A short while earlier, on Korlic's side of the battlefield...
"Turn into mincemeat for all I care! I'll use your remains as a side dish for my rice when I get back!"
Korlic's roar tore through the air, raw and guttural.
"Die, Korlic!"
The Siege Breaker Assault Beast screeched back. Its massive, hooked claws were clamped firmly around Korlic's torso, squeezing with the last of its fading strength. The demon's colossal frame shuddered violently, and with every tremor, it applied more crushing pressure to the Barbarian's ribs.
Specially engineered by the Hells to bring down fortresses, these Great Demons possessed hides as hard as iron and strength that defied logic. This particular beast, however, bore a gift from Azmodan's own twisted experiments: Muscular Translocation.
Its physiology was modeled after Duriel, the Lord of Pain—a nightmare of flesh encased in a chitinous shell. Inside, its muscles could shift and flow like liquid, concentrating the entirety of its biological force into a single point. It was a weapon of pure, focused instinct.
Hiss-roar!
The Siege Breaker let out a sound no human throat could replicate. Its arm tightened like a constricting python, the plates of its exoskeleton grinding against one another.
"Hah...!"
Korlic's chest was being crushed. His lungs struggled to expand, making his War Cry sound thin and strained. In a battle of equals, the best way to kill a warrior like Korlic was to stall—either by pinning him down or by kiting him from a distance until the duration of his Frenzy expired.
The Siege Breaker had the strength to do exactly that.
Korlic lashed out, biting down hard on the demon's forearm. His teeth shattered against the demonic hide, but the golden aura of Frenzy continued to pulse. A new streak of light merged into the glowing orb surrounding him.
"You... can't... kill me!" Korlic snarled through a mouth full of blood.
But he couldn't land a decisive blow. What had started as a clash of overwhelming force had devolved into a gruesome war of attrition. The ground beneath them was already slick, painted crimson with demonic ichor. Korlic's battles were always the bloodiest.
The Siege Breaker didn't bother responding. Its own chitin began to groan under the strain of its exertion; the sheer force of its shifting muscles was causing cracks to spiderweb across its own arm-plating.
"ROAR!"
Korlic bellowed again, slamming his chin down onto the demon's wrist with the force of a hammer. His jaw snapped with a sickening crack, and for a fleeting second, his consciousness flickered into the gray.
"MADAWC!"
Suddenly, Korlic screamed the name of his brother-in-arms—a high-pitched shriek like a trapped beast making its final stand. His muscles began to snap like over-tensioned cables.
At that exact moment, Madawc had made his choice. He had plunged into the depths of the Black Soulstone.
The lives and souls of the Three Ancients were inextricably linked. Korlic knew that the "idiot" had done something reckless again. A wave of pure, unadulterated fury shattered the fog in Korlic's mind. Under the crushing pressure of the beast and the emotional weight of the bond, Korlic entered the state of Wrath of the Berserker.
Two twisted, obsidian horns erupted from his brow. His body began to swell, pushing back against the Siege Breaker's grip. Blood sprayed from cracks in his skin as his frame expanded, his skeleton elongating with a series of thunderous pops.
"AHHHHH!"
The scream was one of pure agony. The sensation of his soul being squeezed alongside his flesh was enough to make even this legendary Barbarian howl.
But it didn't matter. Even if he had to leave the stage forever after this fight, it didn't matter.
They would win. This battle would be a victory. The old general, Qual-Kehk, had promised it. He had staked his soul and the entirety of his long life's honor on it.
Korlic's transformation was complete. A pillar of fire erupted from his body, incinerating everything within a kilometer radius.
Wrath of the Berserker: Arreat's Lament.
Korlic's frame slowly pried apart the Siege Breaker's talons, crawling out from its charred, blackened grip. The demon's arm finally disintegrated under the impossible counter-pressure.
The Siege Breaker's remaining eye glinted with cold, dying malice. It lunged with its jagged maw, seeking to snap Korlic in two.
Korlic's body was a ruin. At least a third of his bones had been broken during the forced transformation. As the beast made its final play, Korlic's white hair lay matted against his skull, like a man bowing before the terrifying majesty of a winter storm. He lowered his head, and his twin horns slammed into the demon's skull like a falling meteor.
The Great Siege Breaker drew its final breath.
Its monstrous head was reduced to splinters and gore under Korlic's iron fists. The surrounding demons didn't flinch, even as their champion was pulped. They swarmed forward, driven by the lingering echo of Korlic's Frenzy which had bled into the air itself.
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