The enormous hand came crashing down as the monster fell, breaking the earth beneath its impact. Had Fanilly been there, she would surely have been crushed.

Instead, she felt the air rushing past her, as it narrowly missed.

There was no time to take in how narrow that had been. No time to appreciate how devastating the blow was. With her blade gripped in both hands, Fanilly lurched forward, the gleaming tip of her blade aiming squarely for the curse abomination's head as it raised one bloated arm again in a bit to strike once more.

She had to do it. At this close range, she had to make sure she struck. She had to bury the blade as deeply as possible, and make sure the cursed monster died with this blow---!

[hr]

"Urk..."

If the spear thrust's failure hadn't been enough to crush the man's hope of revenge, then the vise-like grip on his throat was. For a scant few moments, he was still gripping his spear tightly, trying to pull it free... and then his grip loosened.

He let go.

"... F-fine... for my brother's sake, I'll surrender."

The Boars surrounding the vampire paladin seemed hesitant. It was obvious how those who surrendered were treated by the Golden Boar's leadership, but at the same time, it was likely they didn't fancy their chances against such an opponent either.

[hr]

The attack never came.

Dame Serenity had been left behind, just as swiftly as the knife-wielding Boar had attacked in the first place.

It soon became clear why.

"Ah-hah! You look a little worse for wear, don't you?!"

The poisoned knife gleaming, he lunged towards Sir Sergio by surprise, lashing out with his blade and driving it downwards. He'd clearly taken advantage of the cover provided by the curse abominations in order to launch his attack. With the twisted monsters taking up so much attention, he'd decided to attack an opponent he at least thought would be a weaker one.

In fact, he wasn't the only of the Boars who had the same idea, another man in dark plate advancing swiftly to the thinnest part of the defensive line.

"I'll get a bonus for this!"

However-

"Idiots! Morons! You seriously keep forgetting, don't you? [i]Arbec Grant[/i]!"

Clarice pressed the fetch between her hands, firmly.

It bounced back.

The armored man did not, blood exploding from every gap in his armor as his body was practically liquified by the sudden force applied to it, spewing across the grass.

The curse mage's vicious grin had returned.

Even the knife-wielder, in spite of his initial bravado, was unable to avoid the shock of witnessing such a display, despite his attack...

Perhaps this would be the opening Sir Sergio needed, or an opportunity for Dame Serenity to catch up to him.

[hr]

Sir Fionn's spear found its mark.

With a meaty thunk, it penetrated the monstrous creature's head through one of its ruptured eyes. Its grasping hand faltered, and it let out a groan before it finally completely collapsed with a resounding thud.

The curse abomination was dead, sure enough.

"... Tch, the hounds were bad enough," the Boar with a mace commented as he raised his weaponry, "But even I think something like that has no place in this world, Iron Rose. We're enemies, and I'd hardly have it any other way. But I think you can agree on that."

There was no intention of avoiding the incoming duel, far from it. He had already taken a ready stance, raised his mace. There were no other Boars in the way, no further abominable bloated curse monstrosities.

Perhaps he wished, in some small way, to set himself apart from whoever had ordered the creation and use of the curse abominations.

[@Rune_Alchemist][@HereComesTheSnow][@Raineh Daze][@ERode][@PigeonOfAstora][@Conscripts][@Crimson Paladin][@Creative Chaos][@The Otter][@Krayzikk][@Psyker Landshark][@6slyboy6]