The crab-like Duke stood nearly motionless on the surface of the volcano. It didn't shift or move, even when Reid had taken a misstep down the interior slope and caused a small series of rocks to clack into one another. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen any ears on the thing - maybe it didn't have them.

Air was too hot and too dense here. The environment itself felt like it was trying to crush him, and Reid felt more than a bit of unease when he finally put a foot down on the hard dark ground. He'd half expected it to shift, like some ice sheet floating on the ocean. Instead, his foot connected with a wonderfully solid surface. Now, he only needed to worry about the durable magma mage sending fountains of molten material at him.

Whether it was his Venator achievement making him unnoticeable, or the creature truly didn't notice him, Reid was able to close within a few hundred feet, and it still hadn't moved. He considered his options. A hard opening salvo would be a good start, if it worked. Or, he could charge in and ensure he was striking the beast directly. After a few moments of consideration, he decided the risk of wearing his arm down was worth the potential reward of dealing a solid blow to start the fight.

Energy charged a solid projectile, and Reid threw a fastball. It cut through the hot, dense air and rocketed towards the crab, still looking the wrong way. Reid stared on as it closed distance, and his hope welled. It was a good throw, aimed right for the thing's oddly shaped head. When the ball was only a few dozen feet away, the creature flinched and glowed as lava flew up from the ground. It singed his projectile, but didn't stop it.

The bone ball smashed into the crab's flat-brimmed head with nearly full force, and popped it like a water balloon.

Light green liquid sprayed over the creature and the surrounding area, and all four of its arms lifted to gently touch its crushed head as its chest-mouth screamed in pain.

A twinge of unease grew as the creature kept screaming.

That attack had popped its head - and yet, it was still very much alive, vocalizing, and slowly glowing with more and more energy. Reid took a moment to flood energy into his arm to sooth and repair the small damage his throw had caused, and pulled his shield off his back. He recalled brock and set it in his pauldron, then armed himself with Requiem. Tiny bits of hard black sand scraped against his boots as he charged forward.

As Reid neared the creature, it stopped screaming. Four obsidian eyes opened on its barrel chest, and swiveled to stare at Reid. Each glowed softly in the center. Fingers on two hands glowed and twisted, and the ground around Reid erupted. He was moving too quickly to stop and properly defend himself, so Reid went for something new. He jumped forward, over where molten rock had started to geyser out of the ground, and set his shield below himself like a sled. The magma ate at the outer layers of Bonewall, and Reid's nostrils were again filled with the unfortunate smell of burning bone. The force of the attack lifted him higher into the air, and Reid sailed clear over his target. He rotated his shield and let it slam against a block of obsidian, then skid sideways before he shifted his momentum and broke back into a run.

Two of the beast's arms were still manipulating the magma from the first attack. A third glowed and started to create a small ring of molten material that floated lazily around the creature's legs. The last one leveled at Reid, and he jumped out of the way as a small diagonal stream of glowing liquid shot out of the ground towards him. He pushed power into his legs and kicked back off the ground to finish closing the distance, and swung out sideways with Requiem.

The lazy ring of magma floating around the duke shifted to intercept his strike. The magma had more tension and stopping power than Reid would've expected, and he barely managed to break through. The interrupted ring fell to the ground, and Reid pushed power into his arm as his mace fell towards the creature. It slammed hard into one of the black, cragged legs, and tore a shallow channel of grey flesh apart. Sickly green blood spurted out of the wound, and the creature let out another screech. It used the same injured leg to kick at Reid, and its foot slammed hard into Bonewall. The new force left cracks between the small holes that prior magma attacks had made, and Reid activated Bonewall's regenerative shedding. Bits of broken and burnt bone flaked away from the face of his shield, and he used it to push the crab's leg back.

It failed to tip the creature, and three arms shifted to send magma sailing towards him through the air. Reid moved himself in close to the Duke, and took another swing at a leg. He was rewarded with a small gouge. When the beast attempted to kick him, Reid was ready this time. He thrust the tip of Requiem forward and stabbed into the bottom of the crab's odd round foot, then twisted his wrist. Grey flesh tore away, and more green blood coated the head of his mace.

A stream of magma flew in at him from the side, and Reid lowered himself behind his shield as the molten material burned at his layers of protection. It splashed against the surface and impacted hard enough that he had to take a step back. He took another when he realized the stuff was falling and pooling near his feet. The attack kept up for another three seconds, then the Duke screeched. Reid peeked out from his shield long enough to see it lift a burnt and damaged foot out of the magma. But - one of the limbs he hadn't injured seemed to be just fine touching the molten stone.

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A smile crept onto Reid's face.

The duke was resistant to its own element, but not impervious to it. His goal for the fight shifted. He wasn't just going to kill the beast - he would wound it enough where it couldn't use its magic without injuring itself. Reid forced his way forward through the cooling puddle of magma and swung out again with his mace. Another small cut appeared on a leg - but the Duke didn't try to kick him away. Instead, a hand glowed and a ring of magma started to form around Reid. He used his shield to break the ring, and winced as the bits of molten rock splashed down around him. Reid swore, and lifted Bonewall, then slammed a corner down at the Duke's nearest foot. Two feet and one hand slammed into Reid as the creature screeched in pain. The force of its blows knocked him back.

Its damaged foot was half-flat, leaking blood from a number of tears in its hide. Reid charged forward, shield first, and slammed into the side of the creature. Two legs started to buckle, but held long enough for a fountain of magma to erupt beneath Reid. He jumped back out of the way, then charged in again with a swing of his mace.

The exchanges continued. Reid would deal a little damage, get pushed back by one attack or another, escape molten rock that geysered, formed rings, or was shot at him like the ball attacks from before. He heaved on stuffy and oppressive air, and kept more and more energy flowing into his body as tiny wounds accumulated. There was no completely avoiding the magma - only stopping the worst of it with his shield. The same rule was true for the Duke, though.

The longer the fight progressed, the more damage the beast dealt itself with its attacks. It kept fighting with magic, letting out clipped and angry grunts and screeches as the molten stone burned into a growing set of injuries. Reid kept up his tempo, and pushed the creature until it was having a hard time keeping up with him at all. A mix of green blood and cooling, oddly shaped rock littered the ground around them. One arm was broken and hung loose of the creature's barrel chest. Another had two fingers missing from it. Each leg was injured, and two on the duke's left side were significantly damaged. Reid used an opening between attacks to smash Requiem into the last good leg on the creature's left side. It flinched back and stumbled. The three legs on the other side tried to drag it sideways as another ball of magma flew in to hit Reid, but it was too slow to get out of range of its own attack. Magma popped and sprayed over the creature.

It fell on its side for the first time in the battle, and pulled its legs close to the underside of its body. Reid chased after it and smashed down with his mace. It tore a good chunk out of the creature's barrel chest. Another swing crushed an eye. He thought that would be the start of the end for the beast, but the Duke had more fight left in it than Reid gave it credit for. It rolled sideways to avoid another strike, then each of its arms glowed with magic as the ground beneath the two of them cracked apart. Glowing orange magma rose out of the broken earth as it started to rapidly flood into the area. The bottom of Reid's bone boots started to smoke and burn.

The creature roared as its own flesh smoked and melted under its attack, but it only flared more energy, and expanded the cracks out further from itself. Magma pooled into more and more of the volcano's mouth. Reid tried to get in close for another attack, but the Duke twisted an arm and created a magma fountain directly in front of itself. Its cries intensified as bits of glowing material fell down and burned into its wounds and its missing eye.

Reid tried to reach it again, but was met with another fountain. He considered his options. Running was possible, but there was no guarantee the beast was going to succumb to its injuries if he left. Heck, it might cause the entire volcano to erupt if he left it here in the cycle of self-sacrificing magic. Killing it was also possible, but he was still struggling to deal enough decisive damage at once to take it out. The hard black hide of the beast and its interior grey flesh were both dense and tough in equal measure, which would make direct damage to finish it a gamble. How much more damage would he need to kill it, and would he be able to deal that much to it before it flooded the entire area with magma and caused an eruption?

Reid had his boots, which still had a few inches of solid bone on the soles. He had his shield, which smelled awful, but still had at least a dozen layers he could shed off. Requiem was going to need repairs after this - if not full reconstruction. Thin bone didn't hold up well to the molten rock. His body was going to be absolutely wrecked and painful when he stopped pushing power through himself to stay going, and he would need at least a few days of rest as things stood. The one thing he still had plenty of was mana. His energy, despite Reid's use to empower himself, hadn't dipped too low.

His eyes shifted around the area. The cracks continued to spread out towards the slope. A heavy block of obsidian fell as the ground around it cracked, and it plunged down into magma below. Reid's heartbeat pounded in his chest. The longer he waited for a good idea to present itself, the more danger he was putting himself in. There was no guarantee the magma around him was actually shallow - and if he encountered a deep section like the one the obsidian just plunged into... he wasn't going to be getting back out. He needed to end the fight - and the only thing dealing enough damage to the Duke to kill it quickly was the magma itself.

Reid roared and charged forward, throwing Requiem at the beast as he closed in. It slammed into a lower section of the beast's torso, then fell down and started melting into the magma. The blow had done what he needed, and Reid gave silent thanks to his mace as he used the momentum of that blow to press through the magma streaming up from the ground and slam his shield into the bottom of the creature. Its legs curled around and tried to assault him, but Reid ignored it all to put more power into his legs - then his back, his shoulders and his arms. His right hand came up to brace the shield, and his entire body burned with energy and effort as Reid took a shaking first step forward. His foot sank an inch into the melting ground. He managed another step. Then another.

One foot in front of the other, Reid pushed forward with the crab atop his shield as magma hit him from all sides. He grit his teeth and ignored the pain.

It was time for the Duke to die.

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