The command cracked like a whip.
Kogar and Kima Ramsey reacted without thinking. Their bodies moved before their minds could process the terror.
Kima rushed forward, slamming his massive tower shield down into the stone floor with a heavy THUD.
Kogar, his hands empty after Ray had commandeered his primary shield, didn't hesitate. He reached over his shoulder and unslung his heavy backup shield that was strapped to his back. It wasn't as large as the tower shield, but it was thick steel. He slammed it down next to his brother, bracing it with his shoulder.
Darian slammed his shield into the gap between the brothers, interlocking the edges.
“Brace!”
Darian bellowed, his voice raw.
CLANG.
Team SIS formed a phalanx, a wall of steel against a wall of living magma.
The Centurion attacked again and swung.
CRASH.
The impact was earth-shattering. The Golem’s spear slammed into the center of the shield wall. The ground shook. The Ramsey brothers groaned, their boots sliding backward, carving deep white grooves into the black obsidian floor. Sparks flew as the enchantment on Kogar’s shield flickered and died under the assault.
But the line held.
“Now!”
Darian roared.
Seeing the Golem recoil slightly from the impact, Darian saw his chance. He didn't just hold the line; he struck back. He thrust his mace through the gap in the shields, driving the heavy flange deep into the Centurion’s exposed obsidian knee.
CRACK.
The blow was solid. It shattered the stone plating, exposing the roiling, bright-orange magma core beneath. Darian grinned, thinking he had crippled the monster.
Meanwhile, in the Noble’s Box…
Lord Varrus, the patriarch of House Varrus, sat with his arms crossed, his face a mask of stone. Beside him, other Valor families whispered. They had seen Darian struggle. They had seen him falter.
The crowd watched as Ray Croft grabbed a shield and blocked an attack shielding Darian. They watched Darian, the heir to a proud, stubborn house being protected by a smaller student from a minor house.
But then, the audio from the screen boomed through the stadium.
“KOGAR, KIMA! GET YOUR ASSESS OVER HERE! SHIELD WALL! NOW!”
A lesser man might have been ashamed to see his son being protected by a weaker looking student. But Lord Varrus leaned forward, his eyes narrowing.
He saw the discipline. He saw the formation holding against a monster that should have crushed them. He saw his son finally stop acting like a hero and start acting like a soldier.
“Good,”
Lord Varrus grunted, a rare nod of approval breaking his stoic facade.
“Stay strong. Hold the line boy.”
For the first time all day, the murmurs mocking House Varrus ceased. They weren't watching a brute anymore; they were watching a unit.
“Got him!”
Darian shouted.
But the victory lasted less than a second.
The magma didn't bleed out. Instead, it bubbled up, hissing violently. In the blink of an eye, the molten rock cooled and hardened, reforming the obsidian plate perfectly. The damage wasn't just repaired; it was erased.
The Centurion didn't even limp. It simply roared louder, pressing its weight back onto the shields.
Ray watched the rapid regeneration, his eyes narrowing.
Scholar: “Damage to structural integrity was significant, yet restoration was instantaneous. The mana efficiency of that repair cycle is impossible for a standard combat construct. It’s not using mana to fight; it’s using mana to reset.”
Veteran: “It’s a sponge. High defense, infinite regeneration. It’s not trying to kill us, kid. It’s trying to keep us busy.”
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Ray remembered that they only had a three-hour limit for the whole scenario. This thing was designed to eat every second of it.
“Stop attacking!”
Ray shouted from behind the line, his voice cutting through the noise.
“It’s a Time Sink! You can’t kill it!”
Darian gritted his teeth, smoke rising from his pauldrons as the heat intensified.
“What do you mean I can’t kill it? Anything dies if you hit it hard enough!”
“It heals faster than you can damage it!”
Ray yelled back.
“It’s a stall tactic! Don’t waste your energy on strikes! Just hold the line!”
The Centurion pressed its weight against the shields. It radiated an aura of intense, suffocating heat. The metal of the shields began to glow cherry-red. The air around Team SIS turned into a convection oven.
“We’re cooking!” Kima screamed, his face turning a blotchy red as his helmet heated up. “My armor is burning me!”
“Just stall it!”