Crucible Aeternum: Ascending through Skill Trees

It was a gigantic worm made of stone and Prisma. It seemed to have burrowed through the ground, tunneling through it from a distance away before appearing in Vaulkeen's End. This was the object of fear of the beasts. It was similar to how animals get agitated before a large strong earthquake hits, they could feel it coming and their survival instincts tell them to run away.

"What the hell is that thing?!"

One of the warriors shouted out in fear and panic, but he received no answers. After all, that was the exact same question that everyone present had. Just what exactly is this giant stone worm? They refused to believe that it was a beast as Prisma could not mutate a worm the size of a finger to become as gigantic as this thing.

Its stone body and the luminescent Prisma that lined its craggy exterior, however, was already an answer. This was indeed not a beast. This was one of the monstrous creatures that were born from Prisma itself.

No one knew what to call these things other than 'monsters'. That was because although they were fewer in number than the beasts, they were arguably more dangerous. It was not just a matter of size either as they could range from the size of a normal beast to something like this worm whose body still could not be fully seen as only a portion of it had exited the ground.

What was incredibly dangerous about these monsters were the Prisma that lined their bodies, jutting out like precious luminescent ore, but make no mistake. These were not merely decorations. These Prisma were the source of their power, very much like how the giant worm was about to show them.

As it burst out of the ground and into the sky, the giant worm cried out with a noise so horrendous that it nearly made those with weaker minds faint. It was a savage and guttural roar mixed with the cries of insects and the howls of dying beasts.

And as though sensing something, it turned what seemed to be its head with a giant pit of a mouth lined with several layers of sharp rocky teeth toward the direction of the humans, toward Galeon and Shine. And then, its body began lighting up like a Christmas tree.

A bluish light traced the outlines of veins throughout its body, working its way up from somewhere beneath the ground. When it reached what could be considered the neck of the giant worm, everyone could feel the danger from it as the light concentrated in its mouth.

Shine and Galeon moved instantly. They did not know how powerful this attack would be, but they could not afford to dodge it. Behind them was not just defense lines. Therion was also directly behind them. Should this attack be stronger than they expected, it might decimate the land reaching all the way to the city. And by then, it would be too late to regret.

"Shields up!"

Shine commanded, her voice thundering out throughout the battlefield and even reaching the defense lines of Therion a distance away. She swung her lance before descending to the ground just in time as the giant worm's attack was released.

A thick and dense beam of Prismana shot out of the monster's mouth. It carved a path through the stone ground of Vaulkeen's End as the giant worm swung its head upward to gain more reach, intent on destroying everything in front of it.

Shine's giant lance fixed itself on the ground as it began unfolding, turning into a giant shield bolstered by golden lightning and flames. But just from a glance at the sheer destruction the beam Prismana was already doing, she knew this would not be enough. Looking at the golden crystals floating around her, she came to a decision. This was the moment that Galeon had warned her about. It was time to give it everything she had.

There were a total of eighteen golden crystals floating around her, each the size of a fist. She beckoned for five of them to come to her, and as they came floating around her left hand, she clenched her fist. The golden crystals shattered all at the same time, the power contained within them bursting out as it formed something that barely anyone had seen before.

A giant figure of a female knight made of golden lightning and flames manifest around Shine. It was her, just a whole lot bigger. Its size could not compare to the giant worm, but it did not matter. This was not a competition. This was a matter of life and death. And the giant avatar swung its equally giant lance, their figures overlapping with Shine and her lance.

And just when the beam was about to hit her, a flash of white erupted from behind her. The beam hit her avatar and her shield, but it was not a direct hit as liquid light had surged out to create another layer of defense. And yet even with this, Shine was being pushed back, her feet skidding back on the stone ground and creating deep gouges on the earth.

The beam did not stop nor did it move. The giant worm seemed to have a sliver of intelligence as it recognised that if it did not kill the ones who managed to block its attack, then it would have problems. And so rather than continuing to swing its head upwards, it instead bore down on Shine.

The stalemate seemed to last hours, but it had really only been just a few seconds. And just when Shine was feeling the strain on her, warning her that she would no longer be able to keep up with the defense for long, Galeon's voice rang out behind her.

"I'll break this attack! I need you to find a way to keep this thing from moving after that! I'll try to distract it and buy you time, but you need to be quick! If it goes back underground, then we lose!"

Shine understood what he meant. If this giant worm really went back down under, then it could go anywhere it pleased and no one would be able to stop it. They cannot let that happen. It was already a great shock that such a thing existed in Corrin without any of them knowing. To let it roam free again would be the greatest sin to the world. And so Shine nodded in assent.

Galeon then began focusing, his mind tapping into something that he did not know whether to be afraid of or not. It was admittedly the thing that brought him closest to death that he ever had been all the while not even being aware of it. He tapped into Vibration.

Still in Second Step: Transformation, Galeon tried something he had not been deliberately or consciously doing— combining his abilities. He had been doing it using Prisma Core as an intermediary, but that was mostly because the suit covered his entire body so whatever ability he used would be transmitted through his suit. Besides, the Prisma Core felt like a part of his body which was true. Prisma Core was very much just like Light to him, both were a part of him.

And just as it was with Prisma Core, he used Light as the medium this time. The liquid light that surged out into another layer of defense in front of Shine suddenly pulsed. The swirling streams of liquid light that seemed to endlessly come out of Galeon began vibrating.

The combination of concentrated light and vibration was a terrifying thing as the Prismana beam of the giant worm that was previously pushing Shine back and even threatening to bury her underground had now met an equivalent force that was slowly pushing it back as well, breaking its momentum in full.

The rippling liquid light became like sharp current drilling through the Prismana beam. It started slowly as it built momentum, but soon, it was cutting through the giant worm's attack like a hot knife through butter. It was so clean and effortless that even Galeon was surprised.

Although he did spend a lot of life force on that attack, it was mainly to supply enough liquid light for it. The main power literally came from the liquid light itself and the vibration. True Damage, Galeon was once again reminded of how terrifying such a thing was. But he had no time to dally.

He shot forward, following his liquid light as he cut through the beam toward the giant worm. Shine finally heaved a sigh of relief, but she did not celebrate yet. She had a job to do and they were on a timer. Galeon would buy her time, but who knew how long they actually had before the monster decided to retreat.

Meanwhile, Galeon summoned more liquid light around him, sending them shooting out across the battlefield to surround the giant worm. He could not afford to fail here. So while the worm was distracted by its attack being pushed back, he muttered out.

"Third Step: Sublimation"