~~~
Green flames exploded from the Treant's corrupted form, filling the chamber with searing heat as a wall of fire rushed toward Jin and Rudy with the speed of an avalanche.
Oh, fuck me.
The temperature spiked beyond what human flesh could endure—Jin could literally feel the moisture evaporating from his eyes as the air itself caught fire, turning their entire environment into a superheated death trap.
"Of all things, A fire-type Treant was not what I was expecting!"
Of course, the fire-weak enemy becomes fire-immune in its second phase. Why wouldn't it? That would make too much sense for a dungeon designed by sadistic ancient architects.
The emerald inferno stretched across the entire width of the chamber, reaching from floor to ceiling in a roiling mass of supernatural flame.
"Rudy!" Jin's voice cracked as he sprinted toward his friend, boots skidding on stone slick with condensation from the sudden heat. "Shield up! Now!"
Rudy's purple eyes widened for a heartbeat before understanding flooded his expression. He dropped to one knee without hesitation, planting his feet like roots driving deep into bedrock. The Shield came up in a perfect defensive stance, its surface gleaming with desperate hope.
Jin hit the ground in a sliding tackle. His palms pressed flat against his friend's shoulders, essence already flowing.
Two sorceries. Simultaneously. While my essence reserves are already running on fumes. This is either going to save us or kill me. Possibly both.
"Jin!" Rudy's voice carried panic beneath the determination as he braced for impact. "What are you planning?"
"Something incredibly stupid and potentially life-saving!" Jin gasped, power already gathering in his chest like a miniature sun preparing to explode. "Just hold the line and trust me!"
« O Earth that endures, grant us your strength to stand unmoved! »
Power ripped from Jin's core, flowing into Rudy's frame like molten iron poured into a mold. His friend's muscles swelled, his grip on the shield tightening until the metal groaned.
Jin barely had time to breathe before launching the second invocation:
« O Frost that drinks all heat, swallow what would burn us! »
His essence reserves scraped bottom as he pulled more power than his depleted state could safely handle.
The magical backlash hit him like a sledgehammer to the soul—blood erupted from his mouth in a violent spray, painting Rudy's armored back crimson. His vision blurred as blood vessels burst in his eyes, sending hot streams down his cheeks that mixed with tears he didn't remember crying.
That's what I get for casting two sorceries simultaneously while already exhausted.
"Jin!" Rudy's voice carried genuine terror beneath his determination. "You're bleeding! A lot!"
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock," Jin spat blood, his grip tightening on Rudy's shoulders as his hands began to shake from essence depletion.
"Just stay strong, okay? Be the immovable object. Be the Colossus. Unmoved. Unbroken. Don't you dare collapse now."
The corrupted green flames slammed into them like a tsunami of liquid agony made manifest.
Jin's heat negation sorcery absorbed what it could, creating a bubble of survivable temperature around their huddled forms.
But the corrupted fire was too much, too fundamentally wrong. It twisted around his defenses like a living thing, seeking gaps in his protection with malicious intelligence.
The flames that got through turned the air to molten copper in his lungs. His armor heated until it scorched his skin through the padding, metal plates becoming brands that pressed against his flesh.
But Rudy held.
The "Bulwark of Duran" lived up to its name, deflecting the worst of the inferno while Jin's strength enhancement kept his friend planted like a mountain against the storm. The chamber filled with the roar of flames and the ring of metal pushed beyond its limits.
"Ahhh!" Jin gasped, pumping more essence into the failing heat negation. "It's not enough!"
Blood poured from his nose now, joining the crimson rivers from his mouth and eyes. His hands shook against Rudy's back as his essence reserves scraped bottom.
His consciousness started to fray at the edges, darkness creeping in from the corners of his vision.
I'm going to pass out. We're going to die because I'm too weak to maintain two fucking sorceries.
"Jin!" Rudy's voice cut through the flame-roar. "Be ready!"
"Ready for what?" Jin wheezed, barely managing to keep the words coherent.
Then Rudy roared.
Not a human sound—something primal and raw that came from depths Jin didn't know existed. Golden light erupted from Rudy's frame, starting as a flicker and building to a supernova that turned the green flames pale in comparison.
What the hell?
The light grew exponentially, pouring off Rudy in waves that made Jin's essence-burned eyes water.
Rudy rose slowly from his kneeling position, pushing back against the Treant's inferno like he was shoving aside a curtain.
This is his Mantle. He grasped the essence of the Colossus.
The temperature around them plummeted as Rudy's presence asserted itself. The corrupted green flames guttered and died where they touched his golden radiance, unable to maintain cohesion against something so fundamentally opposed to destruction.
The golden radiance reached its peak, turning Rudy into a figure carved from living sunlight. He drew back his shield arm and slammed the metal face forward with the force of a falling mountain.
BOOM.
Energy exploded outward in a shockwave that shattered the green flames like glass. The corrupted fire scattered and died, leaving only wisps of smoke and the acrid smell of burned stone.
Jin collapsed backward, gasping for air that no longer tasted like molten metal. His essence reserves were empty, his body a map of pain drawn in blood and strain.
That was incredible. Rudy just... broke a pseudo-Order II attack.
Jin watched his friend sway on his feet. The golden radiance flickered and died, leaving Rudy pale and gasping. Purple eyes found Jin's face, wide with concern and residual adrenaline.
I guess I should also step up now…
Jin snatched the essence vial from his spatial storage and downed its contents in one desperate gulp. Warmth flooded through him, not enough to fully heal his essence damage but sufficient to function. He wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and surged to his feet.
The Treant stood wounded but not defeated, the massive hole in its chest already beginning to knit closed with sickly green light.
Not this time, you wooden bastard.
Jin's hands found Iron Howl, his fingers working with mechanical precision to eject the standard magazine and slide in the expensive armor-piercing rounds. Each bullet gleamed with deadly enchantments, their surfaces inscribed with runes that promised destruction.
"Rudy!" Jin called out. "When I fire, be ready to follow up! We only get one shot at this!"
"Always ready!" Rudy responded, hefting his sword despite his obvious exhaustion. "Just tell me when!"
He raised Iron Howl, sighting down the barrel at the Treant's wounded chest. His essence, barely recovered from the essence recovery potion, flowed into the weapon's enchantments like the last drops from a nearly empty reservoir.
The gun drank his power greedily, its appetite seeming endless.
Everything. Every drop of power I have left.
Iron Howl responded like a starving predator offered fresh meat. The gun's runes blazed to life, cycling from dull red to brilliant silver as Jin's essence saturated its magical matrix. The weapon vibrated in his grip, hungry for violence.
"Come on, beautiful," Jin whispered to the gun. "Show me what you're really made of."
The Treant's hollow eyes focused on him, recognizing the threat. It raised one massive arm, vines erupting from its fingertips like seeking serpents.
Too late.
Jin squeezed the trigger.
A blinding flash of silver light filled the chamber, followed by a sound like thunder trapped in a bottle and then released all at once. The armor-piercing round left the barrel trailing essence-fire, its passage through the air leaving a scar of light that burned afterimages into Jin's retinas.
The bullet struck the Treant's center mass and detonated.
Wood exploded outward in a spray of splinters and dark sap as the round punched a hole the size of a dinner plate through the creature's torso. The Treant staggered, its regeneration overwhelmed by the sheer destructive force of an essence-enhanced, enchanted armor-piercing round.
Jin stumbled backward, Iron Howl smoking in his grip, his essence completely depleted. The recoil had been immense—not just physical, but spiritual, the gun's hunger draining him to the very dregs of his power.
Did we get it?
The Treant swayed like a tree in a hurricane, green fire flickering weakly around its wounds. For a moment, Jin thought it might fall.
Then he saw movement behind the wounded guardian.
Rudy materialized from the smoke like an avenging spirit, his longsword trailing golden light as he moved with impossible speed. The blade swept in a perfect arc, catching the last rays of his Colossus power and transforming them into a cutting force that could cleave mountains.
The sword met the Treant's neck with a sound like singing crystal.
For a heartbeat, nothing moved.
Then the guardian's head toppled from its shoulders, hitting the stone floor with a wet thud that echoed through the sudden silence.
Jin watched the massive body collapse, his ears ringing from the gunshot and his vision swimming from essence depletion. They'd done it. Against all odds, two Order 0 fighters had brought down a corrupted peak Order I, no a quasi Order II guardian.
We actually won.
The chamber fell silent except for the sound of settling stone and the hiss of cooling metal. Smoke drifted through the air like ghostly fingers, carrying the acrid scent of burned wood and molten rock.
Jin collapsed to one knee, Iron Howl slipping from his trembling fingers to clatter against the stone floor. Blood streamed from his eyes in crimson rivulets, mixing with the gore that had erupted from his mouth during the final essence surge. Every breath felt like swallowing glass, his lungs screaming in protest.
Did we actually do it?
The Treant's massive form lay motionless, a gaping crater where its chest had been. Golden sap leaked from the wound like molten honey, pooling beneath the guardian's shattered frame. Rudy's sword protruded from the base of its skull, the blade still humming with residual power.
"Jin!" Rudy's voice cut through the smoke, rough with exhaustion and concern. "You still breathing over there?"
"Barely," Jin wheezed, wiping blood from his chin with the back of his hand. His vision swam, but he forced himself to focus. "Is it dead? Please tell me it's actually dead this time."
Rudy yanked his sword free with a wet squelch, golden sap spraying across his armor. He prodded the creature's head with his boot, then delivered a solid kick to what remained of its torso. Nothing moved.
"It's done." Rudy's shoulders sagged with relief. "That thing isn't getting back up."
Thank fuck. Jin slumped against the nearest wall, letting the cool stone support his weight. I don't think I could handle another phase transition.
And just then, his [Appraisal] skill flickered to life without conscious command, the familiar blue interface materializing in his vision:
[TRIAL GUARDIAN: 100 YEAR TREANT - CORRUPTED FORM ????????
Jin stared at the cascade of ???? Messages, his blood-soaked brain struggling to process what he was seeing.
Well, that doesn't look ominous at all.
~~~