The nightmare kept on moving from the shadow, emerging, crawling with it hands
Its grotesque body dragged itself across the forest floor using countless pale arms. Skin stretched tightly over thin bones, as if not a single drop of flesh existed beneath it
It moved slowly toward them
Eyes locked on them, the first two torsos hung unnaturally at the front, their arms dangling uselessly while the others carried the creature forward
The three still in shock with everything that just happens
They refused to move, goosebumps crawled across their body, their breathing became uneven
Then the nightmare stopped moving, slowly, its mouth opened
The three flinched at the same time
"W-what… what is that thing going to do now?" Rikka stuttered
"A…A…. A" A voice echoed from the nightmare, its lips barely moved, yet the sound still came from its mouth
But it was not the same with Sihr explained, it was gentle, soft, and almost comforting
A female voice
The three still couldn't move at all while the nightmare kept making that weird sound
"U… U… U"
Suddenly Auel realized something, that wasn't random noise, it was something familiar, a voice he could easily recognized
"U… U… el"
In a split seconds Auel dashed forward really quick
Then, a draw
Slash!
His blade swept upward toward the creature's face
But the nightmare bent its body backward with unnatural flexibility, avoiding the strike
One of its arms whipped toward him
Auel slipped past it
Another of its arms followed immediately
He jumped backward just before it grazed his chest
Then the front torsos lunged forward together, several hands reaching for him at once
Auel twisted aside, narrowly avoiding the grab
Rikka rushed in from the flank, flames erupting from his sword
Slash!
A downward slash descended toward the nightmare's head
The creature shifted sideways
Then its long body slid between Auel and Rikka, separating them instantly, now it faced Rikka while Auel stood behind it
Rikka answered with a swing, a blazing arc shot through the air
The nightmare dodged it
"AUEL" Rikka shouted
Auel partially unsheathed his blade and intercepted the flame arc, fire wrapping around his sword as he fully drew it
"Enhance Agility" he vanished forward
His flaming blade swept toward the arms supporting the nightmare from behind
But the creature pulled itself upward, narrowly evading the cut
Rikka also dashed forward and strike
Slash!
Two of its hands was cut, the nightmare lost balance for a moment
Auel stepped in again and cut through another arm before retreating
They cut the hands, but not a single blood dropped from the nightmares
The front half of the creature collapsed onto the ground, but the remaining arms quickly held the body up
Auel and Rikka jumped back at the same time
"Erin now" Auel shouted
"Incinerate"
A torrent of flames burst from Erin's staff like a blazing stream, a flamethrower
The nightmare slowly raised its right hand toward the flame
The instant the flames reached it, they scattered, dispersed into nothing
"What?" Rikka shocked
Then Erin stopped her magic, the nightmare was unharmed and slowly lifted its body
Then the severed limbs trembled violently, and then they burst out a new arm from the stumps, fully recovered
"Hey, what's happening?!" Rikka shouted "How did the flames disappear? And what's with that regeneration?"
"I don't know" Auel answered "Let's find the answer"
They dashed forward with their blade ignited
Auel strike first, his slash swept toward the creature's neck
Slash!
The nightmare bent backward again and countered with a swipe
Slash!
Rikka cut the hand before it could land on Auel
Auel instantly thrust toward the creature's face
Thrust!
The nightmare blocked it with the other hand
Auel pulled his blade
Together, he and Rikka attacked from opposite sides
Slash!
Two burning blades crossed toward the nightmare
But the creature lifted itself upward, avoiding both attacks with terrifying smoothness
Its arms slammed downward
Auel and Rikka jumped to the side
"Erin do it again" Auel shouted
"Incinerate"
Flames roared through the forest once more
The nightmare raised one of its hands towards the flames
Again, the fire dispersed before touching it
Auel swung, a flaming arc shot toward the creature
The nightmare raised another hand tried to dispersed the flame arc
But it was no use the flame arc could hit it completely
Its other hand got disturbed and Erin's flames finally struck
The nightmare screeched, its endless body writhed violently across the ground
The three grouped back
"I-is it worked?" Erin whispered
The nightmare kept on screaming; this time, the sound was different, a high-pitched, distorted scream tore through the forest
It kept wiggling until it collapsed, the nightmare fell down, its body fully turned into black charcoal
"It worked" Rikka let out a breath "damn, what was that, how can it block Erin's flame?"
"I don't know, but it must be spell disperse?" Auel explained
"Spell disperse, what is it?" Erin asked
"It basically a spell to disturb another spell"
"W-what, so it knows how to use magic?" Erin's voice trembled
"Maybe, I don't know" Auel said
Rikka looked at Auel
"But what about your flame arc, it also tried to disperse you arc too right?" Rikka asked
"My flame arc is not magic, it's a wind created by a fast blade, and the flame just followed this wind"
"Hmm… I see" Rikka muttered
"It's just crazy how this creature could have this grotesque physic and self-regeneration, and the worst part is the spell disperse"
"Come on, you're thinking a lot, look we beat that thing, we basically beat something as strong as a god, right? Now let's get back and tell Sihr we beat it"
But Auel's expression stayed dark
"But there is something on my mind, what the hell happen with the sky, it suddenly changed repeatedly"
"Oh yeah… hmmm… that's weird, Sihr never told us about this, let's get back to the hut quickly"
They turned away from the nightmare and walked back
Crack… Crack… Crack…
They hear something, bone cracking, a lot, a lot of them
They stopped their steps
The sounds came right from the nightmare body
The three slowly turned their head toward the nightmare
It's fully burned body lifted up, twitched, its charred skin split apart in half showing a pale skin under it
Pale flesh emerged from beneath the blackened surface.
"I-it… regenerate" Rikka stuttered
It didn't stop there the nightmare's head was trembling really hard
Suddenly the head fell, the front torso split open down the middle
From inside the torn body, another pale torso slowly crawled out, a fresh body, headless
The ripped flesh closed itself behind it
Then the new torso bent down, its hands picked up the fallen head, slowly it pressed the head onto its neck, the flesh connected instantly
The nightmare was fully fine, unharmed
The nightmare opened its mouth once again, but this time the lips moved
"Auel" a clear, soothing, beautiful female voice echoed through the forest
A wide, unnatural grin stretched across its face
The three could move a single after what they just saw, especially Auel after hearing that familiar voice
"Everyone runs" Auel shouted
They immediately turned and sprinted through the forest
Branches snapped beneath their feet
None of them dared look back.
But strangely, the nightmare never chased them
They kept on running through the forest, faster… faster
They were out of breath but still running
Until light appeared ahead
"That's it, that's the exit" Rikka shout
The moment they got out the forest, they froze,
It was the same place, the same open field
The nightmare was right in front of them, waiting with a big grin on its face
"H-how?" Erin trembled
"Erin" Auel shouted
"Incinerate"
Flames erupted toward the creature
The nightmare raised its arms dispersing the flame instantly
Auel immediately pulled the instant magic from his pocket and crushed it
A magic circle spread beneath their feet, growing brighter and wider
The nightmare raised another hand trying to disperse the teleportation
"Rikka your flame" Auel said
Rikka ignited and launched a flame arc, cut the nightmare hand
The light under them kept getting bigger and brighter
When the teleportation magic finished expanding, Erin stopped her magic, and the magic circle lighted up
But nothing happened, they were still there
"W-what?" Erin stared at the ground. "Why didn't it work?"
The nightmare laughed, A shrill, distorted laugh echoed through the clearing while its severed arm regenerated
"Hey, what just happened, I cut that creature's hand right, how come the magic got dispersed" Rikka questioned
"No…" Auel answered "the teleportation magic was succeeded, and the nightmare didn't disperse it too"
"So how come we still here"
"The only thing we ever investigate was that creature, but there still something we didn't know, this sky phenomenon"
"What are you talking about?"
"We've been running long enough and came back here, and now the teleportation magic is not working, that's only conclude one thing, we are trapped here"
"So, what are we going to know? We only have one teleportation magic, right?"
"I don't know, but for sure that creature is the answer"
They put their stance and lock their view on the nightmare
It was standing still with grin on its face
Suddenly the front most right hand grabbed its left arm and pulled it out
The three froze
It kept on holding the ripped arm and grew another one from the shoulder
Then the new hand hold to the severe arm and the get rip it too
Again and again, the nightmare continued ripping off its own arms, chaining them together as each hand tightly gripped the next
A long whip made entirely of pale arms formed before them
The three stunned at what just happened
The nightmare suddenly lunged forward, dragging the grotesque whip behind it