The monster’s hand rose, leaving a massive crater in the ice as Izel disappeared into it, vanishing from everyone’s sight.
Elliot gritted his teeth, his attention fixed on that crater, ready to teleport there and check on his companion’s condition.
But in the next moment, before he could even realize it, the monster’s tail reached his right side, lashing out at an insane speed.
In that brief instant, all he could do was teleport a short distance away, escaping the attack’s range.
The monster’s large eye stared at him as if it understood exactly what he had been about to do.
On the other side, Ellen glanced toward the crater for a moment before turning her attention back to the monster.
Dozens of blades flew through the air, rushing toward it and stabbing into its gray skin.
But the monster did not stand idle.
With a single swing of its enormous arm, it knocked dozens of blades away, causing them to slip from Ellen’s control for a moment before they flew off and embedded themselves in the ice.
Essence wrapped around the large arrow before it shot from the bow, reaching the monster in an instant and piercing its flesh.
Using his eyes, Kyle was able to notice the smallest details others could not see, such as the black veins that had begun appearing on its skin and even within the whites of its eye.
Meanwhile, the creature’s movements had slowed slightly and become stiffer.
It was proof that the poisons he kept injecting into its body were working.
’ How is this thing supposed to fall?’
Kyle thought as he kept moving and changing positions while firing arrow after arrow.
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t see how they would finish it.
Its body was indeed dripping blood with every movement, while small wounds covered it everywhere... some of them were even large.
Yet despite that, there was no sign that it would fall.
And the problem was that they had already lost one person... who knew what had happened to Izel? Otherwise, she would have returned by now.
The monster struck behind itself, targeting Leona, who jumped backward just in time.
On the other side, Caius, covered in blood, carved a large wound into its gray skin, leaving even more blood staining the ice.
At the same time, the monster’s hand descended upon that spot, but as if he had eyes everywhere, Essence exploded beneath Caius’s feet, propelling him backward at high speed and away from the attack.
Not a single person stopped attacking even for a moment, because doing so would give the monster enough time to remove the restraint on its mouth.
And none of them wanted that.
So they attacked and attacked with everything they had while blood flowed across the ice more than ever before.
But continuing like this meant fatigue... and fatigue meant a greater chance of making mistakes.
Thus, without Ellen realizing it, despite always trying to keep her distance, she suddenly found herself in front of the monster... or rather, it had appeared in front of her.
At the same time, its tail struck both Leona and Elliot, nearly hitting them had Elliot not teleported them away in time, while on the other side Caius dodged its arm as he fought his way closer.
But for Ellen, its enormous hand was already right before her.
Her eyes widened as she tried to retreat, fear appearing on her face.
Using her ability, she controlled the metal wrapped around her clothes and pushed herself backward while a layer of solid Essence formed on her right side, several blades standing there like a shield.
She wished she could avoid it...
But she couldn’t.
At least, not completely.
Pain spread through her right side as the world went silent and her hearing vanished for a moment.
Before she could understand anything, one of the monster’s fingers struck her, bypassing the blades and shattering the Essence layer before sending her flying away at tremendous speed.
She felt herself soaring through the air, completely out of control, while the pain from her right side overwhelmed her consciousness so much that she couldn’t think.
Whether it was her arm, her shoulder, or even her ribs, all of them had broken at the very least.
With the last remnants of her awareness, she controlled the metals on her body and slowed herself down before crashing into a towering block of ice.
Her body landed on the cold ground, devoid of strength, as she realized that a single strike had thrown her far away from the battle.
"AAAGH..." A painful groan escaped her lips.
She looked at her right side where she had received the blow... it hadn’t even been a full hit.
Her clothes there had exploded and vanished, while the bones of her arm protruded outward in a bloody mess.
At least her ribs hadn’t come out as well.
At the sight of it, a painful whimper escaped her mouth while tears gathered in her eyes against her will.
With what little strength remained, she tried to stand and return to the battle that still raged in the distance.
Elliot gritted his teeth as he watched Ellen trying to stand again while the monster became increasingly free before him.
He rushed forward, his sword plunging into its body before unleashing a powerful wave of lightning that surged through its insides, causing it to freeze for a moment.
At that instant, Caius was behind it, leaping before landing on its back.
Without hesitation, he charged forward and reached the back of its neck.
Without wasting a single moment, his glowing swords slashed toward the rear of the evil monster’s neck.
He saw and felt his enemy’s flesh tear apart before his blades reached something hard and slowed down.
In that moment, he felt his swords become lodged in the monster’s bones as he failed to sever its neck, while the creature broke free from the stun Elliot had inflicted.
Caius pushed harder, Essence surging violently as he tried to finish the cut even while feeling the monster’s hand moving toward him.
The blade sank deeper into the bones of its spine before he finally gave up and pulled both swords back.
"Damn it."
At that moment, he raised his swords before himself as a layer of solid Essence formed there, only for the enormous hand to slam into him with enough force to shatter his body.
Caius was sent flying away as he healed himself, repairing his broken bones and torn flesh before crashing into the icy ground and creating a small crater there.
But before the debris could even hit the ground, he was already charging again, his eyes fixed on the massive wound he had left on the evil monster’s neck.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Leona barely manage to evade the tail, only to be flung backward at high speed.
And there, between its limbs, was Kyle with his Essence-coated daggers after exhausting all of his arrows.
Elliot retreated and vanished from his position, avoiding another strike.
They were being pushed back.
And at that moment, it was almost free.
Thus, before their eyes, it raised its other hand and grabbed the curved steel forming the wings that bound its jaw, bending it further before tearing it away from over its mouth.
Blood sprayed everywhere and splattered onto the ice as the monster opened its mouth, revealing the bloody chaos within and the piece of steel still lodged inside it.
Its limbs were covered in wounds, its skin torn everywhere, while one of its eyes was gone and half of its white head had been burned black.
A massive wound tore across its chest, and another ripped through the lower part of its abdomen.
Black veins covered its body, which had become slower due to the poisons.
Nearly half of its neck had been severed.
Yet despite all of this, the evil monster had freed its mouth and opened it, letting blood pour onto the ground beneath it as it reclaimed its most important weapon... and the thing that set it apart from Rank 4 monsters.
Whether it was Leona, who had jumped back, or Ellen, who was trying to return to the fight, or even Izel, who had emerged from the tunnel with nearly broken legs—
All of them froze in place at the sight.
Kyle stepped back, shock written across his face, while Elliot gritted his teeth and poured most of his remaining Essence into a gigantic arc of light and lightning that formed before him and shot toward the monster in a final attack filled with despair.
But before the attack could reach it, a sound echoed through the area.
Not a loud roar...
Nor a cry filled with accumulated pain.
But a faint and calm sound that surpassed everything else and reached their ears in an instant.
And the moment it did, everyone stopped where they stood like a group of porcelain dolls.