"What the hell, man..." Ray said with fear.
His knees almost buckled under him.
"Everyone, run!" Ian screamed. "I got this guy!"
Ray immediately picked up Lily from the ground and stared at him, "Try not to die, kid.'
Lily grabbed Ian's shirt. "Please stay safe."
Ian nodded and kissed her. He felt confident that he would beat Nolfridth.
"Come on, guys!" Conner yelled at them.
The giant ran towards them with thundering footsteps, and everyone dashed towards the barrier, leaving Ian behind. Ian stood his ground and glared at the giant coming at him. Ian couldn't hear himself think because of Nolfridth's ear-splitting roar.
"Are you ready, Bounye?" Ian asked.
Bounye barked with determination as he stared at the giant. Nolfridth leaped from the floor and soared into the sky towards Ian. As Nolfridth fell, he raised his axes at Ian in preparation for a massive strike. Ian dodged to the side to avoid Nolfridth's attack. Nolfridth slammed his axes into the ground, and a large crater formed as a result. Dust spread everywhere as Ian continued backing away.
"He might be a tough one to beat," Ian said.
"Stop moving!" Nolfridth screamed in a deep and monstrous voice.
In an instant, Nolfridth appeared before Ian and swung one of his axes horizontally. Ian immediately reacted and lifted his sword to block it. The two weapons collided, and a loud clang reverberated in Ian's ears. Ian has been pushed back far away from the collision as his feet slid through the ground and left a long dirt trail. Bounye leaped towards Nolfridth and ran up his arms towards Nolfridth's head. He clawed Nolfridth's face before embedding his claws into his eye.
"AGH!" Nolfridth screamed in pain.
He grabbed Bounye and slammed him into the ground before stomping on him. Ian ran towards Nolfridth with incredible speed and aimed his sword at his stomach. Nolfridth blocked it just in time and swung his ax downwards. Ian dodged his attack and backed away at a safe distance. Ian was shocked at Nolfridth's regeneration as his wounds healed at a visible rate.
"Shit, he has regeneration too?"
Bounye remained unfazed from Nolfridth's repeated stomping and bit down into his foot.
"You stupid dog!" Nolfridth screamed.
In a rage, he kicked Bounye away with full strength. Bounye flew back like a roaring jet and collided into the rows of trees in the hill. Ian grew furious and charged at Nolfridth. Nolfridth struck towards Ian, but he missed. In response, Ian swung diagonally, but Nolfridth stepped back to dodge his attack. However, Ian continued forward and landed a kick in Nolfridth's stomach. He winced in pain as he slid back across the grass. Nolfridth gritted his teeth and charged at Ian. Merely seconds passed as both of them continued to strike at each other in an intense bout with over hundreds of swings. Sparks flew as their weapons collided with each other and both embroiled themselves in a fight for their lives.
Ian saw an opportunity open and sliced many wounds on Nolfridth's legs to break his balance. Ian then pierced Nolfridth behind the knee, and Nolfridth collapsed to the floor on one knee. Ian stabbed into Nolfridth's hands and made him drop his weapons. He didn't want to take any chances and carved deep wounds everywhere on Nolfridth's body. However, Nolfridth's body continued to heal rapidly despite all the damage he took.
"I will not die here!" Nolfridth declared.
Just as Ian swung his sword at Nolfridth's head, a large hand reached out for it and grabbed ahold of it. Blood poured down from Nolfridth's hand as he stared at Ian with a burning determination. With full strength, he screamed as he pulled the sword away from Ian before throwing it aside. He clenched his fists and threw a devastating punch at Ian. His fist landed squarely on Ian's face, and he flew backward like a ragdoll. Nolfridth appeared instantly before Ian and pummeled his body with rapid punches. Ian coughed up blood as he raised his arms to block him.
Meanwhile, Ray carried Lily over the barrier as Conner followed behind him. They didn't encounter any monsters since the ones left were killed by the residents. Charlotte and Daniel were maintaining order amongst the people during the whole ordeal. They had sent the wounded on a truck to head back to town.
Mrs.Willard ran up to Lily in panic and shouted, "Is my daughter okay?!"
"Mom, I'm alright. I'm just really exhausted." Lily softly spoke.
Ray carefully set Lily down on the ground, and Mrs.Willard began healing her. She closed her eyes and focused her mind on Lily. A white light appeared instantly and shrouded Lily's whole body. Lily felt a calm and warm feeling as the wounds on her body slowly sealed up.
"Look at these wounds on your body..." Mrs.Willard's heart ached. "Why did you have to charge in there blindly?"
Lily smiled. "Because I wanted too."
"You're so silly," Mrs.Willard sighed and rubbed her forehead. "That boy is really lucky to have such a daughter of mine."
Mrs.Willard healed Ray and Conner from their injuries and breathed out an exhausted sigh. Ray still felt the mental exhaustion from overusing his ability, and he rubbed his temples. Thunderous booms echoed through everyone's ears, and they turned their heads towards Ian's direction. They saw Ian being smashed in by Nolfridth with grim expressions.
"Is he really losing?!" Ray yelled, "We need to help him!"
"How?" Conner asked. "We exhausted ourselves from using our abilities, and that Nolfridth guy is a rank D elite."
"There has to be some way, right?" Lily asked.
Ray gritted his teeth and ran towards Daniel.
"Ah-, Uncle, wait!" Conner yelled and followed behind.
Lily and Mrs.Willard ran to catch up with them. The group swerved around people as they tried to find Daniel.
"Daniel!" Ray shouted at him.
"You guys are back!" Daniel yelled in amazement.
"Do you have any sort of explosives?" Ray hurriedly asked.
"We have an RPG there but there's no more am-"
"That's good enough!" Ray interrupted him.
Back at the battlefield, Nolfridth grabbed Ian by his legs and tossed him in the air. He leaped from the ground, and a large blast of air blew outwards underneath him. He reached a height above Ian and gripped his hands together. He swung his arms downwards and struck Ian's body with a tremendous blow. Ian felt as if a speeding truck rammed into him, and he crashed into the ground. Ian continued to cough more blood into his hands. His regeneration pushed itself to its limits as his body continued healing. Nolfridth wasn't finished yet and fell towards Ian, wanting to finish him off. Ian rolled out of the way in desperation and moved far away as possible from Nolfridth.
Ian wiped the blood from his mouth. "How the hell should I beat this guy?"
"We're pretty much on the same level in terms of strength."
Ian quickly scanned his surrounding. "The forest!"
Ian threw a rock at Nolfridth and quickly bolted to the forest while looking back at him. If he couldn't beat him through sheer strength, Ian would use other means.
Nolfridth stared at Ian's back and screamed, "You coward!"
Nolfridth grabbed his axes in a rage and followed after Ian. Their bodies vanished as they disappeared into the forest.