Remini was lying still, unable to move even a finger. Her body refused her commands. She had already accepted her fate. She was the party's healer, yet she could save neither her friends nor herself. This isn't such a bad way to die, she thought with a faint, bitter smile.
Then, warmth. A sudden rush of life flooded her limbs. Her wounds began knitting together, pain fading to a dull echo. Somehow, she turned her head and froze.
A girl knelt beside her, hands glowing with the soft light of a healing spell. Tears blurred Remini's vision. It was Luna, the healer of the Despaired Souls.
The battlefield had begun to shift. Members of the Despaired Souls were now moving into formation. Luna stayed close to the wounded, her focus unshaken. Lynx darted ahead, his Vanishing Step strikes cutting through enemies with lethal precision, while Shin's magic rained destruction upon the low-level monsters.
On the opposite flank, Alisa and Ryze pushed forward toward the battered hunters—men and women who had been prepared to die with honor. Their sudden arrival brought confusion to those desperate faces.
The Kaiju merely glanced at them before turning its massive head back to the fight. It had noticed them earlier, but chose to ignore them for now. That was fine—every moment its attention was split made Sylas's task easier. Far ahead, Sylas stood ready, spear in hand, his eyes fixed on the beast. Beside him, Irbis led the march, their steps steady as they advanced toward the heart of the battlefield.
The ground quaked under the Kaiju's movements, each step pounding like a war drum. Its claws tore into the earth, sending shards of rock and dirt spraying into the air. The hunters who had been holding the front line were already exhausted; their swings were slower now, their defenses slipping.
"Shields up!" someone screamed, but the command was swallowed by the roar of the beast.
Sylas didn't rush in. Every fiber of his being screamed for patience. The battlefield was chaotic, low-level monsters swarming the edges, the Kaiju's tail lashing out to swat away entire groups of hunters. If they struck too soon, their opening would vanish.
Irbis broke formation for just a second, cleaving through a trio of charging wolf-beasts. "The front's collapsing," he growled. "Another minute and they'll be scattered."
"Let it collapse," Sylas said flatly. "We're not here to be their wall."
They had almost reached where Luna, Lynx and Shin were. Lynx appeared from the dust, blades dripping with dark blood. "East side's almost overrun. If we're moving, it's now or never."
"Not yet," Sylas answered again. His voice was calm, but his eyes were sharp and cold, never leaving the Kaiju.
The monster moved like a general on the battlefield. It let the smaller creatures bleed the hunters dry, only stepping in when a group managed to hold ground for too long. Its intelligence was unnerving, it struck not for the kill, but to break morale.
Then, it happened. A massive swing of its claw tore a gap in the hunter formation. A second later, the Kaiju's tail slammed down, sending bodies flying. The scream of steel and shattering shields echoed across the valley.
"That's the moment," Irbis muttered, gripping his weapon.
Sylas exhaled slowly. "Not yet." The others exchanged tense glances. Luna, still behind their lines, tightened her healing magic. She knew his timing was everything but watching people die while holding back was a burden even she struggled with.
Another roar split the air, deeper and angrier this time. The Kaiju's scales along its neck flared, glowing faintly. It was preparing something, an area attack big enough to cripple everyone still standing. Sylas's grip on his spear tightened. "Now."
The Despaired Souls moved as one. Lynx vanished from sight, reappearing on the Kaiju's flank with his blades biting deep between its scales. Shin's incantation blazed to life, a torrent of magic tearing through the smaller monsters trying to intercept them. Irbis charged like a living battering ram, his strikes aimed not at the Kaiju itself, but at its legs, forcing it to shift its weight and break its stance.
Sylas sprinted forward, weaving through debris and collapsing bodies. The Kaiju turned its head, sensing the real threat at last. Its glowing throat dimmed as it redirected its attack toward him.
A massive claw swept down, but Sylas ducked under it, rolling to his feet and driving his spear into the beast's forearm. The tip slid between plates of armor, and black blood splattered across his face. The Kaiju roared in pain, its tail snapping around like a whip. Lynx barely vaulted over it, while Irbis took the blow head-on, skidding back several meters but holding his ground.
On the edges of the fight, Luna's healing light swept over the wounded, pulling several hunters back from the brink. Alisa and Ryze carved paths through the monster's escorts, buying their team breathing room.
The Kaiju reared back, jaws opening wide. But Sylas was already moving, his spear a blur as he vaulted up its leg, scaling its massive frame like a climber. The beast bucked wildly, but Shin's magic exploded against its side, staggering it for a precious second.
Sylas reached the base of its skull. His mind was clear, his heartbeat steady.
"For all of them," he whispered. He drove the spear down with all his strength. The spear plunged deep, sliding between two thick plates at the base of the Kaiju's skull. A shockwave of pain ripped through the beast's massive frame. Its roar was deafening—raw, guttural, and furious. Black blood erupted from the wound, splattering across Sylas's armor and face.
The Kaiju staggered forward, crashing to one knee. The earth trembled, and hunters who were still on their feet stumbled from the shock. For a brief heartbeat, the battlefield froze—the hunters staring at Sylas as if he had just slain the unkillable.
But then the beast's eyes blazed brighter. The muscles in its neck flexed, forcing the spear back out with a wet, metallic sound. Sylas barely leapt away before the Kaiju twisted violently, tail smashing into the ground where he'd been standing a split-second earlier. The sheer force sent chunks of rock flying like shrapnel.
"Damn it!" Irbis shouted as he blocked a stone the size of a man's head with his shield. "It's not going down!"
"It won't, not yet," Sylas replied, breathing hard but steady. "Keep the pressure on."
The Kaiju's posture shifted—lower, more aggressive now. The wound steamed, its flesh knitting together faster than seemed possible. Shin cursed under his breath. "It's regenerating… fast."
"That means we make it bleed faster than it can heal," Sylas said coldly.
The Kaiju lunged.
It moved with terrifying speed for its size, claws tearing through a collapsed barricade like paper. Irbis charged to meet it, his weapon glowing faintly, each strike aimed to keep the Kaiju's head from locking onto Sylas. Lynx darted between its legs, slicing deep tendons, forcing its movements into jerks and stumbles.
But the beast adapted. It stomped hard, sending a shockwave into the ground. The force threw Lynx off balance, and in that split-second, the Kaiju's claw swiped. Lynx was fast—too fast to be crushed outright—but the blow sent him tumbling, armor dented, blood trailing from his mouth.
"Luna!" Sylas barked.
"I'm on it!" she called, already moving. Her healing light wrapped around Lynx even as she sidestepped a smaller monster lunging at her. Ryze intercepted the creature with a brutal downward slash, severing its head in one blow.
The Kaiju's eyes locked onto Sylas again, as if recognizing him as the true threat. It lunged forward with its jaws wide open, rows of teeth glinting like polished blades. Sylas rolled to the side, thrusting his spear toward its mouth, but the Kaiju clamped down on the shaft, snapping it in half with a sickening crack.
For the first time in the battle, Sylas's expression shifted—just slightly.
"Here!" Irbis tossed him a massive halberd without breaking stride. Sylas caught it mid-spin, using its weight to his advantage as he slammed the blade down on the Kaiju's forelimb. The cut wasn't deep enough to sever it, but the beast recoiled, howling.
Shin raised both hands, the sky above the battlefield darkening unnaturally. Arcane symbols swirled in the clouds, and a moment later, spears of lightning rained down. They struck the Kaiju's back and shoulders, forcing it to stagger again. Smoke curled off its scales, and the air stank of burned flesh.
Still, it didn't fall.
Instead, the Kaiju reared up on its hind legs, an unnatural, towering sight and slammed its full weight into the ground. The shockwave flattened nearby hunters and cracked the earth open in jagged lines. From those fissures, more lesser monsters poured out, pulled into the battle as reinforcements.
"Damn it, it's calling them in!" Alisa yelled, cutting down two of the newcomers before they could flank Luna.
Sylas's voice cut through the chaos. "Lynx, on the Kaiju's joints! Shin, keep the pressure from above! Major, buy me a clear shot at the wound on its neck!"
He charged again, the halberd gleaming under the pale light. The Kaiju swiped with its tail, but Irbis caught it mid-swing, his legs digging trenches into the dirt as he held it long enough for Sylas to dart past.
Sylas leapt, his boots finding purchase on the Kaiju's forearm, running up its limb toward the neck wound. Lynx's blade flashed, slicing another tendon to keep the beast from swatting Sylas away. Shin's magic struck true again, blowing apart the partially-healed flesh, exposing the same vulnerable spot he had struck before.
The Kaiju roared, but Sylas was already airborne, halberd raised for another blow.
The halberd came down like judgment. Steel met flesh, and for a heartbeat the world seemed to still. The blade bit deep into the half-healed wound, tearing it wide open. A geyser of black blood erupted, hot and suffocating, raining down on Sylas as he wrenched the weapon free. The Kaiju bellowed, a sound so raw it rattled bones and froze weaker monsters in their tracks.
The beast staggered, nearly crashing onto its side. For a flicker of hope, the hunters believed it might finally fall. Then the Kaiju's roar changed.
Its body convulsed, muscles bulging unnaturally beneath its scales. The wound did not close this time—it flared, glowing faintly red, as if some vile force within had been awakened. The monster's eyes ignited with a savage, crimson fire.
"Berserk…" Shin muttered, voice grim. "It's losing control."