The spear flew true, as wild and unfettered as a soaring bird, cutting through the air with sound like tearing silk.

And thus, the air did rip apart like torn silk as Gungnir pierced through.

It caught the Bog Golem in the open mouth, the point driving deep into the darkness beyond. The creature's charge faltered as Gungnir punched through soft tissue and the hard.

It kept going, erupting out the back of its head in a spray of stone fragments and something that might have been blood, sizzling and rising into streaks of black smoke the moment it hit the ground.

The Bog Golem stumbled backwards. A deep, sinking bellow came from the depths of its pierced maw. But the Abomination did not fall.

Instead, the creature shook its massive head, dislodging Gungnir with a violent motion. The spear tumbled to the ground with a thick thread of blood attached to its shaft.

Nero stretched his arm out and the spear responded immediately, thrumming and trembliyas it dislodged itself from the ground and shot into his grip.

Upon entering his hand, Nero felt the excitement coming from the spear. He couldn't help but look down on the weapon with a strange gaze.

'This... Isn't its bloodlust too strong?'

Hw could feel the call of blood and of death radiating off the engraved shaft in waves as the runes brightened.

He clicked his tongue and looked up. The wound in the Bog Golem's head began to close, stone grinding against stone as it repaired itself.

Nero cursed and twirled Gungnir, brandishing the spear. The weapon now sat somewhat comfortably in his hand. Previously, the constantly shifting weight of Gungnir had been a severe inhibition. Having to find that balance in the middle of the fight was beyond frustrating, but keeping it was even more of a nightmare.

To make things worse, a single distraction could lead to severe consequences too...

With his hand closed around the familiar shaft, feeling the grime and blood, the chilling, poisonous air filled his lungs, choking him so badly, he could feel tears forming at the edges of his monstrous eyes.

And yet, it gave him the clarity he needed...

His eyes narrowed into pinheads just as the Bog Golem recovered enough to attack again. The creature reared up on its hind legs, towering over him like a living mountain, then brought both fists down in a devastating overhead smash.

Nero rolled to the side, ignoring the shrapnel that dug into his flesh with most of the impact missing him by inches. The ground where he had been standing exploded upward, and he suddenly understood the danger. Sharp spikes of stone erupted from the earth in a wide radius around the impact point, each one as thick as his arm and wickedly pointed.

One of them caught his leg, tearing through muscle and scraping bone. Nero bit back another scream and kept moving, as he used Gungnir to smash through the others.

However, the Golem continued smashing its fists into the ground, causing even more stone spikes to shoot upward.

Nero grit his teeth as he danced through the forest of stone, breaking through them again and again.

He absolutely didn't dare to stop.

Because stopping meant death.

He could feel his body trying to heal the new injury, but like his arm, the damage persisted stubbornly. His natural regeneration was simply not enough to offset the damage.

Nero dodged another arm swing, moving back then lunging in just as quickly.

Gungnir made an arc as he swung it at the head of the Golem, bashing it against its skull.

The Golem stumbled to the side, but he was not done. In the blink of an eye, he sent off a flurry of piercing attacks, carving deep indentations into the flesh of the Bog Golem.

The rancid black ichor clinging to the speartip was flung away as he grunted and smashed the spear into the body of the Golem, sending it skidding away.

All this happened in just a single breath.

Before he could recovered from the recoil of his swing, Nero's body tensed again. The Bog Golem dropped back down to all fours and circled him, its movements eerily wicked and insidious, not at all mechanical as one would expect.

In the depths of its crimson eyes, Nero could see countless burning, trapped souls, all struggling to tear out of the Hell they were imprisoned within.

However, the body of the Golem was quite the sturdy prison. And so, instead of fighting against it, they had instead become wrathful, seeking to destroy everything.

A being born of the truest nature of the corruption, perversion and tainting what once was.

Nero shifted Gungnir to a defensive grip and tried to catch his breath. His shattered arm hung limp, useless. His leg leaked blood onto the fungus-covered ground. His body was a map of burns and rot and open wounds, and he was running out of time and energy.

The Bog Golem shrieked and lunged forward again.

Nero grit his teeth and tightened his grip on his spear.

However, the Bog Golem feinted left, then lunged right. Nero's eyes widened.

He barely managed to deflect the grabbing claw with Gungnir's shaft, but the force of the blow drove him backward. His foot caught on a mushroom stalk and he stumbled, going down on one knee.

The creature was on him instantly. Its massive hands closed around his torso, lifted him like a doll, and slammed him into the ground. His bones cracked and air exploded from his lungs.

The world suddenly became a spinning mess of pain and disorientation.

Through the haze, Nero saw the Bog Golem raise its fist for another strike. He twisted desperately, bringing Gungnir up in a wild thrust that caught the creature in the wrist. When he felt the impact, he twisted. The spear's point found a gap between stone plates and sank deep, ripping through the soft tissue beneath the rocky exterior.

The Bog Golem roared and released him, stumbling backward. Black ichor poured from the wound, steaming where it hit the ground. The creature's hand hung at an odd angle, clearly damaged but not destroyed.

Nero scrambled to his feet, swaying. His vision was blurry, his hearing reduced to a dull ringing. He was losing. Slowly but inevitably, the Abomination was grinding him down.

He needed a different approach. Something the creature wouldn't expect.

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