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.

tachi pierced the monstrous palm, slid between the bones, and nailed the severed

grip and support, at least, ideally good leverage. Laying on the ground,

staggered back, then looked up to

several more arms, but was hopelessly stuck in the avalanche of monstrous limbs. Blinded,

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

ropes and was

was shouting, but she

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

'Damn.'

Awakened Tyrant before. Nor had

moment, shaken by the revelation, a blurred

wolf landed on the Tyrant's back, tearing at

damned thing finally made it across

a Fallen Beast or Monster, at best... It wasn't quite powerful enough to

However...

very large. And it weighed

to climb out of the chasm, hanging awkwardly with half of its massive torso towering above the edge. When the monstrous wolf landed on

It swayed back precariously.

and 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

fall was

keep the abomination from falling, Tamar

split second,

"Ray! The hands!"

drew a beautiful are in the air, then fell down like the blade of an enormous guillotine. It severed the fingers of one of the

suddenly torn apart, and a vague silhouette of a young man revealed itself in the air. He was

on the string in one fluid motion. A moment later, the arrow pierced into the deep

the Echo jerked its head and pulled the abomination back with all its weight, the ghastly creature finally slid

trembled and

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

slowly, then

piece. The survey specialists

more than

teacher protect them

because

into the canyon in all the mayhem, or had her teacher

have to ask

was too early

the loss of several arrows, then circled around the pinned hand of the Tyrant and approached the edge of the

Tamar.

depths of the canyon were shrouded in darkness, and it

his hair back nervously