Ettamri was no hero of great repute, no saint of great virtue, but in that moment, galloping down upon the colossal beast, her armor gloriously pure even in the dreary light, the image she cut was certainly heroic, the blade she cut with more than sufficient. The lance had been foiled by the toad’s earthen defenses, but with the momentum of her warhorse, the sheer strength of her arms, the honed edge of her blade would be thwarted by nothing less than tempered steel.

A singular strike sheared through dirt and stone, muscle and fat, leaving a massive gash in the giant toad. It was a wound that would have been instantly fatal if not for the size of the creature, but even disregarding that, it was a blow that the beast felt. Hot air and bodily fluids gushed out towards Ettamri, the tremendous spray of blood coating both herself and her steed as she passed by, while the toad itself was rapidly deflating. By the time it reached Gwyn the combination of its own increased mass and its deformed shape had reduced much of its once ferocious speed.

Against that, there was no way it’d be able to smash through the ward that the Keeper of Light bestowed upon its faithful. With a dull thump, it struck the shimmering barrier and was summarily repulsed, a mere meter away from Gwyn.

The toad gurgled once more, but as quickly as its chest could inflate, the gaping wound on its side deflated, air streaming out. A white fluid seeped from its punctured eye, while its left hindleg twitched, unable to obey the commands that its brain sent down to it. It still had three limbs left, still had its tongue, still had its tremendous mass, but it was certainly in no condition to fight anymore. A smart predator picked when to fight carefully.

With what remained of its mobility, the red-striped toad scramble-crawled away, seeking an impossible escape from the horned monster upon its fearless steed.