Ebonheim continued to clash with the Kungwan Titan in front of her. The creature roared in frustration as its claws failed to penetrate her divine aura. It thrashed and snapped its jaws at her in a frenzy, its claws tearing through the air as it sought to maul and bite her.
She spun away from its attacks, her body dancing around the lumbering behemoth as she dodged blow after blow. Sweat trickled down her brow, her muscles aching from the effort of evading such massive attacks. The Kungwan's blows shook the very ground beneath her feet, causing debris and splinters to scatter from the trees around her.
The forest echoed with the creature's roar, reverberating through the valley and causing the birds to flee from their perches in the treetops.
From the corner of her eye, she spotted more Kungwan incoming. But she had no time to focus on those; this Titan already posed a formidable foe, never mind two.
Ebonheim drew from her dwindling Essence reserves and invoked the power of her Elemental Admixture—Fiery Lightning Quake.
[Essence] 351/680
She stomped her foot on the ground, sending shockwaves rippling through the earth below her. The ground ruptured and erupted in a cascade of dirt, rocks, and fire, launching towards the Kungwan Titan as lightning sparked through the air, arcing in jagged streaks.
The Kungwan reeled from the blast, its arms raised to defend itself, but it was too late. The combined elemental force struck the creature, causing its flesh to ripple and contort under the sheer force of the impact. The ground exploded as the electrically charged inferno slammed into its form, sending embers and rubble flying in all directions. The impact created a concussive force, sending Ebonheim skidding back.
The Kungwan stood in a smoking crater, its body charred and burned. Its skin bubbled and melted, dripping onto the ground in sizzling pools of flesh. Blood seeped from the wounds, mixing with the char and soot to create a nauseating mixture of ash and iron.
[Essence] 336/680
Without waiting to assess the damage, Ebonheim activated her Enchanted Essence Bolt power, a radiant arrowhead made entirely out of raw Essence forming on top of her Ebon bow's wooden frame. She nocked the arrow and drew back the bowstring, releasing the projectile towards the wounded creature.
The Kungwan braced for impact as the blazing arrow sailed towards it, its flesh still oozing blood and pus from the previous attack. The arrow struck true, piercing its chest and embedding itself deep within its blubbery skin. The impact caused an explosion of light and fire, the force of the blast causing the air around them to ripple and distort.
She didn't wait for it to recover and unleashed another arrow, this time aiming for its head. The projectile flew through the air and buried itself in the creature's right eye, causing its remaining orb to bulge outward and explode in a burst of green ichor.
Bellowing in agony, it raked at its ruined eye socket. Blood and viscous fluid streamed down its face.
A final Essence Bolt, aimed at its exposed maw, sent the Titan hurtling back. Its body crashed into the trees, snapping them with a deafening series of cracks, before sprawling at the center of a ring of fallen timber. Ebonheim watched the creature's body twitch and convulse in the aftermath, steam rising from its charred, blistered flesh.
But there was no time to relish this small victory—more Kungwan poured from the woods around her. She sensed that her remaining tree sentinels had managed to slay the other Titan in mutual self-sacrifice, the remnants of their bodies lying in broken heaps on the ground before its corpse.
And like a bad omen, the rumble beneath her feet announced another Titan's arrival not too far ahead.
She grimaced, glancing over her shoulder at the incoming Kungwan wave.
"Damn! Can't catch a break here..."
Time for a strategic retreat.
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Calyxia dodged a swing from the first Titan's claws, slipping past its grasp with a swift sidestep. Its attack left it open, and she wasted no time taking advantage—she leaped up, her tail coiling around its wrist and bringing it crashing to the ground. Her claws lashed out, sinking into the creature's flesh as she tore large gashes along its arm.
The Kungwan Titan howled in pain, thrashing against her hold, but she kept firm, drawing forth more strength from her tail. It slammed a fist into her torso, staggering her, but she quickly regained her balance. She dug her claws deeper into its limb, blood streaming from the wounds.
Its free hand swiped at her, but she ducked beneath the attack, releasing her tail to roll away from the creature. She sprang forward, her claws lashing out to rend the flesh on its leg. Her attack drew deep furrows along the muscle, causing rivulets of crimson to flow from the open wounds.
Calyxia grinned. The weaker spots, the joints and tendons, seemed to work as she'd predicted. Good—this would make things much easier.
Another roar shook her as the Titan lunged, its massive bulk barrelling towards her. She reacted on instinct, darting away from its charge in a flash. The ground erupted from the force of its attack, showers of mud and stone spraying through the air.
Calyxia slithered behind the creature's legs, her claws raking across the backs of its ankles and sending streams of blood pouring forth from the deep slashes. The Kungwan fell, its heavy mass flattening trees and boulders as its massive body came crashing down.
The creature thrashed about, its claws scrabbling against the dirt as it struggled to regain its footing. Calyxia seized her opportunity, springing forth as she coiled around its neck, her hands gripping the beast's face in a vice-like grip. She forced its head upward, forcing it to look at her directly.
Her gaze bore into its eyes, causing the creature's body to stiffen as the petrification began. Its skin took on a rocky hue, its muscles tightening and locking into place as its body became a prison of living stone. Its eyeballs hardened into solid crystals, the faintest hint of emotion still visible in their depths.
For several tense seconds, Calyxia held her position until the transformation was complete. She released her grip, leaping away from the creature's body as it fell forward with a resounding crash, shattering into countless pieces of rubble upon impact. The resulting shockwave kicked up dust and debris into a massive cloud, engulfing the nearby trees in a dense fog of grey particles.
"One down, one to go..." she muttered, wiping the sweat from her forehead. This fight was getting old, and fast.
As she expected, the remaining Kungwan Titan burst through the billowing haze of dirt, its mucus-covered hide glistening in the light filtering through the trees overhead. Its claws flexed, its fangs bared, and its eyes fixated on her as it charged.
"Come get me, you vile toad."
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[Essence] 276/680
The air around Ebonheim crackled with energy as she drew upon her Essence reserves once more to entangle the Kungwan Titan in a binding of vines. They wrapped themselves around the lumbering monster's legs, their thorny edges digging into the soft flesh as they restrained it. Several other plants sprang from the forest floor, their roots ensnaring the limbs of other Kungwans trying to advance.
Most of the hours that followed had been spent evading and taking potshots at the other Kungwans chasing after her. Her enhanced speed and reflexes were enough to outpace the lesser Kungwan, but when the Skyclingers joined the fray, she had to make use of her Arboreal Stride to dart between trees.
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She didn't have the time to be creative; nor did she want to waste Essence on fancy tricks. For her, this was a pure battle of endurance—with the goal being to chip away at the horde while keeping them distracted from Calyxia, who was fighting her own battles across the ridge.
Using only the quivers of arrows the Seraphidae had provided her, spread around the battlefield, she focused on basic tactics and fundamentals, conserving her Essence to deal with the special breed that occasionally showed up.
Arrow after arrow found their marks, skewering the Kungwans from afar. Meanwhile, her conjured plants bound the enemies or tripped them into pitfall traps. Sometimes, she would find an opportunity to unleash a few shots of her Enchanted Essence Bolt, her rapidly waning Essence managing to dispatch several Regenerators, Skyclingers, and Blightfroths in that fashion.
[Essence] 256/680
"These things just keep coming," Ebonheim mumbled, using the Arboreal Stride to leap to another tree, the Verdant pathways between them guiding her. After emerging from a distant tree, she took a moment of respite, crouching down on one of its branches as she assessed the situation.
Much of the forest in front of her was filled with chaos—smoke rose from areas where fires raged, while a cold mist hung low over others, where the Frostscales roamed. In the distance, rays of multi-colored light flashed, accompanied by loud thunderous booms.
"Calyxia must be having fun out there," Ebonheim whispered to herself, catching her breath. "Or maybe not."
She leaped across a gap to a different tree, hoping to find a better vantage point to survey the terrain. The branch she landed on broke with a snap, her momentum carrying her forward into empty space. Ebonheim cursed, her heart lurching into her throat as she reached for another tree, her fingers brushing against its bark as she fell.
"Oh no!"
Ebonheim crashed to the ground, landing on her hands and knees. She grunted, pushing herself upright and scanning the area for any threats. No Kungwans were in sight, the closest one currently running at a terrified gait towards her, perhaps attracted to the sound she made falling from a tree.
Ebonheim released a long, exasperated sigh.
She felt utterly tired and sore, and the Kungwan still advancing toward her looked like a nuisance at best. This was probably the umpteenth one she killed, but she'd lost count after thirty or forty. Most of the time, she ended the fights by using her Enchanted Essence Bolt; but for the smaller numbers, she made use of normal arrows.
Her eyes scanned the forest floor for her bow, finding the weapon only a few meters away, and she crawled over to pick it up. The Kungwan finally closed the distance and swiped at her, but she dove under the attack and snatched the bow before rolling back to her feet.
Ebonheim nocked an arrow, drew the string back, and released a single shot straight into the creature's eye. It reeled, clutching at its face as the projectile bored deep into its skull. She fired another shot, hitting the Kungwan in the stomach and staggering it.
She grasped for another arrow, but her fingers only grasped empty air.
The Kungwan took advantage of her pause and lunged at her, its claws slashing through the air as it sought to rip out her throat. Ebonheim ducked and weaved, her feet moving gracefully as she avoided each attack.
She slung the bow over her shoulder, unsheathed her dagger, and sprinted towards the Kungwan, blade in hand. As she drew closer, she feinted high before driving her dagger into the Kungwan's abdomen, burying the blade to the hilt.
The Kungwan howled, reeling from the wound as she twisted the weapon inside its guts. She ripped the dagger out and slashed at its bulbous neck, opening a wide gash along its throat. Blood poured from the open wound, staining the soil below as the creature thrashed about, its limbs flailing in a frenzy.
She dodged a wild swing from the Kungwan's claws, its movements slowed by blood loss. Another slash opened another deep cut into its abdomen, and this time, the creature fell to the ground.
Ebonheim knelt beside the fallen creature and plunged her dagger into its chest, twisting the blade to ensure a fatal wound. She then pulled the dagger free, blood and viscera spraying from the wound as she extracted the weapon. She stood up, wiped the gore from her weapon, and sheathed the knife.
A loud crash sounded behind her, causing Ebonheim to whirl around and face the new threat—the Kungwan Titan that had been chasing her for the past hour was finally here. She recognized the pattern on its hide.
"Again?"
Without waiting for the creature's response, she dove into the tree behind her—her Arboreal Stride immediately transplanting her to another tree a good distance away. She dropped to the forest floor and crouched low, peeking over a cluster of ferns to observe a different group of Kungwans led by a Regenerator.
"How do they keep finding me so fast?" Ebonheim whined before letting out a sigh of frustration. "So. Much. Running."
The Regenerator lumbered toward her hiding spot, its large form lumbering through the underbrush.
"Seriously, how do they know where I am—"
[Divine Aura] 206/300
The ambient light shed by her divine aura bathed her surroundings in a soft glow.
She mentally facepalmed.
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Calyxia's arms coiled around the Titan's neck as her fangs sank deep into its shoulder, her venom pumping into its body. The creature lashed out at her, its claws scrabbling against her flesh as it tried to dislodge her. She held on, her body twisting and coiling around the Kungwan's torso until she managed to constrict it.
Blood ran from her wounds, mixing with the Titan's slime and creating a thick, foul-smelling liquid that clung to her. She tightened her grip, her claws digging into its blubbery flesh as she squeezed the air out of its lungs. The creature howled in pain, thrashing wildly in an attempt to throw her off.
With a twist of her tail, Calyxia drove her claws into its lower back, tearing through muscle and tendon as she searched for its spine. The creature's thrashing grew more erratic, its movements becoming increasingly desperate as its breathing was cut off. Her fingers closed around something hard and slippery, and she gripped it tightly before ripping it from the creature's body.
She threw the vertebrae at a passing Blightfroth, its spittle deflecting off the bone as it hurtled through the air. The creature ducked out of the way, narrowly avoiding being hit.
The Kungwan Titan roared in pain as the vertebrae embedded into the side of a tree, creating a deep gouge in the trunk.
Blood flowed freely from the open wound, coating Calyxia's arms and upper torso in its sickly crimson. She held onto the beast's body, her grip growing looser as the life drained from its form. Her senses screamed in warning as she twisted her serpentine form to avoid a slashing claw—another damned Titan had joined the fray.
With a snarl, Calyxia released her prey, sliding from its body as she fell to the ground. She rolled across the earth, her tail lashing out to trip the oncoming creature. The Titan fell to one knee, but managed to grab the end of her tail in its claws, squeezing the appendage tightly.
She hissed as the pressure increased, feeling as though the bone were about to snap.
The Titan's grip on Calyxia's tail tightened, lifting her into the air. She thrashed wildly, her claws scraping against the creature's arm in an effort to release her. But the Titan merely swung her around in a wide arc, causing her head to spin with vertigo.
The creature tossed her into the side of a tree, where she slammed into the rough bark with a sickening crunch. Pain lanced through her body as she tumbled to the ground, her scales flaking from the impact. She tasted blood in her mouth, her vision blurring as she struggled to regain her bearings.
It continued slamming her into the ground and into nearby trees like a rag doll, her body flailing helplessly as she struggled to free herself from its grasp. Each collision jarred her bones, causing her vision to fuzz and her muscles to ache with fatigue.
Her serpent crown attempted to shoot rays at the creature, but her body was in a state of disorientation. Instead, they lashed out randomly, causing beams of energy to strike the trees around her, or shoot out at the sky.
Finally, the creature flung her into a boulder, causing her body to crack against the stone surface. She slid to the ground, her tail limply trailing behind her. Her body was a mass of bruises and welts, blood flowing from multiple cuts and abrasions. She spat a glob of blood onto the ground, her chest heaving with labored breaths.
The Kungwan Titan approached, its claws flexing menacingly as it drew near. As it towered over her prone form and reached out to grab her head, her serpents unleashed a barrage of beams that struck the Titan point-blank. A series of rays—slow, burning, disintegrating, paralyzing, and even stricken—overwhelmed the creature. It reeled, its body jerking violently as each beam washed over it.
"DIE!" she screeched. Her vision went white as she channeled her fury, evoking her Petrifying Gaze.
The Titan slowly began to transform. Its mucus-covered body crumbled like sand, each layer disintegrating into dust as its flesh calcified, solidified, and petrified before her eyes. A telekinetic ray pulled the Kungwan Titan closer so Calyxia could watch its demise. Soon, the process completed—its flesh turned into stone, its features frozen in a mask of pain and rage.
After her gaze dissipated, the statue toppled to the ground, shattering into countless fragments upon impact. Calyxia slumped forward, her head resting on the grass as her chest heaved with labored breaths.
Blood trickled down her cheek, dripping from a wound near her eye. She reached up and touched her fingers to the cut, wincing slightly at the contact.
"Well...that happened."
She coughed, spitting another glob of blood onto the grass below her. Her limbs shook, her muscles protesting at every movement. "I'm definitely not doing that again anytime soon."
Her natural regeneration would handle the rest, but she still felt like a cog missing a few teeth. Toying around with those Titans had taken a lot out of her, even if she managed to defeat them in the end. Next time, she would have to use more finesse—and a little less showmanship.
Calyxia glanced around at the devastation surrounding her. Trees lay scattered across the clearing, their trunks shattered and split asunder. Huge chunks of rock littered the ground, mixed with the mangled remains of dead Kungwan. The forest was silent save for the occasional groan or crack as a broken branch shifted in the wind.
To her relief, no more heat signatures remained, only the cooling carcasses of the dead or dying Kungwans.
"Hope Ebonheim is having more luck than me," she whispered before collapsing onto her back, her body aching and exhausted. "I need another bath..."