The Anvil and the Flame
The monster growled, then leapt. Its gigantic body tore through the air with a cavernous breath. No more flames, no more shockwaves—this time, it relied solely on brute strength.
Keita was the first to react. He rolled to the side just as a massive fist crashed down where he had been standing a second earlier, pulverizing stone and sending up a cloud of dust.
"He hits like a mountain!" Tobias yelled, diving behind an overturned car wreck.
Kubira dashed to the monster's right flank. He jumped, arms extended, and fired a concentrated bolt of lightning at the beast's neck. The electricity cracked, briefly illuminating the dark, thick skin of the colossus.
But the effect was limited. The monster flinched, turned its head, then swiped the air with a massive arm.
Kubira was struck full force. His body flew like a ragdoll, slammed into a collapsed wall, and crumpled to the ground, unmoving.
"KUBIRA!" Keita screamed.
Kohaku appeared instantly. A portal opened beneath Kubira, teleporting him several meters away behind makeshift cover.
"I've got him!" she shouted, lifting him onto her back.
But she had no time to breathe. A cry of pain rang out behind her.
"AAH!"
It was Rhan. She had tried to distract the monster with a flash of light, but one of its enormous feet had swept her aside before she could react.
She tumbled several meters, unconscious.
Kohaku cursed under her breath, opened another portal, and vanished with both Rhan and Kubira, taking them to a side street out of reach.
Meanwhile, the others coordinated.
Ezra darted through the ruins, creating four clones of himself, each running in a different direction to confuse the beast. The monster elbowed one—an illusion. It turned, struck another—still an illusion.
"Tobias, now!" Ezra shouted.
Tobias raised his palm. Sharp metal shards flew at high speed, circling the monster's right arm, searching for a weak point.
But the beast countered without finesse. It slammed both arms into the ground with a roar, creating a shockwave that threw Tobias backward.
"He's too dense," Tobias groaned, spitting blood. "No clear opening."
Lima and Soojin worked together. Soojin increased gravity around the monster's left leg while Lima froze the ground to destabilize it.
The creature slipped briefly—just long enough for Ayra, returned from the dome, to leap in and trap one arm in rock.
"Now!" she cried.
Kwame inhaled deeply. He screamed with all the power he had, unleashing a sonic wave that rattled the monster's head.
The creature staggered, roared, then ripped free from the stone. A wisp of black smoke escaped its lips—proof the impact had hurt.
But it kept coming.
Keita had gotten closer, waiting. He dove under the beast's legs, struck its knee with all his strength. Nothing cracked—but the monster wavered slightly. It bent down to crush him.
A portal opened beneath Keita and reappeared above the monster's back—Kohaku again.
He didn't need brute force. He drove a metal rod scavenged from the rubble into the beast's neck. The metal sank slightly—enough to make the creature howl and thrash.
Keita jumped back just in time.
The team regrouped. Despite the exhaustion, the wounds—none of them backed down.
But their breaths were heavy. Muscles screamed.
Kwame clutched his paralyzed right arm. Tobias bled from his mouth. Ayra's legs were numb. Keita panted like a boxer in the 12th round.
The monster bled too. Slowly. Violet veins oozed where the rod had pierced it.
But it still stood.
The ground trembled again with the monster's steps. Its ragged breathing made the broken windows vibrate. Though it had lost some of its power thanks to Hiro, its raw strength remained titanic, each charge leveling everything in its path.
Keita staggered back, wiping blood from his forehead. He scanned the battlefield. Everyone was tired. Breaths shallow, arms trembling—and yet, no one fled.
"It's not going down on its own…" Tobias growled, disintegrating a chunk of rock flying toward Keita with his hand.
But the effort cost him. His left arm faltered. A violent cough shook him.
"Tobias!" Lima shouted. "Get back!"
"Too late," he rasped.
The monster suddenly pivoted, its deformed eyes locking on Tobias. In a monstrous bound, it slammed both arms into the ground. The shockwave shook the entire street. Tobias was flung into a broken wall, slamming hard into the stone.
Silence. Then a groan.
"He's breathing!" Keita yelled.
But Tobias didn't rise.
Soojin tried to reach him, but a monstrous roar forced her back. Kwame immediately stepped in front of her.
"YOU WANNA PLAY?!" he shouted.
He inhaled deeply and screamed. A sound so powerful it made the air visibly tremble. The monster recoiled, took a staggering step back.
But as the scream ended, Kwame dropped to one knee, then the other. He clutched his throat, veins in his neck bulging.
"Kwame!" Ezra called.
"No more breath…" he managed. "Too much…"
The monster wasted no time. It lunged at Kwame, fist raised to crush him.
Ayra burst in. She raised her arms, summoned a stone pillar.
"Don't touch him!" she screamed.
But the beast struck. The pillar exploded, flinging both Ayra and Kwame.
Their bodies rolled in the dust. Kwame passed out instantly. Ayra tried to stand… once, twice, then collapsed, her arm limp.
Only five remained.
Keita, Kohaku, Ezra, Lima, and Soojin.
Ezra activated his clones—three illusions running in circles. The monster, disoriented, struck empty air.
Soojin took the opportunity to weigh down its right leg. The ground cracked beneath the force, freezing it in place.
Lima followed, freezing the other leg in a glossy sheen of ice.
"Now!" Keita yelled.
He sprinted, dodged a side swing, climbed over debris, then leapt onto the creature's shoulder. He raised a makeshift knife—a rusted metal rod—and drove it into the joint.
The monster screamed. It thrashed, and Keita was thrown, but a portal opened just in time—Kohaku again.
He reappeared behind her, panting.
"Thanks…"
"You're welcome…" she exhaled.
She looked at the monster. Violet blood poured again. Wounded. Not dead, not slowed—but wounded.
Kohaku gritted her teeth. She pulled out two short blades hidden in her pants.
"I'm marking that thing too."
She opened a portal above the monster, jumped, and landed directly on its back.
"FOR KWAME, FOR THE OTHERS!"
Her blades flashed. She stabbed one behind its deformed eye, the other in its upper back. The beast roared.
Then she vanished through a new portal just before being swatted away.
Keita and the others regrouped. The ground shook. The monster breathed faster. Its veins pulsed harder.
It was furious.
And they were still standing.
Silence no longer existed. The ground quivered like a stretched wire, the walls groaned with each step. The monster's massive arms, carved from nightmare flesh, thrashed with wild, erratic force.
Only five remained.
Keita, Kohaku, Ezra, Soojin, and Lima.
And none of them knew how many seconds they had left.
"He's going to strike again," Keita whispered.
No sooner had he spoken than the monster leapt toward them, fists raised like meteors. It slammed the ground. A shockwave tore through the street. Debris flew everywhere.
Ezra created three clones—too late.
A giant hand crushed one, then another—illusion or not, the beast knew its real enemies were still there.
"He's learning," Ezra grunted, retreating, breath ragged.
Keita ran in zigzags, slid through ruins, climbed a crushed container, and leapt, metal rod in hand. He aimed at the monster's wounded shoulder and struck.
The rod barely pierced.
The giant roared, turned its head, and swatted Keita away.
The boy flew several meters, hit a charred trunk, coughed blood, but rose, shaking.
"Still alive…" he muttered.
Kohaku appeared behind him, supporting him.
"Got anything left?"
"Some… if you open a portal at the right time."
"I'm ready."
Lima raised her arms, fingers blue with cold. She summoned spikes of ice under the monster's feet, aiming for tendons. The shards burst, slashing flesh, making it roar.
"Now, Soojin!" she shouted.
Soojin focused her power. The monster's left arm grew heavy. It tried to strike but faltered under its own weight.
Ezra, eyes red with fatigue, cried out:
"Keita! Get high!"
A portal opened above the beast.
Keita jumped without hesitation.
He reappeared in midair, knees tucked, and slammed a bloodstained metal pipe onto the monster's skull.
A hit. A groan. The monster stepped back—just one.
Keita landed poorly, his ankle buckled, and he rolled.
The giant, hurt but enraged, roared again. Its breath melted the ice at its feet. Its left arm regained mobility.
It charged straight at Soojin.
"No!" Ezra shouted.
He created two clones to distract. But the monster struck anyway. The blow hit Soojin squarely.
She flew, crashed into a wrecked car, and fell motionless.
"SOOJIN!" Lima screamed.
She ran to her, dodging rubble. She touched her shoulder. She was breathing—faintly—but alive.
"She's unconscious!" she cried.
"We have to get her out!" said Kohaku.
But Kohaku didn't move. She was frozen, eyes locked on the monster. Her breath trembled. Her WIND flickered.
"Kohaku?" Keita asked.
She didn't answer.
Then, slowly, she drew her short blades. Her hand bled, but her grip stayed firm.
"I've had enough," she whispered. "That's it."
She opened a portal. Then another. A third. She chained them until she appeared right behind the monster's head.
It turned, surprised. Too late.
Kohaku drove one blade into the upper neck, the other at the skull's base. She pushed with all her might, screaming in rage.
The monster howled. Violet blood gushed, more than ever. It thrashed. Kohaku was thrown off, rolled, but stood again, panting.
The monster staggered. For the first time, it dropped to one knee.
Not defeated. But marked.
Badly.
Keita, Ezra, and Lima joined Kohaku, forming a circle.
"This might be our chance," Keita panted.
"Or its transformation," Ezra murmured.
The monster raised its head.
Its deformed eye pulsed. Its flesh seemed to boil.
They didn't know what it was about to do.
But they knew one thing:
The next blow... could be the last.