Despite the Unagi Master’s threat, she and her Summon struggled to find the Kappa among the bubbles. Much like in a carnival’s house of mirrors the creature’s image had been fragmented among the many reflecting globules and was scattered across the battlefield.
“Ahh so you’re hiding?” she laughed, her eyes racing over the hundreds of partial Kappas on the battlefield. “I don’t blame you. It wouldn’t take much to crush you now. ”
As she spoke, her monstrous Siren lumbered forward. Searching for its prey, it slashed its way through the bubbles but missed its target every single time. Compared to Zorya’s sea monster, the Kappa seemed like nothing but a small and nimble pest; a little fish that kept slipping through her net at the last moment. No matter how many bubbles she popped, new ones kept coming in their place each time.
Zorya steadied herself. Her head was spinning and her fingers trembled although she wasn’t completely sure why. She assumed that the Kappa’s tricks were making her sick, but maybe she was just feeling the side effects of the potion?
“No,” she murmured as her breathing grew heavy and even her knees began to buckle. “It doesn’t matter… we just gotta knock that damn turtle out. That’s all.”
She decided to go back to her core and prompted her Siren to produce another song. Maybe now it was strong enough to pierce through the Kappa’s defenses. The Siren did as told; it raised its claws and produced a strange, drawn out snarl.
“Crap!” Zorya cursed, realizing that her Summon’s voice had grown too deep to carry the spell. The Siren’s sudden increase in strength and size had clearly come at a price.
Then, before she could think of what to do next, a sudden shadow flashed past her hulking Summon, slamming the Siren’s head back in an instant. She gasped watching the blood spur into the air.
“This can’t be! This is impossible,” she uttered.
The Kappa had emerged from the sea of bubbles and had sliced its nails through the Siren’s neck muscles. Zorya's chest rose up and down in a panic. She felt as if the ground was disappearing below her feet. No matter how hard she tried, everything was falling apart.
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Drenched in sweat, Elem focused on the singular line of Essence still swirling within his body. It was difficult to ignore his trembling limbs and the pain rattling through his core but somehow he was still standing. Even better, he was still immersed in his summoning trance.
If he didn't know any better, he would have called this feat of endurance a miracle. Of course, he had relied heavily on his relentless drive and cultivation skills but those alone hadn’t been enough. Deep down, he knew that without his Kappa’s burning determination he could not have come this far.
Despite all the Siren’s punishing blows and clever techniques, the Kappa had stood firm and while the Water Summon always displayed a resolute desire to prove itself, its presence now sparked with even more passion than usual. All their physical training, the endless cultivation practice and their many battles had deepened their spiritual connection and interwoven their souls even further– and now, the Kappa had decided to step up.
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The Water Summon leaped past the Siren one more time, slashing its nails through the creature’s skin like knives cutting through butter.
Master Zorya cursed and screamed as the Kappa retreated back into the mass of bubbles. Her eyes were wide and radiated even brighter than before. She seemed nothing like the kind woman Elem had met when he arrived in Unagi. Just as her Summon had morphed into something terrible, she had deteriorated in similar fashion.
At first the Siren’s beastly transformation had shocked Elem. Seeing the creature evolve, he had feared that their battle had somehow awakened the Siren's hidden true form but upon noticing the gourd, he immediately realized that his opponent had simply resorted to cheating.
He had heard enough stories about Essence infused potions to know what he was dealing with. Normally, summoners used cultivation cycles to slowly expand their Essence Nodes which allowed more energy to flow through but elixirs- as they were called- permitted summoners to artificially absorb vast amounts of Essence with a single gulp. This granted them immense powers but also came with significant downsides. The supplements tended to overwhelm one’s nodes, resulting in volatile and unpredictable effects. There were cases of summoners losing their abilities or even passing away after severe overexposure. Even in ancient history warriors were known to only use elixirs as a last strike before perishing in battle.
The Monstrous Siren let out another snarl and violently slammed its tail into the ground, sending shockwave across the entire stage.
“Another gulp!” Zorya commanded from the top of her lungs, chuckling like a maniac. “Whatever it takes! Do it, now!”
The Siren slowly brought the gourd to its maw, straining the bundled muscles in its arms and shoulders. The Unagi Master seemed to think that more power would be the solution to all her problems but Elem began to fear that she was making a terrible mistake.
Judging from her irrational demeanor and her Summon’s grotesque shape, Elem gathered that she was barely handling the amount of Essence in her system. He began to worry that any more of the elixir could leave her with long-lasting damage. He couldn’t let that happen.
Elem nudged at his Summon and the Kappa instantly sprung from its bubbly hiding place. It leaped through the air, followed by a trail of small bubbles, and shattered the gourd with a single kick.
“Noo!” Zorya shouted, mimicked by an earth-shattering roar from her Siren.
Out for revenge, the massive Summon rushed at the Kappa. Everything about the monster exerted a terrifying sense of bloodlust from its burning glare to the way its eel-like tail flailed behind its body- and yet, Elem’s Summon didn't move a muscle. Refusing to run and hide, it simply watched the Siren approach like an oncoming freight train. Only when the Kappa could smell the creature’s fishy breath, it leaped up.
“It is time to end this,” Elem mouthed as his Summon narrowly evaded its opponent’s sloppy strikes. Soaring through the air, the Kappa straightened its fingers and pressed its claws together. One well-placed strike would be enough.
Time seemed to slow down as the Kappa edged towards the sea monster’s head. It bent its arms backwards until its elbows nearly touched the shell on its back- took a last breath- and then stabbed its claws into the Siren’s bulging eyes.
The large Summon produced another harrowing shriek and jerked its head from side to side, too distracted by the pain to pull the Kappa away from its face. But the Kappa was unimpressed by the creature’s suffering and dug its claws further into the Siren’s eye sockets. It pushed deeper and deeper, until the creature’s arms finally seized their helpless spazzing and its body grew limp.
A sense of relief fell over Elem’s body as he witnessed the Siren fall. The Summon hadn’t hit the ground or its skin already began to unravel. Elem heard the crowd's cheers as the creature disintegrated further but the sound was muffled and distant. He didn’t care. Nor did he care when his vision darkened or when he lost his balance and fell onto the pebble beach. Elem could only smile; he had defeated a Summoning Master and nothing else mattered.