The fight was set, an arena carved by fate, where Jenn and the Minotaur stood, locked in a deadly embrace of violence. Smoke and blood mingled in the air, setting a grim stage for their brutal ballet.
Jenn launched forward, body low and agile, flames trailing like shadows. He met the Minotaur head-on, claws sinking into flesh as he dragged them downward, carving deep wounds. The Minotaur bellowed in fury, swinging its massive ax, catching Jenn's side and sending him crashing into a crumbling wall. Rubble exploded upon impact. Recovering swiftly, Jenn flipped from the debris, spinning mid-air to dodge another vicious ax swing. Landing on all fours, he rushed back, his scythe arched beautifully. With a deft twist, he sliced across the Minotaur's thigh, splattering blood across the scorched earth. Roaring, the Minotaur stomped, sending a shockwave of cracked stones. Jenn, using his exceptional agility, vaulted over the shockwave and spun, slamming his flaming tail into the beast's face. The impact snapped the Minotaur's head back, a spurt of dark blood painting the ground.
The creature recovered, eyes wild with rage. It charged, ax poised high. Jenn skidded beneath the behemoth's legs, slicing upwards with his scythe, a trail of blood marking his path. The wound was deep, but the Minotaur continued its relentless assault. Emerging behind the Minotaur, Jenn vaulted upwards, lashing out with his tails. They wrapped around the Minotaur's arm, pulling him backward as Jenn's claws found the beast's back, ripping through fur and flesh in a savage display of ferocity.
Aria watched all of this, even looking around at her dead comrades, thinking, 'It's all my fault…all of it..dammit! If I hadn't…if I hadn't made them take me with them because of my strict parents, if I hadn't made them follow me into this abandoned church to save what I thought was a little girl…none of this would've happened…I should just give up here. This boy…he's fighting so hard..I hope not for me. I don't deserve it. Please stop..Jenn.'
The Minotaur, enraged, broke free and swung its axe horizontally. Jenn ducked, feeling the wind from the blade, and responded with a punishing uppercut, his clawed fingers coated in the beast's blood, catching the Minotaur's jaw with brutal force. Unleashing a guttural roar, the Minotaur lunged forward, head down for a devastating headbutt. Jenn sidestepped, using his tail to propel the scythe in a deadly uppercut slice across the creature's neck, opening a grievous wound.
Blood now flowed freely from both combatants as they engaged in a visceral dance of death. Jenn leaped onto the Minotaur's back, driving his scythe down into the shoulder. The Minotaur retaliated by crashing backward into a pillar, attempting to crush Jenn against the hard stone. Jenn squeezed free at the last second, his body a rapid blast of movement. He slid under the Minotaur, scythe slashing upwards in a spray of crimson arcs, ensuring each strike debilitated further, muscles and tendons severed with clinical precision.
The Minotaur, stumbling from loss, swung widely. Jenn, beneath the swing, sliced horizontally, his scythe tearing across the Minotaur's abdomen, entrails threatening to spill. The beast clutched its belly, axe drooping, yet its eyes still burned with a murderous light. Staggering forward, the Minotaur made a desperate attempt to crush Jenn with a powerful stomp. Jenn rolled clear, the ground where he had been fracturing under the force. From the roll, he launched up, scythe first, lacerating the Minotaur's chest deeply. As the Minotaur roared in agony, Jenn didn't relent, his movements a mixture of wrath and grace. He circled the behemoth swiftly, each pass leaving new scars and gashes. His tails worked independently, one parrying a weak axe blow while the others assaulted exposed flesh.
Blood matted their forms, the air thick with the iron tang. Jenn leaped high, flipping over the Minotaur's swing, and on descent, drove his scythe through the Minotaur's shoulder, pinning it momentarily to the ground.
Using the lodged scythe as leverage, Jenn vaulted, delivering a crushing kick to the Minotaur's head, dislodging the weapon and causing the Minotaur to stagger sideways, nearly toppled by the ferocity of the assault.
"AGHHHHHH!" Jenn charged with a roar of anger.
With the Minotaur weakened, Jenn gathered the last of his strength. Flames intensifying around him, he ran, leaping with a primal scream, scythe raised. In one fluid, devastating motion, he decapitated the Minotaur, its head soaring before thudding grotesquely beside its crumpled body.
Jenn stood panting, bloodied and victorious, his flame-drenched silhouette a testament to his fierce resolve and unyielding spirit. As the fires died down, he turned slowly, wounds severe but his life his own. The Minotaur lay defeated, a testament to the deadly dance they'd shared.
As Jenn, panting and covered in remnants of battle, reverted back to his human form, the eerie silence of their victory was abruptly shattered. He had barely a moment to notice Jiyu's hesitant demeanor and Princess Aria's dismissive scoff, "Fool…just leave. I'm done here. It's my damn fault."
Jenn said, "Jiyu…please get her out of here. I need to gather the bodies and take them out of here. I can't leave them here like this."
"Jenn…"
"You're scared..Jiyu. I am too."
Aria coughed, "Leave me here. It's my fault this happened. I don't deserve to go back—."
Jenn said to her, "—Rest." And he turned to Jiyu, "Please, listen to me."
Jiyu was stuck, hesitant; he didn't wanna leave Jenn here alone.
"Even after all of this, you still want to be respectful to the knights? Damn that sounds like you."
"It's the right thing to do. Please..Jiyu."
Before Jenn could formulate a response, an unsettling presence materialized behind the carcass of the fallen Minotaur. The sight that unfolded was nothing short of ghastly—a figure clad in a stark white dress, oddly solemn and serene, yet profoundly disturbing for it held its own head in its hands. The head was a grotesque display; blonde hair cascaded down intertwined with roses blooming gruesomely from its eyes and mouth, and atop the eerie visage floated a black halo, stark against the dimming light.
The head began to speak, uttering sounds no human throat should form, a series of clicks and guttural tones that chilled the bone:
"Krrssst, Lok-ka-tun, Gree-salee…"
Jiyu gasped, as he understood it, including Jenn.
The air thickened as the unnatural voice filled the space, twisting reality with each syllable. This cryptic incantation seemed to seep into the earth itself.
Jenn, sweating more blood, said, "Jiyu! Get the princess out!"
"I'm not leaving you!"
"It's okay. Don't worry about me please."
As the head spoke, an unbelievable phenomenon occurred; the Minotaur's body twitched, its wounds seeping not blood, but a dark, ethereal mist. Slowly but horrifyingly, the beast began to rise, its form growing more menacing, its aura darkening as if fed by the head's eldritch words. The headless figure, with a calm yet terrifying grace, raised its hand high. A pulse of obscure energy flowed through the air, commanding the once-fallen Minotaur to stand, now even stronger, its veins bulging with renewed, dark vigor.
Seeing the unfolding nightmare, Jenn snapped, "Jiyu! Take the princess and run! I'll meet you outside!" His voice carried the weight of impending doom, pushing Jiyu into action.
Aria yelled to Jiyu, "Leave me here, Jiyu! You leave, dammit!"
Jenn added, "Get the princess out! Or were all done for…"
Ari scoffed at Jiyu, "Don't you touch me. Save yourself and your master here. I'll fight them off with whatever shitty strength I have left."
Jiyu gritted his teeth, thinning, 'No..no…no…'
FWOOSH!
With a swift motion of his tail, Jiyu ensnared Aria, who protested vehemently, "No! He'll die!" Yet her cries faded into the distance as Jiyu sped away with her, leaving Jenn to face the monstrosity alone. "That damn boy…why? Does he not see it's all my fault?!"
Jiyu replied to her, "Jenn knows it's not your fault."
There stood Jenn, his fists clenched, as the air around him began to simmer with his rising fury and determination. The Minotaur, now imbued with dark energies, let out a ferocious roar and charged with renewed brute force.
With no time to waste, Jenn dashed forward, his every step leaving scorched earth in his wake. The speed dimmed as if nature itself held its breath, awaiting the clash between the human warrior and this resurrected aberration.
Jenn and the resurrected Minotaur charged toward each other with primal fury, the ancient stone floor of the abandoned church quivering beneath their feet. As they collided, the air split with the sound of flesh against flesh. Jenn's fists, wrapped in an inferno of red and black flames, met the Minotaur's solid, death-like force. Each punch was a symphony of brutality, muscles straining and sinews stretching to their limits.
The Minotaur responded with equal viciousness. It reared back, its powerful arms swinging wide to land a devastating blow across Jenn's jaw. The impact echoed through the crumbling church, sending a cacophony of resonating, ghostly chimes throughout the abandoned holy place. Bits of debris began to rain down as the tremors from their battle compromised the integrity of the ancient structure.
As they exchanged yet another series of savage blows, the integrity of the church's stained glass windows succumbed to the violence—their beautiful depictions of saints and angels shattering under the unrestrained force. Jenn's fist, encased in fiery wrath, smashed into the Minotaur's side, a shower of blood painting the fractured glass on the floor.
With every exchange, foundational stones cracked and groaned. Jenn dodged a spinning elbow from the Minotaur, countering with an uppercut that snapped the beast's head back, its horns grazing the ceiling and dislodging a heavy beam. The ancient wood groaned ominously, unable to bear the strain of battle, beginning its descent toward the ground.
Amid the chaos, Jenn's vision blurred, red tears of blood streaking down his face from the sheer force and pain. He wiped them away, his gaze hardening with resolve, even as more blood trailed from his lips. Each blow he delivered was filled with desperation, each connection a potential finale to this macabre dance.
The church continued to succumb to their ferocity; a colossal fresco of The Last Judgment cracked down the center, symbolically splitting the depicted saints and sinners, as if mirroring the battle below. Jenn and the Minotaur, locked in combat, seemed deaf to the moans of the dying sanctuary around them, their punches synchronized with falling stone and crashing timber.
As the roof finally gave way, large wooden beams and slate tiles began to descend like a rain of arrows. Jenn ducked a sweeping punch from the Minotaur, grabbed the beast's waist, and, mustering every ounce of his ebbing strength, hoisted and threw it against a crumbling pillar. The impact shook the very foundation of the church, precipitating its inevitable collapse.
In that final moment, as the world around them came crashing down, Jenn's hands found the Minotaur's torso. With a primal scream that mingled with the roars of the collapse, Jenn employed every sinew in his body and tore the beast in half. The once-mighty Minotaur fell in pieces at his feet, yet Jenn stood, teeth elongated into monstrous fangs, saliva dripping in anticipation, his eyes narrow slits of lethal intent.
And that's when the headless being spoke again, its voice a cryptic melody that seemed to slice through the settling dust. It was soft yet penetrated the chaos, "Ahl-kraessiat luk-marron…"
Driven by fury and defiance, Jenn, his arm ablaze with demonic fire, lunged at the headless figure. But as he neared, a sudden, inexplicable force burst forth, detonating his arm in a gory spectacle, flinging him backward through the air like a rag doll.
He tumbled across the ground, grinding to a halt amidst the rubble of the church, pain ravaging his senses. As he forced his battered body to look up, the sky, through a canopy of dust and twilight, was alive with figures. Hundreds of beings, each dressed in white robes or elegant suits, floated serenely, dark halos hovering ominously above their heads and they had stone faces with glowing white eyes.