Chapter 34 - Last Ditch

Blüt held up Sol like a child displaying a bug they had caught. Luna quivered at the sight. He was close to her spell, bathed blue by the light. The message was clear: If she did anything but retreat her spell, she would kill her own brother. There was no choice to be made. She began absorbing the mana back into her body.

“W-wait! Luna, stop it!” Merri pleaded, still hiding from behind a tree. “You’re meant to kill him!”

Luna grit her teeth, but continued her retreat. Merri rushed over, tugging at her skirt. “He won’t let him go! He’ll just kill him anyway! You know he’s that cruel! If we don’t get rid of him now…” Merri beat at her legs with each begging word, but Luna didn’t listen, entirely focused on shrinking her Munditia.

“I know that, Merri. But what else am I supposed to do? I’ll find another way. I just need time…” Luna insisted. It was a blatant lie.

“He’s too close. He’s right at the cliffside now.” Luna closed her eyes, wracking her brain. A trickling stream of thought that sprouted off into several possibilities, all of which quickly ran dry. “After I undo Munditia, I won’t be able to cast another one… Even if he doesn’t kill Sol outright, he won’t be able to fight… If it's just me…” The water dried up, leaving behind just a dry gash in the earth. Only one thought remained, one inevitable path. “I’m too weak… Clint was right. As it stands… I can’t win.”

Her Munditia was all but gone, now an orb barely larger than her head. It would only be moments before it disappeared entirely and Blüt was upon her. To Luna, it was over. All paths lead to dead ends and she had no means to carve a new one. Merri believed the same, backing away from the cliff edge in fear as she felt Blüt’s presence growing closer.

Only one person could see beyond the cruel reality, could look past what was and think about what could be. Sol Dragoneart alone possessed the creativity to look at their dire situation and find a way out. One that would keep him alive, allow Luna to continue her attack, and, if all went well, defeat the Immortal Ogre.

“Mana can’t only be released from your hands.” Was the simple genesis of the idea. It seemed so obvious, but it was unorthodox in many ways. Mana was a difficult thing. It was like clay, a material of infinite potential that could only take shape through delicate control. As such, only people’s hands and specialised tools were typically used to cast it. No other method could exert the required care.

“But I don’t need control.” Another brilliant idea struck him. “...I just need it to be hot.” He grinned, it all came together in a mental supernova. Several disparate concepts suddenly merged into one, giving him his strategy.

His entire body began to heat up. Mana poured from every pore of his body, immediately warming to a boiling temperature. He could feel himself sweating already, his body desperate to regulate its own temperature. He pushed the instinct down, pushing his mana further, pumping it out of his body. Even his blood ran hot, heart pumping hard and fast to ensure his mana flowed at its maximum capacity. “It’s working…” He smiled a twisted smile amidst a grimace, the burning had begun. His armor conducted the heat well, hot metal now pressing against his skin and charring it all over. “Full-body Fondre!” He cackled aloud, now alerting Blüt.

It was too late for the Ogre. His skin was thick, so the heat was only felt gradually. He was the frog in the pot, and now he was boiling. Layers of his skin burned away as Sol cooked in his hand. Instinctually, he dropped the half-elf, who fell into the water with a sizzle, so hot he immediately evaporated the water around him.

Luna snapped into reality the minute she heard Sol’s voice. She didn’t visually register what he was doing, she just acted, pumping mana back into her Munditia. When she heard him fall into the water below, she fired. It wasn’t a huge attack, but it was a reasonably sizable bullet directed straight at Blüt’s head. With him still focused on Sol, he wasn’t able to dodge.

Skin and flesh disappeared in a flash of blue leaving a yellowish-white skull exposed beneath. The impact of the orb colliding with his face sent Blüt careening back. He stumbled from the cliff-side, gigantic feet making unsteady stomps as he wobbled. His one remaining eye was wide with fear as he finally collapsed into the river below with an enormous splash.

Luna breathed a sigh of relief. “Made it… Somehow.” She sucked the sigh straight back up, taking back in all the released tension. “No… You got bailed out again. Weak.” She grit her teeth.

“Sol!” Luna snapped out of her self-pity and rushed to peer over the edge of the cliff. It almost felt unreal to see Blüt’s unmoving body beneath her, but she moved past it quickly. She identified Sol in the water nearby. He was badly burned, red marks visible on his neck and arms through his armour, but he was visibly alive.

Relieved, she turned to address Merri, but found the Auf still cowering behind a tree. “Merri?” She asked softly, taking gentle steps toward the girl. “You can come out now. He’s gone.”

Merri shook her head. Luna moved closer. “Merri, come look. I promise you, he’s dead.”

She shook her head more violently, hair whipping back and forth. “No, he’s not! He never dies! Never!”

Luna frowned, reaching a hand out toward Merri, only to find it slapped away. “Even with his head gone, even with his arm missing, he’ll be alive! He’ll be alive no matter what!”

She was right.

Shadows descended over Luna, the landscape now awash with darkness. She didn’t turn, for she knew what was behind her. Blüt’s head, half-skull and half-flesh, eclipsing the sun with its sheer size. With one burned hand, he had pulled himself up from the cliff below. Merri wept at the sight of him, thick tears gathering in her eyes and flowing in a continuous stream. Was it horror? Pity? A twisted sadness? Only she knew, but she wept for one reason and one reason only: Blüt still lived.