Lord Garzer's form burst through his shell of red mud and flailing hobs. The beast stood utterly naked, steaming in the night air as red light suffused its body.

As the team got a look at it, the shaman's throat glowed, swelling with green light as something prepared to pour out of its maw. Hermes and Niko picked themselves up from the mud and took off at a sprint, aiming to pull their tank and archer out of the attack's range.

Above the beast, Rydr's form still trailed through the air, allowing him to take a good look at the attack and its caster. The shaman was easily double the Titan's height, with its legs and arms thicker around than the giant's chest.

Of course, it can still cast magic after changing like that. That's so fucking fair! Rydr screamed inside his head as he kicked out with his leg, channeling his trick spell once more. A flat plane of air flared into existence, flexing under Rydr's foot.

In the brief instant, before Lord Garzer unleashed his [Hex-Fire] attack, the same giant that plagued him before rocketed from the dark skies, a massive fist descending like an airstrike.

Rydr's momentum, Strength, and jumping power combined with gravity in the mother-of-all rabbit punches, catching the towering monstering in the back of its head and forcing its head down and to the side.

*CRIT -200 HP*

Instead of the deadly attack wiping out his team in one go, Rydr managed to deflect the monster's aim into its forces.

Green flames blossomed to Rydr's side, heating his armor to a scalding point as he fell the rest of the way to the ground. He pushed off the shaman's side, using the force to flip himself around to land on his feet.

On the ground, roiling green flames splashed all over the steaming hobs, clinging to their bodies where they tried to rip their flesh off- only succeeding in spreading the lethal flames.

As the hobgoblins began to burst into light, none of them dropped their armor. Instead, the Ether-Guard sets melted into the wearers as they writhed and died.

The flames burned so hotly that Rydr and Urginok lost health by being near them. Urginok shielded his face against the blaze, the metal shaft of his weapon quickly heating up.

Rydr landed on his feet, sinking into the red muck just as Lord Garzer snapped his jaws shut, ending his attack.

The shaman seemed not to care for his mistake, too enraged by the continued disrespect to his person. Instead of lamenting, the monster began to weave another spell, capturing the souls of his fallen soldiers into streams of pale green energy.

These energy streams quickly grew thicker and more potent as more immolated hobs died to fuel the spell.

Rydr and Urginok realized the impending threat almost the same instant on the ground, although they chose different avenues to interrupt the creature.

The Titan bent his knees, launching himself back at the monster face to deliver an uppercut from the ground. The giant kicked out one last time to ensure that he achieved his maximum effect, creating an air platform to kick off and power his fist into the monster's chin.

At the exact moment, Urginok activated [Crescent Charge] and attacked a slightly more in reach target. Desperate and unable to reach the shaman's head, Urginok delivered both punishing blows to the monster's third leg and traveling bag.

*CRIT -300 HP*

*CRIT -300 HP*

A high-pitched squeal tried to escape Lord Garzer's mouth before Rydr's fist met his jaw, stunning the beast and forcing its jaws shut on its tongue.

*CRIT -200HP*

*FATAL CRIT -500 HP*

*-250 HP*

*-250 HP*

*-250 HP*

*-250 HP*

Lord Garzer crumpled to his knees, hands covering his privates even as blood poured from the stump of his tongue. The stream of souls vanished, leaving the green glow of flames lighting up the pit.

Rydr jackknifed his legs and arms, twisting his body to face the ground before he jumped off another air platform, taking his mana bar down to two-thirds full.

With this attack, the Titan decided against using his fist- it was too ineffective against the monster's massive health pool. Instead, Rydr hooked his arm in the beast's open mouth, shoving his arm into the gushing blood to wrestle the shaman to the ground as he fell through the air.

Rydr's body jerked, feeling as if his shoulder was about to rip off.

*-120 HP*

The Titan's pain was worth it, as he ripped the shaman from its seated position and forced its face to the ground.

Urginok dodged out of the way, diving into the red mud to avoid the shaman's massive body. Around the pit, the few surviving goblinoids clutched at their family jewels protectively, briefly too stunned to attack.

Niko and Hermes devoted their efforts to finish off the rest of the goblins, effectively ending the clan's ability to evolve further anytime soon.

Syrna finally extricated herself from the mud, having been thrown around by the ground's shaking. When she realized the new situation, the archer wasted no time marching straight up to the monster's head as her giant teammate wrapped his arms around its neck, beginning to choke the beast.

As she walked forward, Syrna fired arrow after arrow into the shaman's face.

*CRIT -150 HP*

*CRIT -150 HP*

*CRIT -150 HP*

*CRIT -150 HP*

Although her arrows couldn't penetrate the shaman's thick skull in this form, she was more than able to blind it and riddle its mouth with arrows.

Urginok's hammer briefly flashed in and out of her attack path, hamming the arrows deeper into the monster's head and neck as more blood gushed from the horrendous wounds.

*CRIT -500 HP*

*CRIT -500 HP*

*CRIT -500 HP*

*CRIT -500 HP*

Overwhelmed and quickly dying despite its advantages, Lord Garzer activated his life-saving skill, [Teleporting] twenty meters straight backward.

The [Spatial] aspect of the spell oriented his body, so it was standing up, but the shaman emerged nearly submerged in the ground, tangled in the roots of a tree. From his emergence point, soil and plant matter exploded, creating a tall geyser of dust for the team to locate him.

Rydr looked toward the gout of dirt in the distance, its [Aether] was strange and new to his sight. Before taking off after the boss, the Titan glanced around the pit, trying to count the remaining hobs.

Eight hobgoblins remained after the shaman's forced friendly fire. Green flames still spread around the pit, seemingly able to burn even the wet mud.

Rydr hoped that they managed to win the battle, but he still wanted to ensure his team's survival. Quietly, the colossus crossed to his team, hefting them under his arms before jumping out of the pit.

Inside the crater, the hobs scrabbled at the sides of the wet slope, sliding back into the green flames as they greedily spread. Their screams echoed through the forest as they burst into motes of light, killed by their leader.

Niko and Hermes used their momentum to escape the pit, red muck trailing after them as they jumped out and chased the shaman.

The two speedsters passed their other team members as Rydr set down his friends. The three of them silently turned and charged into the forest.

Rydr used his passive to quickly catch up with the other two, his [Aetheric Eyes] revealing that the shaman was free and fleeing blindly away from them.

Lord Garzer was desperate to find a moment's peace to heal himself with his spells. With his mouth ruined, he needed time to perform the proper healing to repair his destroyed body.

The few advantages his massive form granted him weren't enough against the force of nature named Rydr. Lord Garzer strained his ears as he ran through the forest, blindly running into trees and falling.

When the monster heard something behind him, he again used the massive form's [Hex-Fire] attack to destroy everything behind him.

Flames bulged in the shaman's throat, spewing out of the holes created by Syrna's arrows as they burned to ash. Even as his attack damaged himself, the terrified monster preferred gruesome survival to death.

*-100 HP*

*-100 HP*

*-100 HP*

Lord Garzer's ruined eyes stared blankly into the dark, green light spewing from his mouth as Rydr's massive body came hurtling toward him, feet first.

The colossus aimed for the middle of the shaman's gaping mouth with both feet, creating an air platform and forcing the hard air down his throat, blocking the blast of cursed flames.

With nowhere to go, Lord Garzer's flames rushed backward, competing with the fire still coming out. The monster's body began to well with green light as fire leaked from tears in his skin from the outside.

Rydr's body still hung in the air, kicking into the beast's glowing maw, his teammates closing in on its downed form when its body exploded in a cascade of green fire. The colossus and his team vanished into motes of light as the wave of force and fire crashed into their bodies, stealing their lives on the spot.

The wave of destruction continued unabated, the shaman's remaining life fueling the epic explosion. Vast swathes of earth rolled forward in a flaming green wave as a new crater formed in the forest, dwarfing the elemental's pit.

*****

Ryan popped into existence inside his game [Lobby], still breathing hard. The Titan beat against his chest, trying to calm his heart as he stumbled over to the bed inside the space and collapsed on it, spread-eagle.

"Hopefully...hopefully, that makes things easier, from now on. I need a fucking break." While Ryan groused aloud, he couldn't keep a smile off his face.

That fight was the most fun he'd had since getting into the game, and his team lost it. There were probably a few goblins still in the forest, and they'd be able to breed the clan back into existence.

Even with the looming babysitting duty waiting for the giant, he couldn't wait to have a few moments' peace to begin crafting.

Never one to laze around, Ryan heaved himself to his feet and strode to his computer interface, designed to match the AR screen and desk he owned IRL.

There, the Titan pulled up a 3D design interface and began to study ancient weapons and their optimal smithing methods.

For Syrna, Ryan had something akin to a compound bow in mind. She needed something to capitalize on her burgeoning Strength score- preferably something with a bit of versatility to it.

If he abused his [Aetheric Maker] profession the way he believed he could...suffice to say that the colossus wanted to get back into the game as soon as possible.

Urginok's weapon design was a radical take on a hammer, combined with a double-sided tetsubo, while also incorporating shaft sections designed as sword-breaker catches.

If it came out well, the tank would have to learn how to handle the unique weapon. It would be easier if Ryan excluded the sword-breaker catches, but he hoped Urginok would appreciate the addition.

The first two hours of Ryan's death timer were spent on his teammates weapons. Eventually, the Titan couldn't avoid it anymore and began to craft 3D models for his weapon.

He set himself to the task, this time making sure to pay attention to the death timer. There was no reason to be any later than two hours for his babysitting duty.

*****

Three hours later, Ryan sat back in his desk chair, his hands behind his head as the timer counted down the last few seconds before the door to [Frontier Online] appeared in his [Lobby].

Ryan mused aloud as he stood up, "I wonder if we leveled up or down after all that?"

Behind the Titan, a bizarre 3D model floated in the air over his desk, under the words "Saevaluna."