Kopii stood just a few meters away from them. His face and outer garments were covered in blood. He seemed larger than he actually was. But the most distinctive feature, setting him apart from his former self, was his eyes. They were black, absolutely black, as if they were staring into the void rather than into a human eye. Or was he even human? This gaze filled them with dread. Larsen recoiled from the sight and decided to act.
"What are you standing there like statues for? Atta…" He didn't get to finish his sentence before Kopii closed the distance and struck him in the stomach. Larsen was sent flying through the air from Kopii's blow. Larsen's eyes widened, he hadn't expected Kopii to be so fast and strong. But Kopii didn't stop: he grabbed Larsen by the leg while he was still airborne and slammed him into the ground. A crunch. Everyone heard that gruesome sound.
"Father!!!" they all screamed, their fear replaced by anger. But he didn't care about their cries; he already wanted to crush Larsen's head, but Elric and Torvin intervened.
"Get away from him!!!" Torvin shouted, lunging at the monster with his sword. "Stay back!!!"
He dodged Torvin's strike and aimed for Torvin's trachea. He waited for Kopii to counterattack, but Torvin just smirked.
"Bang! Take that, you monster!"
He didn't have time to recover from Elric's punch. Elric grinned as his attack landed successfully. But his smile began to fade when he saw that he hadn't even made him flinch. The monster immediately retaliated with a blow to the stomach.
"Kh… kh…" Elric coughed, falling to his knees. But Kopii didn't stop, dodging Garvin's shot and Torvin's strike.
"How dare you!" Garvin cried, continuing to fire a volley of arrows. Kopii kept dodging Torvin's attacks, but Garvin didn't allow the monster to counterattack. When he tried to attack Torvin, Garvin released arrows.
"Elric, are you okay?"
"Kh… kh…" Elric coughed. "I've been through worse. Focus on the fight, Torvin. I'll get up now," Elric said, starting to rise.
"Alright!" Torvin yelled to his brother, making another lunge towards Kopii. Torvin smirked as the monster once again refused to counterattack him. "See, that's what teamwork is! Even if you're stronger than us, so what! What difference does it make how strong you are if you can't attack?"
After these words, Torvin noticed that Kopii's face had turned completely towards him, a face twisted with anger and hatred. Torvin flinched for a moment upon seeing those eyes, but continued to attack, knowing that his brother had his back.
"Hate… I hate…" Kopii thought. These words had a strong effect on him, he gave in even more to his thirst and hatred. Now all his attention was completely focused on one person. He saw Torvin coincide attack from top to bottom.
"Stop, Torvin, I can't see!" Garvin shouted.
"What?" These were the last words Torvin could utter before the monster kicked him in the thigh. Crunch. "Aaaaaaaa! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"
But the monster didn't stop and struck his trachea, cutting off his air for a moment. Kopii didn't get a chance to finish off Torvin, as Elric decided to interfere again.
Elric, roaring with rage and pain for his brother, rushed into battle once more. His movements were not as precise as before, but they were filled with desperation. He understood that he was stronger than all of them, but they were not planning to give up.
The monster didn't seem to even notice Elric. His black, inhuman eyes were fixed on Torvin, lying on the ground and gasping, trying to catch his breath. The monster slowly approached him, as if savoring his torment.
Elric, seeing this, threw himself at him from the side, trying to knock him off his feet. But he brushed him off like a pesky fly, with an elbow strike to the face. Elric flew to the side, feeling his nose bones crack.
"Torvin!!! Elric!!! No, stop!" Garvin's eyes widened in horror. Everything was fine just a moment ago… How did they get to this? How did he escape? "Father…" Garvin whispered, looking towards where his father was lying. Because of the darkness, it wasn't clear whether he was breathing or not. "I must… I must…"
"Aaa… It hurts…" Elric didn't understand how Kopii could throw him around like a feather. His whole body ached. Why was he so strong? Elric tried to get up. "I can still fight!" he croaked, getting up. And when his vision returned to normal, he saw Kopii's knee in front of his face. Cr… Crunch. But Kopii didn't stop there.
"You will suffer!" Kopii screamed, grabbing Elric by the neck and lifting him up. He began to tighten his grip, and only Elric's gasps were heard. He began to hit the monster in the face, but he didn't care, they were like mosquito bites to him. Elric felt his body weakening. "I'm going to die…" Elric thought, looking into those eyes and a face full of madness.
"No, stop!" Garvin cried, but the monster ignored him again. Garvin decided to act. With trembling hands, he began to draw back the bow. He could only hope for one thing: that Kopii had forgotten about him or was completely focused on Elric. "I can do it." He released the string. Garvin was hoping for this attack. He knew that he wouldn't kill him, he just wanted to save his brother's life.
Elric sees how he caught the arrow with his hand. From this, Garvin's face stretched in horror. But thanks to this, the monster released his neck. "Kh… kh…" Elric coughed, but before he could rejoice, he felt pain in his right eye.
"AAAAAA! Take it out! It hurts, it hurts so much! AAAAA!" Elric screamed, thrashing around.
Garvin's face contorted in horror. He didn't understand why everything had happened like this. He just froze in fear, unable to move, as the monster turned his attention to him, from the look of those eyes. Garvin froze in fear. He was in despair. Garvin just watched as Kopii very quickly closed the distance between them. He couldn't say anything or move. His body refused to obey. And Elric's screams only amplified Garvin's fear.
Garvin squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for certain death. He felt Kopii approaching, his heavy breathing burning his face. A picture of his family flashed through his mind, happy moments of childhood, training with his father and brothers. All of this was slipping away like sand through his fingers.
He didn't have to wait long. A blow to the chest. A very strong pain told him that his ribs had probably broken from the blow. But Kopii didn't stop there, he grabbed him by the leg, turned around, and threw Garvin over himself.
Garvin felt only pain and nothing but pain. He heard Kopii running towards him. "I don't want to… please don't kill me," Garvin pleaded with the last of his strength. "Please… plea…"
But before he could finish speaking, the monster trampled him into the ground. But after a while, the blow didn't follow. Ringing in the ears. Garvin didn't understand what had happened.
"Don't touch my sons!!!" Larsen shouted, hitting Kopii with a magic hammer. Kopii only managed to block. Kopii was sent flying through the air from the blow of the magic weapon, but fell into the river.
"Get out of here!" Larsen's eyes widened when he realized that his blow had almost no effect on his spirit. He watched as Kopii swam closer and closer under the strong current of water.
"Monster… you monster!" Larsen cried. He didn't know what to do: if he got out of the river, they would all die. He would no longer be able to hit him with a magical weapon. But he didn't hesitate for long, he ran to the bow and scattered arrows. "Taking the bow. Where is it? Where is it?" Oh, finally found it!" Larsen began to pull back the bow with an arrow that contained a drug. He was almost out when an arrow flew into his shoulder.
He felt weakness, which allowed the stream to take him with him. But this weakness quickly disappeared. He briefly regained consciousness, but he could not withstand all this pain and lost consciousness.