image [https://i.imgur.com/XIZL0SH.png]

Victor dashed out of the temple doors amidst the crumbling rubble. Golden light illuminated his surroundings, casting dark shadows across the room. One particularly enormous shadow, in the shape of a wolf, trailed behind him.

Victor pushed all his strength into his legs. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins. A claw came crashing down behind where he just stood, chucking stone and rubble up behind him. Victor felt a sharp piece of rock graze his cheek from behind.

“That Sun Fox is a monster,” Victor said. He gritted his teeth. Currently, he needed to lure the creature far away from the villagers, getting them out of danger.

Two purple eyes locked on Victor. He could feel his blood run cold, and his hands wouldn’t stop trembling.

“Hah…” A shaky smile covered his face. “Am I actually afraid of this overgrown mutt?”

Though he smiled, the tightness in his shoulders and chest would not leave. He felt an icy wind blowing at the back of his neck. He knew if he stopped, that wind would freeze his life.

This was the feeling of being hunted.

Victor jumped from rubble to rubble. Nearby black hounds stared at him, their eyes glowing like purple flames in the distance. Despite this, they all maintained their distance, staying only at the perimeter and creeping towards him.

“50, maybe 100?” Victor thought, his eyes blinking rapidly. “You’ve got to be kidding, right?”

Below him, Victor eyed the market square. Surrounded by broken bleachers, it was directly beneath the temple room where Taiyo was casting her magic spell. This would give her the perfect vantage point.

Victor leapt, another claw sweeping down where he was just standing, smashing the ground. Victor swung his arms, trying to steady his momentum. Plummeting downwards, swift air whipped against his skin. Extending his arm, he grabbed hold of a metal pole protruding from one of the damaged bleachers. He felt the rough metal scrape against his hand. He winced but allowed it to break his fall, dropping neatly to the ground.

Victor panted. Taking the opportunity to check on Taiyo.

He closed his eyes, sensing the movement of magic energy in the surroundings. He was no mage, but he was a member of the Djinn Nomads, raised in the desert. Though he could not directly sense magic energy, he could sense the waves it created, and see how it was impacting the flow of magic in the area.

What he expected was to see two similar disruptions. One of the beast king, and one of Taiyo. He focused his attention upward, and there he could feel the waves of energy moving towards a singular point in the temple room. It coalesced. In his mind’s eye, it appeared like a formless rippling bubble in a singular location. The surface of the bubble spiked and moved, while the centre Remained stable. Several waves and threads connected to the bubble, joining it and swirling in the centre.

She’s actually got it under control! Victor held his breath. Taiyo was weaving all the magical energy into one. He let out a breath and tried to focus his attention upwards towards the beast king.

Victor’s head recoiled, and he fell to one knee, his eyes wide and his body shaking.

“Impossible…” he said, sweat dripping down his face.

Victor closed his eyes again, focusing around the area instead of looking directly at it. Ripples of magical waves travelled through the ground from a centre-point. Each ripple distorted the magical energy distribution in the surroundings, corrupting the energy and creating chaotic spikes. This corrupted energy then flowed towards that one location.

Which was nothing more than the beast king.

“It’s a Sun Fox.” Victor rubbed his temple, trying to make sense of the situation. “How is this possible? It’s absorbing not just the Sun Energy, but all the energy in the surroundings.”

Victor opened his eyes, staring directly at the Beast king. It towered over him, a wild madness to its eyes. It dug its two grotesque extra limbs into the ground, its teeth gnashing as it snarled at him. In this time, the nearby black hounds had created a perimeter around Victor. They kept their distance, but tens, if not hundreds, of purple eyes stared at him. He was prey, but none of them made a move to pounce.

That right belonged to the beast king alone.

It eyed Victor. Its magic power was like a black hole, greedily absorbing everything in the surroundings.

Victor observed the spikes and jumps in magical energy around the beast king. They were unstable, and unlike the organised weaving of Taiyo’s magical spell, the beast king’s energy was a mess. Erupting out of its body like a fiery, unstable and hellish sun that threatened to swallow everything.

Though the scene seemed worse than having to face off against a god itself, Victor smiled, the tension in his chest relaxing slightly.

They could defeat the beast king. It still lacked control over its vast magical power. Victor suspected this had something to do with the sudden mutation, giving it a spike in power. When magical creatures evolved, they adopted forms similar to their ancestors. This Sun Fox should have gained a power similar to sky hounds, growing wings or something akin to. Instead, it gained two giant killing forelimbs on the side of its body.

They could win this. Victor took a deep breath. All he needed to do was buy time. It would take Taiyo some time to absorb all the magic out of Garyu’s corpse. She probably needed 10 minutes.

“That’s easier said than done,” Victor said. His nostrils flared as he looked up towards the beast king. Those two burning purple eyes. Unlike anything he had seen before stared at him. “10 minutes is nothing for a Mythril Adventurer!”

Victor readied his blade, staring down at the beasts in his surroundings. Each black hound in the area would have its own magical energy. If he killed them, that magical energy would enter the surrounding area, being absorbed by the beast king.

This would make the beast king more powerful.

But it would also mean Taiyo needed less time.

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Victor jumped off the ground, landing within a group of black magical beasts. They growled in shock, and before they could retreat or pounce, Victor used the dust as cover to ready his blade. He struck out, cleaving in a circle around him. This one strike killed several of the hounds surrounding him, and they fell to the ground. Purple mist escaped from their bodies, floating towards the beast king.

Victor eyed the Sun Fox. The purple light in its eyes intensified, and it snarled viciously at Victor. It crouched, in a position to pounce, and jumped towards Victor, crashing down and destabilising the ground around him. Several hounds which couldn’t get out of the way in time were caught in the crossfire, yelping as they took their last breaths.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

Sweat trickled down Victor’s face as he stared at the beast king. Its body towered over him, like he was in front of a statue the size of a house. The two purple limbs stretched out into the night sky, like they threatened to crush the moon inside of them.

“There’s no fighting this bastard…” Victor looked behind him, eyeing other packs of hounds which watched with their ears raised. They maintained careful distance from Victor, careful not to get too close. The Beast king had its mark on him, after all. And not even the drive to kill him would make them defy it.

Victor dashed towards other crowds of beasts, who snapped at him as he came past. The beast king behind him roared, throwing up rubble as it bouldered towards him. The hounds ran out of the way, but plenty were caught in its charge, reduced to nothing but meat paste.

Victor panted as he watched, maintaining his distance, not even thirty seconds had passed yet.

The beast king looked up, sniffing its canine nose. The purple haze enveloped it, and for a moment, its eyes lost sight of Victor.

Was the purple energy magical energy obscuring its senses?

Victor felt a weird twisting feeling in his stomach as he got close to the purple haze, and the scars in his abdomen burned when he came in contact with it.

“Victor!” Taiyo’s voice called out from the temple above him.

He looked up, Taiyo was standing on the edge of the stairs, looking down at him. Her golden eyes shone even from the distance Victor was at, and countless golden threads trailed behind her, almost like a long golden veil.

Her hands were outstretched, and in front of her a magic sun the size of a house hovered. Threads and ropes of golden light wrapped around her hands, connecting her to the sun. She looked forwards with a set jaw, and her hands moved rapidly as the light energy travelled from her fingers to the magic sun. Heat filled the surrounding area, making Victor feel like he was standing in front of a flame.

Just how much heat was she enduring?

An immense sense of weight filled the magic sun that was rotating in front of her. The exterior bubbled and rippled unstably, but she maintained her connection to it regardless. The magic sun continued to grow in size, but the golden ropes and strings connecting Taiyo to the Sun were drawn taught.

Even with Taiyo’s control, this much sun energy would be difficult to keep hold of.

The beast king turned it’s head, looking in Taiyo’s direction.

“Keep your eyes on me, fucker!” Victor grabbed a piece of rubble, hurling it at the beast king. Purple eyes locked on him, and within an instant Victor could feel the immense pressure of something hurtling towards him. He rolled out of the way, the beast king came slamming down just beside him. Thinking fast, he grabbed a nearby hound that was caught in the leap, snapping its neck between his palms. Purple haze enveloped him, and the two purple eyes lost focus for a second.

Before Victor could breathe a sigh of relief, they locked on him again.

The hairs on Victor’s body stood on end as he quickly dashed away. He was trying to stall, but sooner or later the beast king would outmatch him.

It was already much quicker than he was.

Victor readied his cleaver, thrusting it cleanly behind him. A twang rang out as the beast king’s mutant limb collided with the cleaver, sending vibrations into Victor’s palms which immediately lost their grip. He was sent flying backwards, smacking his head on the ground with force, and the cleaver flew in a different direction.

Rubble covered the area where Victor stood. A dull ache filled his head, but he couldn’t sense the pain. He put a palm on the back of his head, and he looked at it to see blood covering his hand.

Victor’s vision swam slightly, and he coughed. The beast king advanced on him, discerning his body amidst the rubble. The magic sun above him had grown, and Taiyo’s ropes connecting her to it were snapping, starting with the smallest ones.

“Victor!” Taiyo shouted, her voice choking in desperation. “You need to get out of there!”

Victor rolled out of the way of the beast king’s forelimbs. Running into the centre of another group of black hounds. The beast king came hurtling towards him, crushing them before they could react.

“He’s gotten faster!” Victor said. He glanced at the magic sun. It wasn’t ready yet, and if he left now, the beast king would immediately set its sights on Taiyo.

Ten thick ropes remained, connecting Taiyo to the sun.

One of them snapped.

“Victor!” she said. “I can’t hold on forever!”

I’m sorry, Taiyo.

Victor steeled his expression, his eyes narrowing. He needed to hold on until the max level of magic of energy Taiyo could handle was present. Victor watched her hands tremble as her eyes fixed on him.

“Don’t worry about me!” he shouted. “Hold on for as long as you can, I’ll keep him distracted!”

Another rope snapped.

There were eight left.

Victor called out towards the beast king, who’s eyes fixed on him. Victor dashed towards it this time, sliding under its towering body. He narrowly avoided it’s jaws as it tried to devour him, and he dashed out from underneath it. A powerful tail came swinging towards him, and he jumped upwards. However, his jump was too late, and his leg was caught in the swing. Victor felt a distinct crack come from his leg, and his body was sent tumbling towards the town Center. He let out a tiny whimper, and he lay on the ground, sprawled. He tried to get up, but his right leg simply would not move.

The beast king advanced on him. This time, he had nowhere to run.

Surrounded by a sea of black magic hounds, Victor watched those purple eyes advance on him. He stood in the centre of the village square.

He was going to die.

But despite this, he had succeeded.

A smile grew on Victor’s face as he looked up at the magic sun casting light down. The heat filled his body, and he felt the pain lessen slightly.

“Taiyo!” he shouted. “Release the magic bomb!”

“No!” She screamed, her eyes flooding with tears. “Victor, you promised me you’d come back safe!”

Two more of the ropes snapped.

The Sun shuddered unstably.

“We don’t have time!” he shouted. He looked up at her face. If this really was the last thing he would see, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

He’d saved somebody in the end, right?

“Victor!” Taiyo shook her head, the tears evaporated off her face as the magic sun’s heat dropped closer to the ground.

“I’m sorry, Taiyo.” Victor smiled towards her. “I’m done for.”

Three more ropes snapped.

The beast king was now above him. Its two purple eyes looked down at him, licking its lips between razor sharp fangs.

“Taiyo!” Victor roared. “This is your only chance, drop the magic bomb!”

Victor heard bo response.

The surrounding temperatures rose, and as he looked up, a blinding white light filled the area. Victor watched as it enveloped everything around him. The black sea of hounds, the beast kind, and finally, his body. All of of it was replaced in his vision with a blinding white light.

Victor let out one last smile.

The magic bomb dropped.