The creature did not roar.
Its presence was a roar in itself. Its every movement seemed to cause all of the surrounding air to tremble.
The colossal wyrm-like creature made of bone and metal loomed below…and then above Kain as it began to fully stretch out its body until its head even surpassed Kain flying in the air, its half-fossilized body groaning as it dragged itself fully from the depths.
Armor-like plates shimmered with spiritual power, ancient and malicious. That unblinking, golden eye—big as a car—locked on Kain.
Even amidst the chaos of battle, the drifting rubble, the wind and heat, Kain felt the stillness of that stare.
It wasn't wild. It wasn't blind fury.
Singular, suffocating focus.
"…Oh no," Kain murmured. A sinking cold settled in his gut.
The others hadn't realized it yet—not fully.
"It's focused only on me," Kain said through the group's mental link. His tone was calm, but underneath it, he was terrified. "It hasn't looked away once. Not even a glance in your guys' direction"
Although it was irksome to admit, aside from Bridge, the others all relaxed upon hearing that the sudden horrifying addition to the field wasn't paying attention to them. The only one that became more tense at the revelation was Bridge, but Kain shot him a reassuring glance from afar, before snapping quickly back to his new enemy.
Kain's gaze didn't leave the beast again while he continued mentally communicating with the others. Power rippled through the creature with every movement. This wasn't a mindless monster lashing out—it was patient. Controlled.
But its patience was waning.
'This is punishment,' Kain thought upon seeing its focus on him and its seemingly high intelligence. 'This creature could probably be considered an extension of the relic's will. It knows I'm above the others in strength. This thing—it's not so much a challenge sent to spice things up. It's more like an executioner sent after the judge had already given out the guilty sentence.'
Cracks spider webbed through the ground beneath the beast's weight. Its lipless mouth opened slightly—not in a scream, but a hiss, revealing rows of needle-fangs that glowed faintly with runes of enforcement. Once again confirming that this thing was likely not natural and was product created by the relic—or maybe even whoever made this relic.
"Kain…" Bridge's voice came through the link, heavy with concern.
But Kain shook his head.
"Listen. I can't support you guys anymore. Not to mention you guys wouldn't be able to help me either. At least not directly. This thing wants me—and only me. You'll never get another opportunity . While it's focused on me, control the last Obelisk required. Maybe if you guys succeed before it catches me…maybe I'll have a chance…"
He swept his peripheral gaze around the battlefield—quick, assessing.
"There are four Obelisks left. Don't go after the one on the ground—it's the strongest. And ignore that one… too hard to catch…that other one—it's not worth the time. It's decided! Focus on the one hurling bombs from above. The rest of you—group up and take it down together."
"Understood," Bridge responded without hesitation.
"Don't die," Addison and Aiden added in unison.
"Already working on that," he muttered.
It didn't leap or dash—it compressed the space between them. One moment it was rearing back, the next it detonated forward, dragging was felt like half the arena with it. The shockwave alone slammed into Kain like a tidal wave. Air fled his lungs.
Vauleth beneath him dove down to dodge just in time, and Kain on his back fell off due to the force of the shockwave coming off the blow.
The claimed Obelisk he was right next to and had proved invulnerable to most of the attacks sent its way, had two-thirds of it vanish beneath an attack Kain couldn't even properly identify—sheared clean through with a large portion of it poofing into thin air.
A few of the Vespid guards around Kain, he recalled for additional protection, were atomized instantly, their corpses never even touching the ground.
Vauleth roared and dipped low, catching him with a desperate swoop, and Kain hit the dragon's back again— hard, bones jarring.
Like a cathedral collapsing in on itself.
The wyrm's eyes emitted an eerie glow as it struck again—Kain still unable to get a true view of the attack—but the impact shattered three platforms, all the nearby ones holding up claimed Obelisks, into shrapnel.
"GO!" Kain barked into the mental link, and the others obeyed.
High above, the bomb-throwing Obelisk began spinning faster, sensing the new threats coming its way.
Bridge and Addison peeled off in unison, approaching quicky from the right. Michael and Leonara flanked left, moving through the safe zone Kain's distraction created. Aiden remained on the perimeter, his elemental wind contracts generating tornado-like gusts that intercepted a hurled projectile meant for Addison.
All possible because of one thing:
The beast's eyes never left Kain.
And then it roared—not out of rage, but declaration.
Kain once again had that eerie sensation of space compressing—not warping, not teleporting, but yielding—as if the creature didn't move through the battlefield so much as bend space to its will, shortening the distance between them. What had been a hundred meters was now a stone's throw away.
Even more horrifying, the space seemed to be locked around himself and Vauleth like shackles dragging them closer to their deaths, but unable to break free.
Vauleth screamed in protest as he helplessly struggled to free them both from the locked space that was dragging them both backwards. Kain even used his most reliable spiritual skill to boost Vauleth's abilities, but this made absolutely no different. Kain could only clench his fists in helplessness.
He realized that those careless professors hadn't even clarified how they could voluntarily forfeit their participation. Would he just be transported out if his injuries are severe enough? But Kain didn't think he could even survive a blow from this thing to only end up 'injured' and not 'dead'.
Kain instinctively knew that if he could not come up with a solution, this relic would be his gravesite.