Han turned the shield upward just as the monster slammed into it, sending him staggering back, sending soft soil erupting. The shield held, but cracks webbed across its surface under the repeated assault of the creature’s hardened fists that slammed against it again and again.
"Kest," Han gritted out, sweat streaming down his face. The effort to keep the shield active showed in every tense muscle. The small device in his hand that projected the energy barrier had grown hot, too hot his hand was smoking.
They needed to act, and fast or else the monster would kill them before they know it.
Kest rose to his feet, scowling at the monster. He flipped his twin daggers into the air, but instead of falling, they hovered in front of him.
A blur followed as he use Flash Walk technique repeatedly and yet the daggers stood where it was, vibrating hard, making the space around it quivered fast.
In seconds, the daggers transformed into searing masses of raw energy. Any ordinary weapon would have disintegrated, but these were forged for this exact purpose.
Focusing on the monster, Kest launched one dagger like a shot of light. At the same time, Han dropped the failing shield.
The monster surged toward them, but the dagger struck it mid-air, dark blood sprayed in the air. The monster roared, its lunge disrupted, and it crashed clumsily to the ground, clutching its right hand.
The White steel team moved fast, fanning out in a triangle around the beast and boxing it in.
"How tough is this thing’s skin? That strike could shear through steel," Kest muttered, recalling the bloodstained dagger to his hand.
The second dagger floated near him, glowing white-hot from compressed mana that quivered around it.
"It cut deep," Jonna observed. "The dagger still did a lot of damage. It left wounds pm its body."
"Kest wasn’t just trying to wound it," Han said, strapping his axe to his back. He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a tiny sword, no longer than two fingers, resting neatly in his clenched fist.
He frowned down at it and a dark smile curled at the corner of his lips.
The monster stared at its wounded hand in visible confusion, it couldn’t believe it was actually wounded. The dagger had torn through the flesh and stopped only at the bone.
Then it twitched, the dagger fell and it’s flesh squirming and regrew the missing flesh right before their eyes.
"What? Was that healing?" Han said, incredulous, as the monster flexed its renewed hand. "I really don’t like that, I don’t like it at all."
"That’s not healing," Jonna frowned. "It... grew new flesh. Like a mutation."
"Same difference," Han replied flatly, his voice narrowed.
Kest almost rolled his eyes but kept his focus. "It doesn’t matter. Healing, mutation, regeneration, it all runs on energy. Exhaust it, then kill it before it recovers."
"Good enough for me," Han said, activating his ability.
Red light engulfed his form, projecting armor and weapons slightly offset from his body, his axe, his clothes, even his boots appeared as glowing red constructs.
He stood smaller within them.
To Taria, he looked like a child wearing a giant’s armor. The oversized projection shimmered with power, even altering his apparent height.
Han raised his radiant sword and pointed at the monster. "Ready?"
The others nodded. He and Kest charged.
Its body warped. Six thin tentacles burst from its back, black, metallic, bladed tendrils that waved in the air around him.
Two lashed out at each member of the White steel.
Han swung down hard on the pair coming for him, but they flexed unnaturally, bending away from the blow. His sword shoved them aside, but failed to cut through, it was as if he was trying to cut a wet cloth with a dull sword.
The tentacles curled around his weapon and darted toward his head. Han ducked, blocking with his energy-armored forearm.
Sparks flew as they scraped against the projection.
With a burst from his energy-boosted shoes, Han closed the distance. He leapt and brought his sword down, aiming to cleave the monster in two.
The creature looked up.
Han struck its midsection, but instead of slicing through, the blade only bruised the surface of its now iron-like flesh.
Tentacles burst outward like a storm of barbed needles.
Kest vanished in a blur, weaving between them. Jonna activated a dense gravity field around himself, compressing space like a shield.
But Han was too close and was caught in the blast.
He tried to retreat, ducking behind an energy barrier, but it wasn’t enough. One tentacle pierced the joint in his left shoulder. Another skewered his right leg.
Han screamed as he crumpled.
"Han!" Kest shouted and sent his searing white-hot dagger flying. It cleaved through the tentacles just before they could strike again.
Kest and Jonna moved in, guarding their injured teammate.
"This thing’s tougher than it looks," Kest muttered. His second dagger hovered beside him, still pulsing with residual power.
"It can harden its body like steel," Jonna added grimly.
The monster didn’t pursue. It watched them silently, its eyes sharp and unblinking.
Taria stood on the side, her gray eyes gleaming like polished silver. "They’re... strong."
"Yes," Kaedros murmured beside her. "They are. Keeping a peak rank two off then when they are stage two themselves. Impressive."
"Will they kill it?" she asked quietly, fingers brushing the shaft of her spear. Can I kill something like that someday? She could barely follow their movements, let alone match them.
"You’ll kill more dangerous things than that in the future." Kaedros said dismissively.
Taria glanced at him, unsure if he was comforting her or simply stating fact, then turned her attention back to the battlefield.
Han forced himself upright, pain etched deep into his features. He dug into his pocket once more, fingers closing hard around another hidden weapon.