Tave struggled to control his breath, his chest rising and falling in short, ragged bursts. Everything had happened so fast, too fast. He hadn't even had time to breathe before it all changed again.
The orc staggered back a few paces, its momentum broken after the massive club strike had been stopped, barely, by one of the defenders who'd leapt in at the last second.
And there they were. Elias, along with three others from the original squad.
They wasted no time.
Two of them rushed to Oriana, lifting her with care and bringing her over to where Orion lay, placing her safely at his side. Meanwhile, Lily, snapped out of her frozen daze, stood steady again.
Now, five of them stood. Two defenders formed a wall at the front.
Elias and his team had saved them. Tave, Oriana, Lily… even Orion.
All of them would've been dead if not for this.
"Good job, Tave," Elias called from across the battlefield. "Now tell me. How do we kill this ugly bastard?"
Tave clenched his teeth, pushed his battered body upright, and shouted with everything he had left:
"Use earth-elemental skills! That's the only way to break through its armor!"
Because he knew, one of the defenders with Elias wielded earth affinity. And now, with the right strength, and the right element. This fight could finally turn.
The orc was already heavily damaged. Orion's assault had done its part, chipping away at the creature's armor and exposing the raw, vulnerable skin beneath. But even so, the fight was far from over. Only a small part of the outer shell had cracked. The beast's strength was untouched.
Now, at least, they had a fighting chance.
With two defenders standing between them and the monster, they could actually hold their ground. Far better than when Oriana had tried to block the orc's strike alone, and she wasn't even built to be a defender.
One of the defenders suddenly pulled back, skidding a few steps away. He reached behind and switched the hilt from the back of his shield. Clicking it into place with precision.
"Give me ten seconds!" he shouted.
The shield wasn't just for defense. It was a Breaker Shield, a heavy-type shield forged for both protection and offense. It could be converted into a blunt weapon, meant to strike with devastating force when charged.
Now, he gripped it like a warhammer, and an earthen aura, deep brown, flecked with gold, began to coil and gather around its core. The ground beneath him cracked faintly as he focused, pulling energy from the earth.
The other defender dashed in, playing decoy, drawing the orc's attention, deflecting swipes, narrowly dodging the massive club swings.
Meanwhile, Lily and the others fired from afar, magic, and elemental bursts. They did whatever they could to pull the orc's focus and keep it unbalanced, just long enough.
Timing was everything.
If they missed a beat, if even one attack failed to land where it was meant to, the orc could turn and strike, and without that shield in place… That would mean instant death.
They had one shot. And it had to be perfect.
But in the brief pause, just as the battle tempo shifted. Tave realized something was wrong.
Where was Fang?
His heart skipped.
He scanned the area quickly, his eyes flicking across the battlefield, cutting through the shadows and smoke. Panic welled up in his chest as he forced his broken body into motion, dragging himself across the dirt.
And then he saw it.
In the darkness, barely visible. Fang, collapsed on the ground. Motionless.
Tave's breath caught.
He scrambled forward, crawling over debris and scorched earth until he reached the wolf's side. Fang lay there, chest rising shallowly, his mouth slightly open, eyes dimmed and unfocused.
Tave lifted his companion into his arms. Fang's body was limp. His fur was matted with blood, his breathing uneven, labored.
In that final moment, when death had been a breath away, Fang had pushed beyond his limits, using a Shadow movement technique he had barely even mastered. A desperate burst of speed, using energy he didn't have.
He had saved Tave.
And now… he was dying.
No, not just dying. He was already slipping too close to the edge. His core had gone, overdrawn beyond what could normally be restored.
Fang weakly shifted in Tave's grip, trying to move. He turned his head toward the forest and began dragging his body weakly, trying to crawl away.
He knew. He didn't want to die where the battle still raged. Tave clutched Fang tighter.
No.
Orion, Oriana, Fang, all of them had burned out their cores to buy this chance.
To save him.
Without them, Tave would be dead. And without their sacrifice, Elias and the others wouldn't have had the opening they now stood in, to deliver the final blow.
This final strike only existed because of their sacrifices.
And now Fang… might not live to see it.
The defender with the Breaker Shield finished charging. His weapon now glowing with a dense, earthen aura that coiled and pulsed like the rumble of a quake. Without hesitation, he lunged forward, his body accelerating with a burst of Gaia energy.
He slammed the transformed shield like a hammer into the orc's left leg, striking just below the joint.
A resounding shockwave burst outward from the point of impact.
The ground cracked.
Dust and gravel shot up like a ripple, and the orc's massive frame buckled.
The blow had delivered a Fracture effect, a crushing concussive force that destabilized the orc's stance, rupturing bone and cracking the last remnants of its molten armor. The creature roared, more in shock than pain, and toppled backward.
It fell.
The club slipped from its grip, crashing into the ground with a dull, final thud.
And then, they moved. The entire team surged in, attacking without mercy, with everything they had left. Bursts of magic. Blades flashing. A relentless assault from every side, pounding the fallen beast before it could rise again.
It happened so fast.
A blur of strikes, cries, and elemental flashes.
Until, finally… The Volcanic Orc lay still.
Defeated.
Dead!
They won.
Tave sat in silence, his back against a tree, Fang lying still in his lap. His fingers curled gently into the wolf's fur, but he didn't move. He couldn't.
Across the clearing, Orion and Oriana lay unconscious, barely breathing. Lily had collapsed too, slumping down where she stood, her arms trembling from exhaustion.
Even the others, the ones who had come as reinforcements, were no longer standing.
Elias, ever composed, had dropped to his knees, his sword buried into the earth, propping himself up as he gasped for air.
This was day one inside the Rift.
Two teammates were already dead.
Two others had exhausted their cores, unable to fight for days, maybe longer.
And the rest? Broken. Bloodied. Barely standing.
But this was the truth of the Rift.
Even the team before them, the first expedition sent to conquer this place had been wiped out, every last one of them.
They were the second team to enter this nightmare.
And already, they had tasted what it meant to step into a realm like this.
This was survival.
And this… was only the beginning.