Ritso, her heart pounding, burst into the audience seats, her eyes wide with panic. She had asked the Oni, the one Kelly had stumbled past, "Where did she go?" He had gestured towards the pit, his expression grim, his eyes filled with dread. Ritso's eyes widened, and she ran, her breath catching in her throat as she saw the scene unfold. She saw Ronny's massive hand, Kelly's small, terrified face, and then… the sickening crunch, the tearing of flesh, the crimson spray.
Ash—Something broke inside him, a dam bursting, a flood of rage and grief washing over him.
His body shook, trembling with an uncontrollable fury. His breath came ragged, a harsh rasp in the silent pit. His hands clenched into fists, his knuckles white, his nails digging into his skin.
His mind—A storm. A void.
He could still see her, her small, broken form, her terrified eyes.
Still hear her, the silent echo of her final word.
That desperate, unspoken word.
Papa.
That very moment something broke inside him, his body relaxed eyes on half corpse of the child he sworn to protect.
Then the very air around him shifted, the poison coursing through his veins turning black, a dark, viscous liquid that pulsed with malevolent energy. His vision darkened, the edges of his sight blurring, as if he were plunging into a black abyss.
Meave's eyes widened, a silent scream trapped in her throat, mirroring the incomprehensible horror unfolding before her. Beside her, Uren watched, his face a mask of disbelief and dawning terror, witnessing events that defied logic and comprehension.
With a surge of adrenaline born from grief and a desperate, final ounce of strength, Meave tightened the ethereal shackles that still bound Ronny's colossal form. Her other hand, trembling, reached out, pulling the broken remains of Kelly's small body towards her own shattered form, a macabre act of protection.
Ronny, his monstrous red eyes fixed on Ash's broken figure kneeling in the dust, a picture of utter despair, barely registered the subtle shift behind him. He saw only the broken man, lost in his grief.
Then, without the slightest warning, a crushing weight slammed onto his back, the force akin to a building collapsing. Ritso stood atop his broad shoulders, her eyes burning with a crimson inferno of pure, unadulterated rage. "My daug— tsk, Die!" she snarled, her voice a guttural rasp of fury.
Before Ronny could react, a searing pain ripped through his gut. A sharp, unseen weapon had pierced him, and thick, black blood gurgled from his monstrous maw. Almost instinctively, his massive hand swept out, a brutal backhand that sent Ash hurtling across the pit like a discarded doll.
Ash, lost in his agony, offered no resistance, accepting the blow as if it were a final embrace. With the last vestiges of his conscious will, he commanded the unseen poison blade, still embedded in Ronny's flesh, to dig deeper, to burn his insides from within. Agonizing fire bloomed in Ronny's core.
"Beast Will – Mass Ignition!" Ritso roared, her large, trembling hands clamping onto Ronny's face. With brutal force, she began dragging his immense body across the jagged ground, then slamming him against the pit walls, the impact shaking the very foundations. Everything happened with blinding speed, Ronny's monstrous form a clumsy, lumbering target.
Above, on the precipice of the audience stands, Uren clung to his magical hold with every fiber of his being. His teeth were clenched so tightly his lips bled, a silent prayer escaping his ravaged body, begging his weakening grip not to fail.
Ritso, having dragged Ronny halfway around the pit's circumference, slammed him onto the ground and began a relentless assault, her fists pounding into the same festering wound in his gut. Ronny, momentarily stunned, roared in pain and fury. He lashed out, his massive fist connecting with Ritso's face, the impact sending her spectacles flying. She stumbled back, a moment of disorientation in her blazing eyes, before fixing her gaze on Ronny, a cold, deadly resolve hardening her features.
Her foot lifted, poised to crush his skull. Ronny, realizing his precarious position, used the back of both his massive hands to lift her descending foot, then shoved her away with enough force to send her hurtling twenty feet into the air. His shaking body struggled to stand, his red eyes tracking Ritso's falling form. This time, there was no arrogance, no teasing. His massive fist clenched, the incoming blow calculated, lethal. He couldn't afford any missteps.
Meave, watching Ronny's deadly intent, knew she had to act, to somehow save Ritso. With one arm cradling Kelly's lifeless form, her other hand scrabbled desperately for her staff, but her fingers grasped only empty air. Fear, cold and sharp, pierced through her exhaustion as she looked around, her eyes widening at the unexpected, desperate turn of events.
Ronny's fist was poised to strike. Then, in a blink, a crushing impact slammed into his throat. A guttural gurgle escaped his lips, and his massive body went limp, consciousness abruptly extinguished.
It was Ash.
Meave, Uren, even the detached Norman, felt a shiver of disbelief and terror run through them. They hadn't seen Ash move. One moment he was a broken figure on his knees, the next he had vanished, reappearing with impossible speed to deliver a single, devastating blow.
Ritso landed heavily on Ash's back, the impact sending him crashing to the ground, unconscious beside the monstrous corpse of Ronny.
Norman shook his head, a low whistle escaping his lips. He stood, scratching the back of his head. "Okay… it's ended, I guess. Stupid motherfker. I warned him."
But his casual demeanor fractured instantly. A cold dread washed over him as he sensed something approaching the pit, a presence that made his blood run cold. His heart start pounding with fear Without hesitation, he sprinted towards Ronny's unresponsive form, and with a crackle of thunderous energy, his body collided with the behemoth, both figures rocketing upwards and out of the pit.