Jonathan cocked his fist back and drew power from Ephemeral Trifecta, his body surging with pure strength. He landed a moment later, and his fist met the incoming sword of bone.
He forced all of the aggregated power that he had gathered to his hand, creating an explosion of brilliant energy that knocked the Exult back, cracking its sword. The Exult staggered, and the Uthraki around it took advantage of its sudden weakness, laying into it with their weapons. Jonathan watched as Hushar swung his massive sword like it was made of air, the attacks crisscrossing in his vision. Each strike drew blood from the titanic Exult, weakening it more and more.
Jonathan charged in, the nearest Uthraki making room for him. His fists burned with power, and he began to batter the lower half of the monster into pieces of tenderized meat. The Exult roared in anger, and swept its sword far and wide, cleaving through a few unlucky Uthraki. Most of the reddish warriors were able to dodge, but more and more died as the battle progressed.
Jonathan was unable to stop this, save for continuing to fight. He jumped up as the Exult’s sword reached the end of its arc, too far away to reach him in time. His fist surged upwards, coated in the invisible power of the Void. It struck the Exult’s chin like a cannonball, loosing a wave of Void energy into its head. The monster was carried off its feet, flesh evaporating before the energy of pure consumption. Jonathan reared back and sent a thunderous hammerfist crashing down on the now reeling Exult’s temple. Bones cracked beneath his hand.
Rather than succumb though, the Exult reached out with its free hand, energy beginning to churn around it. Instead of the fiery power that most Uthraki possessed in the way of elemental energy, this creature surrounded its hand with a coruscating orb of virulent green power. The air began to warp as the concentrated energy of mutation was brought to bear. It seemed that the Exult could channel a small fraction of the power of Slothari, its creator.
Jonathan pushed off the monster’s body, but it was too late. A wave of energy passed through him, erupting from the monster’s hand. His body began to bulge and warp beneath his armor, and he had to fight back the effect with his own elemental energy. The Uthraki below were not so lucky. Almost half of them devolved into gibbering piles of twisted flesh and bone, unable to do anything but writhe on the ground in abject misery.
Those that remained were the strongest, and they bravely continued to fight on, Hushar at the forefront of their charge. In some cases, the mutations had been beneficial, and Hushar had gained an extra two arms in just the right places to empower his swordsmanship.
His strikes hit with almost double the force as before, cleaving through the Exult’s flesh. With the power of the monster’s elemental energy already coursing through him, Hushar was immune to more.
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Jonathan eventually banished the elemental energy from his system, landing on the ground with a muffled thud. He glared at the Exult, trying to formulate a plan for the titanic monster. His Blessing was already sending shooting pains through his soul, notifying him that his time was up. He sighed, canceling the Third Eye of Exal’drin. The rest of this battle would be down to his own strength alone.
Slowly but surely, the Exult was being buried under the attacks of the Uthraki forces. Unfortunately for them, they were paying a heavy price for their temerity. Most of them were dead, hundreds laying in piles on the ground, their blood watering the arid realm. In exchange, their lives had only bought about a hundred thousand point decrease in the monster’s health.
Jonathan slammed his fists together, trying to hype himself up. He pushed off the ground, each step carrying him dozens of feet. Stamina blazed within him, mingling with his Divinity in a current of pure power that crackled along his limbs.
His body ached from the blows of the powerful Exult, but none of that mattered. As the beast roared with the anger of a titan being assaulted by ants, Jonathan charged in. Hushar was slowly being beaten back, and with him, the rest of the Uthraki were failing. Even with the aid of the random mutation from the Exult’s elemental energy, he was still far weaker. His two extra arms were already beginning to atrophy, unable to exist without the continued support of the Exult’s will.
Without Jonathan’s support, the situation was looking dire. Hell, even with it, there was no guarantee of victory. Jonathan found himself cursing Lord Arkanon. That man could have dealt with this monster in a matter of moments, but he let his soldiers fight and die against it without providing aid. There was some sort of long game he was playing here, but Jonathan had little time for the machinations of the realm lord.
He blazed towards the monster, his hands shaking with the concentrated power that he sent roiling through them. His gauntlets began to shine with light as he imbued them with Divinity. Drawing upon his Expert Rank weapon master and his domain, he forced himself to actively use his expertise, rather than simply relying on his stats. His vision and focus sharpened as he glared at the Exult, his steps beginning to grow more refined and even. His pace began to increase as he utilized the full power of his stats. His weapon mastery hummed to life within his subconscious, and a strange warmth overtook his body as he aligned his mastery with his mind for the first time.
His Domain condensed within his brain, allowing for the transition to happen. It was an odd, alien feeling. It was almost as if he was letting another being pilot his body. However, in the end, it was just an extension of himself.
As Hushar was driven back by a devastating slash of the bone sword, his extra arms finally giving up the ghost, falling to the ground with sprays of blood, Jonathan struck. His muscles contracted and condensed as one, driving his fist forth with every last iota of his strength. Just like how a normal human never used their entire strength, neither did Jonathan, except in rare circumstances. Now was one of them.