The dark silhouette glided through the shadows, decimating monstrosities as it made its way to the source. The hundreds of dark blades that had been summoned ravaged the rest. Flesh and bone littered the ground as a testament to their slaughter—the unrelenting blades of shadows that clouded the sky like an unspoken promise of mayhem.
Socrates moved like the shadow he had become, devoid of sound and shape. The pressure emanating from his lightless body felt limitless, and yet he doubted it would be enough for the enemy he was about to face.
His longsword sliced through the body of a creature; another pounced forward but simply phased through his intangible body. The lingering shadows shaped into thorns that ended its life. He brandished the blood off his sword to reveal its reflective surface. Finally, he had reached the source.
The dark blade mirrored a harrowing creature of bone, like the carcass of a great beast that had died long before. The creature resembled a steed; rotten flesh hung from white bone, dark empty eye sockets that felt abysmal, and hooves that looked like polished silver.
From the empty space of broken ribs rushed small, humanoid-looking creatures, plummeting to the ground and rushing forward with the sole desire of chaos.
Surrounding the beast were three of the small humanoid creatures. They didn't rush forward like their chaos-driven kind, but stood silently. Their height, although small, was greater than their peers, and their scale patterns appeared more defined.
They were the pinnacle of their kind's evolution.
Socrates could feel the pressure emanating from the undead creature; the amount of mana the creature possessed was suffocating, even for someone like him.
And he was expected to kill it—a creature that had probably faced death just to live as an undead one.
He gripped his sword and moved, the swarm of blades following behind him.
Unlike Socrates, Vivian and One Eye didn't have to kill their way through a swarm to find their opponent; honestly, it could hardly be missed. The beast towered at nearly seven feet, its body built of dense muscle and dark purple fur.
The ground beneath it quaked with each step as it stretched its four arms wide. A low, guttural growl rumbled from its chest—deep, oppressive, and deadly.
Vivian's gaze stilled with cold calculation; every moment that passed was a different outcome of the battle to come. Her affinity had been in play from the moment the battle started.
Her grip on her rapier tightened slightly; her dark eyes traced the creature's form, its stance, and its rhythm. She neglected the pressure that assaulted her mind from evaluating a beast of its magnitude.
The mental strain didn't matter; the price of a mistake was death.
One Eye, who stood beside her, exhaled. A wide, stubborn grin split across his face as he rolled his shoulders; the tension in his body snapped into something far more dangerous.
The instant change in both their demeanors caught the attention of the sovereign beast.
It snapped its gaze toward them, sharp violet eyes filled with battle-hardened experience.
It didn't need its lackeys to kill two puny humans; that would kill the fun of its slaughter. With four arms pummeling the earth, it moved.
And as it approached… so did they.
Beads of sweat gathered around the temples of the Sword Saint as she led the rest of the adventurers. She had long lost count of the number of beasts she and the vanguard had killed; more kept on coming.
She repositioned herself between the vanguard and the defensive line, leading both divisions in Vivian's absence. The pressure they faced upfront would have been much worse if not for the assisted aerial support from Prometheus and his division.
She spun around, avoiding an insect-type beast, picked up a spear from the bloody mess, and impaled the beast to the ground.
She paused for a moment and drew ragged breaths; even she was getting tired.
She gripped her sword, ready to face another abomination, when her mind went still. The ring of metal and the roar of beasts that had drowned her world slowly grew quieter. Her instincts told her something was disturbingly wrong, like an unaccounted variable had walked into her world of possibilities.
Then it happened, a blur descended into the chaos and rushed past her. It was fast, silent, and dangerous. It was followed by the agonized screams of an adventurer whose body had been mutilated by the jaws of a beast.
The light in his eyes died fast, and so did his screams. Not dimmed—gone.
The Sword Saint looked to the sky, to the beautiful butterfly-looking creature that hovered mid-air. Its wings were like a colorful rainbow with a dark outline.
A terrifying screech escaped its insectoid maw.
For the first time since the battle began, the Sword Saint froze.
This was the unaccounted variable, the mana pressure, the terrifying presence.
This wasn't supposed to be here; no one had accounted for it. A war grade beast… but not one they had prepared for. An aerial predator.