Gray had barely moved his head, even after receiving a blow into which Enrico had put a large portion of his physical strength. Seeing this, Enrico decided to increase the power of his next strike by combining Fire Magic, physical strength, bodily enhancements, and magical amplification.
"Sorry, that was my weaker foot."
Enrico twisted his body and delivered another kick, this time with his left leg. Gray, who had until then displayed a certain arrogance because he believed the first attack had been weak, was completely caught off guard.
The impact made his head jerk violently backward, and a second later, his body was sent flying, rolling across the ground for several meters.
"Now that's more like it! This is my better foot. And just so you know, the hand I use is my right one. So, I'm good with both sides, although there's a slight difference between them."
Grark looked at Enrico with a surprised expression, trying to understand what he had just heard.
"Wait, my friend Enrico... You have different levels of control over different parts of your body?"
"I know, weird, right?"
"Yes, very weird! I've never seen an orc like that... You humans are strange."
That answer, coming from an orc in particular, was painful. After all, Enrico didn't consider it all that strange. As far as he knew, this difference in dominance between the sides of the body barely affected anything beyond the way a person used their limbs. Besides, in his world, there were plenty of people with that same characteristic.
While the two were talking, Elowyn approached, massaging her injured shoulder and trying to disguise the pain with a confident expression.
"Just so you know, I was about to awaken a new power. I would definitely have been able to eliminate it on my own."
Enrico looked at her for a moment, unsure whether he should believe that claim.
'I don't know if she's telling the truth or not... After all, this is a fantasy world.'
[Of course she's lying. Just look at her face. She was about to die.]
Elowyn felt a drop of sweat trickle down her face. She knew very well that if Enrico had taken just one more second to arrive, the three of them would probably have suffered even more serious injuries.
'I'm still a long way from reaching my consort's level... And that irritates me.'
Narisse, who was standing a little farther behind, raised her hand and drew everyone's attention with a whisper.
"Everyone, I can poison the air with my magic. Its strength should decrease as time passes, so this is our opportunity."
Elowyn looked at her subordinate, pleased with her initiative.
"Good work, Narisse."
"Thank you, my lady."
Enrico and Grark stepped forward, taking the front line, while Elowyn and Narisse remained a little farther behind.
Enrico watched Gray begin to get up and adopted a serious expression.
"I'll go first. Try to keep up with me."
"What do you mean?"
Grark asked, unable to understand what Enrico intended to do.
The next moment, the others noticed that Enrico's expression had changed completely. His eyes were fixed on Gray, and his entire body seemed to be in a state of absolute concentration.
'Total Concentration: Ring...'
Enrico planted his foot firmly on the ground and propelled himself forward at an astonishing speed.
At the same time, his Crimson Gauntlet appeared in the palm of his right hand.
Unlike previous times, this version was more complete, as he had transferred the power he normally concentrated in his left hand to his right, causing the protection to cover an even larger area.
Upon reaching Gray, Enrico raised his arm and punched the creature directly in the head. The impact was so powerful that the building behind the Nartheis was completely destroyed by the force of the blow.
"I'm not going to fall behind, human friend!"
Grark observed Enrico's Crimson Gauntlet and seemed to get an idea. Concentrating his Earth Magic on his own axe, he tried to develop something new. As he gathered as much mana as possible into the weapon, its appearance began to change.
"Let's go!"
Next, Grark infused his Impact Magic into the axe and swung it through the air, directing the attack toward Gray.
For a brief moment, nothing happened. However, shortly afterward, a violent explosion spread along the path of the strike, throwing Grark backward and deeply tearing open the Nartheis's chest. A huge amount of black blood gushed from the wound, while everything in the attack's trajectory was completely destroyed.
"Hahaha! Did you see that, human friend? I managed to combine my magics! Just like you said, all I needed was an idea!"
Enrico would certainly have been impressed by that display, but he was too focused on the battle to pay attention to Grark's comments. At that moment, his only concern was eliminating the enemy in front of him.
'CC Impact!'
An explosion of fire erupted from Enrico's hand, striking Gray's right arm and tearing it from the creature's body. The limb was thrown to the side, creating an opportunity for Narisse to advance. Taking advantage of the opening, she ran directly behind the Nartheis and placed both hands against its body.
"Poison Palm!"
A large amount of poison was transferred directly into Gray's body. From that moment on, the creature's insides began to rot, provoking a violent reaction.
With an angry roar, Gray made ten clones appear around him. The copies attacked simultaneously, striking the three of them and sending them flying backward.
"Piercing Condensed Sword!"
Elowyn didn't waste any time. Gathering her Golden Magic, she created a sword that initially increased in size before compressing again. The weapon began spinning at an extreme speed, concentrating a large amount of mana within its structure. Then, she launched it directly at Gray.
The sword pierced one of the creature's arms and continued forward until it pierced its head.
'It seems the core is in its head... I need to find it before...'
Elowyn couldn't finish her thought. One of the clones appeared behind her and struck her back with its claws, while the others began firing magical attacks nonstop at the three of them.
'Damn it! Since it was only a clone, the attack shouldn't have been as strong as the original's... Even so, it hurts quite a lot!'
Elowyn raised her arms and summoned several golden weapons, concentrating her mana to create a veritable arsenal. Swords of different sizes and thicknesses, piercing spears, bows accompanied by arrows, and several daggers appeared around her. When she finally lowered her hands, all the weapons advanced simultaneously, raining down on the clones and the real Gray.
"With this, he'll take quite a bit of damage!"
Grark, Enrico, and Narisse also took advantage of the opportunity to launch several magical attacks at the original creature. The blows struck Gray's body directly, but at the moment of impact, he became intangible, escaping all of them without suffering any damage.
"Shield..."
Elowyn began preparing a defense to protect the others, but she couldn't finish. Gray suddenly appeared in front of her, its mouth open and fangs exposed, ready to bite her.
'Maximum Flaming Shot!'
Enrico noticed the danger and took advantage of the creature's period of intangibility.
Concentrating his magic, he fired a fire arrow that pierced Gray's jaw, leaving an enormous hole. Through the opening, part of the core that remained protected inside the Nartheis's head could be seen.
"My friend Enrico, watch out!"
Grark realized that Gray had switched places with one of its clones and immediately warned him.
The real Nartheis appeared near Enrico, who tried to defend himself by twisting his body and concentrating mana to reinforce his protection. Even so, the creature's claws pierced part of his defense, inflicting several cuts and sending him flying.
Within seconds, Gray switched places with another clone. Enrico, in turn, summoned a copy of his own and began a pursuit battle against the Nartheis. Both kept switching places without stopping.
However, that contest didn't last long. Enrico had only one clone, while Gray had at least ten, allowing the creature to surround him and begin brutally striking him from different directions.
'Shit... My Total Concentration!'
The number of blows he received was enough to force Enrico to abandon his state of absolute concentration. At that moment, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he had only survived thanks to his body's resilience.
"I need to concentrate..."
\m[Enrico, an abnormal amount of mana is being concentrated in its claws! Get out of there now!]
Even with the System's warning, Enrico realized it was already too late. One of Gray's claws was just a few centimeters from his face, dangerously close to his eyes. There wasn't enough time to use Charged Impulse or Fire Steps.
"No..."
Before the attack could hit him, someone violently pulled him away and threw him backward. Enrico realized that Grark was the one who had saved him.
The orc's back was destroyed, probably because he had used his own Impact Magic on it to propel himself forward and reach Enrico in time.
"I thought you wanted me to follow you, boss..."
However, there was a problem with that action. Grark had been a few meters behind Enrico when he noticed the danger and had to rush forward to save him. By pulling his friend backward, he ended up taking the exact position Enrico had occupied in front of the attack.
The orc still managed to form one last smile before Gray's claws pierced his chest. The blow was so violent that it created an enormous slash, cutting through the ground and the building behind him, splitting both in half.