"I will fight it from close and will try to target her head. You two focus on her tentacles. Her body is bigger now, made up of corpses. It won’t be able to move fast," Selena instructed.
Amon and Jareth, who were standing with their weapons, listened to her calmly and focused.
Selena held her sword hilt tightly. The trio exited the house and silently got closer to a broken wall. They hid behind it, observing the abomination again.
It was as big as a house. The corpses attached to each other, trying to form something, yet it was nothing but a shapeless monster.
Amon observed it with keen eyes.
"Sigh..." Selena released a calm sigh, her eyes determined. She raised her hand and waved it, ordering them to attack.
’You can survive this, Amon!... Well, here goes nothing,’ Amon encouraged himself.
The space around Selena wavered and twisted. She vanished into the air, reappearing close to the creature’s body.
Slash!
She cut down the tar-black-skinned tentacle in one slash.
Thud!
The long tentacle, which had a thickness of two to three feet, fell on the ground with a thud.
"KKKkckkk!" The twisted abomination turned her head towards Selena’s direction.
The burgundy-haired woman’s red, shining eyes watched Selena with delight. A creepy, wide smile appeared on her ugly face.
"Hehehehe!... Food! Come to me, dear~ I will make you scream~ in happiness, hehe... Come and join me!" Her voice was sharp and shrill, making Amon’s and the others’ skin crawl.
The abomination’s multiple tentacles dashed at Selena’s direction, while some of them went toward Amon and Jareth.
Selena gripped her sword tightly. It glowed in silver color. She put strength into her right foot and moved forward. The ground beneath her cracked like a spider web.
Under the cloudy night, in the town square, where only some flickering light from the remaining lamps brightened a few areas—
Many silver lines came into existence. The multiple trajectories bisected each incoming tentacle’s flesh smoothly.
The flesh-cutting sound spread into the surroundings.
Jareth slammed his shield on the ground. The cobblestones beneath him shook as a wall of stone formed.
Amon hid behind Jareth.
Crash!
The tentacles collided against the stone wall. Then he jumped over the wall and slashed his sword strongly.
Slash!
The tentacles were sliced by Jareth one by one.
Meanwhile, Amon continued to run forward.
He ducked, leapt, sidestepped.
He avoided the long dark flesh while chopping some of them. He raised his left hand, the revolver pointed in the direction of the monster’s head. He slammed the hammer with his thumb.
Cling!
A metallic noise formed by it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He shot three bullets one after another. They traveled through the air, tearing it with lightning speed.
The two bullets missed the target. The woman’s head was more focused on Selena.
The third one shot at her side head.
Amon’s eyes lit up a little for a while, but not for much longer, as the woman’s head twisted in his direction.
Her eyes gleamed with hunger, with no sanity in them.
From the mass of corpses emerged more tentacles as they attacked Amon. They moved unnaturally.
’Shit! She can’t be killed by normal means!’ Amon thought as he tucked the revolver into his waist belt.
"Tch."
He clicked his tongue in annoyance and summoned his hatchet in his left hand. He sidestepped and sliced the first one.
Then he ducked, putting force into his bent knees, and slashed above his head, bisecting another one.
His left hand moved in blinding speed. A silver straight line formed as the hatchet ripped another.
Amon gritted his teeth and clenched his palms tightly around the sword and hatchet.
Mana flowed through his hands, toward the weapons, making them glow in a beautiful blue hue.
He moved faster, slashing one after another. His movements had become cleaner—simple yet calculated.
Just as he was getting closer to the abomination’s body, a tentacle—bigger than the others—attacked from his left side.
Amon was a little late to react. But before it could touch and injure him,
Jareth came between them, his sword—
Shkkk!
He chopped the big dark flesh before it could harm Amon.
"Hah, thanks, man," Amon expressed his gratitude to Jareth.
Jareth didn’t reply, just nodded.
They both moved together. Tentacles kept forming through the abomination and attacked the trio continuously.
Jareth’s blade rang as it met another big tentacle, the shock vibrating up his arm. It was even bigger than the one he cut to save Amon.
He didn’t give it a second chance. He kicked off the ground and shoved, driving the heavy bulk of the abomination’s limb away so Amon could continue his approach.
The monster retaliated.
One lashed at Selena; another tried to wrap around Jareth’s ankle.
The tar-like ooze dripped from the tentacles, forming slick black tracks across the cobblestones.
"Now!" Selena barked.
She vanished in a blink of bent space, reappearing in a shimmer to intercept a tentacle mid-swing.
Her sword blurred as she made a clean, curved arc. The blade sliced through flesh with a shriek of tearing sound.
The tentacle recoiled, shredded, but others took its place instantly.
Amon pumped his legs strongly and closed distance.
His bullets didn’t have any effect on the mass in front of him.
He could feel the sting of being outmatched, but his hands were steady. Mana coated his weapons, a faint blue veil that made his hatchet sing dangerously.
He slashed, spun, and ducked, each strike forcing the abomination to spend energy reshaping itself.
A tentacle lashed toward Jareth’s face. He raised his shield in time, earth-element armor flaring around the rim.
The blow slammed into the shield and sent a shockwave through the air. Jareth used that moment to stomp the ground.
"Terra Pillar!" he roared.
A jagged column of rock exploded from the cobbles and slammed into a cluster of tentacles, pinning them to the ground.
The abomination howled a wet, garbled sound and began to pull at the pillars, trying to free its limbs.