[Skill: Soft Touch Activated!]

"GO!" Zen roared out and almost immediately, Lyra swung her hands forward, causing the hundred spears crackling with lightning to scream forward at blistering speed.

Everybody was in place, and in a split second, the spears were all upon the beast which quickly coiled all its limbs in front of it, forming a circular shield of flesh and vines to protect its body.

BAM!

BOOOM!

The spears struck with mountain-cracking force, their impact shaking the world around them. Trees all across the forest bent back violently from the sheer pressure of the hit, shockwaves dispelling in all directions as if a storm had erupted.

The ground beneath the beast shattered almost instantly, sending dust and shards of earth into the air as the creature tumbled backwards, its body trembling.

The lightning spears had done more than just stagger it. They stunned the beast to the point where it froze in place, its shield raised stiffly in front of its face, now pierced by a small burning hole. Sparks still danced along the wound as if taunting it.

"ARIA! JACE! On my mark!" Zen thundered.

Almost immediately, he hurled the massive uprooted trees in his hands. Strangely, they were as light as feathers in his grip, whistling through the air at frightening speed. Yet, just before they reached the beast, they regained their full weight and mass in an instant.

WHOOOSH!

Their speed doubled—tripled even and in the blink of an eye, the colossal trees smashed into the limb-forged shield with bone-crushing force. The beast was immediately lifted off its feet, hurled back violently, its limbs straining to hold together. Right on cue, Aria released her arrow.

It cut through the air in eerie silence, slicing toward the beast with deadly accuracy. Passing cleanly through the small hole that Lyra's spears had torn open, it pierced the shield.

BOOOOM!

A devastating explosion rocked the battlefield, shattering the makeshift barrier. All fifteen of the beast's limbs tore to pieces as its massive body was hurled away. The impact of the trees, combined with the explosion from Aria's arrow, sent the monster flying even further, its roar drowned out by the chaos.

And right behind it was Jace. His grip tightened on his sword as Essence coursed through his veins, flowing into the blade until it glowed, overflowing with a massive surge of water.

His teeth clenched, his body trembling from the strain, but he did not falter. With a guttural cry, he raised the blade above his head. The water surged violently, a wave spiraling around the sword like a living tide, before he brought it crashing down.

BOOOOM!

The strike slammed into the beast with earth-shaking force. The ground beneath Jace collapsed in on itself, forming a deep crater, while the creature's body was launched forward like a missile breaking through a sound barrier.

It sped towards Zen and the others at terrifying velocity.

And at that exact moment, the stun effect from Lyra's spears finally wore off. The beast regained its senses, fury glinting in its glowing eyes, but it was already too late.

Zen was airborne, leaping high with the katana Lyra had conjured raised above his head. His aura blazed, his killing intent sharp enough to freeze the air.

{Phantom Edge Activated}

The blade shimmered as Zen swung with every ounce of strength he possessed. The beast frantically regenerated—not all fifteen limbs this time, but at least five, desperately trying to block the strike. The vines lashed upward, trembling under the pressure.

The swordsman's strike clashed against them with a deafening shockwave. A gust of wind exploded outward, ripping leaves off every tree in the clearing. Zen's muscles screamed in protest as he struggled against the beast's regenerating limbs, sparks flying from the sheer clash of strength.

But he didn't hesitate. With swift precision, he kicked off the air and twisted his body, leaping away just in time—

SWOOSH!

A freshly sprouted limb whipped past, tearing through where he had just been, slicing the air with lethal force.

Zen landed on the ground, eyes narrowed, sweat dripping down his cheek. The beast was far from finished.

He successfully avoided the strike while the beast was free falling when…

[Phantom Edge used]

Instantly, another white looking slash appeared hitting the beast's limbs were Zen had just hit a moment ago and in the blink of an eye, the limbs which his sword had sliced about five inches deep, it immediately got sliced off totally as the beast smashed into the ground with so much force that where it fell into, the ground became a huge crater with a thick cloud of dust kicked up.

Black blood spurted from where Zen's sword had struck, its body was also feeling weakened as everybody sprinted forward and stood side by side.

Tom and Blake glanced around, peering into the cloud of dust as they were unsure if what Zen had done had worked. Aria was still perched on a tree, her bow and arrow ready to wreck havoc.

"Di…Did it work?" Jace asked as he was huffing and panting, barely able to keep standing as he gripped his sword tighter staring into the cloud of dust that wasn't settling down.

They stood around a metre away from the crater trying to regain their energy.

'I don't think it did. Because if it did, I should have gotten a notification telling me I killed it. But I never received one.' Zen thought with his brows furrowed as he clenched his hands tighter around his sword.

"I don't think it's dead, so come on! Let's finish it!" Tom thundered as flames erupted around his blade and without a second thought, he dashed forward.

Before he could disappear into the cloud of dust, he leaped up above it, his sword raised above his head as everybody watched keenly.

He was about to call out a skill when something drew his attention from the distance and before he even had a chance to react, he quickly twisted his sword raising it in front of his body just in time as something slammed into him with force sending his whole body flying away.

But before it could go far, he flipped a few times and landed smoothly causing everybody to stare into the dust in confusion.

"What was that?" Blake asked as he had his hands spread out ready for anything.

"I…I don't know." Tom muttered a reply as the dust was slowly settling down and they could see the beast standing up with blood dripping down its body.

But that wasn't what they were looking at because beside the beast, a humanoid figure stood. He would have been called a human if it wasn't for some differences.

It stood on two feet that was bent backwards, its skin was pitch red, instead of normal teeth, it had a few fangs in its mouth and its eyes glowed a fierce red.

"What the hell?!" Blake muttered in confusion.

__

{A/N}

Hey everyone! Uhm… this is me picking the book back up after a whole month of not writing it. Yes, I have been updating steadily and that's because I had a stockpile.

So I had dropped it to focus on my other book (Magus Supremacy) so I could stockpile for it too. And now, I'm picking this one back up which is why I'm gonna apologize for any mistakes, I have forgotten some things and currently, I'm trying to get back into TGP'S vibe so the book might feel off.

Thank you for reading and understanding. 🫶😊

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.