I wait for the perfect chance, which is provided by Ayame and the copious amounts of poison already present in the troll's system. When it pauses for a brief second amidst its heavy panting, I activate the spell and aim, throwing the dagger into the troll's left eye socket. It falters for the first time, kneeling on the ground and grasping at its injury, pulling the knife out amidst loud cries.
Ayame uses the opportunity to dart in, slashing at the troll's knee from behind. But the troll, despite its exceedingly serious wounds, thrashes wildly. It manages to swipe at Ayame, hitting her side and sending her sprawling. She is clearly just as surprised as I am at how resilient this monster is. The newcomer stabbed it with a potent poisoned blade in vital points so many times, yet it refuses to fall. I can see Ayame struggling to get up and coughing blood from her mouth. My heart races with fear and frustration.
I'm almost completely out of mana, but I don't give up. Desperation fuels my search through the 20 goblins' corpses for any projectiles. I begin throwing bone knives, rugged iron daggers, rocks, anything I can find at the heavily injured war troll. Each projectile distracts it momentarily, allowing Ayame precious seconds to recover.
The troll roars again, this time with pain and anger. Its movements become more erratic, swinging its massive hammer wildly, trying to crush anything in its path. The ground shakes with every step it takes toward me.
Once I'm out of the easy-to-throw items I pick my spear up and aim it. I've never thrown a spear or javelin before, and this fact is very evident in the result of my attempt as it barely scratches its shoulder.
Ayame, with a trembling body, rises from the ground and limps toward the troll from behind. Her eyes are filled with determination, her grip is firm on the sword despite the pain.
The troll turns, noticing her too late. Ayame moves with blinding speed, becoming a blur of motion as she leaps into the air after casting [Flash Step].
Ayame activates a spell, "[Raijin's Fury: Giant Slayer]" She channels all her remaining strength and focus into a single, decisive attack. The air around her hums with power as she raises the blade high, her form a perfect representation of a samurai's grace and precision. Her blade grows in size while getting enveloped in crackling, violent lightning, she then arcs her weapon downward with unstoppable force, aiming for the base of the troll's neck.
With a desperate, primal roar, Ayame brings the blade down, cutting through the troll's thick neck in a powerful arc. The troll's eyes widen in shock just before its head is cleanly severed from its body. After that, blood begins to spurt from the wound in great amounts, and the massive body collapses to the ground accompanied by a thunderous crash.
Ayame now stands over the fallen troll while breathing heavily and with her eyes blazing with a great deal of triumph as well as exhaustion. The struggle was desperate for both sides, but in the end, we were the ones to emerge victorious. The troll's decapitated head rolls a few feet away with eyes that are still wide in disbelief.
I rush to Ayame's side with my heart pounding rapidly. She's barely standing as her body trembles from extreme exertion and pain. I catch her before she falls to the ground and she lets herself be embraced as she leans into me, looking for any form of support she can get.
I hug her tightly, lift her into the air, and twirl ourselves around in a circular motion during which I let out a guttural, animalistic roar of victory. The sound echoed through the now-quiet forest. To my surprise, Ayame soon follows my barbaric antics as she lets out a victory cry of her own with a fierce but joyous tone. Her shout catches me off guard, but it only adds to the exhilaration of our hard-won triumph.
We both collapse to the ground and we end up with Ayame sitting in my lap, her back resting against my stomach. Although the position would normally be quite sexual in nature, I'm too pumped with adrenaline to care. Instead, I'm filled with a profound sense of camaraderie, achievement, and relief.
Ayame gently caresses my arms which are resting on her belly while I am swaying both her and my upper body from side to side. This motion created a feeling as if we were sitting on a boat that was rocking back and forth due to the ocean waves hitting its body. "We did it, we did it! I can't believe that we actually did it!" she repeats with a voice that's a mix of incredulity and joy.
I laugh happily and the sound of my happiness mingles with hers. "Hahaha! Yes, we did! And what a magnificent battle it was!"
For a minute we just sit there, savoring the victory and the new bond forged through the heat of battle. The adrenaline slowly begins to fade, replaced by a deep sense of satisfaction and exhaustion.
We calmly rest our tired bodies with Ayame still sitting comfortably in my embrace. After ten or so minutes we both recover enough energy to refocus on the current situation.
I glance over at the dog-kin girl who had helped us, or to be more truthful, saved us, and see her still struggling to stand despite her only being injured once. The troll's throw dealt more damage than I would've expected. It was definitely the right choice for me not to get close to the monstrous creature. "We should check on her," I say softly, to which Ayame nods her head.
She rises from my lap with shaky legs, after which she reaches her right hand towards me and pulls me up from my seated position. I find it more difficult to walk than I'd expected. This battle really took its toll on me.
We soon reach the dog-kin but before we could say anything she whimpers and hurriedly kowtows despite the evident pain the movement causes in her body. With a shaky voice she begins to beg;"P-please don't hurt Blossom… Blossom knows she made a very big mistake in the battle. Blossom was too focused on killing the troll and failed to recognize that it was about to grab her…"