The Leviathan's guttural snarl reverberated through the fractured expanse, its sheer presence sending a ripple of pressure across the battlefield. But instead of lunging at them, the beast stilled. Zyren narrowed his eyes. Then, it roared. A deafening, otherworldly sound tore through the air, vibrating in his bones like an unholy resonance. The glow of scarlet energy burst from the Leviathan's form, flaring wildly as its entire body pulsed with violent luminance. Zyren felt the shift in the air before he saw it.....like the moment before a storm breaks, a thick, suffocating tension that made every hair on his body stand on end.
"The hell is it-" Zyren began, but the answer came before he could finish. From the Leviathan's body, countless spheres of pure, condensed energy shot out in every direction, their trajectories wild and unpredictable. Each orb shimmered ominously, distorting the air around them as they floated away from the source. They hovered in eerie stillness for only a moment. Then, one by one, they began to change. The orbs expanded, stretching, twisting, reshaping themselves with grotesque fluidity. The shifting masses pulsed as limbs burst forth, dark silhouettes forming into grotesque shapes. Wings unfurled from some, clawed feet slammed into the ground from others, tails whipped through the air as the once featureless spheres solidified into horrifying replicas of the original Leviathan. They were smaller, yes, but no less deadly, their bodies twisted and leaner, their movements shaky yet terrifyingly fast.
Zyren clicked his tongue, his grip tightening on his weapon. "Oh, come on. That's just cheating." Kai's stance didn't waver. He had already shifted his footing slightly, adjusting for the new threats as his sharp gaze flicked between them. The glow of his sword pulsed in response, as if Hex itself sensed the increasing danger. Lorith let out a low, rumbling exhale, rolling his shoulders with a crystalline grind as he swung his massive blade forward, resting the flat of it against his palm. "Multiplication-type ability," Lorith observed, voice edged with irritation. "Tch. Annoying." Zyren's smirk widened slightly despite the situation, his ember-like eyes gleaming. "Annoying? Nah. Just means more fun."
The newly formed Leviathans moved, their jagged wings flaring out as they let out synchronized, distorted screeches. Then, without warning, they attacked. They shot forward like bladed projectiles, claws raking through the air as they descended upon them from multiple angles. The battlefield was no longer a one-on-one fight. This had become a swarm. And Zyren thrived in chaos. With a sharp exhale, he swung his Kusarigama's chain in a wide arc, the scarlet energy in the orb at the end of it flaring as it built up force. His smirk sharpened into something wilder. "Alright then," he murmured under his breath. "Let's tear this dance floor apart." Then he launched himself into the fray.
Towering over the blackened ground, dozens of newly born Leviathan clones stood in eerie silence, their malformed bodies still simmering with residual energy. Their wings twitched. Their claws flexed. Then, all at once.....they charged. The impact was immediate. The sound of clawed feet slamming against the obsidian-like earth sent tremors through the ground as the creatures surged forward, their hollow eyes brimming with relentless hunger. Zyren rolled his shoulders, the smirk on his face sharpening as he spun the blazing orb at the end of his chain faster. Time to get to work. But first, his gaze flicked toward Kai. This is his first time facing something like this. I should-
The thought barely had time to settle before Zyren's eyes caught movement. Kai was already in the middle of the horde. And he was handling it. The first clone lunged at him, maw gaping, claws poised to rip him apart. Kai twisted, sidestepping at the last second before bringing Hex up in a vicious arc. The broadsword flashed as it cut through the air, slicing through the creature's exposed throat. A clean kill. The Leviathan gurgled before collapsing into nothingness, its form dispersing in a crackling surge of red mist. Another lunged from behind. Kai spun, shooting out a temporal bullet from his fingertip. The shot rang out, a burst of azure energy slamming into the creature's skull before detonating into a controlled explosion. The beast's head was obliterated before it could even finish its attack. A third came from the side.....too fast. Zyren almost stepped forward, but Kai was already moving. His stance shifted, adjusting. He barely dodged the creature's outstretched claws, his shoulder grazing against its rough hide. It should have knocked him off balance. It didn't. He pivoted, driving his free palm forward. The force of the shockwave shattered the clone's ribs and sent its body hurtling backward, disintegrating mid-air. Each time a Leviathan dissolved away Kai would wave his sword, absorbing the residual temporal energy left behind by the dissolving remains.
Zyren exhaled sharply, watching as Kai moved through the battlefield, adapting. He was making mistakes, yes. A misstep here. A slightly off-center slash there. But he was correcting himself in real time. Each movement was sharper than the last, each strike more refined. Who the hell is this kid? Zyren shook off the thought. Questions must wait for a later time. Battle is what must be focused on for now. His grip on his Hex tightened. With a sharp flick of his wrist, he launched the orb into the fray, willing the chain extend much beyond its full length. His scarlet energy surged through it, igniting the orb with a violent glow. The moment it made contact-BOOM!
The explosion tore through a cluster of clones, sending molten embers and shards of bone flying. Zyren didn't stop moving. His Kusarigama surged through the air as he weaved through the battlefield, chain flashing, blade carving through anything that got too close. His weapon was an extension of himself, and he wielded it with practiced lethality, reducing the horde to nothing but scattered remnants of red mist. Then, all of a sudden, Zyren felt the air change. He barely had time to react. The real Leviathan: the main body, had reared its massive head. A deep, bone-rattling hum resonated through the air as a blazing red orb began forming in front of its gaping maw. It pulsed with raw, compressed energy, distorting the very space around it. Zyren cursed, yanking his chain back, preparing to evade. But then-
The Leviathan snapped its head forward. A beam of concentrated temporal energy erupted from its mouth, a massive, searing blast of destruction roaring straight toward him, crackling with unstable temporal energy. Shit-! Before Zyren could move, the ground shook. Lorith slammed his colossal fist into the cracked obsidian beneath him. Instantly, massive crystalline spikes erupted from the ground in front of Zyren, intercepting the blast. The impact was deafening. The moment the beam met the wall of crystal, a thunderous explosion rippled through the battlefield. The explosion from the Leviathan's beam sent shockwaves across the battlefield, sending molten fragments of shattered crystal flying in all directions. Zyren shielded his eyes against the blinding light before lowering his arm, exhaling in relief as he turned to his unexpected savior.
"Lorith," Zyren called, the usual teasing edge to his voice absent. "Fantastic timing buddy." Lorith, his massive crystalline frame still gleaming from the reflected glow of the attack, gave a single nod. "Just stay alive, yeah?" he muttered gruffly before turning away. Then he moved. Lorith's sheer weight caused the ground to tremble as he launched himself forward, swinging his Greatsword, a weapon so massive it looked like it could cleave a mountain in half. The first Leviathan clone barely had time to react before Lorith obliterated it with a single horizontal sweep, sending its fragmented remains scattering in a mist of shattered red particles. Another rushed him from the side.....he didn't flinch. His free hand shot out, summoning jagged crystalline spikes that impaled the creature mid-air. Without hesitation, he gripped the skewered clone, ripped it free, and hurled it like a projectile into another incoming beast.
Zyren watched for a second longer before shaking his head, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Damn brute," he muttered. His gaze shifted back to the real enemy. The main body of the Leviathan. Its massive form loomed in the distance, still wreathed in pulsating red energy, its grotesque wings stretched wide like a blot against the sky. Zyren's grip on his Kusarigama tightened. No more games. He launched forward, kicking off the cracked obsidian ground, his body a blur of motion. The wind howled past him as he closed the distance in an instant, his chain whipping around his arm as he spun the blade of his weapon downward for a vicious strike. But right before he could-
The Leviathan roared. A monstrous, guttural blast of force erupted from the Leviathan's throat, not just a sound but a sheer shockwave of power. It hit him like a meteor. Zyren's entire body rocketed backward, the air torn from his lungs as he hurtled through the battlefield at breakneck speed. His mind raced, instincts kicking in: control the fall. He twisted mid-air, forcing his body into a controlled spin. The moment he spotted the ground rushing toward him, he swung his Kusarigama downward, sinking the blade into the earth. The impact sent up an eruption of sparks and dust as he skidded backward, carving a deep trench into the terrain. His heels dragged against the ground, the force rattling through his arms as the weight of his weapon kept him from tumbling further. Finally, he stopped.
Zyren took a breath, then another, before yanking his blade free from the fractured ground. He straightened, rolling his shoulders. His scarlet eyes flickered, unreadable. Then.....he grinned. "Alright," he muttered, rolling his neck as the air around him hummed with raw power. "Guess I gotta get serious. You are a real unlucky soul, cause you just gave me an excuse to ballistic" His fingers flexed. The energy within him surged. Then, he threw back his head and roared, "KYMA EMPROS, TEMPORAL OVERDRIVE!" Instantly, his entire body ignited in a raging storm of crackling scarlet energy. It erupted from him in a violent shockwave, sending dust and debris spiraling outward in a blinding whirlwind. The force of his unleashed power cratered the ground beneath him, massive cracks spiderwebbing out in all directions. His heartbeat thundered in his ears. His body felt weightless, yet overflowing with sheer force. His scarlet aura surged wildly around him, violent, untamed, unstoppable.
His eyes snapped to the Leviathan. It was still watching. Perfect. Zyren charged. A scarlet comet tearing across the battlefield, his entire form wreathed in energy, crackling and distorting the air around him. His speed tripled, his movements razor-sharp as the gap between him and the Leviathan vanished in a heartbeat. This time, he wasn't holding back.