The Beast Lord didn't roar. It moved with a terrifying, liquid silence that was far more unnerving. As it stepped into the dim light of the ravine, the bone-plate covering its chest pulsed with a dull violet hue, absorbing the faint shimmer of Elian's silver light.
"Formation: Aegis!" Elian commanded, his voice cracking from the dry air.
The four warriors slammed their shoulders together, creating a wall of blue steel. The Beast Lord struck first, its elongated shadow-claws clashing against the halberds with a sound like grinding stones. The impact was so immense that the warriors were shoved back several feet, their boots carving deep furrows into the purple soil.
This wasn't like fighting the Hounds. The Beast Lord possessed a primitive, brutal intelligence. It ignored the warriors' counter-attacks, trusting its bone-plate to deflect the blows, and focused entirely on breaking their line.
With a sudden, explosive burst of speed, the beast lunged. One warrior swung his halberd in a wide arc, but the creature caught the shaft in its teeth and snapped the enchanted wood like a twig. With a sickening crunch, the beast's secondary claw pierced through the warrior's shoulder armor.
A spray of blue ether-blood hit the ground. The warrior fell back, his arm hanging uselessly.
"Hold the line!" Elian screamed, lunging forward with the Phase-Shard. He tried to activate Sovereign Manipulation again, aiming to lock the beast's joints. His vision blurred instantly, a sharp spike of pain stabbing through his brain. The beast slowed—its movement becoming sluggish as if moving through deep water—but the strain on Elian was catastrophic. Blood began to trickle from his nose.
The second warrior seized the opening, driving his blade into the beast's flank. The creature shrieked, a sound that vibrated in Elian's very teeth. In a fit of agony-driven rage, the Beast Lord spun its massive tail, a heavy club of bone and muscle. It caught the second warrior squarely in the ribs, sending him flying thirty feet across the ravine. He slammed into a rock wall and went still, his armor shattered.
Elian was down to two standing warriors. The Beast Lord was wounded, black ichor dripping from its side, but it was far from finished. It lowered its head, the bone-plates on its back standing up like jagged fins.
"It's going to charge," Elian realized, his heart drumming a frantic rhythm.
He knew his warriors couldn't take another direct hit. He had to use it. He had to use the power he didn't yet understand.
As the beast launched itself forward, a mountain of shadow and bone, Elian didn't retreat. He stepped into the path. He felt the 13-Star Sigil on his arm burn white-hot, the heat so intense he thought his skin would peel.
[Ultimate Elemental Genesis: Flash Freeze]
He didn't create a storm; he didn't have the capacity. Instead, he poured every ounce of his will into a single point on the ground directly beneath the beast's front paws. A patch of absolute-zero ice formed instantly. The Beast Lord, mid-charge, lost its footing. Its massive weight worked against it as it began to slide, its belly exposed, its violet eyes wide with animal panic.
"Now!" Elian roared.
The remaining two warriors didn't miss the chance. They drove their halberds into the beast's soft underbelly, pinning it to the frozen earth. The creature thrashed, its claws raking the air, inches from Elian's throat.
Elian stepped over the thrashing limbs, his vision tunneling until all he saw was the pulsing core of the beast's chest. He raised the Phase-Shard with both hands. The blade glowed with a frantic, hungry violet light, sensing the high-tier soul beneath it.
"Extraction," Elian whispered.
He plunged the blade through the bone-plate and into the beast's heart.
A shockwave of pure energy erupted from the point of contact. Elian felt a cold, torrential flood of power rush up the blade and into his arm. It felt like drinking liquid fire. Images flashed in his mind: the beast's memories, its hunger, the raw essence of the Shadow-Stalker's soul being shredded and woven into his own.
The Beast Lord gave one final, shuddering gasp before its body began to crumble into gray ash, leaving behind only the jagged bone-plates and a single, glowing purple heart-stone.
The silence that followed was absolute.
Elian's hands began to shake uncontrollably. He let go of the Phase-Shard, the weapon clattering against the stone. The adrenaline that had been propping him up vanished, replaced by a crushing, soul-deep exhaustion.
He fell to his knees, his palms hitting the cold, blood-stained dirt. He gasped for air, his lungs burning, his vision swimming with silver spots. He looked at his two fallen warriors—his first casualties—and then at his glowing arm. The Sigil was brighter now, fed by the stolen life of a Lord.
He had won his first territory, but as he stared into the dark depths of the ravine, he realized just how far he was from being the god he had imagined. He was just a boy with a stolen spark, shivering in the dark of a world that wanted him dead.