Chrysalis

So… I learned something. It’s possible to shape sword-light into horns. Also… it hurts. I dodge to the side, quick as a flash, and I swear the light curves, following me before it slams into my side with the force of Tiny’s fist. Luckily, I was able to angle my body to deflect the majority of the force, otherwise it may have managed to put a crack in my carapace.

Not wanting to be on the receiving end of a never-ending series of similar swings, I decide I’d best put in a little offence to throw my opponent off balance. Considering the barrier is in place, I feel a little more confident unleashing some of my more potent abilities, so I decide to Dash and follow up with a Void Chomp.

Not empowered, obviously. I’m not trying to turn my opponent into paste.

The gap between my mandibles fills with a howling void that draws everything in as the dark jaws of pure energy form, extending outward from my own. For his part, Phul isn’t going to stand there and take it. For a moment, I see him hesitate, as if he were weighing whether to meet my lunge with one of his own, but he decides against it at the last second.

Redirecting his slash into the ground, he uses the tremendous force generated to launch himself to the side, flying over my mandibles to land on my left flank. I expect Phul thinks he has time to recover there after I finish my chomp, but he’s about to learn I can turn on a dime. I whirl around, six legs flashing to align myself before I execute a charge, unwilling to give the swordsman time to recover.

Trapped in place, Phul lowers his horn and commits, winding back and gathering a dazzling amount of sword-light on the tip of his blade. As I bear down on him, angling myself to slam straight on, he swings from right to left.

Like a herd of stampeding rhinoceros, the light forms into a wave of horns that smack into my side. The force is absolutely tremendous, and despite my best efforts, he actually manages to shift my enormous frame off course. As I barrel past, I manage to clip my opponent with my legs, knocking him a smidge off balance, and I use that time to dig in my claws, sending a spray of sand flying up to splatter against the barrier.

Holy moly. That was a seriously heavy swing, strong enough to knock me to the side, and I weigh like ten tons or something. I mean, I haven’t been on any scales, but an elephant would be a snack to me at this point. I’m big.

My insides were positively rattled when I got hit, but thanks to my inner-plating, I was able to absorb the blow without any cracking in my carapace.

head-on once more, I decide it’s time to get serious and bust out some gravity

stolen; if detected on

the gravity well, while the others are tasked with peppering the swordsman with minor spells to buy

is launched in a constant spray. To deal with this barrage of minor strikes, Phul simply… ignores them.

up for a massive vertical swing, but

and others of his rank are incredibly sensitive to changes to the condition of their swords. The moment he starts the downswing, he realises something

rushing headfirst towards him, weaving together a layered

appears like a charging rhino itself, racing forward above the ground. As insanely impressive as that is, the swing was off. This strike isn’t as bright as those before, the light isn’t as dense, and when I meet it

into him. The gravity well completes, and I slam it

many more times do I have to do this

being held in place by the power of the well, Phul puts up a mighty struggle, but ultimately is forced to concede,

being defeated, even if the

you do to my sword?] he asks after I connect to him, peering down at it with concern. [It’s

It’s only temporary, though,

it larger? Some sort

go with that. As I said, totally

a few test swings, appearing