Rin's torn hoodie spread beneath him like dark wings, his own blood already soaking through the fabric from his mouth and nose.
But Thrúiowre didn't stop there. They began to pound Rin on the ground with their large fists as the cave shook violently.
Each blow landed like a falling boulder from heaven.
The first fist drove into Rin's ribs with a wet crunch that echoed off the walls. The second slammed his shoulder back into stone, cracking it further. The third struck his side, forcing him to hiss in a sharp gasp.
The cavern trembled with every single impact, like an earthquake—the stalactites rattled, dust and loam rained from the ceiling, cracks raced upward like lightning in reverse.
The phosphorescent veins blinked unsteadily, casting wild shadows that danced across the Titan's unmoving helmet. Rin's body jerked with each hit, his arms pinned uselessly at his sides, blood smearing his lips as he refused to cry out in yield or give up.
With a final hammer slam to Rin's rib cage, the entire cave imploded and shattered like a thousand crystals.
The blow was utterly thunderous.
Rin's abdomen caved inward under the force, a choked sound escaping him. Then even the ceiling gave way.
Massive slabs of rock tore free and plummeted from even afar, as the floor distorted and bent. Then everything that was in this cave dropped through the shattering bedrock in a roaring drop. Darkness and silence began to swallow everything, broken only by tumbling sparks of the phosphorescence and the distant rumble of falling earth.
They all fell until they appeared and landed in a volcanic area, the weather cloudier and violent.
The new realm was a scorched plain under a sky the color of nasty old bruises. Black ash drifted like dark snow in the air.
Lava rivers glowed dull red in the distance, their heat warping the space into shimmering waves. Thunder rolled, but there was no lightning to be seen, just low and relentless roar.
The ground was cracked under the landing of the fighters, still quite warm underfoot. The sulfur here could sting the lungs and easily kill the weak.
Rin had hit the surface hard first, then Thrúiowre landed beside him, their armor ringing against stone without a dent.
"You still refuse to yield, Kiyoshi Rin?"
Rin was bloodied and breathing labored, his eyes were closed and his clothes were ragged, practically useless now.
"And I liked this hoodie, too. Too bad," Rin rasped as he coughed more blood.
The blood soaked his deep blue hair to his forehead. And his left arm dangled at a grotesque angle, the bone discernibly misaligned.
Shallow breaths rattled in his chest, each one bubbling and pained. He lay motionless for long seconds, with the only movement being the slow rise and fall of his ribs.
"Fool. You will perish at this rate," Thrúiowre shifted their massive head, "Drop this silliness already. You cannot defeat me."
A little while later, the space tore a bit farther from them—a purple rift splitting the air with a soft crack—and worried maids came out of it, horrified at their master's state.
***
Inferna and Munganda had stepped out of the portal in perfect unison, but they were restless.
Inferna's golden horns caught the dull volcanic glow, and Munganda's black hair whipped in the sulfur wind.
But their worried expressions worsened the instant they saw Rin.
"G… Goshujin… sama…" Inferna's yellow eyes widened.
"Master, I plead with you, concede defeat!" Munganda's white-slit pupils contracted to pinpoints.
Both of them had frozen in fear for a moment, but then they disregarded Rin's orders and began to walk towards him.
Thrúiowre faced the duo, the light in their eyes blazing bright in warning, "Do not interfere, sycophants."
They stopped immediately, gritting their teeth.
"You're killing him!" Munganda yelled, but stilled the moment she saw the bright look in Rin's eyes.
He wasn't done playing yet, and it broke his maids heart.
Thrúiowre ignored them and walked over the beat-up Rin, then raised a hand and the dark giant ornate sword fogged into being. The blade materialized from swirling shadow, those patterns shifting along its edge.
Thrúiowre lifted it high, point aimed downward at Rin's chest. The starry red glow inside the helmet locked on the mess that used to be Rin, firm and determined.
"Farewell, Kiyoshi Rin," the rumble of a voice boomed across the scorching environment, "being the merciful individual I am, I shall cast your soul into the reincarnation cycle of your world. Rest assured, you will not simply hover over the void after your death."
Then they raised up the sword... And just stayed that way.
Rin looked at Thrúiowre slowly, his beat-up face heartbreaking. "What…? If you're going to do it, make it quick…"
His voice was hoarse and barely above a whisper, with blood bubbling out from the corner of his mouth.
His blue eyes, marked with blood and dull now, met the red glow of Thrúiowre without fear, only weary entertainment.
But Thrúiowre only watched him with those starry red glows for eyes.
SMASHHH!
Before they would say anything, something had moved fast and powerfully struck Thrúiowre's head upward.
With the force raising their head up, Thrúiowre saw him skyward smiling cheerfully.
Rin had suddenly leapt up and punched Thrúiowre.
The strike came from nowhere; Rin's good fist, wrapped in bright golden aura, slammed into the underside of the helmet with a heavy metallic clang that rang across the plain.
Thrúiowre's head snapped back and they staggered a little, being caught completely off guard. Rin, however, landed lightly on his feet, swaying but grinning wide.
As he ran to his maids, "Baaaka~!" He laughed at Thrúiowre, as Munganda and Inferna hurried to check his health and heal him.
Inferna caught him first, one of her arm sliding around his waist to steady him.
Munganda bent immediately, a violet glow already blooming from her palms as she pressed them gently to his twisted arm. The glow seeped into skin and bone, knitting slowly, easing the worst of the pain, and healing him gradually.
Rin leaned into them both, still chuckling despite the blood on his lips.
"Iya~! I thought you were going to strike that last one, seriously," Rin explained to Thrúiowre. "I had a perfect technique to counter it brilliantly. But it only works when the opponent moves with palpable killing intent. But you suddenly went soft on me!"
"I appears… that I do not wish to truly slay you," Thrúiowre's voice boomed in the volcanic region they stood. "Perhaps, it is because you are not evil, just immensely stubborn and a pain to deal with."