'Do you think there will be only one standing at the end?' Nightmare asked from within the teardrop necklace.
'I don't know,' Seth answered, his eyes swiping over the brutal melee. 'But I hope so. It would make our job easier.'
'Why are they so mean to each other?' Colossus asked with innocent confusion. 'Aren't they a family?'
'This city is too big,' Nightmare replied. 'They are not a pack. They are more like a human society than a beast one.'
Seth grimaced; the direwolf wasn't wrong. This kind of ravenous greed was something humans excelled at.
Slowly, the battle wound down. The number of Elementals dwindled until only a handful of heavily wounded and exhausted survivors remained. For a moment, they simply hovered amid the carnage while looking around. Then their gazes met one another's. A silent understanding passed between them.
As one, the six Dark Elementals turned and began to glide toward the hut, their intent on sharing the drop obvious.
'That's our cue,' Seth thought before dashing forward while still invisible.
Nightmare materialized from the teardrop necklace and turned into a silent shadow when he immediately dissolved into Illusionary Emptiness by Seth's side. Colossus remained coiled within the teardrop pendant, ready to come out once they engaged.
The trio gave the exhausted elementals no time to react. Seth surged out of invisibility and cast Phantom Punch. Simultaneously, Nightmare lunged at the most isolated of the shadow creatures, his jaws wreathed with Shadow Bite. Before their targets could even turn, both attacks landed. Seth's spectral fist obliterated the first Elemental in a loud implosion of Dark aether, while Nightmare's fangs tore through his own target's neck. Two were dead before the others even knew they were under attack.
The moment the four remaining Elementals whirled to face them, claws igniting with dark aether, Colossus erupted from the necklace. He charged the group and cast Chitinous Taunt. The arcane screech boomed out from between his mandibles, but two of the elementals dissolved into streaks of ink to evade the spell. The other two, which had gotten caught, were forced to attack the massive scorpion. Quartz Armor and Desert Aegis flared to life around Colossus as the protective aura of the brown aether extended to shield Seth and Nightmare as well.
The melee split. Seth intercepted the Rank-50 Elemental on the left that had dodged the taunt, while Nightmare engaged the one on the right. The fight would be more challenging now, with Share connected to Illusionary Emptiness instead of the more one-on-one-oriented Shadow Step. However, the overwhelming attributes from Link still gave him the edge. He hammered the Elemental with a brutal barrage of punches, his core screaming warnings that allowed him to duck and weave around each of its desperate claw-swings with Huntbound Rush. Seth held back Beastmaster Rage and his bracelet's power to conserve the resources in case the main army and the leader returned faster than they'd anticipated.
With how badly wounded their enemies already were, Seth and Nightmare finished them off in only a few seconds before turning to see Colossus toying with the two remaining Elementals. The massive scorpion was blocking most of their slashes head-on, his layered defenses barely creaking. With a final, coordinated assault, the three of them took care of the pair. Seth quickly picked up the six beaststones, then turned and realized the cavern floor was littered with a sea of glittering black crystals, courtesy of the Elementals' own civil war earlier.
"Let's go get that Seed first," Seth said before dashing toward the isolated stone hut.
Nightmare and Colossus didn't argue and followed him, knowing the army and its leader could return at any time.
Inside the half-collapsed hut, resting on the floor, was the dark drop. It was a flawless, pulsing crystal, so profoundly black it seemed to absorb all light particles and bend the space around its edges. Seth moved closer and placed a hand on its smooth, cool surface, feeling the thrum of pure Darkness emanating from it. Without wasting any more time, he pushed his own aether toward it in an attempt to draw the thing into his teardrop necklace. To his surprise, it didn't move; his aether simply dissipated against the Seed's surface.
Shit, Seth thought. Seeds aren't like Essences. The domain can't store them.
'Let's put it on Small Bite's back, then!' Nightmare suggested. 'He'll carry it while we deal with any Elemental that gets close.'
Seth nodded. "Good idea."
He crouched and tried to lift the crystal—yet it didn't budge. The thing was impossibly heavy, its weight probably anchored by the immense density of aether compressed within. Nightmare and Colossus joined in, their combined strength straining against it, clawed paws and legs scraping the stone floor. Still, it refused to move.
It was like trying to lift a boulder the size of a human head that weighed as much as a mountain. A cold realization settled over the trio: they couldn't take the Seed.
"We can't have it," Seth said through clenched teeth, glancing toward Nightmare. "Sorry."
'Then we absorb what we can,' the direwolf replied immediately. 'When they return, you pull Small Bite back into his teardrop, then use your rage spell and Illusionary Emptiness to let us escape.'
Seth frowned, momentarily taken aback. He hadn't even considered absorbing part of it himself—his plan had always been for Nightmare to take it all. Yet the direwolf had said we, not I.
"No," Seth said at last. "This is for you. Start absorbing, and Colossus and I will keep watch. Maybe the army outside will start tearing into each other again once they notice that thing has dropped, who knows? And we might also be able to buy you some time too. If I think we need to run, I'll call you out."
'...okay,' Nightmare answered after a pause, a rare note of surprise in his voice. 'You're sure you don't want any?'
"Yeah. If we both try to absorb it, I might dilute its power. Besides, Darkness isn't as compatible with my spells. It'll serve you far better than me."
'I don't like the idea of you and Small Bite fighting while I'm in here.'
"It'll be fine," Seth replied before turning to the large scorpion. "Right, Colossus?"
'Yes!' the scorpion exclaimed. 'As a family, we will protect you.'
Nightmare looked at each of them, what seemed to be concern flashing in his crimson eyes. After a long moment, he dipped his head in agreement. And for the first time, the direwolf didn't correct Colossus about them not being a family.
Seth walked back toward the entrance of the hut, recalling Colossus into the teardrop necklace, and glanced over his shoulder one last time. Nightmare had placed a paw near the Seed. The next moment, thick, inky tendrils of pure shadow began to flow from the crystal into the direwolf's body and enveloped him in a silent vortex of Darkness-attuned aether.
Seth sighed and shook his head. How does he always know how to do those things? A beast's instinct is a powerful thing.
Seth crouched in the shadow of a half-collapsed wall and remained silent as a sentinel carved from stone. Time stretched. Finally, after what felt like half an hour, the chief and only a dozen other Dark Elementals returned.
Seth's pulse quickened. He immediately cast Illusionary Emptiness so his form dissolved into the gloom. The Wind Elemental's army had taken out most of them, but there were still too many remaining for him to fight them head-on with Colossus.
The creatures of shadow glided closer, their hollow gazes lifting in almost unison. A silent, collective horror spread through their ranks as they realized the Seed was gone from atop the cavern.
Then came the greed.
A wave of ravenous intent washed over the group as they all surged toward the collapsed hut. The chief moved first, striding forward before turning around to block their path. Aether flared from its body, and all the others froze. For a moment, they exchanged frantic, wordless glances. Then their decision became clear. Twelve against one.
Beast or human, everyone knew kings could fall.
The first few subordinates lunged, and the chief's response was instant.
Two impossibly sharp blades of solidified shadow erupted from its forearms, extending two feet beyond its hands; then, a breath later, it met them head-on. The blades sliced through its own kin as if they had the Toughness of a Low-Copper, cleaving them apart in flashes of darkness and killing them before they even had a chance to defend. Without any hesitation, it then charged and turned into a swirling whirling of death.
Seth's stomach clenched. The spell's penetrating power was terrifying, cutting through the other Elementals like a knife through a plain robe—there was not a single doubt that it could slice through Colossus's armor without much difficulty.
However after roughly thirty seconds of combat the blades flickered out and disappeared, forcing the leader to use his claws for the last two Elementals he hadn't yet killed. At least there's a cooldown, Seth thought.
The moment the last of its kin had faded into dark smoke, the leader turned toward the hut. After taking a single step, it froze. Its head tilted, and its hollow eyes landed directly on Seth's position. The oppressive silence deepened.
Even through Illusionary Emptiness, it had seen him.
Seth immediately began to channel Phantom Punch, before stopping midway. The creature was too fast. Without Shadow Step available, the attack would never connect. The beast would dissolve into the darkness and dodge the punch if he used it as an opener.
Already exposed, Seth let the illusion drop and cast Intermediate Identify.
He raised his gauntlets, bracing himself as the Dark Elemental Executioner advanced. The creature's aura pressed against him like a physical weight, draining the warmth from the cavern and filling every breath with cold dread.
This was no ordinary Peak-Iron. This was the ruler of this dark kingdom. The apex predator, and the keeper of the Seed.
With Nightmare still absorbing that thing inside the hut, retreat wasn't an option in Seth's mind. His muscles coiled, and aether surged out of his Well. This was a fight he and Colossus would have to win.
(Partilaly UPDATED):
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21 24!! advanced chapters on !