(Thaurak gagged violently, trying to force Asura back down his throat. But the demigod snarled, planting his feet on the beast's lower fangs and bracing his shoulders against the upper jaw. Muscles bulged, veins flared, and with a roar of fury, Asura pried Thaurak's colossal maw wide open.)
(Before Thaurak reach asura to crush him with his hands, Atreus met them with two precise arrows ,Peircing through them Forcing the beast to put them down.)
Asura (bellowing): "THAT IS IT—BOY! FIRE ANOTHER ARROW ON ME—NOW!"
(Atreus, panting as he fought off the last Voidspawns, froze and whipped his head toward him.)
Atreus (in disbelief): "Have you lost your mind?! Is that a death wish or something?!"
Asura (snarling, teeth grit): "TRUST ME—AND DO IT!"
(Atreus groaned, muttering under his breath as he drew back his bow, magic flaring along the string.)
Atreus (reluctant): "Fine… but just don't take this personally!"
(He released. The arrow shot like lightning, whistling through the flames. Asura snapped his head forward, jaws clamping down—catching the arrow between his teeth with a shower of sparks.)
(Atreus' jaw dropped in shock, eyes wide.)
Atreus (stammering): "…He caught it?!"
(Asura's body erupted in golden mantra, his wrath igniting until he blazed like a miniature sun. He glared at Thaurak with the edge of his eye, molten drool sizzling down his face.)
Asura (growling low): "I'll make sure this hurts… A LOT."
(Thaurak's four eyes widened, for the first time trembling with fear. With a furious roar, Asura vaulted back into the beast's gullet, plunging deep into his core. The ground shook as muffled detonations thundered from within, Thaurak's belly glowing brighter with every strike.)
(Atreus hacked down the remaining Voidspawns, sweat pouring down his brow. Then, a final, ear-splitting scream ripped from Thaurak's throat. His stomach bulged grotesquely Glowing with Crimson mantra errupting from asura within—then exploded. Flesh, magma, and bone shards erupted across the battlefield in a tidal wave of fire and ash.)
(From the blazing ruin, Asura emerged—wreathed in cosmic flame, his jaw still clamped on Atreus' arrow, now burning molten red.)
Atreus (half horrified, half amazed):
"…That's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen."
Asura (spitting the arrow out, snarling):
"Hnh. Disgusting… but effective."
(The ash settled like snowfall. The air hissed as molten rain cooled into glass. Thaurak's shattered form lay scattered across the blasted plain—fissures of heat dimming into smoke. Atreus coughed, brushing ash from his hair, eyes still wide from witnessing the eruption.)
(Asura stepped out of the blaze, mantra smoke curling from his shoulders. He spat a globs of slag to the side, then looked at the boy—half-angered, half-approving.)
Asura (gruff, warning):
"If you ever tell Mithra or your father what just happened… your fate won't be so different from his."
(He nodded toward the smoldering remains of Thaurak as if to punctuate the promise.)
(Atreus blinked, a nervous grin twitching despite the threat. He swallowed, then cocked his head.)
Atreus (brave, teasing):
"Right. Noted. Totally not telling. Probably."
(Asura snorted and looked away, but there was a softness there — a grudging respect for the boy who'd been willing to shoot an arrow into a monster's gut.)
Asura (muttering):
"You did good."
(Atreus let out a relieved, shaky laugh. He picked up the glowing, molten-tipped arrow from where it had fallen, wiping magma from the shaft with a grimy thumb.)
Atreus (smirking as they move off):
"Next time you get eaten, at least try to come out less… covered in lava."
Asura (gruff):
"Shut up."
Crimson fragments
(The battlefield hissed with cooling magma, chunks of Thaurak's flesh still smoldering around them. Atreus wiped the sweat from his brow, catching his breath. A faint crimson glow pulsed from the rubble.)
(He crouched down, spotting a shard wedged between cracked stone—red-hot, like molten glass. The boy reached for it, but yanked his hand back with a hiss.)
Atreus (gritting his teeth):
"Too hot—!"
(The shard spun loose from the ash, sparking like unstable embers. Before it hit the ground, Asura stepped forward—still smoldering from the fight—and caught it cleanly between his teeth. His eyes narrowed, jaws clamping tight on the fragment as heat shimmered around him.)
Asura (muffled, a growl rumbling in his chest):
"Tch… This power… We'll see what it can forge."
(He tossed the fragment casually toward Atreus, who scrambled to catch it with both hands. The boy glared at Asura's nonchalance, but carefully tucked the shard away with a muttered sigh of relief. The red glow dimmed, as though recognizing its new keeper.)