CAW! CAW! CAW!
The sky above Nesbeth vanished. It did not fade into twilight; it was smothered. Thousands of black birds with burning red eyes swarmed the airspace. Their wings beat in a chaotic rhythm that sounded like the rattling of a million dry bones. They circled their master, Abaddon, and blotted out the sun until the city plunged into a suffocating, artificial night.
Below, the reaction was immediate and visceral.
"God save us…" A civilian faltered to her knees in prayer.
"This pressure is immense." Yohan Creed gripped the hilt of his sword, but his hand trembled uncontrollably. He looked up at the monstrous silhouette of Kirill and felt a primal urge to flee.
Fennalin swallowed hard. The air grew heavy, thick with a killing intent so potent it tasted like iron on her tongue. "That pressure… it's suffocating. Is that really a Priest? He feels more like a calamity."
The civilians did not share their awe. They broke.
"Demon! It's a demon!"
"We're going to die!"
Men and women fell to their knees. Some clawed at their throats as if the air had turned to water. A few of the weaker adults convulsed on the cobblestones, eyes rolled back, foam bubbling from their lips. They were more terrified of the saviour in the sky than the monsters on the ground.
"Calm yourselves!"
Provost Joseph stepped forward. He saw the panic spreading like a contagion. He knew that fear would feed the Sarx.
He clasped his hands together and channelled his own gentle Gospel.
"White Whisperer."
"Prayer Art No. 2: Blessed Abundance"
HUUUUUM.
A soft, white light radiated from Joseph's body. It washed over the terrified crowd like a warm tide. It entered their minds and soothed the raw edges of their terror. The convulsions stopped. The screaming faded into whimpers.
"Stay close to me," Joseph commanded softly. "Do not look at the sky. Look at the ground. Breathe."
While Joseph managed the populace, Kirill's squad remained focused. Sorvak, Keldran, and Dravos paused their perimeter checks to watch the sky. They knew what that form meant.
But three Apostles did not have the luxury of spectating.
"Move!" Hindar shouted.
She stood near the crater where the fake Effigy had stood. She threw her hands forward. Hundreds of spectral kunai manifested and fused together. They swirled and locked into a conical shape.
WHIRRRRRRR!
The construct began to spin.
"Leith Blades: Spiral Bore!"
She drove the drill into the earth. It chewed through cobblestone and bedrock with a deafening screech. Dirt and stone sprayed into the air. Within seconds, a tunnel opened up, descending into the dark.
"Follow me!"
Hindar jumped into the hole.
"Right behind you!" Meldov shouted and dove in headfirst.
Targellan brought up the rear. As he approached the hole, a pack of lesser Tumors scrambled over the debris, eager to follow the prey into the dark.
"Oh no you don't."
Targellan slammed his cross weapon across the opening.
"Maltese Shine: Seal."
FLASH!
A barrier of holy light sealed the tunnel entrance just as Targellan dropped inside. The Lesser Tumors lunged at the light, but the moment they touched it, their flesh hissed and decayed into grey dust.
…
High above, Kirill hovered on wings of black scripture. He glanced down at the sealed hole for a fraction of a second before he locked his six red eyes onto the Beast Tumor.
"Alright, beast. Just you and me now."
Kirill's voice was distorted by the shadows of his hood. He noticed the air warping above the monster's head. The halo was taking form. It flickered in and out of reality, a crown of impending doom.
'Better get this over with quickly.'
SCREEEE!
The Beast Tumor roared at the swarm. The sheer number of birds enraged it. It swung its massive arms wildly and swatted at the flock.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Every bird it touched detonated. The explosions tore the monster's arms to shreds. Chunks of meat rained down.
But the creature didn't care. It didn't bother to regenerate the limbs immediately. It simply opened its chest maw and roared a shockwave that vaporized hundreds of birds in a single breath.
Even so, the black cloud remained thick. Kirill had thousands more in reserve.
FLAP!
Kirill ascended higher. He raised his sickles.
"Formation: Spearhead."
Hundreds of Abaddon Crows converged. They formed a massive, sharp lance of feathers and energy in front of him.
"Pierce!"
Kirill dove. He streaked toward the Beast Tumor like a black meteor.
The monster sensed the threat. It rapidly shifted its flesh to form a thick wall of bone and muscle to intercept the attack.
CRASH!
The bird-lance slammed into the meat wall. Feathers and flesh exploded in all directions. Kirill lost a huge portion of his flock in the impact, but he broke through. The wall crumbled.
"Reform!"
Kirill didn't stop. He manipulated the remaining birds. They shifted from a spear into a massive cross.
"Abaddon: Crucifixion Blast!"
He slammed the formation directly into the Beast Tumor's chest.
KABOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion shook the entire region of Nesbeth. A shockwave rippled out and flattened the few standing trees in the outskirts.
Kirill hovered in the smoke, breathing heavily. The transformation taxed his stamina. He felt his strength waning by the minute.
'Did that do it?'
He looked down.
The smoke cleared. The Beast Tumor was a ruin. Its chest was blown open. But inside, the Ethereal Nucleus spun unharmed in the void.
SQUELCH.
Pink fibers shot out. The flesh began to stitch itself back together. The monster rose, unfazed.
"Tsk."
Kirill expressed his annoyance with a growl. "That cost me almost half my flock. And the core is still active."
He looked up. The halo was solidifying. It was almost complete.
"What the hell is Hindar's group doing? If I strike hard again and the Sarx Effigy isn't destroyed, it will be useless! I'm wasting energy!"
He gripped his chains until his knuckles cracked.
One thing Kirill hated more than anything was incompetence. But a close second was helplessness. He hated being unable to solve a crisis with his own power. He hated having to depend on others to strike the decisive blow. He respected his Apostles, sure, but waiting on them while a god-tier monster regenerated in his face really pissed him off.
'What's taking them so damn long? At this rate…'
ROAR!
The Beast Tumor didn't wait for him to finish his thought. It launched itself into the sky.
Kirill reacted on instinct. He crossed his kusarigama and blocked the charge.
CLANG!
The impact knocked him back a hundred meters.
The Tumor landed and opened its mouth wide. It didn't aim at Kirill. It aimed at the sky.
VZZZZT!
A beam of violet energy shot upward. It hit the atmosphere and shattered the sky like a hammer hitting a mirror.
CRACK!
An abyss opened in the heavens. From the tear, a massive sphere of dark, swirling energy began to descend. It was the size of a small moon. It blotted out the light and sucked the air from the city.
"A Gravity Star…"
If that thing made impact, everyone would die. Nesbeth would be a crater.
Kirill understood this better than anyone. He gritted his sharp teeth and prepared for the worst.
…
Deep underground, the world was dark and smelled of wet earth.
WHIRRRRR!
Hindar's drill tore through the bedrock.
"Almost there!" she shouted over the noise. "I can sense the energy signature! It's just ahead!"
RUMBLE!
Suddenly, the tunnel walls exploded inward.
"Watch out!" Meldov yelled.
Thick, fleshy roots burst from the soil. They were not plants; they were veins of the Sarx, thick as tree trunks and tipped with bone spikes. They lashed out with intelligent precision.
SWISH! SWISH!
Most of the roots ignored Meldov and Targellan. They targeted Hindar. They knew she was the threat. They knew she was the digger.
"They're targeting me!" Hindar shrieked. She dissolved the drill and summoned a kunai to parry a root that aimed for her throat.
CLANG!
"Clever bastards!" Meldov swung his axe and severed a root that tried to wrap around Hindar's leg. "These things have a mind of their own!"
Targellan slammed his fist into the ground. "Shine!"
A pulse of light pushed the roots back for a second, but more burst from the ceiling.
"Just hold them off!" Hindar begged. She reformed the drill, desperate to break the final wall of rock. "Give me ten seconds! We're right on top of it!"
The roots surged forward, vicious and unrelenting, determined to protect the heart of their master.