'I will manage.'
With that, Xenos moved, and their duel began.
The crab attacked first, its claws snapping at his legs.
Xenos sidestepped, dirt spraying up as one claw missed him by mere inches.
Without pause, he darted in low, his sword slicing at the joint where claw met body, causing sparks to fly.
'Shallow.'
The beast screeched, twisted, and rushed into him, trying to turn him into paste for daring to scratch it.
"Too slow."
Xenos met its charge and slid under its legs.
Once underneath it, he thrust upward, barely nicking its soft underbelly as it had gone by too fast.
The monster recoiled and charged backwards, slamming its weight down in a brutal stomp.
Xenos rolled out just in time, mud splattering his hair as he stood, taking his stance a second time.
"Stranger, fall back!"
"Let's just kill it together!"
"There's no need to risk your life!"
"Use your damned Rune!"
The guards shouted behind him, thinking that his victory was close to impossible, at least while he didn't use any abilities.
Xenos ignored them, his sharp eyes tracking every twitch the monster made, preparing for another clash.
'Left first, then right.'
The crab lunged, and Xenos raised his sword, steel ringing as it clashed against the serrated claw.
He tried to continue the exchange, but the first blow alone rattled his bones, driving him back several steps, the wind generated sending his long hair flailing.
"Okay, that hurt a little."
Shaking his wrists just outside the second claw's range, he took a long breath.
"My turn."
Xenos dashed in, weaving left then right, baiting the crab into slamming down.
When it did, its claw stuck in the mud for a brief second, and taking that chance, he jumped high, his sword flashing.
Using all of his weight and strength, he drove it down into the joint, piercing through it in a single attack.
KRRRIIIIEEEEEEEK!
Its screech rumbled his ears as its blood sprayed dark and hot against his face.
"Yes!"
"You're doing it!"
"Kill the thing!"
But, much to the audience's dismay, it didn't die yet; rather, it was far from dead.
The Karkinos thrashed wildly, nearly sending Xenos into the ground and crushing him.
He scrambled off its back, sliding through mud, though not before one of its legs caught him across the ribs and sent him spinning.
"Guh—!"
Xenos hit the ground hard, coughing, but quickly rolled to his feet, a grin still obvious on his face.
"I'm good!"
His quick words didn't ease Eris's worry, or anyone else's for that matter, as their shouts and Her soft words reached him.
'You're too reckless.'
"Yeah..."
He ignored the rest.
"But it's working."
With that, he leaped back in and kept at it, hacking at the joints, retreating just before the claws could crush him.
Each strike weakened the beast and slowed its movements, but it was still strong, much faster than it had any right to be.
Their clashes seemed to be constant close calls, where at one point, a claw snapped so close it cut a line through his cheek.
Another time, he dodged left only to trip on a rock, falling flat on his back, inviting the Karkinos over to kill him.
And oh, did it accept the invite, coming down with both claws—SNAP SNAP—only for Xenos to calmly roll between them, mud exploding around him.
"Lucky bastard."
Aspen muttered, watching in disbelief.
'Unlucky bastard.'
Xenos corrected in his head, but he used both anyway, liking this new identity.
Though near death was a constant, he never seemed shocked or anything remotely close to it but rather in control, having the time of his life, despite the stinging in his arms and most of his body from all the parries.
The Karkinos wasn't doing much better, bleeding from every weak point, yet somehow still alive, simply refusing to fall.
It was too angry to die.
Xenos was facing an irregular, but that didn't deter him, as he stayed back, eyes peering deep into it, waiting for it to... change.
And that 'change'...
KRRRRRRIIIIIEEEEEEEEEK!
Suddenly arrived, its rhythm breaking.
Now, telegraphs were a thing of the past.
It held blind rage, only that.
The Karkinos lunged forward in a full-body charge, much faster than before, its claws snapping with such strength that they began to break.
Xenos's eyes widened.
'Oh, damn.'
He dodged left, using the sword to push himself further away when midair, but despite that, he wasn't fast enough.
The claw clipped him, throwing him through the grass, yet he, despite the pain screaming through his ribs, rolled across the dirt and jumped to position, using the distance created to his advantage.
Given a moment to breathe, Xenos began to feel incredible pain from the impact of that fall, his sword nearly falling out of his hand, but he held tight, his Will never wavering.
Beyond seething, the monster turned and staggered forward to finish him.
"Got you."
He charged first, however, and leapt high, his sword raised.
The beast snapped up to meet him, claws wide.
"NOPE!"
Xenos twisted midair, narrowly missing the snapping claw, and drove his blade down with both hands, piercing the same spot he did the first time.
Yet now, he angled the sword towards his own body, forcing the blade through its eye from the inside, nearly sinking the entire sword, handle and all, into it.
The crab convulsed violently, shrieking, its legs thrashing, but Xenos held on before quickly ripping the blade out, using his inventory as the driving force.
That final attack sent it into the mud, dead.
"…Damn."
Letting out a long breath, he stepped down and used its body to hide him calling back the sword from his inventory as he flicked it down, splattering the blood into the grass.
His chest rose and fell as he walked around the crab and waved to his audience.
"Told you I had it."
Arc, Aspen, and the guards stood frozen, stunned by what they had just witnessed.
Xenos laughed at their reaction, making all of them sigh at nearly the same time.
They could only say one thing at that moment:
"Reckless bastard."
A fact that would forever remain.