"Come on, rock head," Boran muttered, with a slight smile on his lips. "Let's dance a little."
Mur-Azar's sword drew a wide arc in the air. Boran knew this attack would be much stronger than the previous ones. But he couldn't retreat now. He needed to buy time for the others... but why?
Boran asked himself: Why was he here? Why was he helping these strangers? He had wandered alone for the past few days, having learned not to trust anyone after his first team. But now, he had inexplicably found himself in the midst of a group.
Perhaps it was that old impulse - the protective instinct. When he saw the mage lying on the ground, he remembered the person he had lost years ago.
The creatures that emerged from Gateway 05 in Turkey had spread throughout the country. Despite using their most powerful weapons, the Turkish Armed Forces had been insufficient in stopping the creatures. Cities remained under occupation for months. Finally, just as in the Japanese example, the creatures were pushed back thanks to the numerical superiority achieved with the support of other countries.
Boran drifted into his memories. That terrible day came alive in his mind again. In the suburbs of Adana, they were returning home from the neighborhood market with someone he loved dearly. The sky was grayer than usual. First, they heard the screams from afar. Then the fleeing people...
He couldn't quite remember how the creatures looked. He knew his brain had blocked those memories - a defense mechanism of trauma. Only shadows, silhouettes, and blood-red eyes remained in his memory. And those horrible sounds... like metal scraping against metal...
The screams were still in his ears. She had long black hair and green eyes. That day she wore a navy blue school uniform. And in her arm, the mesh bag full of vegetables they had bought from the market...
Everything happened so fast. They were trying to get to their home as quickly as possible. They passed through narrow streets, took shortcuts. But the creatures were everywhere. When they turned the corner, the thing that appeared before them - Boran still couldn't quite remember what it was - lunged at her.
Boran had frozen. His body had turned to stone. Even when she fell, he couldn't move. Her outstretched hand, her eyes begging for help... When he finally gathered his courage to lunge forward, it was already too late. Those few seconds he hesitated, that brief moment that would shape the rest of his life, had changed everything.
Her lifeless body lay on the sidewalk. The tomatoes they had bought from the market were scattered beside her, red liquid seeping into the cracks in the street. The creature quickly took the body and carried it away.
Boran fell to his knees, couldn't even cry. He just stayed there like that until military units came and forcibly took him away.
Nothing was the same after that day. He never forgave himself. For being a coward, for hesitating, for failing to protect her... Most nights the same nightmare: her outstretched hand, her eyes begging for help, and those damned moments when he stood frozen.
Now, when he saw Fire lying on the ground, for a moment he saw her. The same helplessness, the same pleading looks... But this time he didn't hesitate. This time he didn't succumb to fear. Maybe that's why he had thrown himself forward - a chance to atone for the sins of the past, to slightly ease the guilt of failing to fulfill his responsibility to her...
He swallowed. As memories danced in his mind, Mur-Azar's massive silhouette rose before him. This time would be different. This time he wouldn't let anyone die. He gripped his shield tighter, his gloves creaking.
He shook his head quickly. Now wasn't the time to think about these things. A massive enemy stood before him and, for whatever reason, he was now part of this battle. He could sort out his emotions later - if they survived, that is.
Mur-Azar's sword rose into the air again. This time, the guardian's entire body was glowing with golden energy. The patterns on his chest moved as if alive, and the sound coming from his armor's joints grew louder.
"New attack pattern!" shouted Storm, while reloading his gun. "Be careful!"
"Golden attack..." Boran muttered.
He had seen the same color in the Alpha Wolf's eyes. What had the wolf done after its eyes glowed like this? It had lunged forward with untraceable speed. If what he was thinking was right...
"Watch out, he's going to speed up!"
Boran gripped his shield firmly. Like Mur-Azar's body, the geometric patterns on the platform were also flashing in the same color.
As the patterns on the platform continued to glow, Mur-Azar's body suddenly moved. Boran blinked — how could such a massive body move so fast? His speed had doubled.
The first attack came from above. Boran escaped by rolling to the side at the last moment. When the sword struck the marble floor, the entire room shook, cracks spreading like a web.
"I wasn't expecting that much," Boran muttered, quickly getting to his feet. Before he could fully straighten up, the second attack came - a diagonal strike.
Boran instinctively bent forward, the sword slicing through the air above his head. Hot wind licked his neck. "That was close! The increase in my agility stat is working!" he thought, but his relief didn't last long.
The third attack was impossible to see. Mur-Azar's sword was coming in a horizontal line, at an incredible speed. He tried to raise his shield but was too late. The blow struck his chest.
Boran's body was thrown into the air. Time seemed to slow down. As he floated through the air, he thought: "This time I really got myself into a mess." When his back hit the wall, sharp pain spread throughout his body. Cracks formed in the stone wall, small pieces falling to the ground.
The text [90 damage taken] appeared in his field of vision.
[Remaining HP 10]
When he fell to the ground, he was struggling to breathe. A deep notch had formed in the chest piece of his armor. Every breath brought stabbing pain - probably several broken ribs.
"Light!" Fire's voice echoed in the room. "Light! Heal him!"
Light hesitated. The yellow energy in her hands was trembling. "But... you're wounded too..."
"Not us!" Fire shouted, not taking her eyes off Boran. "Heal him! If it weren't for him, I'd now be..." Her voice trembled. "Please, heal him!"
Boran tried to prop himself up on one elbow. Every movement was torture. Mur-Azar's silhouette rose at the other end of the room, the energy ball at the tip of his sword now even larger.
"YOU... ARE... STILL... STANDING?" The guardian's voice trembled with rage. "HOW... ARE YOU... STILL... ALIVE?"
Boran smiled through the pain. A thin line of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. "You're... underestimating me... pebble head." He coughed, the pain in his chest becoming even sharper. "I... don't die... that easily."
When Light's healing spell finally reached him, Boran sighed with relief. As warm, golden energy spread through his body, his broken bones began to knit, his bruised muscles began to heal. Slowly he stood up, picked up his shield from the ground.
The notification "[30 HP Healed]" appeared and his health continued to rise steadily.
"Thanks," he said briefly, not taking his eyes off his enemy. Now he had seen Mur-Azar's attack pattern. He might be fast, but like every powerful opponent, he had his weak points.
He needed a short recovery time after each attack. It made sense for such a large body - it couldn't completely ignore the laws of physics. And that golden energy... he probably couldn't maintain this speed for long.
"I need you," said Boran, turning to the others. "I can't defeat this thing alone. But together..." He paused. Since when had he started thinking in terms of 'together'? "Together we have a chance."
"Everyone keep attacking with everything you've got! He's down to quarter health! Light, keep healing the protector!" Fire shouted again.