gulp/

'They had survived the Dungeon's executioner, but their destiny was in sight.'

'The 59th floor, would they continue, or would they stop?'

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