From the Heavens (Final Fantasy XVI)

𖥸 XXV 𖥸

Clive and Lyra rushed at Hugo. With his sword and her claws and fangs, they attacked the man relentlessly while dodging and blocking his blows. Because there were two of them, Hugo struggled with focusing on one of them. More often than not, he was forced on the defensive. He used the power of Titan to fend them off, but he could barely land a single blow.

Clive would combine the Blessing of the Phoenix with Ramuh's power and Garuda's to deliver heavy blows to Hugo. Whenever he had the man distracted from the front, Lyra would swipe her claws at his back to catch him off guard. Even semi-primed as Titan, he was no match for both of them.

Eventually, Hugo was able to knock Clive away with a swift punch and charged at Lyra with a battle cry. The wolf lunged at him, but he grabbed her by the muzzle and tossed her across the room. Her body slammed into the wall, creating a large dent. She fell to the floor and rubble rained down on her.

With his mind set on making Clive suffer, Hugo focused his attention on the wolf. He was determined to kill her in front of the man so he too knew how it felt to lose the woman he loved. He ran at her as she recovered, but he wasn't able to reach her before he was struck in the back with a power blast of lightning.

He fell to a single knee because of the powerful attack with a huff of annoyance and pain. He looked over his shoulder and glared at Clive, only to regret turning his attention away from Lyra when she batted him across the throne room with her claws.

Hugo's body rolled across the floor before colliding with the wall. Clive quickly closed the distance between himself and the man after noticing he was dazed from the attack. He got a few heavy hits in before having to back away as he recovered.

Tired of being on the losing side of the battle, Hugo screamed out as he attacked Clive. His fists collided with his sword repeatedly. Seeing their close-combat skirmish was getting them nowhere, both men jumped back from each other.

"You will die by my hand, Rosfield! My hatred for you is unending, unyielding!" Hugo's booming voice echoed throughout the throne room. "Let this palace be your grave alongside your pitiful goddess!" He slammed his fists into the floor and shattered it. The powerful attack caused the floor to crumble.

"What—?" Clive looked at the floor in surprise as it started to crumble beneath him and Lyra. Seeing the large section Hugo had lifted up to pin him under, he cursed, "Oh, shit!"

Lyra leapt over to Clive and scooped him up onto her back. He gripped the base of her neck tightly as she ran up the section of floor that threatened to squish them. She jumped into the air and he noticed Hugo was missing. Looking up, he saw the man heading straight for them.

"Lyra!" Clive shouted.

She too spotted Hugo and nimbly dodged him. Clive jumped from her back and grabbed him, using his weight to pummel him against the ground of the tomb that was located beneath the throne room.

The impact knocked Hugo out of his transformation. He lay on the ground, breathing heavily. Clive landed next to Lyra when he put some distance between himself and the man. He too was breathing heavily. The wolf nudged her muzzle against his arm and provided him with some healing. His eyes never left Hugo as he stroked the top of her head.

After the shock wore off, Hugo pushed himself off the ground into a kneeling position. He was still trying to catch his breath. Picking up a rock that fit snuggly in his palm, he stood up and started to laugh. "The world has chosen." He crushed the rock and semi-primed with Titan again. "I am in my element. The earth will always be my domain!"

Sensing the ground quaking, Lyra and Clive jumped back to avoid Hugo's attack. He used geocrush, but they were both out of range before he released his power.