King Domine studied the Beast as it settled into its stance, his eyes tracking the shift in posture, the change in balance, the way its weight distributed across its frame with deliberate control rather than instinct.
"So abilities and powers are not the only ways you change?" he remarked, his tone briefly analytical rather than mocking. At first he had assumed the use of Claw and Fang was instinctive, something crude layered over brute force, but this was different. This was deliberate.
"I do not think you realize this will not help you," he continued. "A normal martial art will not make much use of your claws, and you do not have the strength to hurt me much at all."
The Beast did not respond. It moved, and this time it ran like a person, not dropping to all fours, its stride tightening, shoulders squared as it closed the distance in a direct, controlled line.
Domine shook his head slightly as it came in. The Beast's right fist drove forward, and Domine's left hand came up to catch it cleanly, halting the strike at the wrist. In the same motion, his right fist snapped out and hammered into the Beast's head, the impact jerking it sideways and nearly dropping it to its knees. It held. Its body dipped under the force, then surged back up, its arm driving upward in an uppercut aimed under his guard.
Domine intercepted again, his hand clamping down around the Beast's wrist mid-rise, locking it in place as his tail lashed forward and sliced through its arm at the elbow, severing it cleanly.
"You cannot even fight like this," he said, almost dismissive, as his claws followed immediately, driving forward and cutting across its throat, tearing into it without hesitation. "Give up. You make that Beast Part look weak."
The arm was already coming back, flesh reforming and structure rebuilding in seconds as the Beast stepped back in and swung again with its claws.
"Gave up on that already?" Domine said, lifting his hand to block, confident in the repetition, but the moment stretched wrong as pain hit him, sharp, immediate, and out of place.
His body locked for a fraction of a second as something pierced through his ribs and into his feet at the same time, and his eyes dropped to see it clearly. The swing had been a feint. The entire exchange had been a setup. While he had been focused on the shift to martial movement, the Beast had already committed elsewhere. Its tails had driven down into his feet, pinning him in place, while its other hand had come in low, slamming into his ribs. The impact itself was not what mattered. The knuckles had changed. Spikes had formed along them, shaped like its claws, and those spikes had driven into him on contact.
At the edge of the crater, Bram let out a low breath. "Well, it's making a dent now, but I think it just pissed that bastard off."
"Yeah," Ercale nodded beside him. "Yeah, it did."
Domine's jaw tightened as he tore himself free and swung. The Beast reacted instantly, pushing off and snapping back out of range before rotating into a spinning kick that came around and struck the side of Domine's skull. The impact made him stagger a half step, but he did not fall. His claw drove into the ground as he redirected the motion, fingers sinking into the earth before he ripped upward, tearing an entire section of the crater floor free beneath the Beast's feet and hurling it upward with the Beast still on it. He followed immediately, launching himself after it.
"You used magic in that kick to enhance yourself," he said as he closed in mid-air. "Too bad that lower stage enhancing magic does not hurt me much, and I am immune to higher stage ones!" He yelled.
"Dominus Gravitatis Vincere."
His body steadied in the air as gravity released its hold on him, and he surged forward, grabbing the Beast by the head and driving his knee into it with violent force. The Beast answered through the impact, its fist slamming into his knee even as its claws tore across his thigh, opening him up further. It did not try to disengage or avoid, instead meeting him in close and trading blow for blow.
Domine accepted it, his fist driving into its side with enough force to crack bone as the Beast's body buckled under the strike. "I do not care about your regeneration," he snapped. "It will stop. It all stops eventually!"
His hand shot out again, seizing one of its tails and wrenching it free from its body before driving it forward, stabbing it straight through the Beast's chest and into its heart, then dragging it up and around its throat to restrain it.
The Beast did not hesitate. Its claws came up and cut through its own severed tail, freeing itself in a single motion before it kicked off Domine's body to create space. Something shifted again, and from its back two leathery wings tore free and spread wide, catching the air and stabilizing its position as it hovered.
Domine's expression hardened as he raised his hand toward it. "Dominus Pressura Undique."
Pressure struck from every direction at once. The Beast's body was caught mid-air and crushed inward, force bearing down from all sides as if space itself had turned solid around it. Domine's hand slowly clenched, fingers curling as the pressure intensified.
"You think you can heal from this?" he asked. "Crushed into nothingness?"
The Beast roared, the pressure holding for a moment longer before it broke as the Beast forced itself outward, pushing against the compression until it shattered entirely. A black glow began to bleed off its body as it roared again, louder this time, before driving forward through the air, wings beating once to accelerate as its fist pulled back.
"I told you, no matter how powerful, magic will not hurt—"
The strike landed before he could finish. The Beast's fist slammed into Domine's stomach with enough force to fold him around it, driving the air from his lungs and forcing blood up his throat as he coughed it out. His body was blasted downward immediately, sent crashing into the ground with violent speed. He hit hard, stone shattering beneath him as he was driven into the crater floor, his vision blurring and his breathing turning shallow and uneven as more blood spilled from his mouth.
Above him, the Beast hovered for a brief moment before dropping straight down. Domine's eyes widened slightly as he looked up at it, the realization cutting through everything else as he muttered, "That's not magic…" before the Beast came down on him.