They found Zauric in the hollow of the ledge, looming over the bound souls.

He was a grotesque sight: a towering figure that looked stitched together from shadows and decay. His "robes" were not fabric at all but ragged extensions of his own body—long tatters of blackened sinew that swayed as if caught in a phantom wind. His right arm ended in a jagged iron hook, rusted and pitted with age; his left was scaled and reptilian, greenish hide stretched taut over corded muscle. Each finger ended in claws meant for tearing.

Around him, four souls dangled by spectral threads. They screamed and writhed, but Zauric paid them no mind. With his clawed hand, he cupped the second soul as though it were an egg. His hook punctured deep, splitting light from within, and he peeled the soul's essence apart in shivering fragments. The victim's scream shredded into silence as its body collapsed into pale husk and drifted away like ash.

The remaining two howled for mercy, but Zauric turned to the next, raising it in his talons.

That was when Ammy's voice split the air.

"Zauric!"

The beast stilled, its head cocking unnaturally toward her.

Ammy stepped forward, chin tilted high. A smirk tugged at her lips.

"Cute little show you've got going on up here. But playtime's over. I'm here to put a leash on you, and you're gonna carry a key for me."

The beast's voice scraped like iron on stone. "No."

Her smile sharpened, cruel and amused. "Oh, sweetheart… that wasn't a question."

Her demon eyes ignited fully, searing violet. She lifted her weapon, a long, sinuous lash braided from black sinew, its length bristling with cruel barbs. It writhed in her hand like a living serpent. Kev stood at her flank, hefting his weapon: a massive axe of black steel, its edge veined with crimson light that pulsed like a heartbeat.

The lash snapped forward with a hiss, striking toward Zauric's torso. The beast whirled, his hook hand clashing against the lash, sparks of black flame spitting where metal met sinew. The strike rang out like a bell, echoing down the mountain.

Zauric dropped the soul he held, its chains clattering as it dangled. His burning eyes fixed fully on the intruders now.

Kev swung in next, his axe cleaving downward with brute force. Zauric caught the haft with his reptilian arm, claws digging grooves into the metal as the impact shook the ground beneath them. Kev snarled, shoving forward, muscles straining.

Ammy cracked her whip again, its barbs wrapping around Zauric's hook, pulling tight. She yanked hard, trying to wrench him off balance.

The beast let out a low, rumbling growl, his first true sound of anger, and dragged both of them a step closer instead, his strength monstrous.

***

Kev pressed forward, his axe swinging low and brutal, forcing Zauric to twist his scarecrow-like frame aside. The creature's hook-hand screeched against the blade, sparks flying. Each clash carried a sick rhythm, Ammy's thorned lash snapping to cut across Zauric's ragged body, each strike met with a sweep of his reptilian hand.

While the battle raged, Renny and Old Man Baro edged closer, stopping near the line of bound souls. The air here stank of despair, sharp as sulfur. Renny's eyes lingered on the cracked husks piled beside them, shells, hollow and glimmering faintly like broken eggs.

"What is all this…?"

One of the tethered souls twisted against its chains, voice desperate and thin. "He's a mountain beast. They… they shell souls that have been lost, or those who stray on their way back to the torture zones."

Renny's eyes narrowed. "Like Drosvale."

The soul nodded, trembling. "Yes. Zauric is why some never return. He hunts them, brings them here, cracks them open… reshapes them into creatures fit for Hell. I've been down here so long, seen countless others become victims of a mountain beast. And now..." His voice cracked. "Please. You're demons, aren't you? You can fight him. Free us. Don't let him transform us."

Another soul, straining against its bonds, added its own plea, voice rising with fear.

Baro let out a sharp bark of laughter, shaking his head. "Ha! You poor wretches. Demons, your saviors? Don't make me laugh. We're not a bit better than the beast ripping you apart." He chuckled again, muttering under his breath in Italian, as though the thought of their begging was more pathetic than sad.

The souls fell silent, defeated, their faces sagging in despair.

Renny's gaze lingered on them. His chest tightened faintly with something he refused to name. Baro was right, they were demons, not heroes. It wasn't their place to play savior. Still… something about their pleas clung to him, needling at the back of his mind.

But he said nothing. For now, all that mattered was seeing how this battle against Zauric would end.

***

The battle raged on, Zauric defending with feral precision. His hook lashed out like a guillotine, his reptilian hand dragging up shimmering shells from nothingness, stacking them as barriers. Each time Kev's axe shattered one, Zauric simply formed another, a grim rhythm of break and rebuild. Normal strikes could not pierce through his endless defense.

Kev's eyes burned, frustration sharpening into fury. Then he raised his free hand and snarled:

"Khara Thymós."

A black tremor burst from his chest, rippling the air like shattered glass. Zauric staggered, his scarecrow form twitching as if unseen chains jerked at his limbs.

Kev did not waste the moment. His axe came down with all the weight of his wrath, cleaving past Zauric's faltering guard. The blade struck true, tearing a jagged gash across his ragged frame.

Ammy's demon eyes glowed. She saw it, pinpoint exactness at the strike point. She lashed out, whispering through her teeth:

"Dardamir."

From the wound, leech-like abominations burst into being, slick and writhing, burrowing deeper into the torn flesh. They fed instantly, amplifying the pain, spreading it like wildfire through Zauric's twisted body.

The beast shrieked, a hollow, piercing sound that split the battlefield. He swung wildly with his hook, but every movement only made Kev's axe hungrier. Each resistance fed into the weapon, pulling it back down in brutal arcs that he could not stop.

Again and again, Ammy unleashed Dardamir, the leeches multiplying at each new strike, crawling into every wound. Zauric became a vessel of endless agony, trapped in a tormenting loop: resist, and Kev's axe punished him; falter, and Ammy's spell spread the pain deeper.

The once-untouchable mountainbeast was unraveling, his defenses collapsing under the cruel synergy of demon will.

Renny leaned against a jut of stone, eyes narrowing as he studied the rhythm of the fight.

"Do you see it, Baro?" he muttered. "Kev smashes through the defenses, forces Zauric to bleed… then Ammy steps in, magnifies the pain until it overwhelms him. No matter what Zauric does, he loses. If he resists, Kev's axe feeds on that strength. If he concedes, Ammy's spell exploits the weakness. Between the two of them, they're giving him no room to breathe. Hnh… a perfect match."

Old Man Baro snorted, leaning harder on his stick, voice sharp with disdain. "Hmph. Perfect match, he says. All I see is children baring their teeth too wide. They show everything, they strike the same way, repeat the same loop. Zauric is no fool. Look, already he shifts. He knows to lessen his resistance, to let the axe feed on nothing. The more they rely on their pattern, the faster he learns it."

Renny's brow furrowed. Indeed, Zauric was changing. His ragged scarecrow form swayed with unnatural rhythm, no longer bracing against the axe as he had before. Each strike sank with less satisfaction, the blade not pulling as hungrily as it had moments ago. And with every stagger, his reptilian hand rose to weave more shell-wards, layers of protection shaping faster, stronger, harder to break.

Baro chuckled dryly. "There. Do you see, boy? He's become one with the wind. He no longer resists, no need to fight, now he is just flowing. They cannot touch him. All they're doing is digging their own grave."

Kev and Ammy's breath grew ragged, their movements sharper, more desperate, sweat slicking their brows. Kev muttered curses under his breath, planting his feet for another swing. Ammy's demon eyes glowed, hunting for pain to amplify, but there was none. Zauric gave them no ground.

Kev spat, frustration biting. "Damn it... Khara Thymós ain't even landing no more."

Indeed, the disorienting spell had lost its bite. Zauric, once driven by a predator's violent instinct, now moved with eerie calm. His ragged face turned toward them, eyes empty yet piercing.

"I have learned you," he said, voice low and resonant, like stone grinding beneath the mountain. "Your axe feeds on defiance. Your lash feeds on pain. So I deny you both. My violence is gone. My will is study. I see you now."

His shadowed robes fluttered as if in silent laughter, while Kev and Ammy stood panting, for the first time realizing they were no longer the hunters in this fight.

"You are very good souls," Zauric intoned, almost mournful. "Strong. In rhythm with one another. Worthy to be transformed into something greater. A shame…" His ragged form leaned forward, robes flaring like storm winds. "…your souls are already broken. Already remade. Demons. A pity indeed."

Renny's jaw tightened, eyes narrowing. This fight has shifted…

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