The roar did not fade.
It multiplied.
Stone continued to collapse from the upper cliffs as the Juggernaut fully tore itself free from the molten womb of the mountain. Its body was lean, armored in jagged crimson plates veined with black, limbs long and built for slaughter rather than bulk. Steam hissed from between its joints. Its eyes burned with a violent, unnatural intelligence.
It did not hesitate.
It moved.
In one violent burst, it crossed the battlefield and slammed into the expedition's front line. The impact alone sent three adventurers skidding across the stone, their shields shattered. A Furnace Drake carcass was kicked aside like debris as the Juggernaut's tail carved a trench through the ground.
Damien's eyes snapped toward the center of the chaos.
Finn and Gareth were already there.
Finn darted in and out of range, twin spears flashing in precise arcs, striking at joints, eyes, exposed seams between plates. Gareth met the monster head on, his massive weapon intercepting claw strikes that would have cleaved buildings in half. Each collision rang like a cathedral bell struck by lightning.
But the Juggernaut did not slow.
Riveria's voice rang across the cavern as magic circles layered over one another in rapid succession. "Alf Regina!"
A torrent of high tier magic descended like a frozen comet, engulfing the Juggernaut in a storm of ice and crushing force.
The blast detonated.
Steam exploded outward.
When the haze cleared, the Juggernaut stood there, armor scorched but intact. The ice slid from its body in melting sheets.
It lunged again.
Gareth blocked, boots digging into molten cracked stone as he absorbed the impact, veins bulging beneath his armor. Finn flashed to the side and struck at its neck with a pinpoint thrust meant to pierce a weak seam.
The spear glanced off.
Too shallow.
Too hard.
Damien clicked his tongue.
It was ignoring the magic. It was overpowering even Gareth in raw strength. And if this continued, the expedition would be pinned here until exhaustion claimed them.
That was not an option.
He turned, shadows rising around him like a tide.
"Everyone! Abandon cleanup!" Damien's voice cut through the battlefield with authority. "Advance to Floor Forty Seven immediately! Move!"
Several adventurers hesitated for half a second.
Finn did not.
"Follow the order!" Finn barked, his voice sharp and commanding even as he parried another swipe. "Maintain formation and retreat toward the descent!"
The expedition shifted instantly. Loki Familia elites began falling back in disciplined waves, covering each other as they pushed toward the stairway leading deeper.
Damien's shadows surged outward, forming a living wall between the retreating forces and the Juggernaut. Igris took point, blade raised, intercepting a tail strike that would have wiped out an entire squad. The Ice Elves mounted on their massive bears roared forward, freezing terrain to slow the beast's pursuit.
Damien did not follow the retreat.
He vanished in a blur and reappeared beside Finn and Gareth.
The three stood shoulder to shoulder as the Juggernaut's eyes locked onto them.
"Still alive, I see," Finn said calmly, never taking his gaze off the monster.
"Barely," Gareth grunted, deflecting another claw with brute force. "This thing hits harder than a mountain."
"It's adapting," Finn added, analyzing even as he moved. "It's prioritizing us."
"Yeah," Damien replied, daggers spinning once before settling into a reverse grip. "Good. Let's keep it that way."
The Juggernaut attacked again.
This time it was faster.
A blur of red armor and claws.
Damien ducked under the first swipe, flipped over the second, and slashed at the inner thigh seam mid rotation. Sparks flew, but the blade barely bit in. Finn dashed low, spears stabbing upward toward the eye ridge. Gareth stepped forward and hammered the creature's forearm aside, the impact cracking the ground beneath them.
They were surviving.
They were holding it.
But they were not hurting it.
Damien landed beside Finn. "We can't stall this forever. We should retreat to Forty Seven."
Finn shook his head once. "If it follows, it'll hit the expedition while they're compressed on the stairs. Casualties would be unavoidable."
Gareth spat to the side and tightened his grip. "Then we crush it here. No running."
He rolled his shoulders and stepped forward again, meeting the Juggernaut's charge head on. "We hit it together. Concentrated. No wasted motion."
Finn's eyes sharpened. "Agreed. Damien, you create the opening. I'll strike high. Gareth finishes."
Damien grinned faintly. "Got it."
The Juggernaut lunged once more, claws tearing through stone.
Damien moved first.
He sprinted straight toward it.
Not away.
Toward.
At the last second he kicked off a broken pillar, launched himself upward, twisted mid air, and ran along the cavern wall for three rapid steps before diving down toward its head. His daggers blurred, carving shallow but precise cuts across its vision plates, forcing it to react.
The Juggernaut snapped upward, claws swiping to intercept him.
Opening created.
Finn vanished.
He reappeared in a flash at the creature's blind spot and drove both spears forward with perfect synchronization, aiming directly for the cranial seam where armor overlapped.
This time the thrust landed deeper.
The Juggernaut roared and whipped around toward Finn, abandoning Damien mid air to focus on the new threat.
That was the second opening.
Gareth charged.
Every muscle in his body coiled, then released. He stepped inside the monster's reach instead of backing away, hammer rising overhead as molten light reflected across its steel surface.
"Down you go!"
The hammer came down like divine punishment.
It struck the weakened seam Finn had pierced.
The sound was not a clang.
It was an explosion.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the Juggernaut's head. Damien hit the ground behind it and instantly leapt again, driving both daggers into the fracture Gareth had created.
The Juggernaut turned toward him, furious, unstable.
Too late.
Gareth roared and brought the hammer down a second time with everything he had left.
The skull shattered.
Armor fragments erupted outward in a violent shockwave as the Juggernaut's body stiffened, then collapsed forward, carving a trench through the battlefield before finally going still.
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Smoldering.
Finn exhaled slowly and withdrew his spears. "Efficient."
Gareth rested the head of his hammer against his shoulder and let out a low chuckle. "Not bad for a warm up."
Damien dusted himself off as he turned to Gareth "Those damn Ash Revanats were much smarter than we expected....Who would've thought that they'd attack the dungeon to summon a Juggernaut"
Gareth laughed as he said "Riveria's gonna write an entire report about that....ahaha"
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