The toad stood before the towering pipe organ, its eyes flicking from Cupcake to Lucy, then landing on me.
Cupcake wove her path toward the toad, fluidly dodging the incoming tongue whips instead of blocking with her shield.
Finally, with nothing between her and the toad, she leaped toward its head. Yet, even as she launched, the toad managed to lash its claws, aimed squarely at her chest.
Cupcake met his claw with a ringing clang of her spade shield, and in the same fluid motion, drove her long sword directly into the center of its head.
Without delay, the amphibian's razor-sharp claw lashed out, ripping across Cupcake's chest.
In a blink, she twisted mid-air on the same axis and swung her spade shield to parry the claw. The impact, however, sent her hurtling toward the western wall of the altar.
I dashed forward and leapt toward the toad's head, hands clenched tightly around my sword's hilt. I raised it to the heavens and brought it down with the weight of a mountain.
