For a terrifying second, Jonah's mind went blank. The alpha-chimera, a walking abomination of a science experiment gone wrong, stood over them, victorious.
Draven, their one-man army, was a crumpled heap against the wall. Eliza was unconscious. The situation was FUBAR – Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition, as Seraph would say.
But then, the fear was gone, replaced by an ice-cold clarity. The Undercroft scrapper, the boy who had survived countless close calls with rust-golems in the dark, took over.
Panic was a luxury he couldn't afford. They were in his trap, his mess, and he was the only one who could get them out.
He saw the battlefield like never before. Every detail razor-sharp, every threat screaming at him in high-definition terror.
He saw his remaining assets. Seraph, still standing through sheer force of will. Vanessa, protected by her own quick thinking wards, her face pale but her eyes blazing with defiant energy. And in the back of his mind, he felt his own Progeny, his secret arsenal, waiting for their orders.
He was no longer just the scout. He was the commander now.
"Seraph!" he yelled, his voice cutting through the ringing silence with an authority that surprised even himself. "Get Draven and Eliza! Get them back to the stairs! Now!"
Seraph stared at him, her eyes wide with shock. For a split second, she was his instructor again. But then she saw the look on his face – the hardened resolve of a survivor – and she became a soldier following an order.
Without a word of protest, she nodded sharply and raced toward her fallen teammates.
"Vanessa!" Jonah shouted, turning to his partner. "I need a distraction! As bright and as annoying as you can make it! Target its eyes!"
"On it!" Vanessa yelled back, her hands already a blur of motion. She wasn't a frontline fighter, but she was a master of precision magic.
A series of small, intensely bright orbs of light shot from her fingertips, like a magical machine gun. They weren't powerful, but they were fast and perfectly aimed. They peppered the chimera's insect-like eyes, making the giant beast roar in frustrated pain as it tried to shield its sensitive vision.
That was the opening. That was all he needed.
Jonah took a deep breath, reaching deep into the most dangerous, most furious corner of his Beast Space. He opened the mental cage he had so carefully built.
"MAUL! GO!" he screamed, the command bursting from his lips and his mind simultaneously. He didn't just command it; he unleashed it. He poured all the fear, all the desperation, all the will to survive he felt into their psychic link, stoking the Brute's fury into an inferno.
The air next to Jonah tore open with a crimson shimmer. Maul, the Rage-Hide Brute, appeared in all its seven-foot glory, its red eyes blazing with unrestrained fury. It let out a roar that was a challenge to the chimera's own, a sound of pure, concentrated rage.
And then it charged.
It was a clash of titans. The alpha-chimera was bigger, but Maul was a condensed ball of fury and power. It slammed into the larger beast's legs, its tusks piercing deep into the softer flesh between the armored plates.
The chimera bellowed in pain and lashed out at Maul with its massive crab claws. The blow connected, sending Maul stumbling back, a deep crack appearing on its stone-hide shoulder.
But then, the Brute's synergy skill kicked in. Unstoppable Fury. The pain didn't weaken it; it fed it. The red glow in Maul's eyes intensified, and it roared back, its muscles visibly swelling as it charged again, hitting even harder than before.
This was his chance. While the two beasts were locked in a brutal, earth-shaking brawl, Jonah deployed the rest of his team.
"Nyx, keep it distracted! Shard, scan for weaknesses!"
Nyx, the Glimmer-Wing Striker, shot up into ceiling, diving and swooping around the chimera's head, releasing puffs of disorienting dust. It was too fast for the lumbering giant to hit, a constant, annoying distraction that kept its attention divided.
Meanwhile, Shard scuttled along the edge of the fight. It began tapping the floor, not for a wide-area scan, but for a tight, focused sonar pulse aimed directly at the alpha-chimera. Jonah's mind was flooded with data about the creature's internal structure, its armor density, its weak points.
Most of its body was covered in layers of overlapping, nearly impenetrable plates. But there, right under its neck, where the snake-like lower body joined the bear-like torso, Shard's scans found a flaw. It was a badly fused spot, a weak point where the mixed parts hadn't bonded properly. The target was tiny – no bigger than Jonah's fist.
He had his target.
The battle between the two beasts was reaching its climax. Maul was taking a beating. Its stone-hide was cracked and splintered, and one of its arms hung at an odd angle. But with every injury, it grew stronger, its rage pushing its power to an incredible peak. The chimera, confused by Nyx and wounded by Maul, was starting to slow down.
Jonah saw his one and only chance. It was a desperate gamble.
He poured every ounce of his focus into his link with Maul. He didn't just give an order - he projected one sharp, unmistakable image: the weak spot under the chimera's neck. There! Hit it with everything you've got!
Maul seemed to understand. In a final, desperate move, it abandoned all pretense of defense. It charged forward, right into one of the chimera's swiping claws. The claw tore a huge gash across Maul's chest. The psychic feedback of its pain was so intense, Jonah cried out.
But the gambit worked. The massive injury triggered an explosive surge of power from Unstoppable Fury. Maul's entire body glowed with a furious aura. Roaring with the last of its strength, it lowered its head and drove its massive tusks upward with all its might.
The tusks hit the weak spot.
There was a sickening crunch. Maul's tusks plunged deep into the chimera's neck, tearing through flesh and shattering bone.
The alpha-chimera let out a final, shuddering gurgle. Its glowing, insect-like eyes went dark. It swayed for a moment, then crashed to the ground with a tremor that shook the entire station.
Silence.
Jonah stood there, gasping for air, his mind reeling from the psychic feedback. Maul stood over its defeated foe, heavily wounded but victorious, its fury finally beginning to subside.
They had done it.
Somehow, the Weaver's risky move had paid off.