Two dry rattles escaped Druig's throat as he lowered his head to look at the half-length of dagger protruding from his chest.
He turned his head with difficulty, looking toward the direction the dagger had come from.
At the edge of his vision, the silver-haired brat who should have been wrapped around his finger was holding Makkari tight, giving him a savage, triumphant grin.
How... was that possible...
Blood poured from the corners of his mouth, staining the magnificent battle robes across his chest. The light slowly faded from the eyes of the Eternal mind controller who had lived for seven thousand years. His knees buckled, and he toppled stiffly into the mud, sending up a splash of murky sludge.
"Druig!" Kingo's eyes bulged as though their corners might tear, and a beastlike howl tore from his throat.
The sight of his companion falling drove Kingo completely mad. Abandoning all elegance and dignity, he struggled desperately beneath Steve, who had him pinned to the ground. He looked at the bloodied Steve lying over him, restraining his hands, and his fury turned into a savage urge to kill.
"Die! Die! You damned mortal!" Kingo roared, his face contorted. He raised his elbow high and slammed it into Steve's abdomen, which was riddled with bloody holes!
Thud!
The dull impact echoed through the muddy water.
Steve's whole body convulsed violently, and he spat out a great mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs, splattering Kingo's head and face.
But Steve's ten fingers still clamped down on Kingo's shoulders and joints like iron bands.
Thud!
Kingo drove another vicious elbow backward, hammering Steve's ribs. Steve's body, already covered in through-and-through wounds, nearly came apart, and the scene before his eyes began to blur and overlap.
In the distance, Pietro noticed