The giant's massive form blurred. Its body defied truths as it closed the distance. Each thunderous footfall sent shockwaves through the forest floor. The ancient trees groaned and swayed as if caught in a gathering storm.
The giant's leg coiled beneath its bulk, its muscles tensing like steel cables about to snap. Time seemed to slow. It unleashed its strike, the air warping around its limb as it swung toward Leo.
A mountainous kick threatened.
But Leo wasn't helpless.
With the sound of wet flesh tearing, dozens of limbs erupted from his back. They squirmed and twisted, weaving together at impossible speed. A living shield of flesh and shadow pulsed before him.
The impact was an apocalyptic clash that shattered reality.
The ground did not just crack.
It exploded.
A crater blossomed outward from the point of impact. The force sent Leo rocketing skyward, little more than a dark streak against the morning sky.
The shockwave hit the Shadow Elder, and her hood flew back. A cascade of hair spilled free, flowing like inky silk. Her face, now revealed, was a study in immortal beauty with its high cheekbones. But her eyes were voids of pure shadow, drawing in light like twin black holes.
Her ethereal features twisted, a mix of fascination and horror. She stared at the crack spreading across the Elderglade's barrier, a spider's web in the fabric of their reality.
"It's not repairing itself," she whispered, her voice tight.
Electric tingles raced across her skin. The barrier had always been their shield. Absolute. Unbreakable.
Until now.
Her heart was a frantic drum against her ribs. She raised her eyes to where Leo had disappeared, and her full lips curved into a cold smile.
"Perhaps it's time to take this seriously." She murmured.
Her fingers flexed, and shadows writhed around them like eager serpents. "What are you really, Leo? What manner of being masquerades in your human flesh?"
The air grew thick as her power began to manifest.
High above, Leo hung weightless for a fraction of a second. The wind howled past his ears, a chaotic symphony. But it did not drown out the whisper scratching at the edge of his consciousness.
Help..
The voice was wrong. Fundamentally wrong.
It was not a single plea, but a chorus of countless voices layered over each other. Each one carried its own tone of desperation. Men, women, and children. Their voices blended into a harsh harmony that made Leo's skin crawl. The sound bypassed his ears, resonating directly inside his skull.
His eyes darted across the empty sky, seeking the source. Nothing.
An instinct he could not name drew his gaze back down to the forest.
The destruction was transforming. Darkness welled up from the ground like blood from a wound. Black mist breathed, its movement too purposeful to be natural. The green of the forest vanished beneath the advancing shadows.
Watch out!
Ai's warning exploded in his mind, but it was too late.
Before he could draw a breath, the black mist shot upward. It moved like a living thing, coiling around his body like a serpent and with the force of a steel vice. The cold bit into his skin, a soul-deep chill that clawed to freeze his being.
His muscles strained against the darkness. It was like fighting the ocean. The mist contracted, and Leo was yanked downward with merciless force.
His stomach lurched as gravity pulled him down.
Plummeted like a meteor while the air screamed around him. That terrible chorus of voices grew louder, drowning his own thoughts. Through the binding shadows, he saw her. The Shadow Elder, far below, wreathed in darkness that absorbed the light.
The ground rushed up to meet him like an executioner's blade.
Leo's body hit the earth.
Shockwaves moved through the old forest floor. A crater spread out like a ripple in water. Dust and dirt exploded, hiding his crumpled form for a moment.
But the Shadow Elder wasn't finished.
Her arms rose with smooth grace, like a conductor leading an orchestra.
Each move was perfect. Elegant.
The forest itself became her weapon. Her movements were almost beautiful, if not for the destruction they caused.
"Let's see what you're truly made of," she purred. Her voice was a mix of interest and cruel excitement.
With a flick of her wrist, the black mist on the trees twisted. It grew thick. From deep inside it, a snake-like horror appeared. It was a creature of unimaginable size. Its body was an endless mass of twisting limbs.
Thousands of limbs struck Leo's body. Each hit landed like a sledgehammer. The quick attack made a booming sound that shook the air.
Time stretched. Seconds felt like forever. The sound became one long roar, like a waterfall of violence crashing down.
The Shadow Elder's other hand swept up in a curve. The misty trees shook. Their old bark split and changed. The proud trees became twisting ropes of dark living wood, each as thick as a castle wall.
They lashed down at Leo like whips. The sound of their strikes cut through the air like thunder.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" the Shadow Elder called out, her voice filled with a joy like a child's. Her body swayed and twisted, each movement flowing into the next. "The forest is my instrument, and pain is the song I play!"
The change spread like a plague.
Gentle deer changed into monsters with sharp horns, their eyes burning with a strange anger. Birds became flying terrors, their beaks stretching into points like swords. Even the smallest creatures: squirrels, rabbits, and mice—twisted into nightmares.
All rushed toward Leo in a wave of wild violence.
Under the flood of attacks, he could barely be seen. The Shadow Elder's musical score was now a song of ruin. Each new attack was perfectly timed with her movements. Her hair whipped around her face, her eyes blazing with ancient power.
Her grace became wild. Each move sent fresh waves of attacks crashing down. They were no longer single hits but a constant storm of pain. The air grew thick with the metal smell of old magic and the dirt smell of broken wood.
"The finale is coming!" she cried, her voice rising above the noise.
"Let us see what breaks first, your body or your spirit!"
From the far edge of the dark forest, a shape appeared.
Another rejoined the fray.
Its outline blurred and shifted like smoke in the wind. The giant reached for its pipe. The hot coal at its tip was no longer a warm glow but a hateful red. It painted the misty battlefield in shades of blood.
As the giant's fingers closed around the pipe, the world seemed to twist.
The pipe writhed. It changed. Grew longer and sprouted sharp spikes.
It transformed into a colossal club. Each spike glowed with a strange sharpness, promising pain.
The giant's landing shook the forest floor like an earthquake. It halted the wild attack on Leo. For a moment, everything was still. A single breath of silence before the storm.
The giant threw its head back, and a roar erupted from its throat, a sound so immense it felt like the forest itself was being torn in two.
The club came down like a collapsing castle.
Each hit created shockwaves that moved through the ground. Again and again, the giant struck. Its moves grew wilder. The air filled with a sharp smell and the scent of crushed stone, broken by its deep, hateful shouts.
But something changed.
The giant suddenly stopped, its chest rising and falling. With an angry snarl, it threw the club aside. The weapon cut a deep line through the forest before vanishing into the dark.
"Not enough," the giant growled, its voice like grinding mountains.
"NOT ENOUGH!"
It pulled its huge arms back. Muscles tightened under its bark-like skin. The air squeezed around its enormous body. Then it let loose a storm of terrible blows.
Each punch carried the weight of an avalanche. The giant's fists became blurs of motion.
So fast. Endless.
The strikes made their own wind, a howling storm born of pure violence. It was deafening.
The ground below was nearly gone. It was crushed into dust that hung in the air like a cloth. Each new strike sent shockwaves out, snapping trees like twigs and cracking the earth. The sheer violence of the attack caused the black mist to dissipate, pulling back from the force.
The giant's attacks showed no sign of slowing, as if hundreds of years of anger were finally being let out.
Yet, through it all. Through every blow. Every hit.
A pair of Emerald eyes flickered in the dark, barely seen under the storm of attacks.
The Shadow Elder's own eyes narrowed. Her smooth movements stopped for a second. She felt something.
Impossible.
It was a ripple in the air, a cold that had nothing to do with winter, but the ice-cold dread of a raging sun.
The feeling was wrong. Like watching inverted rain, or being burnt by a freezing fire. It was the whisper of something ancient, something that should have been gone forever, and now it was about to be awakened.