Ruben created a large hammer to attack, channeling both fire and wind to keep the monsters around him in check while bashing through the queen's heavy armor.
The two-meter-tall monster was only slightly shorter than his mecha form, but certainly not weaker. She countered every blow with a strike of her own, using her bare hands to swat his hammer aside.
"Damn it, what are you made of?!" Ruben cried out.
His words were only met with relentless force. The creature didn't pause. For every blow he landed, she countered twice—sometimes three times. Each punch from one of her many arms stripped chunks from his liquid-metal suit. He was beginning to fall on the defensive.
The hammer wasn't working. But it didn't have to.
Within seconds, two others arrived—Irma, his wife, and Wayana, who had become close enough to be called one too. It was hard not to. He had only hesitated to speak to Logan and ask for his blessing.
But the two women understood him well.
They moved with precision, knowing where to strike without getting in his way. Wayana, wielding earth magic, gathered the lost metal and patched his armor mid-battle. Irma, who had a few healing spells prepared, worked to mend the damage the Queen Beetle had caused.
The two took a corner each, helping him stabilize the front.
They couldn't land a clean blow—not without drawing the attention of her troops—but they could keep the enemy at bay. That alone gave Ruben the time he needed. He wasn't a frontline brawler like Logan. But he could stall. And sometimes, that was enough.
Enough to let the real monsters and fighters handle the battlefield.
On the right side of the fight, Krexa and her goblins clashed with a wave of blue demons. Both sides looked evenly matched at first. But that illusion quickly broke.
Krexa had not come unprepared.
She had gathered thousands of her kin. Not all could receive her blessing, but they followed her orders without hesitation. And today, those orders were simple:
Her hatred for the demons ran deep.
What they did to her lands, what they did to her family—those were crimes not even goblins would dare commit.
She led her horde into battle atop Voltfang—an electric wolf Logan had brought back.
It was fast, merciless, and just as powerful as Fenrir, the beast used by Wohan, the Wark chief.
Voltfang brought more than just raw power. As an electric wolf, it paired perfectly with Krexa, who wielded earth magic. She could negate some of its electric attacks, and with her darkness affinity in the mix, the two became an unstoppable pair. Voltfang wasn't just a mount—he was a treasured companion.
The wolf and the goblin made for a lethal combination.
Krexa's mastery over spears had also evolved. She conjured massive pikes to impale their enemies, while Voltfang surged through them, discharging electricity with each charge. She leapt from side to side, creating stone pillars mid-combat to give the wolf higher footing or evade enemy spells. Together, they struck like a thunderstorm crashing down from above.
Wherever her goblins struggled, Krexa went.
And her enemies fell like brittle twigs.
Then, a sharp yelp pierced the din of battle.
Her head snapped toward the sound.
In a distant corner of the field, the demons had begun using their mana stones, going berserk.
In mere seconds, she watched a few dozen of her goblins get torn apart.
Without hesitation, she pulled hard on Voltfang's reins, conjuring three large pillars in rapid succession. The wolf climbed them with ease.
"Use Storm Surge! I'll create ten rods—focus on them!" she shouted, her voice ringing out clearly in the human tongue—a rarity among goblins.
From her storage ring, she pulled ten enchanted stones and hurled them down, each one transforming mid-air into a thin, gleaming rod. They landed in front of the most dangerous enemies.
Voltfang, who had been trained to level 80 under her care, howled as sparks crackled across his fur. The electricity built up until a massive storm formed around them. Energy arced into the rods, then lashed out toward each marked target in a streak of divine fury.
The demons fell, twitching and burnt—smoke rising from their mangled forms.
Krexa's goblins, however, remained standing.
Each of them wore jewelry crafted from electric crystal stones—absorbing or redirecting the energy, untouched by the storm.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Alma stood behind her twelve guards. She raised both morale and magic, her presence a beacon of strength. Each guard held their ground, each killing one demon at a time.
Her job wasn't to fight—her role was to make those fighting around her stronger.
And who better to support than the side with the most allies?
The wounded goblins were quickly pulled back. Alma's voice rose in song—her new melody carrying a power far greater than before. Though she wasn't a true medic, her voice radiated various effects for those who listened to it. Every ally within range received a barrage of buffs, while every nearby enemy clutched their heads in pain as mind-piercing damage struck them down.
Those closest to her suffered the most, their concentration broken and movements slowed.
Overhead, Kryst had been given a simple order: Use Zephyr.
Alma had asked for the great eagle on her behalf.
Though the girl did well paired with the massive eagle, it was wiser to leave Zephyr in the hands of their best support.
Kryst's role wasn't just to help the storm bird keep its mana full at all times. She was also responsible for watching over Nixie—the small fox—and for locating injured allies across the battlefield.
From the sky, Zephyr had no trouble spotting the fallen or those close to dying. With a single cry, he unleashed focused bursts of wind, clearing out any demons or beetles that surrounded the wounded. His fierce winds bought Kryst precious time.
His flock—the lesser eagles who fought alongside him—spread chaos on the frontlines. But Zephyr? Zephyr stayed close to Kryst, protecting the healer and ensuring that allies remained alive and untouched during this critical moment.