He extended his Dao out around himself as he approached, and an ephemeral cloak of energy formed on his shoulder, trailing him as he shot down towards his foe. His hammer crackled as it fell, and lightning played across it as the subsumed weapon skill of Mjolnir took effect. Sam extended the weapon to its maximum size, an act more of habit than active will at this point. He looked like an ant at the end of a large stick, bringing it down upon a dog. Only, that stick contained enough power to end millions of lives with a single strike.
Sam shook his head slightly as he descended. Sometimes his enhanced mind came up with the most absurd of analogies for his situation. Though, as that was the only price, it was very worth it.
His hammer impacted the side of the monster’s rocky armor with a clang that sounded like the hammer blows of a god-like smith. The already weakened plates of obsidian creaked and groaned beneath the strike, and the wave of Dao energy that coursed out of it finished the job. The obsidian cracked and crumbled, a fault line racing across its surface. Sam brought his weapon back and struck once more, this time onto the monster’s flesh.
The scales bent and cracked, and Sam seized control over his power, sending it between the gaps in the plates of keratin. With an almighty heave, he slammed his feet into the monster’s body and used his hammer like a lever to tear the scales free. The Avatar let out a bellow of rage and pain, and molten blood started to flow freely down its side. While the massive wound Sam had carved into its face had been largely useless, as targeting its head would only lessen the impact of his attacks on the E Ranked beast, this wound was a portal straight to its most vulnerable parts. While it lacked organs as an E Ranker, it would be far easier to damage from the inside rather than from the outside, where its thick scales protected it from harm.
Before the monster could react, Sam shrunk his hammer down to a more manageable size, and jumped in, Dao energy propelling him like a rocket. His armor glowed with light as he channeled power into it, and he carved through the flesh like butter. Sam had killed monsters from the inside out a concerning number of times. He had to say, it was not the most comforting thought.
As he dug in through the flesh, he felt an immediate difference to the bodies of the other titanic monsters he had killed from the inside out. Its flesh was semi corporeal, only half made out of actual matter. The other half was a strange substrate of Dao energy and elemental power, which combined to increase the blood’s heat to obscene levels. Sam could feel himself baking in his armor as he progressed. Still, with all of his buffs and bonuses, it was not insurmountable.
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He could feel the monster bucking around as he slid deeper into its vulnerable flesh, and it rocked every now and again as attacks struck it from the outside. Sam could feel it writhing, and every few seconds, heat would billow out from its mouth to envelop the nearby fighters. Sam waited until he had reached the center of the monster’s body, which he detected by the massive increase in heat. Then he channeled his Dao energy into himself and his hammer, before letting it all go in a pulse of pure energy.
The flesh around him disintegrated, and he was left standing within a large sphere carved out into the monster’s body. It was easily a hundred feet wide, and took up most of the creature’s width. There was a bellow of pain from the outside, but it was muffled by the walls of flesh that Sam was surrounded by. He grinned, and got to work.
Unfortunately for him, things did not go to plan. Rather than having free rein over the monster’s demise, he was instead met with a worrying discovery. To a limited extent, the Avatar could control the insides of its body. Before he could strike again, plates of obsidian flickered into place around the edges of the sphere, shielding the rest of the creature’s body from harm. Even worse, they started to contract.
Sam attempted to teleport out of the encroaching trap, but he found that the wound he had used to enter the monster was already sealed. Unless he wanted to give up all his progress, he would have to stay here and fight.
Sam gritted his teeth and hefted his weapon. He expanded it to its maximum size as the walls started to contract, and set it in place, wedging the obsidian open. Then he channeled energy to his fists. It wasn’t often that he adopted the fighting style of a pugilist, but he had to admit, it was quite satisfying.
Energy coalesced around his fists as he gathered his potency to himself, and he started to pummel the obsidian before him. Small drills of purified mana spun on the ends of his fists, supplemented by his elemental energy and Dao. Cracks spread across the surface as he worked, and as the obsidian closed in, creaking against the ends of his hammer, Sam finally broke through.
Shards of rock fell to the ground as he smashed through the last layer of obsidian, revealing the flesh outside. He thrust his fist through and released the remainder of his Dao energy in one apocalyptic burst. It completely bottomed out his store, but it was worth it. The obsidian shattered from the backlash, and a jet of energy erupted from the side of the monster, revealing air once more. Sam surged out of the creature, teleporting to safety. Then he shrunk his hammer down with an effort of will and called it back to his hand.