Act 4 - Chapter 2, Part 2

"I'm back!" Shina glanced up at Vala while breathing heavily. "Thanks for helping three eyes."

"You're hilarious," Ajal sighed as he walked forward. "You all need to get out of here... The more people those tendrils reach the worse this becomes..."

"I didn't want your help..." Vala glared at Ajal. "And maybe if you had just joined me from the start, my city wouldn't be destroyed!"

"Are the civilians safe?" Ajal questioned.

Vala glared at him. "The civilians are held up down there," Vala pointed in the direction Ajal came from. "We can get out, but we've met resistance as you can see... To think something this vile was lurking beneath us..."

In front of several buildings, multiple hybrids stood guard. A crowd of hybrid civilians were packed into the buildings of the street. A large man with an axe and a small black-haired boy with a curved greatsword lead the guards against possessed soldiers.

"Rolo and Oberon are defending the civilians held up in those shelters..." said Shina. "I don't know where Raum is, but-"

A harrowing screech echoed through the abyss, 'What the...?' Ajal covered his ears as he looked around, the taller buildings at the edge of the darkness looked the same. His head felt strange all of a sudden, 'What the...' The hybrids all began to writhe and suffer. 'That was... Way too loud- ' Vala and Shina both dropped to their knees and grasped their ears, they simultaneously started to groan in pain.

"Hey- Hey are you okay!" Ajal was at a loss for words, 'What... What just did that...'

Ajal sensed something approaching quickly, he turned to see the skeletal lord charging back in. Ajal opened his third eye and fired a dark blast directly at the creature. It lifted the greatswords with a shocking speed, cut the beam, and continued to soar forward. 'How is it still alive after being cut in-' Ajal looked down to see that the knight's legs weren't even attached anymore. The knight slammed its blades into the ground as Ajal jumped into the air.

'This thing- It moves like a puppet!'

The knight followed straight after him, swinging down at Ajal with both greatswords. Ajal was launched down the ramp, slamming against his back and flipping himself back to his feet. 'Agh!' Ajal hit the ground and bounced to his feet only to see the skeletal knight still soaring straight at him. 'Dark Assault!' Six scythes appeared around Ajal, he grabbed two. He clashed with the knight, redirected the strike, and swung the other scythe, only to be blocked by the other blade.

'Spirit Ignition!'

Ajal kicked off the ground as he let go of the scythes, he spun in mid-air with the momentum and grasped two more scythes. Then cleaved both of the scythes through the knight's head, embedding one in the chest and the other in its shoulder. Its head was nothing but the front of a jaw now.

As Ajal landed, he quickly leaned back as the knight swung. 'This thing-' Ajal backflipped, the knight kept swinging, slashing his back. 'Rgh!' Ajal landed and lunged forward, kicking the knight's chest piece with his foot as he grabbed the last two scythes. 'Double Ignition!' Ajal ignited his spirit and propelled the scythes down, the knight blocked it effortlessly. 'Damnit!' Ajal kicked off its chest, but it barely budged. 'What the hell... This thing is like a mindless brute!'

The knight let go of one greatsword and grasped the other with two hands, dashing forward quickly and swinging down at Ajal. 'This thing... Is it the abyssal being? What was the huge noise I just heard...' Ajal used both scythes to block, pulling them and locking the blades together. Ajal let go of the scythes and grasped the skeletons' wrists. 'Spirit Ignition!' Ajal jumped and kicked the knight in the chest once more.

A shriek echoed through the air and Ajal felt his head immediately become hazy. 'Ah!' Visions filled his mind, and his head throbbed violently as he immediately longed for the feeling to go away. 'That screech again! Did it come from that Knight-' Ajal looked up at the night to see the knight ready to swing down once more. 'Shi-'

A white light flashed and Ajal saw Angela Rover intercept the knight's attack with her claymore, she stood over Ajal as she stepped forward and forced the one-armed knight away. Ajal stood on one knee as his head rang, he heard mad laughter approach. Zeus jumped at the knight from above.

"Zeus! Go for the head!" Angela charged forward.

"Die!" Zeus shouted.

The knight's head twisted around to Zeus, and his arms immediately swung the greatswords wildly. Zeus parried one strike, however, the knight continued to swing. Angela darted forward and embedded her claymore into the knight's back, but it still tried to slash Zeus. It dragged its body through the blade and continued to soar at the ethereal.

"Ah..." Ajal groaned as he limped to his feet, his vision still blurry 'That kid... He's an ethereal! He can do it!'

Zeus's white cape wrapped around his other arm and formed a shield. He held it up and blocked the flurry of strikes from the knight. Angela charged forward as well. The skeletal lord's right arm dislocated and twisted around, blocking Zeus's strike from one side, the other blade clashing with Angela. Tendrils lashed out in all directions, they lashed across the ground and forced the noble back. However, the tentacles pointed at Zeus. 'He can't die!' Ajal dashed across the pillar passed Angela and severed the tendrils before they could reach Zeus.

"Hey! I had that you-"

"Save it for later!" Ajal jumped at the skeleton knight.

He swung down at the huge skeleton and severed the left arm with a slash. However, at that moment, another shriek echoed throughout the cave. Ajal quickly covered his ears, and flashes of memories flooded his mind. Scenes of a pillar rising out of a planet and rocks reforming, scenes of forests burning. 'Every time I hear that scream my head is filled with visions!' Ajal clenched his fist hard enough to draw blood, he felt the pain and started to come back to his body. He tried to open his eyes, the green greatsword was approaching.

"Grelt's Steel!" Shina blocked the attack before it could reach Ajal.

"Dark..." Ajal's forehead glowed as he opened his third eye. "Blast!" Shina dodged out of the way as he fired.

The abyssal being was engulfed once more in the purple inferno. It attempted to block the beam once more, ricocheting the blast off the face of its blade as it moved to the left and out of the beam.

"Gotoh!" Vala roared, and two horizontal lines appeared under her eyes as well as a dot on her forehead.

Vala conjured the white lance. She lunged forward, but the skeletal knight turned once again and blocked her. The queen pushed forward, trying to push the knight back into the beam.

"Shura's Array! First Form!" Vala declared, "Thunderclap Smash!" She slammed the lance into the skeletal knight again and knocked him into the blast.

Shina ran behind Vala and took a stance, "Shura's Array, Second Form! Heaven's Charge!" Shina lunged forward and slashed down at the knight's defense as well.

The abyssal being's back slowly disintegrated as the heat burned it to dust, the tendrils writhing at the touch of the beam. The knight continued to push forward, 'It can still-' Two people ran up the fallen Celestial parallel to the purple beam. One was a familiar swordsman with a blonde mohawk, the other was their fellow commander Iris.

"Roku's Array, Second Form! Hell's Gambit!" Blaize jumped and roared.

Ajal looked up to see Blaize spin through the air. Vala and Shina jumped back as Blaize cleaved its arms off with a single swing.

"Roku's Array, Fifth Form! Beasts Bane!" Iris shouted as she ran forward with glowing red horns and stabbed her blade into the abyssal being.

Iris's blade pierced the creature's breastplate, she raised her foot and focused her spirit. With a spirit ignition, she kicked the being off her blade and into Ajal's blast. Its body disintegrated as it writhed in the beam. Ajal closed his third eye.

"Nice! You did that on the fly..." Angela praised.

"Don't fucking talk to me..." Iris seethed.

"What the hell was that thing!" Zeus shivered.

The queen helped Shina to her feet and looked at Ajal, she nodded. Ajal nodded back hazily, he sat on his lap and covered his ears. However, Iris and Blaize glared at the queen with hateful eyes.

"Okay... That... That wasn't so bad..." Ajal huffed.

"There's still more!" Angela pointed to the possessed soldier still attacking civilians and hybrid guards.

'What? They are still being controlled? Do the tendrils have to be severed?' Ajal was about to dash off the top of the Celestial, however, he felt a sudden fatigue which caused him to drop to his knees. Blaize and Iris jumped down, as the toll of a bell launched an entire wave of them away. Even Banhu defended the hybrids, as well as many soldiers from Argol. Shina and Vala both dropped down and charged as well.

"Hey..." Angela approached Ajal and offered her hand, "You actually did it... You stopped the Lightbringer..."

"Yeah... All in- a day's work" Ajal sounded exhausted.

"Hah, you're insane..."

'What the... I haven't felt this tired since the first few days when I got here...' Ajal forced himself to his feet as he walked forward. He stepped off the pillar and dropped to the level below, landing on a street of green stone. As he walked forward, the hybrids all turned to him. Someone shoved their way through the crowd, before falling forward and stumbling to their feet. They had red hair with a receding hairline and a full beard of the same hue. 'Reinhardt?' Reinhardt ran forward in a panic, he grasped Ajal's black shirt.

"Hey... You alright?" Ajal asked.

His head was covered in sweat and bruises, his knuckles bloodied from fighting. 'Wait...' Ajal looked up and didn't see anyone follow. A sinking feeling grew in his chest.

"Ajal... George is safe, but I can't find Adam... And these things are everywhere! What do we do!" Reinhardt spoke quickly.

"Calm down..." Ajal put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey! Ajal... Or whatever it was..." Blaize called.

"Huh?" Ajal turned to him while his thoughts were pulled back to figure out where Adam could be.

"Didn't you say... An ethereal has to kill it? And you couldn't?" Blaize asked.

Ajal paused. His head shot straight up, the darkness in the sky was still there. Vala and Shina both turned to Ajal. Angela looked between them in confusion.

"An ethereal? What is that?"

"Yeah... Only... An ethereal should be able to destroy an abyssal being's core..." Ajal turned to Zeus. "We've got one right here. But you didn't kill it, I did..."

Zeus stared at Ajal and turned to see if there was anyone behind him. "Huh? What're you pointing at? There's no one there..." said Zeus.

"I shouldn't have been able to kill that thing... And the abyss is still here... Which means..."

The sound of buildings crashing in the distance caused all of them to turn. The ground rumbled, and chunks of debris seemed to rise slightly before they crashed back into the ground. 'What the fuck was that...'

"Is that... The one?" Vala looked at Ajal.

"The real abyssal being... Whatever we just fought was just something being controlled as well..." Ajal answered. "It was probably someone extremely strong who got infected, all the more reason no one here can let those tendrils get you!"

"You're kidding... Right?" Shina asked.

"Be on guard! It's coming! From that direction!" Ajal pointed to the northeast, and the sound of the building crashing came from beyond there. "It's a creature born from the remains of a fallen Celestial... It spreads this darkness out in all directions trying to consume as much as it possibly can until the entire world is consumed."

"Divine beings... Abyssal beings... What the hell is next..." Blaize scoffed.

"Hey... You," Ajal pointed at Zeus. "We need you to land the killing blow..."

"Of course you do," Zeus replied nonchalantly. "By the way, what's an ethereal?"

"Is this kid stupid or something?" Iris whispered to Blaize.

Ajal looked down at him with a bewildered expression, then shook his head. 'Focus...'

"I don't have time to explain, just focus everything on a single attack and we can destroy it..."

"We?" Vala laughed as she looked at Iris. "Had it not been for these dogs, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place!"

"You still wanna go bitch?" Iris gritted her teeth as she gripped her blade. "It seems you're forgetting that the angels almost turned you into ash when they tried to burn the entire city down!"

"And Geral Murdok was too much of a coward to join you on the front lines, I'd throw you back in jail in an instant..."

Blaize and Shina looked between the two, they seemed to have a better understanding of the current stakes. Ajal turned back to the Celestial, then jumped to the wall of the building and kicked off with a spirit ignition. He soared back to the top and looked at the buildings, where the rumbles came from.

"Huh..." Ajal squinted as he noticed dust coming from that direction slowly. Ajal continued to look at the buildings before he realized it. 'It jumped...' Ajal looked up, "Oh- Oh shit..."

In the sky, a giant collection of tentacles floated, its tendrils wriggling through the air as if looking for something. 'How is it flying...' It was an endless mass of tentacles. At a certain point up its body, rather than tentacles, were hundreds of arms that writhed and reached for whatever it could.

"I'm still a little sore from the fight up there... This is something I have to do though," Ajal told himself as he opened his third eye. "Everyone!" Ajal roared with a commanding voice. "It's coming! Protect the civilians! One tentacle is all it takes to kill someone!"

The purple light began to grow from his forehead, it pulsated as purple energy started to ripple from his body like electricity. Ajal's hair whipped back and forth rapidly.

"Dark..." The light became blinding, everyone turned to it. "Blast!" Ajal roared as he fired the blast with the intent to kill.

The purple beam shot through the sky and struck the beast, burning through its body. Ajal moved the beam, burning the surface of the abyssal being. A black charred line through its body. He released a final explosive pulse of energy, a purple explosion engulfed the monster. Ajal huffed as the beam dissipated. A bone-chilling cry of pain echoed across the abyss, and the creature's body writhed as blood dropped from it, flowing from its body and splashing against the ground like a waterfall. Its scream went from that of a hollow one to that of a woman crying out, the sound echoed throughout the abyss.

"It's calling all of its hosts! Protect Zeus! The ethereal has to end it!" Ajal commanded.

Green electricity crackled to Ajal's right. Avery and Rolo landed on the fallen Celestial. The two of them didn't seem too injured. Ajal nodded as he saw them, Avery put her hand to her head and saluted him while Rolo just shook his head. They were both still wearing the torn cultural silks and shirts.

"Maybe it's a good thing we didn't beat you in Logos... In truth, I'm glad you're helping... Although whatever you did to Banhu still freaks me out," Rolo told Ajal.

"Not like you could've beaten me in Logos..." Ajal said nonchalantly.

"I can dart around this battlefield quickly, let me keep an eye on the civilians..." Avery opted.

"I'm assuming that rumble just now was that thing... Something that heavy could be a problem... Descendants of Ophi, focus on assisting the injured!" Rolo ordered with a commanding voice.

Vala jumped to the top of the celestial, she was worn out. Unlike Ajal, she couldn't heal. The damage from the previous battle and the current one clearly wore her down. She took a deep breath and stood tall.

"Warriors, take up your blades!" Vala ordered.

"If you fight each other after this I seriously hate all of you," Ajal groaned.

"Fufu..." Vala laughed under her breath, "You remind me a lot of my brother..."

"Yeah... He even looks like Arken to be honest," Blaize walked forward and cracked his neck.

"Arken didn't have three eyes stupid, idiot, nerd," Iris sighed as her horns glowed red.

"Well, would you look at us, hybrids fighting together, I like it," Shina chuckled.

Behind him, the leaders of the alliance and the resistance stood together. Even if they didn't want to, they recognized the approaching threat. The sound of a young girl's moan echoed through the abyss. 'What the... Is it... Crying? More importantly, what the hell is that abomination...'

The entire mass of tendrils and arms suddenly got pulled, Ajal turned to see Oberon by the ground with both his palms raised at the creature.

"I can bring it into range for you!" Oberon shouted from the top of a building.

Ajal focused his spirit as the abyssal being's tendrils extended outward. Spears of tendrils rained across the ground, 'Dark Assault!' Ajal launched six scythes through the air, slashing the hundreds of tendrils approaching.

"Shura's Array, First Form!" Avery stepped forward as a bolt of green electricity formed in her hands from thin air. "Thunderclap..." She raised it above her shoulder, "Smash!"

The javelin flew through the sky at a high speed, the moment it made contact with the abyssal being it exploded into a bright ball of green light. Ajal and Blaize readied their blades.

"Ah!" the abyssal being shrieked, it had the voice of a young girl.

"Tempa..." Vala called, conjuring the thin katana in hand as three slashes appeared on each of her cheeks and forehead.

The abyssal being's arms and tentacles suddenly extended out for the hybrids. 'Imperial Battle Arts...' Ajal kicked off the ground and spun. Blaize and Vala both followed.

"Shura's Array... Fourth Form!" Vala declared.

"Roku's Array! Fourth Form!" Blaize declared.

"Buzzsaw!", "Prism Slash!", "Wild Frenzy!" the three of them yelled.

Each of them swung their blades and slashed hundreds of tendrils from reaching any further. Ajal opened his third eye as he started to descend. 'Dark Blast!' Ajal fired the beam, but it was blocked by a blue barrier.

"Huh..." Ajal uttered in shock.

"What? What is that blue stuff?!" Rolo asked.

"I see it too. What is that?" Angela stressed.

Ajal shook his head left and right, 'This just can't get better, can it?' "The abyssal being can control its spirit?! This is bad..."

"Spirit?" Avery listened in. "You mean..."

"Yeah... The Spirit Arts I use, that thing you call Arken's Chambers... They are an inherent power every life form possesses... Only until you become conscious of it can you use it," Ajal explained. "How in the hell does it know Spirit Arts... Who could've taught it...'

"Hey..." Rolo shook Ajal's shoulder while looking up at something.

"What?"

"What the hell is it doing?!" Rolo pointed up.

Ajal looked up and watched the massive creature currently turning over in the sky of darkness.

"What... What the hell is it doing..." Ajal trembled.

Two bright blue pillars connected to a flower at the top of the creature came into view, they glowed against the darkness it emerged from. Ajal tilted his head as he realized that they were not pillars, but rather arms. The shriveled and wrinkly skin glowed brighter as it got closer. Ajal and all of the hybrids just looked at it in awe, the grotesque monster in front of them was beyond comprehension.

The body resembled a woman, it seemed to be a sculpture of sorts, made out of glowing wood. Its torso was connected to the center of a flower. The head was shrouded in white hair, and the young woman's wooden face was smooth and pristine. The inside of its mouth and eye sockets were pitch black, and its hands around the middle of its body started to move about as its eyes opened and began to observe the various people in the area.

"Father... Father where are you?" the massive body spoke.

"What... The fuck... Why is it saying that!?" Blaize demanded an answer from Ajal.

"The abyssal beings are born from the potential that failed to be realized... Whatever that thing is... It was killed long before it ever had the chance to be born a normal person..."

"Where's father? Father, I'm sorry! It's me, Terra! Terra Gerrenwalt! It's me! Father, why did you run? Father!" The girl's voice cracked, it resembled that of a very young child despite its appearance. "Father! Mother!" the monster cried and begged for its parents.

The hundreds of hands extended, smashing everything on the battlefield as Terra screamed. Her scream filled Ajal's head with more visions. The hybrids held their ears, the abyssal being's scream had strange effects.

"Dark Blast!" Ajal's third eye opened and fired the beam at the incoming hands.

The hands were vaporized before they could reach any hybrids and the beam traveled straight for the being known as Terra Gerrenwalt. Before the blast could hit, the blue translucent barrier reflected the blast in multiple directions.

"Dammit!" Ajal stopped firing the beam. "I can't keep using Dark Blast or I'll hit someone else!"

"Huh? Where's brother? Brother?" Terra asked with puzzled innocence. "You! You killed my brother!"

"I've never seen an abyss grow for so long... But I think this is about the most I want to see..." Ajal conjured two scythes and ran forward.

'Double Ignition!' He focused his spirit and jumped up off the fallen Celestial. Then used another ignition to jump toward the creature. It was at least two hundred and fifty meters in the air. 'Dark Passage!' A black aura spread from Ajal's hands to both scythes, he spun in mid-air and whipped both of them spinning to either side of the abyssal being.

"Huh?" Terra looked confused as the scythes flew past her.

'Dark Passage!' Ajal focused on the scythe to the right, then teleported to it. Terra looked around the ground as Ajal disappeared, unaware of him descending from above. 'Triple...' Ajal descended towards her, raising his leg and focusing his spirit on the back of his heel. 'Ignition!' He kicked Terra's head down, knocking her entire body to the ground.

"Guh-" Terra winced from the powerful impact.

Ajal continued to soar downwards, spinning and slamming his fist into the creature's back.

"Ah!" Terra's cry echoed far.

Several hands extended for Ajal and grasped his arms and legs to try and stop his assault. He looked up at the other scythe which reached the peak of its height. 'D-' A hand slammed into his throat with a surreal amount of power. 'Ack! Dark... Passage!' Ajal disappeared once more, reappearing at the other scythe and grasping it as he descended once more. This time the side of the abyssal being was in his path.

The entire creature turned its body quickly towards him, the speed it moved surprised Ajal. Multiple arms extended out and reached for him, he drew a second scythe as he straightened out his body and descended at a high speed. Slicing multiple limbs but being struck by a third. Ajal winced as he shortened the length of the scythes, shoved himself off the side of the arm, and started to run down the length of it. The more he pushed forward with each step, the less his feet touched the surface at all and the faster he descended down toward the monster. Hundreds of arms approached, and Ajal got ready to slice them to pieces.

"Shura's Array! Fifth Form!" Vala shouted at the back of Zetsu.

The black hawk flew straight upwards, and Vala held the disconnected jagged black blade in hand. She flipped off the back of Zetsu and took a stance in the middle of the air.

"Phoenix Lash!" she shouted as she swung, making a large horizontal slash that cut many of the arms reaching for Ajal.

Ajal grinned, taking a stance with both scythes behind him.

"Shura's Array! Fourth Form! Prism Slash!"

Vala blinked in an instant to the front of the beast and slashed it, then blinked again and slashed once more. Terra grunted in pain, its arms reaching for Vala in an instant. Before the queen would blink once again, Aja's scythes extended to a large size, he spun and slashed both the arms embedded into the flower. Terra screamed in agony as her arms were separated, the hundreds of hands stopped moving and fell limp. Ajal ran up the body of the abyssal being as he dragged his scythes through its tough skin. A blue flash appeared next to him, and Vala appeared with her katana in hand.

"Regal! Shura's Array, First Form!" Vala conjured the bolt-shaped greatsword.

Vala jabbed the greatsword into Terra and ran up the length of her body, drawing a line through her. Ajal did the same, however, he opened his third eye as he ran and started to charge.

"Aah!" Terra cried out in anguish.

"Raah!" Ajal and Vala roared as they dragged their blades across it.

Vala and Ajal reached its neck, and as they pulled their blades up they left gashes in its chin. The humanoid form connected to the creature did not bleed like the mass of tentacles it was connected to.

"Ack-" Terra winced as they pulled their blades out before reaching the neck.

Vala jumped off the beast's left shoulder, above Terra's head. Ajal reached the right and focused his spirit, 'Spirit Ignition!' He jumped upwards as well.

"Thunderclap Smash!" Vala slammed the greatsword into Terra's face, crushing its nose.

"Dark Blast!" Ajal fired the purple beam at its waist, launching it straight down into the ground.

"Roku's Array! Third Form!" Banhu yelled with a mighty pitch at ground level as he spun the spine around him. "Pinpoint Devastation!"

The bell tolled an inch away from Terra's body which already soared down to the ground at a lightning-fast speed. The sound wave launched the massive creature in a different direction entirely. Straight toward Iris and Shina.

"Roku's Array! First Form!" Iris raised her sword for a downward slash.

"Shura's Array! Sixth Form!" Shina lowered her blade for an upward slash.

The mass of flesh flew towards the two skilled swordswomen.

"World Splitter!", "Grelt's Steel!" The two of them swung their swords and tore through the mass of tentacles passing over them as if cutting through nothing at all.

A harrowing cry echoed throughout the abyss as the being crashed and rolled into the buildings. 'Where is the core?' Ajal analyzed its wounds but found nothing.

"Father... Why did you run? I promise I'll be good... I won't make mother sad-" Terra stopped speaking, her eyes opened wide.

"Huh-" Ajal felt its spirit spike violently.

"Mother... Mother!" Terra screamed, and the tentacles thrashed around wildly.

Shina and Iris were the closest to the creature. They slashed the approaching tentacles, but there were too many. Ajal ran forward and threw two more scythes, his left arm ached. 'Bear... The pain!' More of the possessed soldiers from elsewhere in the city approached. 'Dark Assault!' Ajal fired off six more black scythes, slicing down the rabid soldiers. Ajal picked up one of the blades and raised it, but he stopped.

The possessed soldier had short black hair, and his right eye had been invaded by the tentacles. Ajal's heart sank into his chest. 'Adam...' His black suit was ripped apart, blood leaking from multiple wounds where tendrils invaded his body. The possessed soldier ran forward and grabbed Ajal, he didn't react, still shocked at the sight.

"Adam! Grh!" Ajal held his face back as Adam tried to bite him. "Stop-"

Three needles pierced Ajal. One through the abdomen, one through his right thigh, and another in his right forearm. Each wound pulsed with pain as he felt every tiny needle moving beneath his skin. 'Huh... Where did it... Where did it come from...'

"Die!" Terra screamed.

The hooked tendrils ripped out of Ajal, dragging skin and tissue with them. Adam's body fell to the ground lifeless before the tendrils lifted him back up like a puppet.

"Ahagh!" Ajal fell on his back. "Ah!" he writhed in pain.

'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!' Ajal tried to stand but the pain from the wound in his leg was unbearable.

"Hey! Why'd you stop!" Rolo tapped Ajal on the back and made him lighter.

Rolo picked Ajal up and quickly dashed away.

"Ahh!" Ajal groaned.

"Shit, that looks bad!" Rolo commented.

Terra reached for Ajal, only to be hit in the face with a bolt of green lightning. It exploded on contact.

"Ah!" Terra screamed as smoke engulfed her head.

"Fuck... That hurts! Ah! Adam... God fucking dammit!" Ajal roared curses with tears coming out of his eyes.

Banhu struck the tendrils away as Shina and Iris continued to evade and slash tentacles. There were far fewer tentacles than before. 'It's... Why is it holding back now...' Ajal tried to use his spirit sense, breathing in and out, his eyes shot open as he realized its scheme.

"The ground!" Ajal screamed.

Banhu was about to strike once more, he aimed directly for Terra's head as he ran forward. However, hundreds of spikes shot out of the ground. He had no time to dodge, Banhu was helpless as he was impaled by the wave of tendrils

"Ahh!" Banhu cried out in pain.

"No!" Ajal panicked.

"Banhu!" Iris stopped cutting the tendrils and charged forward.

"No, wait!" Shina tried to caution.

"The ground!" Ajal shouted desperately. "Get away from the ground!"

Tendrils sprouted to ensnare whatever it could catch. Rolo tripped on rubble, tumbling as he drew his greatsword and then severing the tendril in the ground. However, they continued to rise out of the ground. Ajal rolled against the ground, and his wounds slowly healed. 'Get up! Get up before it's too late!' Ajal rose, but his entire body suddenly shuddered, and he fell to his knee.

Iris slashed multiple tendrils, however too many approached. Shina dashed forward, her arm glowing a bright blue. She grabbed Iris's arm and threw her away from the tendrils as they approached. The sickening sound of blades puncturing flesh silenced all else.

"No!" Vala cried.

The tentacles hoisted her up. Ajal was silent as he watched Shina hang in the air, lifeless. The tentacles receded back into the ground and revealed Banhu who had shared a similar fate. The two powerful hybrids writhed as their bodies were invaded by tendrils. Vala's eyes quivered. Iris looked at Shina and Banhu, her expression bewildered and terrified. The two of them dropped to the ground, tendrils wrapped around their arms tightly binding their weapons with a vice grip.