The Music Speaks

I look back to the small woman lying down behind me. Her purple hair is disheveled, her complexion is pale and her overall state is terrible, with wounds everywhere on her body. Yet, despite all of that, when I look closer, I notice that a cheeky smirk tugs at the corner of her lip. I can’t help but scoff when I see it. Thanks to Zora, we were able to come up with a decent plan of action. Her rest is well deserved.

“Sylvia!!” I exclaim, now that the creature is restrained and momentarily unable to move.

Using my aegis as a platform, she jumps high into the air, with such force that she leaps well over the towering creature’s head.

“Alden!”

“On it!”

Once she’s reached her maximum altitude, right before the end of her momentum, I place my aegis above her. She flips, her feet now resting on its surface. Then, she channels a massive amount of pureflow toward her legs, and with an explosion of strength, she propels herself downward toward the beast. At a terrible speed, even further accentuated by gravity, her foot comes crashing down on its back.

The creature is strong, very strong, but Sylvia’s kicks were even able to move Sebastian FullCastle. If she’s serious, this creature can’t brush her off. And as I expected, the impact forces it to its knees, creating two large craters on the surface of the lake. Sylvia isn’t done, however. With another blow, this one a simple axe kick at the base of its skull, she forces it even closer to the ground, until it's at eye level with us.

“I’ll release its arms! It’s your turn now, Sophia!” Talyndra shouts, clear anxiety showing on her face.

If she had restrained it any longer, her tamed [echoed] would have been ripped apart.

Immediately, cold mist swirls, enveloping the beast. Before it can do anything with its now bladeless arms, solid ice, born from the air itself, forms around them and connects to the ground, akin to a set of chains. The creature is now on its knees, the massive serpent coiled around its torso, and two ice cages anchoring its arms to the ground

GROWLL

With animosity, the creature glares at the raven-haired woman and lets out a deep, furious growl.

Opposite to the intended effect, this only causes a grin to appear on Sophia’s face. “Oh? You‘re angry, aren’t you…Good!”

The beast had shown to be able to break through her ice quite easily, but she offered a simple fix. To hold it down, she will continuously form new ice around the regions that threaten to rupture or snap. Without rest, she will maintain its restraints until we kill it.

“I’ll hold onto you until you’re dead!” She says, a furious sneer on her face.

Once it's been effectively immobilized. Ivana springs forward. With an elegant leap, she lands on its neck, and places her hand on the exposed regions of its face. This part of the plan is the most crucial. Ivana, using her [melody], will read its mind and find its weakness. Everything else rests on her.

“This won’t take long, I promise!” She shouts as she begins rummaging through its mind.

The beast is struggling, trying to free itself, but we have no intention of allowing it to do so. Talyndra calls forth more of her summons, these ones not as powerful as the serpent, but still possessing enough strength to hold the creature’s legs down, preventing it from using the strength in its lower body.

My shield is spinning, flying at the creature from all angles. I aim for the gaps, my attacks won’t kill it, but they’ll cause pain. All we have to do is give Ivana enough time to find something we can use. As the beast is attacked from all sides, I find myself itching with impatience.

‘Come on… are you going to do it or not…?’

The moment we had been waiting for comes at last. It inhales, threatening to use its roar.

“I won’t let you!!” Sylvia exclaims, before rushing to its face and closing its mouth shut with her hands.

Pureflow courses through her arms, more than she’s ever had to make use of before. This thing’s jaws are powerful, but Sylvia holds on. As long as it can’t use its roar, it possesses no weapon that can harm us - at least I hope.

“Ivana!?” I shout, impatient, as I notice the creature is gaining ground on Sophia’s ice. Though she keeps on creating enough so that it can’t move, I can tell that slowly, she’s falling behind.

Ivana clenches her teeth, as she desperately holds onto its head to not fall off. “I-I think so…Just a few more seconds!”

Sylvia is still straining herself to hold its mouth shut, but even she is tiring. Its jaws contain unbelievable power within them, so much that Sylia’s freakish strength may not be able to hold them for much longer. Until now, I had been attacking from afar, using my shield, because I felt uneasy about leaving the defenseless Zora behind, but if I don’t help now, we’ll all die.

I promptly decide to run to Sylvia’s aid. Everything will fail if I allow it to open its mouth. As soon as I’m upon it, I press on its jaws to keep them shut, adding to Sylvia’s side of the struggle.

“I got it!” Ivana wears a hopeful smile. “This thing has five hearts… Two at the level of its lower abdomen, one in the middle of its chest, one at the base of its thigh, and one… in its head!”

A grunt escapes Sylvia’s mouth as she attempts a reply. “So then we destroy the hearts and it dies, correct?!”

“Yes!! But… that’s also where its armor is the thickest and hardest… maybe even tougher than the blades…!”

I clench my teeth. “We don’t have nearly enough time to crack the armor… and by now, it’s almost everywhere!”

A voice resonates from the rear. A man with blood-red eyes and long dark hair wears a mischievous smile. Beside him, another, large man with a bulging musculature has his hand on his shoulder. “Perhaps it’s hopeless from the outside, but what about the inside…!” Feyrin asks, an endless river of blood converging onto his melo-string.

I almost gasp as I look at the two arrows knocked on Feyrin’s instrument. At just a simple glance, I can tell that their hue exudes much more strength than the one he used against the Sandworm.

‘I..I see! Alex is helping him generate more blood with his [melody]..!!’Good thinking!

I lock eyes with Sylvia, and we nod, understanding what we have to do. I then look into the creature’s eyes, and a sneer forms on my face.

“Open wide!”

The beast is unnervingly quick. Surely a result of its warped intelligence, it seems to understand our intent. The struggle is reversed, instead of pushing, we pull, and the beast desperately attempts to keep its jaw shut.

“AHHH” I strain myself, almost tearing my muscles, but it doesn’t budge. Despite Sylvia’s help, its maw remains stubbornly sealed, refusing to give way. Ivana, her initial task now complete, jumps down to help. There are now three pairs of hands competing with the creature’s iron jaws.

‘It’s not even budging!!’

Its struggle had already been fierce, but now it attempts to free itself with twice the fervor. Its torso, legs, and arms, it desperately struggles to be free of all its restraints.

‘Open your mouth!!’

CRACK

Its right arm finally shatters the ice before Sophia can repair it- on my side of the struggle at that. Still, I cannot move. If I evade, I’ll let go of its mouth, and with its hand now free, it’ll get rid of Ivana and Sylvia with ease. My only choice is to be impaled by its claws, but to keep on struggling, never letting go.

With an arc, they slice through the air, full of lethal intent. But before its claws can reach me something, someone, stands in their way. I turn to my side, only to see Sophia standing between myself and certain death. She has put her body on the line. Its claws are digging through her stomach, but her smile does not wane.

“Did you think I’d let you do that…?” She whispers, her voice tight with pain. She lifts her gaze from her bleeding abdomen to lock eyes with the creature, a crazed grin decorating her lips. “I said I’d hold your arms until you die… and I intend to do just that!” She mutters as frost begins to spread from her hands into the creature's arm.

I’m awed by her resolve, but this is an endeavor that is doomed to fail. Her body won’t hold out long.

‘Sophia’s going to die at this rate! We need to open this thing’s mouth.’

I send my shield flying, hoping to inflict pain, to distract, to create a small lapse in its attention that will allow us to open its mouth, but to no avail. The beast has no intention of letting our strategy come to fruition. With everything it has, it struggles against us, inching closer to breaking free with every moment.

‘There’s no other choice then!’

I was hoping to avoid this, knowing the state it leaves my body in, but there’s no other option, everyone is putting everything on the line. I send my aegis to Talyndra who still has both of her hands free, well mostly, since she still uses them to control her tamed beasts. Still, I place it in front of her, and shout. “HIT IT HARD!”

She’s startled, but she listens to me and strikes my aegis.

‘Crescendo, quadruple amplitude!’

This one won’t be crude. I do not amplify my entire body, just the muscles I need. All it takes to open this creature’s mouth is the strength of my triceps, and thus I target both of them, my current limit for a perfect crescendo. As Talyndra’s strike causes my shield to resonate, the pureflow coursing through my triceps is amplified fourfold and I can feel them tearing under the pressure. With a cry, I pull, I pull like my life depends on it, because it does.

“AAAHHHH!!”

Both Sylvia and Ivana strain alongside me. “AHHHH!!!!”

Finally, its mouth cinches open, just enough to let a furious growl escape from the small opening.

“It needs to be wider. I can’t risk missing this.” Feyrin tells us, as strangely calm as ever.

The creature’s mouth, however, isn’t moving any more than this. We managed to move it ever so slightly, but it refuses to give us any more ground. Worse even, I can hear the ice holding onto its left arm splintering, the cracks failing to repair themselves. Sophia is reaching her limit, and there’s no one to stop it this time. Talyndra needs to keep an active control on the beasts holding onto its legs, and judging from the dimness of her soul, I doubt she has enough flow to even summon another creature.

‘Maybe with my shield? No, it’ll break before we open its mouth… maybe if I stop it myself? No, then its mouth will close again… what can we do??’

When despair creeps into my soul, a small, red-haired woman crawls out from the bushes surrounding the lake. Dragging herself across the dirt with her remaining arm, she lifts her head toward the battlefield.

“Camille??!” I yell, confused as to how she’s even moving.

With a weak wave of her fingers, a multitude of vines wrap themselves around the creature.

‘That won’t nearly be enough to stop it…!’

I soon realize that was not her intention, however. Her voice is pained and raspy, but with all she has, she shouts, for all to hear. “Ugo!!! BURNING FOREST!!”

‘Ugo?!’

Only silence follows Camille’s command. I look around me frantically, a flicker of hope dancing within me, but alas, nothing happens, no one answers the call.

‘Yeah.. Ugo’s-’

“Ugo!!! I sai-” She coughs up a smidge of blood, but takes no more than an instant to wipe it off. “Burning forest you arrogant bastard!! Naptime’s over!” She takes a deep, agonizing breath. “Wake up!!”

Suddenly, the leaves where Ugo fell rustle, and soon, they begin to shine. A ball of flames rises into the sky, illuminating the entirety of the lake, like a blazing, second sun. With a crackling roar, it hurls itself toward us, crashing on the creature’s back with an earth-shattering impact

As I glance at Ugo, I realize the pitiful state he’s in. A gashing wound at the front of his skull dyes his hair red, and blood flows to cover his face in its near entirety. “To think you’d be the one shouting orders….” He throws a glance at Camille, now collapsed, before shifting his attention to the creature. “You should have killed me when you had the chance!”

Ugo’s body heats up, it ignites! The flames dance in his eyes, in his very heart. I can sense it, he’s putting everything he has into this one attack.

“BURN!!”

In an explosion of flames, the creature’s entire body is subjected to immolating heat. The flames use Camille’s vines as fuel, and they burn even brighter, even stronger than they would have otherwise. Subjected to this torment, at last, the creature shows signs of pain, and why wouldn’t it? There’s no greater pain than burning. The fire invades every crack, every gap in its armor. There’s no escaping the flames once they’ve latched onto you.

‘I know that better than anyone.’

For a moment, just a moment, the creature falters, distracted by the searing pain. The beast relaxes its jaw, and we do not let that chance slip by.

“Together!!” Sylvia shouts.

In perfect sync, we force it wide open. It’s already attempting to snap it shut again, but it's too late.

“Reign of Blood!!”

Two crimson arrows fly into its mouth. They lodge themselves deep within its throat, disappearing from view. Feyrin then clenches his fist. “I just need to destroy its hearts, right!?”

“Yes!” Ivana replies.

A wicked grin appears on his lips. “Sanguine Ruin!”

It all happens in a moment. There’s nothing it can do. The creature convulses, blood spurts from its mouth, and with a final whimper, it goes limp.

We’ve won.