7 years ago, there was a small settlement constructed west of the Urian mountains. It was a peaceful new town. That was until the monsoon season came.
With the rain, a horde creature emerged from the ground with large mushrooms on their heads. The monsters, named Kayeri after a similar creature described in the continent's ruins, were basically undefeatable. A small army that was placed there was annihilated and most of the citizens killed. The town itself was completely destroyed. Many young women were abducted by the creatures alongside all their livestock.
The Silk Battalion was called to hunt the Kayeries and rescue the girls but try as they might, they never found a single trace of either the creatures or the girls. According to stories translated from ancient structures, the Kayeries ate their prey completely, not leaving even a single drop of blood.
After the tragedy, the settlement was abandoned. The tale became a horror story throughout Novaria. Henceforth, whenever the monsoon came, people would always find themselves wondering if they would be the Kayeri's next victim.
Right now our friends were facing that very same creature in front of them.
'I will go kill that thing. You guys stay here.' Aria said.
'Kill th- That thing is the Boogeyman of the new world. How the hell are you gonna kill it.' Clara said.
'The girl is right, chief. I mean, can't you see him regenerating his bloody face after your bird introduced the inside of his skull to the outside.' Milo said.
'We don't have any other options. We won't be able to run back to Solstun in time and even if we could, that thing is too dangerous for us to lead it to Solstun.' Aria said.
'Why don't we just hide.' Dylan suggested sheepishly.
'Honestly, not the worst idea. You guys go hide at a distance while I take care of it.' Aria said.
'Is that the best idea, chief?' Milo said.
'What do you mean?'
'Your tamed beasts were just beaten pretty badly. I am sure you are still worried about them. As you should be. I doubt we can truly kill it without their help.'
'So, what are you suggesting?'
'Let me handle it while you go search for Muku and Mika. I can buy you as much time as you need.'
Aria was about to complain but Milo interrupted her by saying, 'Time is of the essence, chief. You are the leader so your word is final. Still consider this carefully. With the firefly light following me I can't exactly hide with the others without giving our location away. And you bloody well know that your best chance at killing that thing is with your wolves.'
Aria saw that Kayeri was standing still in the middle of the clearing. Most of its injuries were basically healed and it was just waiting for its face to recover. Aria was still conflicted but at last she agreed.
'If we are going to fight that thing then why are we waiting here?' Brian said.
'You are fighting nothing in your current state.' Aria said. 'Sofia! Take everyone except Milo and find a hiding spot in the forest. Take Viti as well. He will make it easier for me to find you later. It will be dangerous there since a lot of you are injured and you won't have a light source. So be careful.'
Most of the group looked uncertain at this order. Milo simply smiled and prepared himself mentally for what was next.
'Sorry, that I have to ask something so insane of you Milo but as you said this is our best choice.' Aria said
'No problem, chief. Just happy to help.'
'The rest of you get going. Try to be careful, especially you girls. We still don't understand why but Kayeries have a tendency of targeting women. If you get captured by that then we might never see you again.' Aria said.
With that the group started moving towards the forest together. All except one.
'Uhh, where are you going?' Sofia asked Millie who had started moving in the direction towards the Kayeri.
'Oh, you know. Since all we need to do is buy some time, I thought I could hel- ouch!' Millie was interrupted as Aria lightly poked her in the sides.
'Just as I thought! You are still badly injured. In what world would I let you fight like that? Sofia, grab her and take her with you. Tie her down if you have to.' Aria said.
And with that the group finally left into the woods to hide for safety. Aria also got ready to go looking for her wolves.
'Again, I am so sorry that I asked you to do this.' Aria said as she headed out as well.
Milo was alone now and he had to fight that thing for God knew how long. But all things considered it wasn't too bad. He had definitely survived worse circumstances.
Calmly he walked over the fallen trees to the Kayeri whose face was nearly healed by now. It would be wiser to attack it now while he still wasn't fully recovered but that just didn't sit right with him.
Milo softly said, 'Let's do this, mate.'
Right as his face finished healing, Milo punched it straight to the ground but with inhumane reaction speed Kayeri kicked Milo in return. This caused him to fly into a pile of broken trees surrounding the perimeter.
Milo jumped back to his feet immediately. There was no denying it. This thing was tough. But he was no slouch himself.
The Kayeri was about to jump towards Milo to attack him but in doing so it had missed the parting gift that Milo had left it. In its thighs, Milo had attached small glass ampules that were sealed shut with a clear liquid inside. The moment it moved its legs, the delicate glass broke, letting the liquid inside to mix with the rain water.
KABOOM!!! A violent explosion roared through the dark jungle. Normally this would be enough to kill just about anything but of course, it wasn't enough against a Kayeri.
From the cloud of smoke it jumped towards Milo at incredible speed which he dodged away from causing it to crash into the pile of fallen trees.
Steam was escaping the left side of its body pretty intensely so the mini bombs had done a good amount of damage. Which probably meant that It was really pissed now.
The rain was still falling very heavily which made it hard to move quickly. Well, for Milo at least, as the Kayeri set its long flipper-like foot to the mud and using that for leverage jumped at incredible speed.
Milo's feet on the other hand weren't adapted by nature for combat on muddy terrain so instead he pulled out a small black ball from his waist bag and held it in his left hand.
The Kayeri tried to punch Milo which he managed to catch and just as he caught it, three sharp spikes emerged from the ball and impaled its whole arm.
It didn't do any meaningful amount of damage but it did still startle it. And that was Milo's aim from the beginning. Using all his strength and battle experience, he threw a barrage of punches, not letting the Kayeri catch its breath even for a second.
None of these attacks would do any permanent damage but that wasn't his aim. He just wanted to slowly push it towards the pile of fallen trees that it had created. Once there, his true plan would begin.
After Milo had picked a corner that he liked, he threw a handful of the spike balls from before which instantly pierced through the Kayeri in multiple spots restricting its movement in its legs and torso, creating a small window of opportunity for him.
In that temporary window. Milo pulled out a flask full of white liquid and threw into the pile fallen trees. Then using all his power, Milo pushed up the 8 feet tall monster into the place where he had thrown the flask.
The Kayeri, which was still healing from the explosives, tried to move but it soon realized that it couldn't move. Milo knew that he had completely trapped it but just to be safe he threw another log onto its head.
'And now, I just gotta keep an eye on you till the chief comes back.' Milo said.
Over in the woods, Dylan was walking behind Brian in the dark. It was scary walking in the dark but he was sure that Brian would protect him if things got dicey. Even if he was injured right now, he was still Brian. Though Dylan did notice that Brian was talking Clara about something until a minute ago. He wondered what that was about but didn't question it.
Soon in front of them he noticed a familiar light and wreckage. He saw the firefly light that was still following Milo. Had they somehow gotten turned around. Wait, something else was wrong.
'Brian, where are the others? Did we get lost?' Dylan asked.
'Oh, you came as well.' Brian said matter of factly.
'Why are we back here? We were supposed to hide from the Kayeri, not come back to it.'
'It is shameful for a warrior to retreat while their body can still move. I can't accept hiding in a situation like this.'
'Are you insane! You are supposed to be injured.'
'Shut up. And anyway it seems that guy already has the situation under control.' Brian said as he pointed at Milo who was intently watching over the trapped monster like a prison Warden.
'It's a shame that you had to fight me.' Milo said. 'I am not usually a combatant and not very strong so I can't finish you off. Trapping you is the best that I can do.'
Suddenly Milo heard some noises from the side and to his surprise it was Dylan and Brian.
'So, did you two come to back me up?' Milo asked in surprise.
'Well, at least I did. But it seems that was unnecessary.' Brian said.
Milo laughed and said, 'You know what, I bloody appreciate the thought anyway. Its a shame that we don't have much booze in town. I would have loved to treat you guys to some drinks.'
'That aside, are you sure that that thing won't escape?' Dylan asked while pointing at the Kayeri.
'Oh no need to worry about that. I used alucia tree sap to trap it. That thing is very sticky and a bloody pain to work with. It is also surprisingly water proof so the rain won't wash it off.'
The rain suddenly intensified in its downpour.
'Huh, this is the most intense rain that we have had since we built Solstun. I wonder how many of the shacks that Elvin calls houses will survive till tomorrow.'
Milo walked over to a gleaming piece of steel covered with mud and picked it up.
'I believe this is yours. Now don't go stabbing someone else in the head with it.' Milo said as he handed Dylan's sword back to him.
Just then through their periphery the group saw a giant tree log flying over them.
Milo quickly turned his head around but instead of seeing the Kayeri he only saw some ripped bloody skin.
'GET AWAY YOU TWO!' He yelled as he pushed them away.
Just then a giant humanoid figure covered in a thick layer of steam appeared out of nowhere and punched Milo right across his chest.
Milo landed in the center of the clearing. This was bad. He hadn't expected the Kayeri to rip its own skin off to escape. He tried coming up with another plan while searching his bag but before he could pull out something useful, its hand was on his skull. Was this thing always this fast, he thought as it pulled him up by the head, gripping it so tightly that Milo thought his skull might explode. While holding him like that it started to swing Milo around like a bag of potatoes, throwing his body to the ground multiple times.
Suddenly Brian jumped out of nowhere and threw a punch at the kayeri's face. He had already expanded his body to match the size of the Kayeri. He was sure that he could beat the Kayeri using raw strength but after a few blows he realized how mistaken he was.
Kayeri took a few punches from Brian and then dealt them back. Brian in his injured state couldn't take those hits as well and stumbled a bit. He used both his hands to try and hold it down but instead he ended up being pushed down. While being pushed into the muddy ground and staring into the beady eyes of this monster, Brian felt desperate.
'Dylan! Give me a hand here.' Brian said.
Dylan was still cowering in fear at the corner. He was holding on tightly to his sword. He felt afraid right now but he had to do something.
Dylan closed his eyes and ran forward with his sword held in front of him. Soon his sword pierced through the Kayeri's arm that Brian was still holding. Dylan momentarily felt very proud of himself.
'WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DON'T AIM FOR THE LIMBS!!' Brian yelled.
Kayeri pulled its arm out in one smooth motion, splitting its own arm in two down the middle. It let go of Brian's arm to punch Dylan with its other hand, knocking him out in one shot.
'You shouldn't let go of your main enemy in a fight!' Brian yelled.
He had already deflated back to his original size. He knew now that he couldn't beat this thing with raw strength so he had to try a different approach.
While in his normal size, he climbed into the back of the Kayeri and hugged it tightly. Then he rapidly expanded his body, crushing its internal organs. He then deflated to let its damaged internals to move only to inflate, violently crushing it once again. He kept repeating this over and over again, turning the keyeri's organs into mush.
Special technique:GIANT BURST.This move was one of Brian's trump cards as it could easily kill just about anything but it came at a hefty cost. Rapidly changing the size of his body was incredibly taxing. Doing it repeatedly in his state was nearly impossible.
After some time Brian couldn't continue. The Kayeri's body was becoming too hot to touch and Brian himself was at his limit. He just needed to rest for a bit and recover some stamina.
Kayeri itself opened its mouth to let out a jet of hot steam like an old train engine. It had started fixing the damage done already.
Brian jumped off Kayeri's body. It will attack pretty soon so while he still has some stamina he needs to make some distance from it. But sadly, Brian doesn't have as much experience moving in wet environments. So in an attempt to jump using his power, he slipped on the mud causing him to lose control of his trajectory.
Kayeri however was an expert at moving fast in muddy grounds. That's why after one jump, it was in front of him. It swung its still healing arm onto him causing him to bounce off the ground like a beach ball. Another step and it was in front Brian again and this time it simply punched him in the face with full strength.
Brian was launched into a pile of broken trees and passed out after that. Kayeri let out another howl into the night letting more steam escape its mouth. It will soon heal from these injuries and then it can go after its main aim, the girls that are hiding in the woods.