Heights Reached

The sound of ringing in John's ears drowns out everything around him. He feels the ground shaking around him, but as for what's causing it? He doesn't have a clue.

What he does know however is that his ankle is broken.

He felt the bone shatter completely as Kira landed it on, and considering how much pain was flowing through him, a break seemed to be the best thing he could hope for.

Kira had moved off his foot a few seconds after landing, but even she was struggling after being knocked loopy by the blast of power that Hilfa unleashed.

Hilfa... She really did it.

John had hoped that Hilfa's transformation earlier was her going out all, but it looks like he was wrong.

John brought his body up, looking at where Hilfa was last time he saw her, and luckily, she was still there. However, there was someone standing facing her. That someone?

Clarva Mightenos.

Except Clarva was different. Her aura was different, her posture was different, even the way she took a breath was different. The biggest difference of all wasn't any of those. That big difference was the fact that Clarva was big.

Now, compared to the group, Clarva was always twice the size, but now? She was eye-to-eye to Hilfa. Clarva had literally grown twice her own height, and she looked even more pissed off than before.

Fists balled, teeth bared, saliva dripping from the sides of the mouth like rabid dogs, both Hilfa and Clarva were ready to go, and barely a moment later...

They went.

Blows exchanged, knuckles kissing flesh, fists meeting face, whatever you want to call it, Clarva and Hilfa were throwing punches that could crumble buildings upon impact. The ringing in John's ears had subsided enough for him to hear the crunching of teeth turning to dust and jaws on the verge of breaking.

John felt a sharp pain in his ankle as he tried to move, causing him to immediately cease moving, even with the boon of Xanvetl's armour helping John to take more pain, it isn't enough to stop John from nearly passing out because of the pain.

As John closes his eyes, feeling on the cusp of fainting, a wave of relief shoots through his body. He opens his eyes back up as he looks at his ankle to see Lani using her magic to heal him.

"I'm so glad to see you, Lani."

The fairy chuckles, obviously tired. "I could say the same to you. I'll admit, I was kinda hoping you all would've finished it by now."

John is the one to laugh this time. "Yeah, so did I. I feel like we've been fighting this bitch for forever."

A large tremor shakes the ground as Hilfa and Clarva crash into one of the walls. Lani quickly scans the impact sight before looking at the others. "Is everyone else okay?"

"No clue. Kira was moving though, so she's conscious at least."

Lani quickly flies over to examine the centaur, that's when John faintly hears Kira speak. "I'm alright. Check on the others."

"She's fine! Just a little banged up!" Lani says before quickly flying off to check on Terra and Virra.

John takes a moment to focus on his breathing, feeling the pain from his foot come back. It's nowhere near as bad as it was before, but you can tell the ankle is still broken.

The fight of the two titans is continuing to heat up, they're not even attempting to block at this point, it's just a rally of punches.

John looks over at Lani, who is helping the elf twins up as best she can, and as best he can see, they don't look too banged up. His eyes then shoot over to Kyuala, and unsurprisingly, she's already back to a knee and looking for another round. John smiles at the orc's relentlessness before trying to find Amilia, but he can't see any sign of her.

Another large tremor occurs, grabbing everyone's attention as they see that Hilfa has thrown Clarva into the wall and is currently getting the upper hand. Immediate thoughts of helping the half-giant now turned regular giant? John isn't sure about the semantics any more, but he doesn't care, all he and the others can think about is finishing Hilfa off for good this time.

As John stupidly attempts to stand up, he quickly falls back down again, not because of his ankle, but because of sheer exhaustion. His legs buckled, and his body reminded him of the cost he's paying for by using magic for so long while being so inexperienced.

Hilfa's fists are moving more rapidly now, and its starting to look like Clarva is about to lose for good, but as John thinks about what's going to happen, the ground rumbles again.

John tries to look around, searching for the source of said quakes, but that source ended up finding him as two giants walk past him. Musha and Chaxar, Queen of the Giants.

"You get the left, I get the right?" Chaxar asks.

"With all due respect, my Queen... I'm pretty sure it is a requirement to have a right hand to get the right side."

Chaxar chuckles. "I see you've grown brave enough to disrespect your Queen since your scuffle with our little problem. Just know that I will absolutely be getting you back once we end Hilfa's annoying existence."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, your majesty."

The giants share a laugh before switching from walking into a sprint as they rush towards the fight.

Hilfa continues her rapid onslaught on Clarva, trying to punch through the half-giant's forearms, but after hearing some rumbling coming towards her, she turns around. Unfortunately for Hilfa, she isn't quick enough as Musha's right hook sends the giant mage into the wall.

The Queen lets Musha handle Hilfa for the moment as she heads over to Clarva, offering her remaining hand. "So, you do have the power within you. I'm glad."

"Hilfa said the same thing. What damned power?!" Clarva responds as she uses the Queen's hand to get back to her feet.

"I suppose I didn't let you get the full lesson about giants during your time here. After we're done here, I will-"

Another crash grabs their attention, and that's when they see Musha and Hilfa locked in a test of strength with Hilfa currently winning.

"What in the hells has she done?"

"I don't know, and honestly? I don't fucking care" Clarva says as she runs forward.

Musha feels her arms struggling to hold Hilfa back as the latter is just pushing down with all her might. Musha sees the fire in Hilfa's eyes, but it's not the look of determination, it's the look of someone with a singular goal.

To kill everyone around her.

A rock shatters into pieces after coming in contact with Hilfa's skull, and it topples the giant for the moment. A hand stretches out to Musha, and she takes it before getting back to her feet.

"All three of us?" Musha asks.

"Let's do it." Clarva answers.

"I guess we can call it a royal decree." The Queen adds as all three stand shoulder-to-shoulder, looking on as Hilfa gets back to her feet, looking at the trio with wild eyes.

"I'll... kill... all of you." Hilfa growls out as she grabs a slab of stone to use as a weapon.

"Then hurry up already." Musha says before the trio run forward, ready to finally vanquish the beast that is Hilfa.

The clash begins, and John looks up to see the Queen's left (and only remaining) hand come down onto the slab of stone Hilfa is using as an impromptu shield, but it doesn't help much as Hilfa's face is rocked by a kick from Clarva, sending Hilfa stumbling back.

Musha quickly follows up, a quick one-two combo causing Hilfa's jaw to bounce. Musha then goes for a third strike, which Hilfa catches before sending her head into Musha's, causing the Queen's advisor to back up for the moment.

The Queen's left hand comes down in a wide swing, a sickening crack sounding out as it lands. Clarva runs in, getting Hilfa into a clinch before using her knee to keep up the attack. Hilfa's just barely blocking the knee strikes with her free hand, but after a particularly powerful knee, Hilfa accidentally rips off a chunk of the stone slab she had in her right hand.

Hilfa brings the chunk of rock into Clarva's knee, making Clarva release the clinch and makes the enlarged half-giant drop for the moment.

Hilfa decides to continue on with that idea, and so she picks up another large clump to stone, deciding to just go all-offensive, now focusing on the Queen.

"I want you to know that even with no arms, I would never let you walk out of here alive." The Queen spits out at the encroaching Hilfa.

"Then I'll crawl." Hilfa responds before throwing the rock towards the Queen.

The Queen quickly dodges the oncoming rock, but that's all she dodges as Hilfa sends her shoulder into Chaxar's stomach. An uppercut rocks Chaxar's jaw quickly after the shoulder barge, followed by another quick left hook, sending the Queen stumbling back.

"Huh. All it took for you to become a competent fighter was powering up. If you had been this powerful before, I might have considered you to be a part of my guard." The Queen taunts, wiping blood from her grinning mouth.

"A part of your guard?! I would have been the fucking Queen!" Hilfa charges forward.

The Queen weaves around Hilfa's punches, noticing that the mage isn't as proficient in combat as the "normal" giants, but the new-found speed and power was making up for said lack of technique.

After ducking a quick hook, the Queen fires back with a body blow, and then an uppercut. A jab to the throat forces Hilfa to take a few steps back, trying to get the air back that was **** from her, but Chaxar continues her attack.

Another punch, followed by a few knees to the ribs of Hilfa makes Chaxar feel like she's finally winning as Hilfa retreats a little more.

Hilfa eventually regains her breath, but it's **** back out as Musha charges into Hilfa's back, pushing her forward into an oncoming punch from the Queen, sending Hilfa flying before crashing down onto the ground.

Hilfa doesn't even both registering the pain as she flips back onto her stomach before starting to get back up, but a running kick to the stomach from Clarva stops that plan immediately.

"Looks like you're surrounded, Hilfa. Whatever shall you do?" Musha mocks.

Hilfa spits out some blood before looking around to see that she is in fact surrounded by the Queen, Musha, and Clarva.

The Queen goes to throw the knockout blow, but Hilfa's boost of speed allows her to avoid the hit before sending the Queen into Musha, creating an opening. Hilfa then spins around, sending her fist into Clarva's as the half-giant attempted to strike. Hilfa's obsidian-covered forehead flies into Clarva's, and a 1-2-3 combo rattles her jaw, dropping Clarva for now.

Back over to the Queen and Musha, Hilfa targets the Queen first, connecting with a running punch that knocks the Queen down. Musha gets a strike at Hilfa's liver, and grabs the mage by her throat, but Hilfa quickly scratches at Musha's eyes, causing the advisor to let go.

Brain-rattling punches bounce Musha's head like a speed bag before Hilfa knocks her to the floor with a downward arcing punch.

Hilfa takes a step back, admiring her handy work with a smile. "Who is on top now?! Huh?! I sat for years watching you waste our potential! Years we could've been ruling EVERYTHING!"

Hilfa walks over to the Queen, grabbing her by the throat. "It's funny. If I wanted to end this earlier? I would have. However, this gift has given me the power to do something I always planned to do."

That sick smile appears again as Hilfa lifts her hand, and magic starts to shine at the tips of her index and middle finger.

"Time to show the world what real power looks like."

Hilfa's fingers glow brighter, but just before whatever is about to happen, a rock hits Hilfa in the side of the face.

"Hey! Down here you oversized fuck-pillow!"

The magic disappears as Hilfa hears the insult thrown her way. She then looks to her right to see who just threw the aforementioned rock. As she looks, its one of the smaller fighters who is the culprit, specifically the feline.

"What's the matter?! Allergic to cats?!" Amilia taunts, throwing another rock that hits Hilfa's right cheek.

"How is it that you good-for-nothing, barely worth the shit underneath my heel, insignificant little pests keep coming back?!"

"Because we're too stupid to die!" Amilia responds before throwing one more rock, but Hilfa easily blocks it. However, she doesn't get the chance to block Clarva's left hook before it sends her a few feet away.

Without a moment of hesitation, Clarva leaps onto Hilfa, and begins to pound away with lefts and rights. Hilfa does her best to block the blows, but Clarva's increased strength is chipping away at her arms, making Hilfa realize that if she doesn't make a move soon, then those same arms will be whittled down to the bones.

At the same time, Amilia has run back over to the others, or more specifically Terra, regrouping with them as they watch on.

"What in the hells happened to you?! I thought you were-" Terra asks, but is interrupted by Amilia laughing.

"Please. If you think that was the first time I nearly died riding something ten times my size, then you obviously don't me know all too well."

The thundering of the fight behind them interrupts the conversation for the moment as they see Clarva get kicked back by the prone Hilfa.

"We have to get in there!" Kyuala says as she grabs her axe before her ankle gives way.

Kira helps Kyuala back down to a kneeling position. "We're in no condition to fight, and even if we were, we'd just be getting in the way. We should move back, so we don't get trampled."

The group agree with Kira, and so they start their retreat as the scuffle ahead of them gets even more intense.

Hilfa is back on the attack, throwing punches at Clarva who is backed up against a wall. Clarva is doing her best to block the blows, and waits for her moment to strike.

That moment would come soon after as Hilfa goes for a large swing, giving Clarva time to duck out of the way as Hilfa hits the wall behind her. Clarva quickly follows up with a combination of punches, but she is quickly sent to the ground with a rock to the side of the head that Hilfa had picked up.

Clarva feels the blood pouring from the fresh cut on the left side of her head, a river of warmth running down her face as the blood begins to drip from her jaw.

Hilfa wants to go over and start beating Clarva into a pulp, but she gets another idea as a chunk of the stone from the wall splintered into a spike, and now lays at her feet.

Hilfa's bloodied hand wraps around the spike, lifting it up before stalking towards Clarva. "Half-breed. You managed to do it. The power that I needed you to unleash. I can't believe I'm even going to say this, but thank you."

Hilfa grabs Clarva by the neck with her left hand, and lifts the half-giant up to a kneeling position. Hilfa then raises the spike up high.

Down below, John and the others have been watching all of this go on, unable to do anything to intervene in their current state.

They've seen Clarva get rocked with the stone, and now their friend is at the giant's mercy. They see the spike in Hilfa's hand, and now they're basically **** to watch the half-giant's execution.

As all of this is happening, John begins to feel a burning on his right arm, specifically, the mark he received from Elliyah.

Suddenly, time slows to a crawl.

"It seems as though it's time for another moment to get stronger. Clarva Mightenos. A fine warrior. She will be key in your future, so make sure you don't find yourself on her bad side. Now, prove to the giants why you are a worthy ally."

Elliyah's words soon fade from John's mind, and that burning in his arm has continued into an inferno as he feels the power building to its crescendo.

Time begins to resume and Hilfa's arm is ready to come down when John runs a bit forward.

"HEY!" John calls out, getting Hilfa's attention for the moment. John then thrusts out his right hand, putting his left on the back of the right for support.

"TASTE THE DIVINE, BITCH!"

"This again? What a fu-" Hilfa immediately thinks before light beams out from John's hand, and shoots forward with the velocity of a bullet train.

The Divine Blast fires, but as John tries to hold his footing, his injured ankle gives way, and he falls to a knee trying to hold the power.

John doesn't see the impact, but he hears a roar of agony, and a smile appears on his face as John thinks he's finally put an end to the Hilfa situation.

That's until he looks up.

Hilfa is still standing, left hand still wrapped around Clarva's neck, but the hand with the spike? Completely gone. Hilfa's entire right arm? Eviscerated. It's not just her arm, a part of her torso connected to the arm has also been destroyed, a crimson waterfall left with the dangling flesh and burnt skin.

However, Hilfa is still breathing. Somehow, some way, Hilfa still has life in her body.

"I fucked it up." John says under a panicked whisper before falling onto his back as the remaining energy has been zapped from him, and John feels his eyelids become like anvils.

As John tries his best to fight the exhaustion that has overcome him, he sees Clarva's meaty paws grabs Hilfa by the jaw before slamming the giant down onto the floor.

Fists like boulders begin to slam down onto Hilfa's head, over and over. If a sound had to be assigned to the beating that was happening, it was like if thousands of birds hit the ground at once.

Wet thuds keep going as a mighty and frightening roar bellows out from Clarva, her eyes tinted red from both the fury overtaking her body, and the splashing blood becoming darker with every hit.

Hilfa feels her life slipping away as Clarva continues to beat on her. The stone that was covering her head is now completely shattered, and each blow feels like a building crashing onto her.

It's over. She has lost.

But Hilfa still feels some power within her.

Unable to fight back, Hilfa begins to draw that power, her hand starting to gently glow in the process. If she can't win by fighting back physically? Then she's going to use her magic to do it.

The power grows, but Hilfa can feel her final seconds dwindling like falling grains of sand. So, with one final breath, and the sight of Clarva's blood drenched fists coming down once again, Hilfa snaps her fingers.

The snap is almost immediately drowned out by the sound of Hilfa's skull completely cracks, finally killing the Head Mage of the Giants.

"We... did it." John barely gets out as the others begin to lift him off the ground.

"Yeah, we finally got the bitch." Kyuala says, putting John's arm around her neck.

"Did anyone else see her hand? Or was I just seeing things from my concussion?" Virra asks while seemingly trying to count the number of fingers on her right hand.

"It wasn't your concussion." Kira answers. "Whatever she did. It's nothing good."

The group begin slowly moving towards Clarva, who now has a joyful Karray on her shoulder.

"You fucking got her, C! Holy fucking mackerel, you got her."

Clarva offers a grunt in response, obviously not in a conversing mood.

Karray immediately understands what Clarva is going through, and so she flies in front of her.

"Hey, listen to me. This isn't like the last time." Clarva lets out an annoyed grunt, but Karray keeps going. "I know you never wanted to talk, or even think about it again, but you saved me, Clarva. You saved all of us. Now, it was a team effort, but you struck the final blow. You killed her. You ended it."

"She's right you know." The Queen says as she and Musha join Clarva, Karray, and all the others.

"Your majesty, I'm sorry about your-" Terra doesn't finish her sentence, but the implication was clear.

"Oh, please. As if losing a simple appendage would do anything to stop my reign as Queen. You would have to cut off my head and make sure it, and the rest of my body, are nothing but ashes."

"Let's not speak about becoming ashes so calmly, my Queen. We are still in the damned volcano after all." Musha states.

"You have a point. Let us get back. I can't tell you how much I miss the freezing touch of the snow and the drafts of wind that creep through the doors."

"What about her?" Amilia asks as she gestures to Hilfa's body. "Shouldn't we give her the pirates goodbye before we get the fuck outta here?"

"She also has a point." The Queen says looking over at the dead giant. "Let's give our problem a final goodbye."

The Queen and Musha start walking over to Hilfa when a large tremor shakes the ground, and lava begins to bubble up through the cracks.

"Okay, fuck the pirate shit! I'm outta here!" Amilia says before beginning to run towards the wall they attempted to climb earlier.

Quickly, the others follow suit as they get to the wall, and begin to ascend.

The tremors continue, getting even stronger as the ground they were just on begin to crumble. The group continue to climb as fast as they can. Clarva helps the near **** John, and the injured Kyuala who doesn't want to be separated from him, Musha helps Kira as it's kind of hard to climb while being a minotaur, and the rest are capable of climbing themselves. Lani and Karray use their magic to create platforms to help the climbing go quicker.

The climbing continues, and one by one, they eventually get back to the entrance they originally came from. They all sit there for a moment, watching as the ground continues to collapse. They then look over to Hilfa's body, and see that the ground around her collapses, dropping the giant's corpse into the lava below.

"If she comes back this time, I'm fucking leaving." Amilia states.

"Agreed." Everyone says in unison before they begin to walk away, and while they don't know what just caused the quaking, one thing is finally certain.

Hilfa is dead.