Each strike they exchange with creature, it send

There was nothing to say.

They kept moving the creature backward.

Ten meters from the hole now.

Noah’s left arm was leaving faint red marks on the stone where blood dripped from his forearm when he moved. His mana was scraped thin, barely enough left to maintain the ice coating on his blade.

Every time he pushed more out the headache doubled and he had to ease back before his concentration fractured.

Damien was breathing wrong. Not badly wrong but wrong enough that Noah could hear it when they were close together. Shallow and careful, the breath of someone managing pain actively.

The creature lunged again.

This time it went for Noah with both arms at once, an overhead motion that was designed to end the exchange rather than continue it.

The claw slashed at his stomach.

Blood spilled.

"Arrghhhhh!!" Noah scream in pain.

He had no good option.

His body was throw aside. The creature lunged at Noah’s body again. Attacked him to kill, but Noah rolled on ground aside. They dug into the stone floor on either side of him and stuck for a fraction of a second, the claws embedded in rock.

’Shitt! This is getting worse. We need to find a way to drop this creature in that hole again.’ Noah’s eyes shone with determination.

Noah drove his sword upward into the creature’s wrist from directly below.

Ice detonated from the wound.

"Grkkkkchhhh!!"

The creature shrieked and wrenched its hand back, the embedded claws tearing free from the stone.

It reared up to its full height, both arms pulling back, red eyes blazing at full brightness now, fully recovered and then some from whatever state it had been in when they first engaged it.

It was as strong as it was going to get.

Noah rolled to his feet and checked the distance behind the creature.

Seven meters.

’Close enough...we are closer....just little bit,’ he thought.

He looked at Damien across the room.

Damien was already looking at him. His sword was raised. Golden light burning hard from the blade, brighter than it had been all fight, the kind of output that Noah could tell was costing him significantly.

They had one move left.

Not because of strategy. Because neither of them had anything else to give.

Noah held up three fingers on his right hand where Damien could see them.

Damien gave a short nod.

The creature turned toward Noah.

ROAAARR!!!

It had identified him as the lesser threat and had been correct to do so for most of the fight. Noah couldn’t hurt it the way Damien could. It had learned that.

Which meant it would not be watching Damien when Damien moved.

Noah pointed his sword at the creature’s face and pushed as much as mana into it in a single concentrated push. Ice exploded off the blade outward, not at the creature but in front of it, a sudden cloud of frost and cold air that hit it directly in the face.

"Dammit!! Just work!!"

It was not damaging. Not even slowing it.

But it was cold and blinding for two seconds.

The creature swung both arms wildly at the cloud, disoriented.

Damien ran.

He crossed the room at full speed and hit the creature from behind with his shoulder, his sword driving into its back at the same moment, the golden light exploding through the wound in a burst that made the whole chamber flash white.

They were closer to hole.

The creature stumbled forward.

Its legs hit the edge of the hole.

"Gggrrachhkkkch!!!" It screamed and tried to balance itself.

For one moment it teetered, arms windmilling, the horns catching the light, red eyes wide.

Then it went over.

The sound it made going down was long and furious and faded as it fell, dropping away into whatever was below the dungeon floor, the darkness swallowing it completely.

Noah didn’t waste his time and ran towards the glowing magic circle.

It was drawn on floor with blood.

He used his sword and slahed on that stone floor.

BOOM!!

It shattered.

It made the magic circle flutchuate and fade away.

Then silence.

He couldn’t hear any sound from the huge hole.

Noah stood where he was. He was breathing heavy. His blue eyes looked into the dark pit.

His sword arm hung at his side. His left arm was still bleeding slowly. His head hurt badly enough that his vision had a slight pulse to it in time with his heartbeat. He was breathing in a way that was not quite controlled.

A wound was on his belly. Noah pulled out healing potion and drank it all.

Damien was on one knee at the edge of the hole, one hand pressed to his ribs, the golden light on his sword fully extinguished. He was looking down into the darkness.

Neither of them spoke for a long moment.

Then Damien sat back from the edge and looked across the room at Noah.

"That was your bad idea," he said.

His voice was rough and tired and slightly incredulous.

"Yeah," Noah said.

"It worked more easily."

"Yeah."

Another silence.

Damien looked down at his hand pressed against his ribs and then back up. "We need to leave."

"Agreed," Noah said. "We need to get away right now."

He crossed the room, stepping around the bodies and the extinguished ritual circle without looking at either, and got to Damien’s side. He got a hand under his arm and helped him to his feet.

Damien accepted it without comment.

They walked toward the door together.

It was open now. Whatever had sealed it when the creature emerged had released when the creature went back down.

Noah didn’t ask why and was not going to.

He just walked through it and kept walking.

But not for much long.

ROOOOAAAARRRR!!!

A huge scream than before came. It was so loud that whole room shook.

As if an earthquake had came.

"Shiiitt!! Damien run!!!" Noah yelled as he started to run away faster toward the door.

Mana covered his legs.

"Fuck!! Why this happening!!!" Damien cursed. Which was very rare. He too ran as fast as possible.