Aurelia, moments away from being engulfed by the monster, found herself safely cradled in Armis's arms, who had acted swiftly to rescue her from the creature's grasp. However, the same fate did not befall Artereia and Bretren. With a sickening crunch, the creature's razor-sharp teeth sank deep into their flesh, tearing through muscle and sinew with brutal force.
Agonized screams of torment filled the chamber as the acidic saliva of the creature began to eat away at their bodies, dissolving flesh and bone alike. The air was thick with the stench of burning flesh as Artereia and Bretren writhed in unimaginable agony, their screams echoing off the chamber walls in a symphony of suffering.
"HURTS!!! IT HURTS!!! Save me!!!! Commander help me!!! I don't want to die!!! I don't want to die!!! Commander!!!!!" Artereia's anguished cries pierced the air, her voice thick with agony and despair as the creature's jaws clamped down on her, trapping her in its deathly grip.
Longiseus's heart clenched at the sound of her screams, his eyes wide with dread as he watched helplessly, his muscles tensing with the urge to rush to her aid.
With determination burning in his eyes, Longiseus gritted his teeth and surged forward, intent on freeing Artereia from the monster's jaws. But before he could reach her, a sudden blast of air tore through the neck of the creature's head, sending it crashing to the ground with Artereia still ensnared within.
Lady Roartad, undeterred by the burning acid that seeped from the creature's lifeless mouth, moved swiftly to Artereia's side.
With a fierce determination etched on her face, she summoned all her strength and pried open the creature's jaws, her muscles straining against the weight as she fought to release Artereia from her agonizing plight. Meanwhile, Artereia, her body wracked with pain and her vision blurred with tears, could only watch in helpless anguish as Lady Roartad struggled to free her from the monster's relentless grip.
As the jaws of the creature unclasped, revealing the gruesome sight within, Lady Roartad's horror knew no bounds. Her wide eyes took in the macabre scene before her, her throat constricted with a dry, choking sensation as bile rose in her throat.
Inside the monster's mouth, Artereia's half-body was trapped and pierced by its razor-sharp teeth, her flesh melted away by the searing acid until only her skeletal remains remained, coated in blood and the creature's corrosive saliva.
Lady Roartad's stomach churned with revulsion as she beheld the grisly sight, her mind struggling to comprehend the sheer brutality of Artereia's fate. With trembling hands and a heart heavy with grief, she reached out to touch what remained of her fallen comrade, her fingers recoiling instinctively at the sight of the charred, twisted flesh.
Artereia's eyes, filled with agony and despair, locked onto Lady Roartad's stunned gaze, silently pleading for salvation even as death's cold embrace tightened around her. In that moment of fleeting connection, Lady Roartad felt a wave of overwhelming nausea wash over her, her face contorting with horrified disbelief.
Unable to bear the weight of the gruesome scene unfolding before her, Lady Roartad's stomach rebelled, and she doubled over, retching violently onto the floor.
As her vomit mingled with the blood and acid-stained ground, it became the last sight Artereia saw before her soul departed from her broken body, leaving behind only the echoes of her anguished cries and the bitter taste of despair.
Lady Roartad couldn't quell the churning of her stomach as, unbeknownst to her, another newly regenerated head of the creature lunged towards her.
With wide-eyed horror, she watched in stunned silence, too paralyzed to move. But before she could meet the same fate as Artereia, Longiseus leaped into action with a resounding battle cry, wielding his sword with all his strength. In a swift motion, he delivered two powerful slashes that cleaved through the monster's head, severing it from its neck.
As the decapitated head fell to the ground, Longiseus turned to assess the situation, only to freeze in place as Alan's urgent voice pierced the air. "Move!" With a sudden, disturbing movement, the neck from which the head had been severed began to convulse, flesh and sinew regenerating at an alarming rate. In a matter of moments, the creature's head was restored, lunging once more at Longiseus with deadly intent.
Fury ignited in Longiseus's eyes, his teeth clenched in determination as he braced himself for the impending attack. Unaware of the creature's regenerative abilities, he prepared to strike once more. But before he could act, Alan and Arian soared into action, swooping in with Arian's air wielding to swiftly pull Longiseus and Lady Roartad to safety.
As they were whisked away from the creature's snapping jaws, the head collided with the ground, its teeth gnashing against a mouthful of rocks and debris, along with the lifeless and melted remains of Artereia.
Arian landed at the corner where everyone, apart from Orioros and Leortus, who were stranded on the other side of the chamber, stood with horror etched on their faces.
Longiseus, Lady Roartad, and the rest watched in agony and bated breath as the two heads of the creature, which had clutched Artereia and the already lifeless Bretren in their jaws, returned to rejoin the rest of the head and its fallen body.
Disgust and despair gripped their hearts as they witnessed the gruesome scene unfold before them. The heads of the creature began to chew on the bodies of their friends, chopping and tearing apart Artereia and Bretren's flesh with their razor-sharp teeth.
The sickening sound of flesh being munched on echoed through the chamber, a sight was almost too much to bear, sending shivers down their spines as they watched in horror. Suddenly, one of the heads spat out the half-chewed remains of Bretren's head, hurling it through the air until it landed near Longiseus's feet with a sickening thud.
As Longiseus gazed down at Bretren's mutilated face, his single eye staring back with a mixture of horror and despair, tears welled up in Longiseus's eyes. Gritting his teeth, he let out a primal scream of anguish, but his cry was drowned out by the deafening roar of the creature.
The creature, now pulsating with a crimson glow, seemed to swell with newfound power and rage after consuming the bodies of Bretren and Artereia. As it's once lifeless body rose to its feet, its massive form towered even taller than before, casting a menacing shadow over the trembling humans below.
With twice as many heads as before, each one adorned with glowing crimson eyes, the creature glared down at its prey with a look of malevolent satisfaction. The floor shook beneath its stomping feet, as if the very earth itself trembled in fear at its chaotic rebirth.
"No!!! No!!! No!!!!!" Lady Roartad cried out, collapsing to her knees, as Longiseus gritted his teeth in anguish. Orioros, consumed by anger and despair, knelt down, shaking and shivering, attempting to pick up Bretren's half-chewed face.
But before he could touch it, the face disintegrated into a crimson glow, fleeing toward the gigantic lizard beast. The creature, now with more than twenty heads, all glaring down on them with dreadful crimson eyes and hissing jaws, shook the ground with its steps as it advanced.
"ALAN!!! Give us the vials NOW!!!!" Longiseus, eyes filled with fury, locked onto the approaching calamity. He yelled at Alan, extending his hand for the potion they had prepared earlier.
"No." Alan's reply to Longiseus's command infused confusion into the air, already thick with horror. Walking beside Longiseus, Alan kept his gaze fixed on the monster. "We don't know what's going on. We killed it, decapitated its heads, but they keep growing back, even in double quantity. Right now, I can't see a way to kill that thing, so n—"
"I don't care!!! Give the vial, now!!!" Longiseus yelled back, turning a glare toward Alan. Alan, returning the sharp gaze, argued back.
"NO!!!! If I give it to you now and the monster still stands after the effects wear off, then we have no chance to stay ali—"
As Alan and Longiseus argued back and forth, one of the monster's heads suddenly spewed a ball of acid toward them. Unaware of the impending attack, both were about to be engulfed in the acidic veil when Lyco swiftly moved ahead and conjured a shield of rock and stone from the ground below, bearing the impact of the acid.
As the air filled with the stench of acid and charred rock, Lyco, gritting his teeth, turned to the startled Alan and Longiseus and yelled:
"SHUT UP!!!! And make a decision!!! We don't have time to argue like CHILDREN!!!"
"I am not waiting for anyone, MOVE!!!" Suddenly, Armis's yell rang out from behind, followed by his charge. Pushing Lyco aside, Armis smashed through the crumbling rock barrier and, to everyone's shock and astonishment, took the monster's torrent of acid on his back armor. With eyes filled with fury and resolve, Armis spun and delivered a skull-crushing punch to the side of the monster's head.
Armis's stunt snapped everyone to attention. Alan quickly called out in urgency, "Poduria!!!" Exchanging nods with Alan, Poduria swiftly opened her knapsack, retrieved the vial of emerald from a wooden box, and tossed it to Alan. Catching the vial, Alan turned to Longiseus, extending the vial toward him. Gritting his teeth, he said:
"Here!! But only use it if necessary!"
On Alan's remark, Longiseus nodded, filling his lungs with air and his eyes with vengeance. He filled the chamber with his battle cry:
"ATTENTION!!!!"
Everyone jolted into action at Longiseus's command, his words instilling resolve in each soul present, making them face the danger ahead. He continued:
"Look into the eyes of the monstrosity before us! That thing has claimed the lives of our own! Forget the pain in your hearts, the despair seeping from your mouths, and turn it into anguish! Fill your eyes with vengeance, boil your blood, tighten your bones, and move with caution! We will not submit to the beast! We will not let it claim another life! For…"
As Longiseus's resolute words filled the air, he set his eyes on the lunging head of the monster. Charging ahead with equal strength and speed, he burst forward and collided with a resounding clash against the monster's head, bearing its slamming force on his shield. He yelled out:
"We shall not rest until its wretched soul meets its creator. CHARGE!!!!"
Yelling once again with vigor, Longiseus grunted aloud, making his sword glow with a cerulean light. Summoning strength from every fiber of his being, he pushed back the head of the beast and, with a swift and determined slash, hurled an energy blast at it. The monster's head was sent hurtling back as Longiseus stood tall, his eyes filled with revenge.
"Watch out for acid! Hit anywhere but its head! DO NOT DECAPITATE! And most importantly, FOCUS ON DEFENSE!" Alan bellowed as, following Longiseus's battle cry, everyone charged towards the massive monstrosity. Alan's warnings echoed through the air as they rushed into battle.
Armis jumped down, a head of the monster chasing him. He slid on the ground, running under the beast's massive body. Armis cleverly used its legs to entangle its long neck, binding the creature's own limbs with its neck.
Skidding to a halt and facing the lunging beast, a smirk appeared on Armis's face as the head of the beast, stuck between its legs, stopped just feet before him. Enlarging his smirk, Armis prepared to land a blow. Just as he lunged, the beast opened its mouth and shot a green ball of acid at him.
His eyes widened in surprise, but before the acid could reach him, it burst into flames. Orioros, using his flame wielding, ignited the acid sphere, causing it to explode. Armis, like a demon of fire, burst through the flames and swung his punch hard, landing a devastating blow on the side of the monster's head. The impact hurled the head sideways, stretching the monster's neck, bending its legs and forcing it to kneel from the side, the earth shivering beneath its descent.
Poduria and Relecta, standing back to back, let out a battle cry, drawing the attention of more than ten of the monster's heads. As these heads lunged at them with open maws, Lyco sprang into action. Yelling with vigor, he conjured walls of rock and stone around Poduria and Relecta, forming a protective dome. The monster's heads collided with the unyielding barrier, recoiling in pain.
As the heads prepared to shoot fire and acid, muffled chants from within the dome rang out. Giant bubbles of water encased the monster's heads, drowning and suffocating them. The beast struggled, slamming its trapped heads against the dome. After a few futile attempts, its heads collided with an invisible barrier of air, conjured by Arian, who had joined beside Lyco.
Both brothers gritted their teeth with effort, working side by side. Inside the dome, Relecta and Poduria combined their strength, making the water encasing the beast hard and dense. The creature thrashed in agony, unable to break free from the combined powers of water, earth, and air.
Longiseus charged ahead, bearing the slams and attacks of the monster on his shield, his determination unwavering. Suddenly, another head of the monster appeared above him, its jaws opening to spew acid.
Longiseus, undeterred, raised his shield above his head and kept moving forward, hoping to push through. Just as the monster was about to unleash its acidic assault, numerous knives flew from the side, stabbing the beast in its eyes, snout, and mouth, causing it to recoil.
Leotrus jumped from the side, his mouth open in a scream, blood seeping through his blindfold. Longiseus watched in astonishment as, from the other side, Lady Roartad and Aurelia sprang into action.
Aurelia snared the monster's neck with her whip, while Lady Roartad clutched it with her chain and mace. Both women pulled with all their strength, crashing the beast's head to the ground, creating a wide crater and filling the air with the sound of debris.
Using the fallen head as a platform, Longiseus ran up the beast's groaning head and leaped with a mighty heave. Just as his descent was about to be intercepted by two more heads of the beast, Leotrus leaped beside him with a battle cry, "THIS IS FOR MY FRIENDS!" Spinning before the lunging heads, Leotrus unleashed a barrage of knives, riddling the heads with holes. The beast recoiled in agony and screamed, allowing Longiseus to continue his attack unimpeded.
Longiseus seized the moment, spun, and threw his shield to the ground. With a fierce yell, he plunged his glowing sword into the beast's body, driving it deep and slicing through with powerful momentum. Blood splurged from the wound, and the creature recoiled in pain, all its heads shrieking in agony.
At the last moment, just before hitting the ground, Longiseus drew his sword out and landed on his shield. Using the full force of his landing, he slid forward, spinning and swinging his blood-stained, cerulean-glowing sword. He began to cut through the beast's thick legs, his bellowing yell filled with fury.
Longiseus didn't stop until, with one final spin, he sliced off the last leg of the beast, causing it to collapse to the earth with a thunderous crash.
Alan stood at a distance, watching with calm eyes and slow breaths as his companions subdued almost all of the beast's heads. Only seven heads remained in the chaos.
Alan took another deep breath, extending his hand holding a thick, heavy iron chain. He focused, locking his target on the beast. In a chilling and calm tone, audible only to his ears and mind, he uttered:
"Reserare Scaena II… Ruptor Sonus."
In a sudden burst of energy, Alan leaped toward the beast with blinding speed, breaking the wind behind him and delaying the sound of his ascent. In what seemed like an instant, Alan closed the distance between himself and the beast. Everything appeared still to Alan's fast-moving eyes, unnoticed by others until he began his maneuver.
Jumping from one wall to another, where the creature stood reigning chaos, Alan used the chain to bind all the heads of the beast together. After several swift and precise wraps of the long, heavy chain around the monster's numerous necks, Alan landed before the beast, holding the large ends of the chain in his small palms. As time seemed to return to its normal pace, Alan yelled out with all his might, his voice filling the chamber:
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! ARMIS!!!! EVERYONE!!!!"
At Alan's call, everyone's attention shifted towards him, and they swiftly moved to his side. Armis jumped beside Alan, grabbing hold of one of the chains, while the others joined in, each gripping onto the ends of the chain. Together, they pulled with all their collective might, facing the resisting and shrieking beast.
The monster strained against their efforts, pulling with all its strength in a desperate attempt to break free. But fueled by vengeance and determination, each member of the group unleashed a fierce battle cry. With resolve pumping through their veins, they tightened their hold on the chain, causing blood to seep from the creature's necks.
With another powerful yank, they brought all the shrieking heads of the monster crashing to the ground simultaneously. The impact reverberated through the chamber, shaking every brick, every stone, and even the very foundation beneath their feet.
As the ground settled from the thundering quake, Alan released his grip on the chain and shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing through the chamber:
"COMMANDER NOW!!!!!!"
With a resolute cry echoing through the chamber, Longiseus's eyes blazed with a mix of fury and determination. Guided by his unwavering resolve, he leaped into the air, raising his glowing sword high above his head. The blade crackled with dark blue energy, expanding in size to match the width of the monstrous beast below.
Sensing the impending strike, Longiseus signaled his team to back away, their movements synchronized with his own. As he descended upon the creature, Longiseus unleashed a mighty swing, bringing his sword down with immense force. In a single fluid motion, his blade cleaved through the collective necks of the beast, severing them at their foundation.
In the blink of an eye, Longiseus decapitated all the heads of the monster together, each falling to the ground in a cascade of destruction.
After a moment of eerie silence, the monster's resistance ceased, followed by the heavy thud of the chain crashing to the ground. This sound was soon eclipsed by the cacophony of the creature's severed necks crashing onto the chamber floor, sending pulsating tremors through the ground.
Then, with a deafening crash that reverberated through the chamber, the massive body of the beast collapsed to the ground. The impact filled the air with clouds of dust, obscuring the scene before slowly dissipating.
As the dust settled, everyone gazed around the chamber, their hearts heavy with dread. Chopped limbs, severed necks, and the lifeless body of the beast lay strewn across every inch of the chamber, a grim testament to the fierce battle that had just taken place.
"It's dead, right?" Aurelia's voice quivered with disbelief, her eyes wide as she surveyed the grotesque yet strangely relieving sight before them. A tentative grin began to form on her lips as the others, too, began to exhale with a sense of relief.
But then, in a horrifying turn of events, the fallen, lifeless body of the beast jerked upright, lunging towards the group with a sudden burst of movement. The collective gasp of horror filled the chamber as they realized the danger they were in.
Frozen in shock, Aurelia's half-formed smile twisted into a scream of terror as she watched the headless body of the beast move with unnatural agility, leaping towards them with only one side of its legs. Her eyes widened in sheer horror, unable to look away as the massive creature descended upon them, its looming shadow casting a pall of dread over them all.
In that moment of paralyzing fear, Aurelia braced herself for the inevitable, her mind racing with desperate thoughts. But then, just as the creature's colossal leg came crashing down towards her, she heard a deafening boom, and everything went dark.
Still alive and the shock and fear coursing through her body, Aurelia slowly opened her eyes to find Armis shielding her, bearing the weight of the beast's stomp on his back. His muscles strained with effort as he fought to resist the ferocious strength of the creature, gritting his teeth in determination.
Suddenly, a cough erupted from Armis, splattering blood onto Aurelia, causing her to scream in terror once again.
On the other side, the beast's legs launched a relentless assault, catching the team off guard. Orioros was thrown violently into the wall, the impact echoing thunderously through the chamber. Lyco and Arian attempted to shield themselves with a dome of rock, but the creature's agility proved too much as it crashed through their defense, leaving them vulnerable beneath its stomping feet.
Leotrus fought back with a barrage of knives, but the relentless assault of the beast continued. Just narrowly avoiding being crushed, he managed to evade the deadly stomp, only to be hurled away by the force of the impact.
Meanwhile, Lady Roartad stumbled on a loose rock, her heart racing as she fell to the ground. With dread filling her, she looked up just in time to see the upcoming death as the beast's foot came hurtling towards her, threatening to end her life in an instant.
In a split second, Longiseus leaped forward, intercepting the monstrous kick with his shield. The force of the impact shattered the shield and sent Longiseus and Lady Roartad crashing into the wall.
As they slumped to the ground, Alan's horror deepened as he witnessed grotesque bulbs of flesh, green acid, and blood erupting from the severed legs and headless stump of the creature.
Before his eyes, a massive bulb of horror burst forth, unleashing an explosion of acid, blood, and flesh. From the chaos emerged new limbs and ten elongated heads, each filled with fury and malice. Alan's terror grew as the creature stood once more, smaller but no less menacing than before. Its eyes blazed with anger as it let out a deafening roar, signaling its another wrathful rebirth.
Without a moment to process his terror, the creature extended its middle head and unleashed a torrent of acid towards the frozen Alan. But before the deadly strike could reach him, a rapidly forming wall of water intercepted it, absorbing the corrosive assault.
The acrid stench of acid snapped Alan back to reality as he blinked and locked eyes with the enraged creature once more.
"We... we... lost... It will kill us. It won't die; it will kill us just like Artereia... and Bretren." Her voice trembled with despair, echoing inside the protective dome of water as Lady Roartad, her arm broken and bloody, struggled to stand, her lifeless eyes filled with fear as she collapsed to her knees.
With trembling hands, she lifted her gaze towards the chaotic onslaught of the monster upon their comrades outside.
"Are we going to die, Boss?"