CHAPTER 34: TITAN’S END

(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don’t hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

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"You despicable brats!!"

"Took you long enough to figure it out," Aria said with a sneer.

The marquis’ face was enough to tell how incensed he was. The continuous effect of the ice on Ymir further grated on his nerves.

He could tell now that the despicable tree wasn’t just affecting him; it was draining mana from him and feeding it to the girl.

The icicles weren’t just absorbing heat and releasing it into the atmosphere; they were taking it directly from the bones in the form of mana and transferring it to the rose, which in turn takes it to Aria.

’This is bad,’ The marquis thought, his expression becoming grim. They were basically draining him to empower themselves, a terrifying cycle, he’d never admit it, but the three had found a strategy to perfectly complement themselves and maximize their efficiency.

The thought of escaping came to mind, but the barrier was still active, and the amount of mana it would take to break through was more than he could produce right now. Still, he shook that thought away; he wouldn’t run, not from these intruders that had ruined his family, his heir was dead, and he would end them and wage war on the Tundra family.

The three just stayed still, watching the marquis who was glaring at them. The eyes of both Ymir and the marquis unnerved them, but they stilled their hearts; they were so close to victory.

The marquis’ mind worked overtime trying to come up with a solution; there had to be a way to break free of this bind, he hadn’t gotten to his position by fault.

His mind quickly found a solution in a few seconds, ’The green boy,’ He thought, he had always been their weak link.

’He’s the one transferring mana between them, now I know that. I just have to prevent him from coming into contact with them. If I time it well, I can keep interrupting them until the Black one runs out of mana, hopefully before me’ The marquis thought, analysing his next actions.

His fiery and angry eyes soon calmed down, and he released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Ymir’s bones shrank down till they stood about fifty meters. ’I would have done this a while back, had I seen through them faster,’ He mentally chastised himself.

"Rumble," He whispered.

Flexible bone-like appendages shot out of the ground, rushing towards the trio. Mark continued his movements, teleporting them around the whole field.

Aria turned her gaze towards the marquis, wondering what he was thinking, but she noticed his position in the Ymir’s ribs had been closed off; she couldn’t see him, just those eerie green eyes in the skeleton. Alarms rang in her head.

’The old man’s up to something,’ Aria said mentally.

’What?’ Mark replied, his focus on protecting them from the bones.

’Is there anything he can do in this situation? He might be bluffing’ Randy reasoned, staring at the same spot Aria was looking at.

’I don’t think he’s the type to bluff,’ Aria retorted.

’There’s a first for everything, he might be trying to unnerve us, Mark especially,’ Randy said.

’Is there any chance he’s no longer in there?’ Aria asked.

’He’s faster in there, I don’t see any reason for him to step out,’ Mark replied.

’Maybe he can create more of those giants,’ Randy reasoned with a frown.

’I doubt it, if he could, he’d have done so,’ Mark replied.

’Should I try to attack him?’ Aria asked.

’No, we don’t want any variables. We have him by the neck now’ Mark replied

’So, we just wait,’ Randy concluded.

’Try to keep an eye out for him, his silence is rubbing me the wrong way,’ Aria warned.

’How long till next transfer?’ Randy asked.

’The mana I have left should last me about ten minutes tops, so in eight minutes should be good,’ Mark replied.

The stalemate continued for the next eight minutes with Ymir just watching them.

’Alright, now,’ Mark announced.

Mark soon brought the three of them together; they had a small window to pass mana between the two of them, and the bones didn’t give them much breathing space.

Randy was just about to put his hands on both of them when a large hand appeared and squished him to death.

They were in another location in the next instance. He tried again, yet Ymir was there waiting for him. They tried over and over again, but the titan was there, relentless.

’So that’s his plan,’ Mark said with a frown.

’How exactly is he moving so fast?’ Randy asked, bewildered.

’He most likely sacrificed defense for speed, that’s why the skeleton shrank,’ Aria replied,

’So, he can just manipulate the skeleton’s stats,’ Randy said.

’So it seems. Should have seen that coming’ Mark said, chastising himself.

’We have two minutes left, plans people, ’ Aria said, her sense of urgency rising.

’I’ll confuse him,’ Mark replied.

They dodged another appendage. This time around, he teleported all three of them in different directions, the bones split towards them, and he continued, making sure to keep them apart.

All of a sudden, both he and Aria appeared in the same location, yet the marquis didn’t move or react, just that same unnerving stare from Ymir.

He tried bringing himself and Randy together, yet still no response. Aria and Randy, the marquis didn’t flinch.

He tried different combos, trying to get a reaction, but still nothing.

’Now,’ He announced.

As soon as all three of them were together, the titan was there, fist heading straight for Randy. No matter how many times he tried, the marquis was there.

’He’s not falling for it,’ Mark announced, desperation creeping.

They were so close to completely finishing their mission, yet the duke had found a way to disrupt their strategy.

’My mana’s almost out, I can try to push, but it won’t last more than 30 seconds, and my control would drop,’ Mark explained.

’I have a feeling he’s also close to his limits, 5 min tops, ’ Aria said.

’But we don’t have 5 min, if I stop, we’re done, there’s no way we can take that titan of his,’ Mark said, already out of breath.

’We do it the old-fashioned way, we fight directly,’ Randy said.

’Easy for you to say, you won’t engage him directly, we won’t last 2 minutes against him,’ Mark replied.

’You are forgetting, I still have my concept,’ Randy explained.

’That’s torture,’ Mark said, reluctantly.

’Better torture than death. Stay out of it, Mark. I’ll take him on alone. I still have a lot of mana, and with Randy’s concept, I can finish him up.’ Aria said, steeling her mind.

Mark didn’t reply; he just nodded.

’Randy!’ Aria called out.

"CONCEPT AWAKENING," Randy whispered.

Ymir’s eyes shifted, reacting to the Marquis’ wariness. He could feel the amount of mana radiating from the boy, not the dangerous type, but pressure nonetheless, and the pressure made him wary.

"RESTORATION," He whispered.

The whole atmosphere became saturated with mana, heavy but serene, at least to them; to the marquis, it was anything but.

At the same time, Mark performed one last teleportation, himself to the sky and Aria to the ground.

The marquis wasted no second; his time was running out, and he appeared in front of Aria in less than a second.

Ymir’s fist shot forward in a blitz; it tore through air resistance like paper, intent on destruction.

Aria couldn’t react to that kind of speed; her reaction time couldn’t be fast enough to form a proper response, but her concept optimized her mana enough for her to perform a command.

"BLOOM," she muttered.

Ice exploded from her feet in every direction, temperature dropping to fatal levels, yet all that was meaningless before Ymir.

Clenched bones broke through the ice as though passing through water, ice chunks flying everywhere. It slammed into Aria before she could know what’s what.

Blood splattered everywhere in a gory mess, her internal organs ruptured without resistance, blood flowing from her exposed orifices, her limbs snapping like twigs.

The marquis could literally see the life draining from her eyes, yet it all disappeared like time rewinded, no green glow, no special effects, nothing. She was just back.

The marquis watched all this, and it was like deja vu, a repeat of what he had been experiencing all this while, yet he couldn’t give in; the ice still dropped, his mana was still being drained, he would run out any second now, he could already feel resistance from Ymir.

He turned upwards to see the green-haired boy standing in the hair, eyes closed, his mind focused completely on Aria.

He couldn’t will mana into any extra bone; it would run out immediately.

He had to kill the green boy, and then the girl, before taking care of the last one, all under.... Five seconds, he calculated.

Ymir reacted immediately, to his command, Tibia and Fibula tensing with mana, yet before he could move, he was overwhelmed by white.

A wall of white ice came rushing down towards him, ice drakes coiling and binding Ymir down.

’Futile, he thought, adrenaline rushing through him, a product of his urgency.

The titan exploded off the ground, rocketing towards Randy, eyes shining green, jaws open, like something out of the abyss.

Unfortunately, no matter how futile the ice was, it had taken 3 seconds out of his 7; he could still make it, he told himself.

He appeared in front of Randy on his 4th, no punches or kicks, just straight up savage biting. Randy opened his eyes to see something that would wet any grown man on the spot, an enormous jaw closing on his body, his body couldn’t react fast enough to do anything, his healing couldn’t work if he was immediately dead.

He simply smiled, awaiting the inevitable. At least he had completed his mission, but he heard it, the same sound that had brought him from the brink of death on so many occasions.

CLAP!!

Ymir clamped its jaws down in a loud gnash, like mountains colliding.

The marquis felt it; no response or blood, the boy had found a way to escape again.

5 seconds.

He had 2 seconds left to do something; his mind raced, ideas popping in and out of his head, like a machine breaking down, but nothing came to mind. His mind started slowing down, the inevitability of the situation dawning on him.

7 seconds.

Ymir’s eyes slowly closed, its green color fading, its jaws shuddering like a titan going to rest forever.

The bones started falling apart, detaching from one another and slowly turning to dust, till only the part of the skull and one eye were left, and soon enough, even that faded.

The marquis fell straight from the sky and landed on the ground with a dull thud.

"Despicable brats," He muttered with tears in his eyes.

(A/N I’d love your opinion, did I cook or did I cook.)