Jasper's speed was unmatched, compared to every other creature alive in the Waking world today he alone stood at the peak. His every step echoing through the desolate fields like a distant storm colliding with a cliffside, his body wreathed in lightning so thick that the man underneath was all but hidden, the sound of cracking energy buzzing around him. The smells of a storm traveling across the open sea followed him wherever he went, warning his enemies of the danger he posed yet were unable to avoid.
It was difficult for him to control his speed, if it wasn't for the time he spent practicing, running up and down this embankment in order to understand his new limits he would have fallen a long while ago, following his old tracks scorched into the ground he kept his eyes forward. It was strange to say the least, just a few short days ago he fell asleep and found himself sailing into a dreadful sea on the bow of a mighty vessel in the hopes of finding a place lost from time, and from that he had been reborn.
He thought it would take him a long time to get used to his new state of being, but strangely enough it felt natural, running with everything he had, without ever slowing down felt perfect to him, he knew it would take a long while for him to become truly skilled with his Aspect but for now he knew he could at least do this. Staring down the horde as they turned to face him, involuntarily gulping as the many faces of hideous monstrosities stared him down, each of these creatures had been human once…but now they were simply obstacles in his way, a means to an end.
The thoughts didn't sit well with him, he had been plagued with strange thoughts and impulses ever since Damian carried him to safety, he had assumed it was the lingering effects of being used like a meat puppet but he wasn't so sure by now, t he feeling and desires had faded but they had left an imprint on him, changing him in subtle ways which only time would tell. For now though none of that truly mattered, all that mattered was that he managed to at the very least severely injure the Lesser Devourer and its horde, he could see its shape growing larger and larger with each passing moment the grotesque body shielded by the skull of what was once a great predator of the likes Jasper hoped to never face themselves became clearer, its body was too high off the ground to strike directly and jumping would kill all his momentum leaving him powerless in a swarm of living nightmares.
The fastest of the horde rushed forward hoping to stop him in his tracks before he ever reached the Tyrant, but all they managed to achieve was becoming a bubbling past on the floor, the voice spoke out as he ran through the creatures the blood boiling into vapor as it came into contact with his body,
[You have Slain…]
[You have Slain…]
[You have Slain…]
The names of various beasts and monsters rushed through his mind as he ran through them as if they were never there to begin with, the Devourer looked down on him it many eyes glimmering with a familiar hue, he could feel it trying to infect his mind, making him one of its yet again but the glass wall was already broken, it seemed that by escaping its control once he had managed to retain hold of himself into the future and in that moment of defiance against the will of a greater creature they collided. Outstretching an arm against the terrible pressure that surrounded him, formed by the incredible winds surrounding him he ran forward, catching the creature's front most leg, its spindly legs as thick as his torso and even with all his speed and power for a second he could feel the resistance of its body, its body contained unknowable amounts of power so deep and powerful no creature let alone a lone human could ever hope to fight against it.
The resistance was merely an illusion, as within the same moment he felt the rending of flesh and the shattering of bone pressed against the black leathers of the [Blackened Sky] the Tyrants leg snapped, causing the creature to screech out in pain as it lost its balance, not wasting even a moment he continued forward, catching the next leg, then the next, soon half of the creatures legs were torn from its body causing it to crash into the ground, no longer able to support the weight of its own body.
The slower members of the horde were behind it, all letting out blood curdling snarls, yells and all sorts of unidentifiable noises, but soon enough a bloody path was carved through them too, the scene was no less than a massacre, creatures both big and small, slow and fast but all strong fell to his power, some completely erased from this world, others so injured their deaths were all but certain, but none would receive mercy on this day.
Damian watched as the living storm ran past him, he knew that Jasper would need time to turn around at such incredible speeds but that didn't truly matter at his point, he had underestimated the young man, his timid nature and general attitude made him seem weak, like a person who required protection from even himself but he was wrong. That man was powerful and as such deserved more respect than Damian had given to him and his ideas, his mind was still too focused on the human element, just a little over a month ago this would have never been possible, if someone had told him he would watch a man, a living incarnation of a strom no less cut through a horde of nightmarish abominations with ease he would have had them committed.
He had dismissed the plan before since he still failed to accept that individuals such as themselves now existed, people who could do things that before would require entire squadrons and days if not weeks of planning to achieve in mere minutes, it would be a long while until he fully accepted this reality.
The horde was at a loss, the creatures were huddling around their master in the hopes of protecting it from future harm but it was all but pointless, they were destined to die, that was their fate, Damian spent his time watching the horde, hidden away and forgotten. He saw them gather around, the open wounds, trying to see if there was anything they could do with a clear look of panic and what almost looked like fear painted on their faces, in truth he knew that those faces represented the true emotions of the Devourer, which posed a question, if these things could feel fear how intelligent were they, the mindless beasts and monsters he had seen didn't seem to possess anything special in terms of intelligence.
The demon he had faced in the nightmare was probably the most intelligent thing he had though, knowing enough to move and evade much like a human warrior would, but this creature in front of him was something else, able to command so many bodies at once, commanding them to move and act in certain ways was truly a different level, he wondered what type of creature it may be, he had seen Beasts, monsters and demons and wondered how many more steps there were to achieve, considering many creatures shared these classifications he doubted they were endless, the same went for the prefixes of Dormant and awakened, he had seen both and it seemed to share the same name as the ranks Aspects used as well, did that mean there's Sacred Ranked creatures out there somewhere? What a terrifying thought, he didn't know how much stronger Sacred was compared to Awakened but it had to be at least a few stages higher at least, he would have to find others like him and Jasper to figure that puzzle out.
Soon enough the sound and smell of a distant storm once again rolled over the embankment, the swarm tried to prepare its last stand but it was pointless in the end, after all what could a simple creature do against a living calamity, a force of nature given form? Simply doing nothing but wait for it to pass, Damian had taken a few shots, feeling the weaker members of the horde however they didn't seem to care, purely giving all their attention to the impending threat of death heading straight for them.
[You have Slain, Dormant Tyrant, Lesser Devourer]
In the end, the death of the Lesser Devourer was almost anticlimactic, its body torn apart as the living storm ran through the horde before finally coming to an end, the last remaining members of the horde were quickly taken out by a few precise shots. Damian approached the corpse of the once terrifying Tyrant, its grotesque body ripped apart with its internal organs sizzling from impact, but that wasn't what caught his eye, instead he looked at Jasper a look of wonder in his eye as he twisted around a small curved blade in his hand, its shimmering metal blade a hypnotic pattern of shifting blues and greens, its handle carved from pure white bone, Damian recognised it as a khandjar, a type of duel edged dagger he had seen a few times, but the power emanating from the blade was ominously deadly.