Growling from the mouth of the cave, the shadow monster was seen standing tall, ashy drool flowing down from its mouth. Malice grew even brighter seeing that its prey, the ones who had tortured it for so long, were standing tired, with no way out of the cave.
But the worst part was the fact that beside it were an additional four shadow beasts, each sporting a different physique
The one that looked like an arachnoid began spinning silk, slowly closing the opening. The bird flew into the air, its back feathers slowly closing the light. The lizard spurted claws, before climbing the walls, sliding into the shadows, hiding itself. The last, but greatest one of them all, was the bear, who stood at the forefront, its paws blocking any chance of escape...
"Well kid, it looks like it might be our last time together here..."
With a final, sad, smile, Vylara lifted her staff, before charging into battle.
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"Treants, attack!"
Throwing down a bunch of seeds, 3 towering guardians made of wood grew from the ground, their towering arms stretched towards the bear, the arachnoid, and the lizard. Being the one with wings, the bird quickly escaped the encampment, quickly flying higher, while the wolf-like monster deftly side-stepped to the right, barely missing the entangling roots. "Tch..."
Clicking her tongue, Vylara quickly conjured a shield made from wood, and it was just in the nick of time she did so, for no sooner had she done so, a combined attack from both for and land landed on it. Creaking loudly, she swung the vine whip she created, catching the bird, before breaking every bone in its body.
Seeing that its companion was incapacitated, the wolf's beady eyes squinted. As it was wondering how it would take down the petite woman in front of him, it saw it...
It saw the young man sitting agape, defenceless in his entirety
Grinning maliciously, it bared its fangs, before lunging straight at Vylara. Seeing that the beast was attacking her head-on, Vylara grew cocky, bashing the shield straight into its face.
And that's what it wanted
Using the momentum gained from the attack, it used the shield as a launch pad to aim directly at Natsuki, its drooling mouth wide open, ready to pulverise Natsuki's head.
"NO!"
BANG!
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Mouth wide open, Natsuki could only stare awestruck at the beautiful sight before him, as the valkyrie, dancing through the air, cleaved apart her enemies, turning them into mush. Despite their cockroach-like regeneration, she handled them all like trash, even while she was weakened. He could only marvel at the Goddess before him, radiant in her appearance, just like the Moon...
And this was his biggest mistake
Dashing through the air, the wolf-like monster bared its maw, hell-bent on killing him. Vylara attempted to leap across, to save him, but the other four, sensing the chance, did not let her leave from their sight.
Attacks grew as they seized the chance, intending to finish her off. From the bird to the bear, all had a malicious smirk on their face, confident that their companion would deliver the final blow and kill Natsuki. Falling into despair, Vylara couldn't bear to witness his final moment, and with tears in her eyes, she closed them, unable to bear witness to the horrible tragedy that was about to unfold...
That was until a bright green light lit up the entire cave
AWWOOOOO!!!
Giving one of the most ghastly cries, Vykara opened her eyes, only to be shocked at the sight before her–
The beast, previously thought unkillable, was dissolving into mist, rapidly breaking apart like cotton candy meeting water. Looking up, she found the source, and what she saw astounded her:
The source of the beast's pain was none other than Natsuki landing a punch, a green light emanating from his fists, dissolving the shadow construct back into its Primordial form
The rest of the monsters could only watch shell-shocked as their brethren died, permanently. Realising that the man was the larger threat, the quartet decided to switch their priorities to Natsuki, seeing him as the greater threat. Just as they were about to launch their attacks, an arrow flew through the sky, before embedding itself in the bird.
"In the name of Erudia, I cast you down!""