Ross barely caught his balance as the black flame on his halberd flickered and dimmed. He grabbed Quinn by the collar and dragged him behind.
A tactical error.
The moment his eyes left the beast, it vanished.
A red gleam shimmered across his armor's left flank—a warning.
"Shi-" Ross barely had time to blink before the armor jerked him backward, an unseen force hauling him like a puppet.
The warhammer screamed through the space his skull had just occupied.
The beast growled, irritated its prey had been stolen.
Its glare locked on Ross—and it lunged.
Too fast to follow.
The armor turned blood-red.
Too late.
The greatsword crashed into Ross's back. His breath caught mid-scream as he spat blood across the cracked stone.
The armor fractured.
Then it healed—drawing from him. His skin turned pale.
Ross howled, spun, and launched a blazing overhead strike with his halberd, the weapon trailing shadows and black flame.
It connected.
A thunderous wave of force vaporized the rubble beneath them.
The creature staggered—but the fire snuffed out immediately after, flickering into smoke.
It snorted in amusement. Ross thought he saw a grin stretch across its mouthless face.
His halberd trembled. The blade had fractured and the fire had died, but it pulsed once and began to mend itself. More blood siphoned from Ross. His knees buckled slightly.
He roared again and channeled everything into the blade, forcing unstable fire into its core until it hummed, thrashing with power.
He charged.
The halberd slashed toward the beast's ribs just as it raised its hammer high.
They struck simultaneously.
KRRAA-BOOOOM!
Ross slammed into the earth hard enough to crater it.
But the beast screeched—black blood bursting from its torn side.
Its crystals flickered. Flesh writhed.
But this time, it didn't heal.
A spear of fire slammed into the beast, pushing it back.
Ross rose from his crater, slightly groggy. He looked behind him to see Quinn standing, his eyes blazing.
"Good to see you're still with us," Ross joked. "I thought you were dead when I arrived."
Quinn snorted, still conjuring spears to slam into the creature.
"We can't win against it. It's a Pseudo-Legend," Quinn said, his voice grim.
"I've sent an Echo to Lady Vex. She should be on her way by now," Ross said, his face serious.
Any being with Legend in its rank, whether pseudo or not, was a force to be reckoned with. The power ranks of the world were simple:
Initiate: Almost everyone were Initiates.
Apprentice
Adept
Vanguard
Warden
Ascendant
Eminent
Paragon
Legend
Only a Legend could defeat a Legend. Anything below that was suicide. A Pseudo-Legend was still a Paragon, but had touched upon the barrier that separated Paragons from Legends.
Ross took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Black fire burst out of him, burning the air around him.
The fire kept rising before coming together and taking form.
The fire formed an 8-meter tall minotaur holding a halberd of the same black flames that made up its body. It looked menacing, cooking the air around, its fiery eyes locked onto the creature.
A few of the survivors who were in better shape than the rest came forward, forming a circle around the creature. There were about seven of them.
The creature stood, looking around as it was surrounded. It looked almost bored. The wound inflicted by Ross still bled, but it had reduced significantly.
Elements poured out of the combatants, taking different giant forms behind them.
These forms were Intents. Only an Eminent and above could use Intents, but it was severely draining and was only used as a last resort.
An Intent could be in the forms of humans, beasts, or objects such as clocks (these forms were conceptual intents). No form of intent was more powerful than the other.
Caaaaaawwwwww!
A massive Phoenix, measuring over 12 meters, cawed, frost pouring out of it and freezing the surroundings as it flapped its wings.
A giant rock golem stomped, cracking the ground like an enraged bull.
A pristine-looking humanoid with massive wings and a halo hummed, its hands clasped together as if in prayer.
A dark wolf, a giant bear, a nine-tailed fox, and a turtle.
These were the intents of the new combatants joining the battle to take down the creature that had destroyed their city.
Quinn didn't summon his intent. He didn't have enough energy for that. Instead, his white fire formed different weapons behind him.
"Pseudo-Legend or not. You're going down," a woman said, fury evident in her eyes. She stood at 5 feet 6 inches, ice freezing the ground around her. She wore a blue full-body armor, her head the only part of her that was unprotected.
"Let's do this," Ross said as his intent swung its halberd.