BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
Gandril's spell erupted, giving birth to a towering mushroom cloud at the point of impact. When the dust settled, a colossal crater stretched across kilometers of terrain. Gandril hovered above, observing the aftermath. Just as he was about to clear the dust with a wave of his hand, his eyes shifted as he suddenly flickered away.
SLASH!
In his previous spot, a lightning-claw attack whizzed by, narrowly missing him as a silhouette hovered there. It was the Sabertooth. Gandril focused on the beast, noticing its increased size—now 50 meters long compared to its previous 20 meters. An ancient symbol gleamed on its chest, emanating a much more menacing aura than before. 'No wonder,' Gandril mused, glancing at his left arm, throbbing from the Sabertooth's surprise attack. Despite predicting the assault and moving preemptively, the Sabertooth still landed a clean blow.
But that didn't mean the Sabertooth emerged unscathed from Gandril's earlier massive spell. Its body bore numerous large wounds that weren't healing as swiftly as before, signaling that the beast was nearing the end of its endurance.
“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH, HoW?!” the Sabertooth bellowed, its eyes bloodshot with disbelief. It was certain its attack had struck Gandril's body squarely. Even though Gandril had predicted its move and redirected the attack to his arm instead of his chest, that arm should've been obliterated completely! It was also confident it had broken through all of Gandril's defensive spells. Yet, all it had managed to do was tear Gandril's clothes while leaving his arm completely unscathed?
Despite its disbelief, the Sabertooth launched into another attack. There was no escape. Trying to flee now, especially in its condition, would only make it an easy target for the enemy's pursuit. It was better to go all out in one final effort to take down the enemy before considering retreat. The ancient pattern on its chest blazed with light, and in an instant, it vanished, hurtling toward Gandril with blinding speed.
Meanwhile, Gandril also vanished, unleashing a barrage of projectiles just like in their previous encounters. Despite the Sabertooth's newfound speed, Gandril still managed to anticipate its movements and unleashed [Thunderbolt] or [Supernova] ahead of time, worsening the beast's injuries. Throughout the exchange, Gandril remained unscathed, save for the initial surprise attack from the Sabertooth.
Watching the showdown, Zack chimed in, "Fannie, did you see that? The beast actually survived Gandril's last spell.” Zack clicked his tongue, ”But, honestly, it's just delaying the inevitable."
"Yeah, it certainly looks that way," Fannie concurred, her gaze fixed on the spectacle. "But seriously, how did Gandril's arm escape unharmed?"
"Simple," Zack replied with a smirk. "Gandril's body is incredibly tough."
"But even so," Fannie persisted, clearly baffled. "How could he take a hit from a level 3 magic beast and be fine?"
"Well, Gandril has an immense amount of mana, thousands of times greater than the Sabertooth's. So, no wonder it didn't dent him," Zack leaned in, explaining confidently, leaving Fannie speechless.
Even though Gandril, Mystara, and Arcanis retained Zack’s physical state from five years ago, they still possessed an astounding 50 million mana points each. With that much mana flowing through them, they were practically indestructible.
So, when it came down to it, the Sabertooth never stood a chance against Gandril. Even if it had gone all out from the get-go, Gandril's resilience would've given him all the time he needed to analyze the beast's moves.
BOOOOOOM!
With one final blast from Gandril’s Supernova, the sabertooth crashed down. Gandril crossed his arms over his chest, palms facing each other but still leaving a gap between them. Instantly, two massive, intricate spell patterns lit up on either side of him. Between his palms, a massive amount of energy swirled, forming a ball of pure white light crackling with countless lightning bolts.
BZZZZZZZZZZZ
The intense concentration of energy caused the space around the ball to ripple and distort.
Seeing the tiny ball of light in Gandril's hands, the sabertooth seemed to lose hope. Meanwhile, Gandril didn't bother with any last words nonsense; he just kept his soft smile, same as he had throughout the fight. With a push from his palms, the ball of light shot towards the sabertooth, moving at a speed that seemed almost instantaneous.
[Hephaestus’ Masterpiece - Supernova] - Gandril’s Signature -> [BIG BANG]!
"I CuRsE YoU, ThIS NoT OvEr!!!!" With one final defiant shout, the area erupted in blinding brightness, followed by an eerie silence before a deafening roar engulfed everything.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A massive force slammed against Zack's shield, made up of a hundred [Aegis’s Nodes]. Despite its strength, the shield rippled dangerously, like it was on the verge of giving out.
After a tense few moments, the explosion died down. Zack looked up to see huge mushroom clouds stretching across the sky for miles and miles, reaching up to touch the heavens. Below, a crater hundreds of kilometers wide spread out, almost reaching Kirchein. Taking in the devastation, Zack let out a heavy sigh.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAH," crazy laughter echoed, unmistakably coming from the one who decided to unleash a spell that was basically a nuclear blast.
Ignoring the madman's ranting about explosions, Zack turned his attention to the center of the crater where the Sabertooth had been moments ago. Now, there was nothing left of the beast; it had probably been wiped out by the colossal blast. But despite its demise, an uneasy feeling lingered.
He didn't feel the familiar release of the shackle that typically accompanied the defeat of a powerful foe linked to the great disturbance. It made him wonder if either the Sabertooth wasn't as big a threat as he thought or if he hadn't completely finished it off. Or maybe, since it was Gandril who landed the final blow, he didn’t feel a thing. But Gandril wasn’t alive; he was more like a program Zack had created. So, technically, Zack should be the one responsible for the Sabertooth’s demise.
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Zack thought, 'Maybe it was just a minor threat after all.' With his current strength, the Sabertooth seemed like nothing, like an ant he could squash easily, especially now that he was level 3. Putting that aside, he focused on the battleground where the Frostfire bear and Mystara had been fighting. Or where the bear was now barely standing, covered in wounds, signaling the end of the battle.
Thinking back on the duel between Mystara and the bear, Zack rewound time a few minutes.
Mystara found himself continuously pushed back with each clash against the bear. Summoning a colossal shield from above the bear's head, it descended like a massive hammer, poised to crush the beast. Yet, the bear countered by conjuring an equally immense glacier, halting the shield in its tracks. Then, with a fierce roar, the bear unleashed a barrage of colossal ice spears, each one resembling a towering pillar of ice.
Mystara swiftly dodged while conjuring shields to divert some of the ice spears away from him. However, these spears, reinforced with the concept of Frostfire, proved formidable, quickly corroding the shield into ice and breaking through to strike Mystara.
“Grahahahahaha, WeAk!!” The bear's laugh echoed through the fight, its weird accent mocking Mystara non-stop.
Despite holding out for a while longer, Mystara found himself continually pushed back. With a resigned sigh, he halted and summoned another shield, mirroring his previous actions. The bear sneered at the familiar sight. As it conjured another glacier to counter the shield, it noticed a subtle difference. The shield appeared bloated, with cracks emitting an eerie blue light.
Although the shield's appearance had altered slightly, the mana fluctuations remained consistent. So, the bear disregarded the anomaly and proceeded to unleash Frost Avalanche as before. But, just to be safe, it conjured another glacier.
But as the shield approached, the bear sensed something amiss. Instead of halting at its usual height of 1 kilometer, the shield continued to grow in size and thickness, swallowing up the glaciers it encountered without losing momentum.
BOOOOOOOM!
The shield surged forward unabated, unaffected by the glaciers it absorbed. Desperately, the bear attempted to flee from the colossal shield, but its size rendered escape impossible. Resorting to casting numerous spells upon the shield, it could do little to halt its inexorable advance.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
As the dust cleared, Mystara couldn't help but feel a twinge of satisfaction as he surveyed the bear's battered form, his soft smile turning into a genuine one.
“YOOOOOOOOUUU!!” The bear's furious roar echoed across the battlefield.
Ignoring the bear's tantrum, Mystara conjured up another deformed shield, just like before. With a flick of his wrist, a massive, intricate spell pattern appeared in front of him, alongside the cracked shield. With a firm push, the shield surged towards the bear.
[Athena’s Shield - Aegis] - Mystara Ver -> [Mana Overload].
Indeed, Mystara had shoved a crazy amount of mana into the original Aegis spell, way beyond its capacity. That's why it looked all swollen and cracked. He covered up the massive mana spikes with Hidden Strength. This move was his last resort, and he usually hated using it because he thought it was not elegant. It meant his regular spells weren't cutting it, so he had to rely on his massive mana stash to basically drown his enemies in power.
“GRAAAAAAAAAAAH!” This time, the bear didn't underestimate the shield, unleashing a barrage of glaciers in an attempt to halt its advance.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
“Huff Huff,” the bear panted, barely managing to halt the shield's progress. Glancing towards Mystara, it watched in horror as he conjured another multiple deformed shields.
“YoU DeViL!!” The bear's despairing shout echoed as numerous shields soared towards it like colossal walls, threatening to crush it to pieces.
Regret ate away at the bear as it finally understood its mistake in not tapping into its ancient sigil right from the get-go and underestimating its opponent. Ignoring the advice of the little monkey magic beast had been a blunder. But now, it was determined to make things right. With steely determination in its eyes, it started casting spell after spell, wrapping its body in thick layers of ice. Huge spell patterns, decorated with ancient symbols, formed around it, releasing a deluge of ice that slowly consumed the bear, transforming it into a massive mountain that blocked out its shape.
The ice swelled to the size of a small mountain just as Mystara's barrage of colossal shields collided with it.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The mountain of ice and the colossal shields crumbled at the same time, sending shockwaves rippling through the air. Without waiting for the dust to settle, Mystara conjured up another shield right above where the ice mountain used to be, ready to slam down on the bear.
But from the ground burst forth another glacier, even tougher than before, each chunk of ice blazing with furious blue flames.
BOOOOOOOOM!
As the glacier collided with the shield, the dust from the earlier clash cleared, revealing the bear's transformed form. Once just 30 meters tall, it now loomed at a staggering height of 1 kilometer.
“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH” The bear's roar echoed across the sky, a declaration of its newfound dominance. Adorned with an ancient symbol on its chest and radiating a far more terrifying aura than before, it seemed to assert itself as the undisputed king of beasts in the mortal realm.
Following in the footsteps of the Sabertooth, the bear had manifested its ancient sigil onto its body, granting itself immense strength and enhancing its spells to an unprecedented degree. Unlike wizards and knights who manipulated the atmosphere by controlling the concepts woven into the fabric of reality, magical beasts absorbed these concepts into their own bodies, becoming living embodiments of the concepts they comprehended.
However, the process of manifesting the sigil onto their bodies required time, leaving them vulnerable to attacks. As the bear sought protection within the ice mountain while manifesting its sigil, it bore the brunt of Mystara's assault, sustaining numerous wounds in the process.Once again, regret gnawed at the bear for not initiating the sigil at the outset of the battle, venting its frustration with a roar to the heavens.
But its roar was abruptly cut short as Mystara's shield pushed back the descending glacier. Frantically, the bear conjured another glacier to shatter the shield. Mystara watched closely, noticing how effortlessly the bear now wielded its enhanced spells after its transformation.
After smashing the shield, the bear grinned mockingly at Mystara, trying to get under his skin. Mystara was baffled. "What the heck is it grinning about? With all those wounds, it's the one on the losing end here," Mystara thought as he conjured up dozens of warped shields. "I haven't even gone all out yet."
The bear let out a roar as it conjured up more glaciers. As tons of massive ice mountains closed in on tons of warped shields, a sudden massive explosion rocked them from the side.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The massive explosion tore through some of the glaciers and shields, but since both spells were packed with a ton of mana, most of them held firm. It just caught both the bear and Mystara off guard, freezing them in their tracks as they quickly cast defensive spells to shield themselves.
Once the shockwave from the explosion passed, the Frostfire bear and Mystara exchanged dumbfounded looks. They realized the explosion had come from the fight between the Sabertooth and Gandril. With renewed focus, they locked eyes again and resumed pushing their spells against each other.
“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAH,” the bear bellowed once more.
“YAAAAAAAAAAA!” Mystara shouted, caught up in the intensity of the moment.
But just before their spells clashed once again, both of them felt a faint sense of dread creeping into their hearts. With a sudden realization, both the bear and Mystara halted their spells and hastily cast numerous defensive spells around themselves. And just as they feared, a blinding light engulfed their vision followed by a deafening explosion that overwhelmed all their senses, accompanied by a massive shockwave hitting them from the side.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!