"POP!"
The stairwell door burst inward, torn from its hinges by the combined momentum of Astrad and the cat.
[Here's a little gift for you] —Astrad said with a curse, dropping the grenades hooked to his belt as he ran up the stairs.
"CRACK!"
An instant later, the wall beside him was destroyed. The concrete pulverized, and a colossal hand punched through the cement block as if it were wet paper. The fingers opened, searching blindly, sweeping through the air where Astrad had just been.
[Shit] —Astrad complained, jumping back. But it was too late.
Luckily, the cat reacted with speed. Despite its wounds and wheezing breath, it threw itself against Astrad's arm, pushing him and dragging him up the next flight of stairs, away from the danger.
Unfortunately, its wounds prevented it from maintaining that momentum.
"CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!"
The building rumbled with a crunching sound, similar to a cookie being chewed, as concrete and metal shot out with the ease of an adult smashing through a Lego structure.
The orc chief, too large for the hallway. With every movement, he burst beams and pulverized steps, using the walls as makeshift footholds, his brute force turning the architecture into rubble.
In that moment.
"BOM! BOM! BOM!" ["GRAAAAAAA!"]
The grenades exploded at his feet, making him roar in pain and stagger.
[Kekeke] —Astrad mocked, without stopping his ascent.
As if responding to his provocation, the orc chief held onto the broken walls and stairs.
["GRAAAA!"]
He roared, looking up at Astrad, but his face still held no hatred, only that manifest laughter, filled with a childish glee. In his eyes, which seethed with anticipation, the face of Astrad was reflected, whose expression seemed to be a mirror of his own.
"CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!"
The building rumbled as if a demolition team was hammering it.
The orc climbed through the walls and stairs that were being destroyed in his wake.
"BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!"
Astrad had mounted the cat. The beast ran upstairs, its claws gripping the cement, dodging falling debris, while Astrad, clinging to its fur, fired his Magnum downwards with cold precision.
The .50 caliber wouldn't kill the orc, but the pain was a useful tool. A shot to the head forced it back for a second. A shot to the hand deflected a mortal grip.
"BANG!" ["GRAAAAAAAA!"]
Finally, a shot hit the orc chief right in the eye, who didn't move in time to dodge, and a scream of pain tore from his throat.
[That's one, one to go, kekeke] —at Astrad's grim words, even the cat, who couldn't see, could imagine what he had done, and a mixture of anger and fear took hold of it.
["GRAAA!"]
Meanwhile, the orc chief had changed strategies.
He stopped climbing. He sank his limbs into the concrete walls and coiled like a colossal spring, his muscles tensing to their limit.
[DAMN IT, THAT WAY!] —Astrad shouted, anticipating the orc chief's action. He struck the cat's side, directing it towards the exit door to the 5th floor.
"POC!"
The hallway door burst open with a crash as the cat shoved its way through.
"CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!"
The stairwell hallway and the wall behind them simply ceased to exist. The orc had launched himself like a ballistic missile, piercing through several floors of reinforced concrete in a single leap, blowing out the building's structure and stopping only two floors above them.
[Run, run, run, run] —Astrad didn't even bother to hesitate; he urged the cat to quicken its pace, his sights set on the window at the end of the hall.
The cat didn't hesitate either; without its speed advantage due to its injuries, it couldn't afford to stand still.
["GRAAA!"] "CRACK!"
The orc chief caught up almost immediately. His massive body tore through the ceiling and he lunged at Astrad, destroying the hallway with every movement.
Due to his massive body, every step shattered the floor. His advance tore through the walls and ceiling.
Instead of a foot chase down a hallway, it was as if the titan were swimming through the cement, with each movement destroying everything uncontrollably, and debris being thrown as if it were splashes of water.
[NOW!] —Astrad shouted, inches from the window, as if signaling the tiger to jump.
The tiger roared in agreement, and its body tensed for a push.
Of course, the orc chief noticed it too. In a swift movement, he propelled himself forward, his gigantic fist smashing through the ceiling, ready to crush them.
But then.
[O] [Kekeke] —as Astrad's cold and unnatural laugh echoed even amidst the destruction, the orc chief knew he had fallen for something again, but it was too late.
His body lunged, but the tiger's did not.
Instead of jumping through the window, the cat spun around and leaped directly at the orc chief's exposed face.
It was fractions of a second that, intoxicated by adrenaline, felt like an eternity.
And yet.
["GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"] [HAHAHAHA!]
Fun. Pure and unadulterated. In this three-way struggle, the only one desperate for his life was the enormous cat.
"CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!"
Outside the building, Wiston's group, the goblins, and even the freed sacrifices, who had only been able to listen to the catastrophe inside the building with a mixture of fear and anticipation, widened their eyes in shock as the exterior wall of the fifth floor exploded.
The three of them shot out in a cloud of debris, their fall seeming to be in slow motion, but everything was happening at high speed.
The cat used its enormous claws and fangs to walk all over the orc, tearing at its flesh with every step, forcing it to try and control it with one hand, while trying to grab Astrad with the other.
Astrad, for his part, fired his Magnum while using his axe to anchor himself to the orc chief's skin, using his massive body as a pivot to move around him while doing as much damage as possible.
The sight was unreal; it was as if two domestic cats were trying to fight a bear, biting and scratching it while walking all over its body.
["GRAAA!"]
Finally, the orc chief stopped trying to catch them and, with a ferocious movement, his arm swept across his own chest like a whip, hitting them both and sending them flying towards the rubble of his former throne. Even at the cost of his arm being torn apart by the cat's claws and Astrad's axe.
As he was thrown, the cat quickly grabbed Astrad and shielded him from the impact with its body. Just an instant before impact.
"BOM! CRACK!"
The world seemed to tremble as the orc chief crashed to the ground.
The goblins scrambled out of the way in terror; most of the former sacrifices were already fleeing at full speed.
Wiston, on the rooftop, regained his senses.
[WHAT ARE YOU DOING? FIRE, FIRE, FIREOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]
Urged on by their leader's roar, the police officers opened fire again, all their ammunition aimed at the massive silhouette in the smoke and rubble.
But unfortunately, the momentum didn't last long. Soon, the sound of weapons running out of ammunition began to echo on the rooftop.
[Shit… Yumi, Flora, for the love of God…] —Wiston's hope found no comfort in the world, which seemed to have gone silent again.
And then, in the midst of the tension that was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
[Ha… Hahaha…]
The hoarse laugh, which was closer to the roar of a beast than a laugh, tore through the silence, making every living being shudder.
And almost immediately after.
[Hahaha… hahahahahahaha.]
Another laugh, more human, more childish… but not for an instant, any less vicious.
[[HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA]]
As illogical as it was, the laughs of Astrad and the orc king seemed to resonate in every corner for miles, carrying with them a bestial longing that shook the soul.
From among the rubble and smoke, the orc king stood up.
His body, shattered by the battle, continued to regenerate, but visibly slower, as greenish blood fell like a waterfall and dead skin hung like old ropes on a twisted tree.
His left eye, previously destroyed, was half-regenerated, and skin was slowly growing over the exposed bones of his torn face.
Shattered limbs, hanging guts. But none of that mattered to him.
"Bom!... Bom!"
With each step toward the destroyed throne, the ground seemed to tremble and the asphalt cracked at his feet.
In his eyes, a longing. On his face, a smile. In his throat, a hoarse laugh.
In contrast to his terrifying and dominant figure, his target, Astrad, was frankly pitiful.
Every movement seemed to cost him years of his life. He struggled to his feet, staggering, supported only by the feline, which was also struggling to get up, prepared for the incoming threat.
And somehow, that sight was even more shocking than that of the orc chief.
The cat tried to take a step forward, but Astrad stopped it with a gesture.
The young man, with a savage smile and a laugh he couldn't contain, took a step forward through the rubble.
His entire body was bleeding, his trench coat and the rest of his clothes were now useless, his left arm definitely couldn't move, and his right arm wouldn't last much longer.
And yet, he looked up at the approaching orc chief, his titanic body getting closer and closer.
In Astrad's eyes, there was no fear. In the orc's eyes, there was no contempt.
[[HEHEHEHEHE]]
In both their laughs, there was only the savage desire for victory, to see who would bow their head, to see who would submit. But in their eyes burned the unquestionable desire for pure violence, the longing for a worthy death, and the silent plea to their opponent: "don't you dare give up."
[Come on if you've got the balls, you son of a bitch] —Astrad said, raising his middle finger to the orc, his smile a mixture of anticipation and desire. In his eyes, a reddish glint threatened to consume everything.
Seeing this, the orc king's smile widened to such a degree that he could feel his jaw dislocating, but he didn't care.
Urged on by his worthy opponent, he raised his enormous arms above his head, the crimson flash in his eyes reflecting the same madness.
The cat behind Astrad didn't move either, its body tensed in anticipation of the coming impact.
And then.
"BOM!"