The eleven Grandmasters who had rushed toward the horned giant did not charge blindly. Their movements were sharp and precise, the kind that only came from fighters who had survived battles like this before.
They knew what they were facing. I could see the grim set of their jaws, the steadiness in their eyes. These were not rookies charging to their deaths.
Four of them stayed back, spreading out in a wide arc. Their weapons vanished as they clasped their hands together, Essence swirling into shapes larger than their own bodies. In moments, massive bows formed from pure light and flame.
Heat rippled in the air as fire law churned within the strings, and then like thunder splitting the sky, three colossal arrows flared into existence. They shone like suns, ready to be loosed.
Meanwhile, four others came together just in front of them.
Their auras flared at once, a wall of radiant force gathering around them.
Essence rippled outward like a tidal wave, crashing against the creeping deathmist that sought to swallow everything.
I felt the air vibrate as their combined will forced the black smoke back, thinning it just enough to carve out a clean battlefield for the others.
The last three Grandmasters rushed straight in, their weapons raised high. Their skills ignited the world around them.
One condensed ice into a massive spear that glittered like crystal death, hurling it straight for the giant’s head.
Another rooted himself to the ground, summoning wood law as sharp, thorned branches erupted upward, curling into a trap that sought to snare its legs.
The third swung his sword, a slash so sharp it ripped the air itself, aiming for the creature’s thick neck.
The coordination was perfect. First came the Essence wave, crashing into the giant like a roaring flood, sweeping the deathmist aside as it struck.
The three arrows followed, their blazing trails cutting across the red sky.
And then, right behind, came the three finishing strikes, ice, wood, and steel.
The giant finally moved.
It lifted its massive hand, and the deathmist churned violently around its arm. The smoke gathered, condensed, and then shaped itself into a massive fist that mirrored its own.
When the Phantom punched forward, the air cracked with a sound like breaking stone, and the deathmist fist surged outward to meet the combined assault.
The wave of Essence hit first, crashing into the black construct. The air screamed as Essence and Deathmist fought in open war.
The deathmist fist shuddered, its edges fraying, but it did not break.
Then the arrows slammed into it, each one carrying the fury of the Grandmasters who loosed them.
The first shattered instantly, the second followed, but the third struck true, punching straight through the weakened construct and breaking it apart in a burst of black smoke.
That last arrow did not stop. It pierced the Phantom’s shoulder as the other three skills landed.
The ice spear slammed into the side of its head, exploding into shards of frozen law. The wooden branches erupted around its legs, constricting and stabbing deep into the joints of its armor.
And the sword slash crashed against its neck, sparks and black mist bursting out on impact.
The giant staggered. For the first time since it stepped out of the portal, it actually faltered. Its towering frame swayed, then it was hurled backward, crashing to the ground with an impact that shook the battlefield. The earth split and dust plumed high into the sky.
One of them raised his sword high, his voice ringing out over the battlefield. "Come on, do not falter. We can do this!"
The words cut through the tension, igniting something in those around him. Their auras flared brighter, the battlefield lit by Essence that pushed back against the suffocating dark. Hope flickered for a moment.
"Yes, you can do this," the giant rumbled, its voice rolling like thunder across the ground, "but only if you come at me together. What happens... when I don’t allow that?"
BOOM!
A sonic boom split the air.
The ground cracked open as the giant’s massive frame vanished, reappearing behind one of the Grandmasters who had summoned the fire bows.
The man’s eyes widened in shock, but he had no chance to respond. The giant’s enormous fist, wrapped in violently churning deathmist, was already descending toward his head.
The other Grandmasters roared and charged, launching defensive skills and desperate counterstrikes, but they were too late.
The giant was too fast.
Its fist, many times larger than the man’s entire body, came crashing down with the weight of a mountain.
BOOM!
The Grandmaster’s body shot from the sky like a broken meteor and smashed into the earth. Dust, rubble, and shockwaves tore outward, rattling the air as I stared in horror.
Another boom followed. The other coordinated attacks slammed into the giant, but it simply absorbed the force, its armored frame tanking the blows as if they were nothing.
Then, in the blink of an eye, it vanished again, reappearing in the crater where the fallen Grandmaster lay buried beneath the rubble.
My heart lurched as I saw it raise its massive leg. The deathmist churned and gathered beneath its foot, shaping into a swirling, compressed ball of black haze.
With a sickening finality, the giant stomped down, driving that deathmist orb into the broken body.
The explosion shook the ground.
The pursuing Grandmasters froze. Their eyes locked on the giant’s massive foot as the dust began to settle.
Slowly, it lifted its leg.
What remained beneath was no longer a man. The Grandmaster’s body was mangled beyond recognition, half of it shredded and twisted into a grotesque mess, the other half unrecognizable, almost melted by the mist’s corruption. He was gone.
The giant bent down. Its clawed hand reached into the rubble, plucking up what was left. With a deliberate, monstrous calm, it shoved its hand into the corpse.
The deathmist surged like liquid, flooding through veins, muscles, and bones. In an instant, the flesh dissolved into nothing but black haze, which then poured back into the giant’s body.
The towering Phantom shuddered as if savoring the energy, its red line glowing brighter. Then its guttural voice rumbled out across the battlefield, heavy with satisfaction.
"Delicious."