Shadow Slave

The situation... was not good.

Ray had managed to stall the monstrous hand, hacking it to pieces with his weapons - he wielded a short sword in one hand, and an axe in the other. Rain had blinded the abomination with her arrows, and Tamar disabled two of its arms.

The problem was that the creature had just too many of them. Rain had already counted nine, and more were rising from behind the climbing monstrosity like a ghastly forest.

Worse still, it was an Awakened abomination. She had aimed at the obvious vulnerability first - the eyes - but other than that, there wasn't a lot of damage she could do. Even if her arrows pierced the tough hide of the creature, it would not harm it too much.

Tamar faced the forest of monstrous arms with grim resolve, wielding her hefty zweihander with daunting skill. She used both of her Abilities to dance between the barrage of killing blows. The young Legacy seemed like a steel whirlwind, alternating unpredictable jumps with short bursts of stunning speed. Torrents of fetid blood were released into the frigid air from her great blade.

She managed to stall and damage many limbs of the abomination, in large part due to the creature having been blinded, but could not advance to attack its body.

‘Crap…’

Rain dropped her bow and unsheathed her sword.

"Why are you just standing there?! Get back!"

The petrified porters were stirred by her shout and staggered away from the carnage. Miraculously, none of them was dead yet.

The abominable claws rained down in pursuit of the elusive Legacy girl, sending pieces of stone flying. A net of cracks spread on the ground from each missed blow, viscous blood spilling into the narrow fissures.

Rain dashed forward and supported Awakened Ray, who had managed to sever two of the hideous hand's fingers, but almost got pierced by the long claw of the third.

They were in a stalemate, and that stalemate wasn't in their favor. The creature was continuing to climb up from the canyon, and once it crawled onto the plain, whatever resistance Tamar was able to offer would be overwhelmed.

So, someone had to reach the abomination and deal it a mortal wound. Rain would have gone herself, but she was mundane - her tachi would not be able to slay the giant.

Ray, on the other hand, was Awakened, and wielded enchanted weapons, Better yet, he could become imperceptible, So, with come luck, his blade would reach the creature's neck without being blocked by the countless claws.

"Go! I'll finish this thing off!"

The young man glanced at her with wide eyes, hesitated for a split second, then nodded and disengaged. He must have thought the same, A moment later, Ray was gone.

Literally.

He Activated his Awakened Ability and dissolved into the air. There was no sound, no smell, no... anything. It was as if he had never existed at all.

Rain brandished her tachi, deflected a terrifying claw, and then kicked the severed hand with all her might.

The hand was the size of an adult human, and weighed quite a lot. Still, Rain's kick sent it rolling backward.

With two fingers missing, it had turned rather clumsy. The bizarre thing was still trying to turn itself over when she dashed forward, turned her sword, and thrust it down, using all of her own weight to make the strike more powerful.

the monstrous palm, slid between the

would have to follow common reason to achieve that - it would need proper grip and support, at least, ideally good leverage. Laying on the ground, impaled through the center, the monstrous hand had none of those So, it just struggled fiercely,

staggered back, then looked up to

was hopelessly stuck in the avalanche of monstrous limbs. Blinded, the

closing in, as well he might have been invisible, but the space between the survey team and the massive body of the climbing abomination was full of stone shards and deadly claws. Ray was still a corporeal being, so making

and was now standing on

pretty healer was shouting, but she

"...Tyrant! It's a Tyrant!"

'Damn.'

never faced an Awakened Tyrant before. Nor had she

for a moment, shaken by the revelation, a

on the Tyrant's back, tearing

damned thing finally made

Fallen Beast or Monster, at best... It wasn't quite powerful enough to destroy an Awakened Tyrant

However...

very large. And

half of its massive torso towering above the edge. When the monstrous

It swayed back precariously.

it flailed its arms in the air. It was still holding onto the edge with two hands, but now, more of them scratched the stone with their claws, leaving deep grooves in

Tyrant's fall was

many hands trying to keep the abomination

a split second,

"Ray! The hands!"

enormous guillotine. It severed the fingers of one of

silhouette of a young man revealed itself in

throw her bow into the air, caught it, and nocked an arrow on the string in one fluid motion. A moment later, the arrow pierced into the deep wound dealt by Ray, disabling one

hold the weight of the Tyrant anymore. When the Echo jerked its head and pulled the abomination back with all its weight, the ghastly

and lowered

'D-damn... that was intense!'

then glanced at

was in one piece. The survey

was... more than

my teacher

Especially because

all the mayhem, or had her teacher

would have to ask him

it was too

her quiver, Rain lamented the loss of several arrows, then circled around the pinned hand of the Tyrant and approached

and Tamar. All three of them looked

darkness, and it was impossible

his hair back