The nightmare suddenly lunged forward, dragging the grotesque whip behind it
Its endless body scraped across the ground as countless arms pulled it forward
Then the whip swung
The three immediately scattered to avoid the attack
The mass of pale arms slammed into the earth where they had stood moments ago
The nightmare didn't stop; twisted its body and swung again, trying to hit Rikka this time
"Tch…" Rikka leapt backward
But suddenly
One of the hands at the very end of the whip moved on its own and grabbed Rikka's leg
"What!?"
The nightmare pulled Rikka with the whip and smashed him on the ground
BAM!
Rikka's body slammed violently into the ground
"Rikka" Erin shouted
The nightmare immediately redirected its attack toward her
"Earth wall"
The ground trembled, a stone wall burst upward just before the whip crashed into it
At the same moment
Auel vanished and appeared directly in front of the nightmare face
Thrust!
His blade shot toward its head
But once more, the nightmare reacted instantly, several hands rose to shield its face
Then the arm-whip twisted toward Auel, fingers stretching to grab him
Auel pulled his blade and jumped to the side
That thing always protected its face… It must be the weak point
The nightmare swung its whip toward Auel
Auel took a deep breath, slowly sheathed his blade
The moment the attack reached him, he disappeared
Then reappeared right in front of the nightmare again
He pulled his blade
Slash!
An upward slash right on the face
At the same time, the delayed strike erupted behind him, severing the whip into countless pieces
The nightmare screeched, and pulled its body away from him
"Bind"
Multiple golden light appeared around the nightmare body and then bind it down, locked its movement
On the other hand, Rikka was already moving
His blazing sword carved through the air
Slash! Slash! Slash!
A storm of attacks tore through the nightmare's body, severing arm after arm
The creature writhed violently and broke the bind spell
That was not enough, Auel dashed forward, a finishing blow on the neck
The nightmare quickly regenerated two of its hands
The nightmare grabbed one of them and ripped it off
But not from the shoulder, from the elbow
Bone stretched from the torn limb, a long, jagged blade formed from its own arm
It created a sword from its own hand and deflected Auel's attack
"What!?" Auel shocked
Then the nightmare thrust forward with an insane speed
Auel couldn't dodge right in time, the bone blade pierced across his chest
Blood splashed
Luckly it was not deep
Auel immediately retreated while clutching his chest
The three regroup and Erin hurriedly healed Auel's wound
"What the hell was that, that creature can make a sword from its own limbs?" Rikka said
"I don't know" Auel muttered "but let's focus on to cut that creature's head"
The three kept staring at the nightmare, while it slowly walked back
Its body trembled as severed limbs regenerated one after another
But the wound on its face kept remain, it could regenerate it
Then the nightmare pulled another hand creating sword from it
Again… and again
Six hands now held a sword from its own limbs
"Hey, got any idea?" Rikka asked quietly
"Yeah…" Auel answered as he stood back up "Follow my lead"
The nightmare pulled its body forward towards them
Auel and Rikka ran into opposites way, flanking the creature
"Incinerate"
Flame burst from Erin's staff
The nightmare didn't disperse it, instead it dodged the flame
Yeah, I'm right… It can only disperse magic using its main hands
The nightmare changed the direction to Auel
Two bone blades thrusted toward him
Auel dodge them, and drew his blade
Slash!
The nightmare blocked it with its blade and thrust another blade toward his throat
Auel immediately sheathed his sword and vanished
He reappeared on the side and the delayed attack came, cut two of its arms cleanly
The nightmare immediately retaliated with another series of thrusts
But Rikka intercepted them
His burning blade tore through the attacking arms while driving the creature backward
A flash of lightning erupted from Erin's staff
The nightmare couldn't dodge it, instead it dropped one of its blades and dispersed the lightning using its hand
Rikka didn't stop; he kept moving forward
A thrust right on the face
The nightmare twisted its body, the attack missed the face
But tore straight through its torso
He didn't want to waste opportunity and widened the wound with a brutal slash from front to back
The nightmare screeched, its body split apart
"Incinerate"
Flame burning once more
The nightmare tried to dispersed it
But then, Auel already vanished
He dashed forward and cut the dispersing arm away
The flames engulfed the creature once more
The nightmare screamed in agony
But this time Auel didn't stop there
He aimed the neck and strike forward
The nightmare raised his last main hand
Its lips moved
"Light… Bullet"
Flash!
In a split second Auel got shot on his stomach
Auel's body jerked violently
His movement stopped
"Auel" Erin immediately ran toward him
A small hole appeared in his stomach
Blood spilled through his fingers as he instinctively covered the wound
Erin gave him a healing potion and healed his wound
How… How come that creature could use magic?
The nightmare still burned from the flame, looking at what just happen, Rikka dashed forward and tried to cut its head
"Ea… Earth wall"
The ground raised creating a wall between them
Rikka stopped his attack and jumped back
Behind that wall the fire finally came off from the nightmare
But this time its body didn't burn away, its pale flesh looked denser, stronger
The nightmare created multiple blades again and then rushed forward Auel and Erin
Auel's hadn't fully recovered yet
Rikka dashed forward tried to lure the nightmare
He swung first, but immediately got block
Then the nightmare countered instantly
Again… again… and again
A relentless barrage of bone blades forced Rikka backward
Rikka couldn't dodge all that attacks
He got hit multiple time
Then the nightmare threw one of its blades toward him
Rikka dodged it easily, but then the hand grabbed him
Then the nightmare smashed him on the ground
BAM!... BAM!... BAM!
Then a blade descended for the killing strike
Luckily Rikka could cut the hand holding him and rolled away just in time
His body was destroyed, wounds covered his body
The nightmare regenerated instantly and rushed forward
But Rikka didn't scare, instead he tightened his grip, the flame on the blade became bigger
He launched multiple flame arcs toward the nightmare
The creature twisted through them while blocking the others with its blades
Then it lunged forward
Rikka took a deep breath and hold it
A thrust came toward him
He dodged the it and then strike forward
The nightmare deflected it and launched a counter attack
Rikka dodged it again and strike back
They kept attacking, dodging, and blocking each other attack
Then the nightmare pulled its arms and thrusted in the same time
He released his breath and took another big one
He sheathed his blade and slashed the air multiple times
When the attack almost made a contact, a delayed storm of cuts exploded around the nightmare
It cut all those hands and then Rikka thrust the face
Hit
Right on the nightmare face
The creature shrieked violently, tried to pulled the blade from its face
Rikka kept holding his blade tight, tried to finished it off with a final blow
But suddenly one of the nightmare severe hand trembled, it regenerated
But this time it was not a hand, it was a sharp bone spike
Before Rikka could do the final attack, the nightmare stabbed him right on the stomach
"Rikka!" Erin shouted
The spike pierced through his stomach
Rikka couldn't hold it and released his blade, his body dropped on the ground, while his hand covered the wound
The nightmare regenerated its severe hands and pulled out Rikka's blade from its face
Slowly its gaze moved toward Erin
A massive grin spread across its face
It opened its mouth, the lips moved
"E…"
But something was wrong, another voice
"Rin"
A female voice, but it was different from before this time its sound like an older woman
Erin froze
"Ma… Mama" She whispered
Auel's eyes widened
What? Did Erin just say Mama… impossible, that voice is clearly her voice
The nightmare formed more blades and rushed toward them
Auel stood up with his wounds still hadn't recovered
Erin couldn't move at all, his eyes shook with fear
Auel put his stance and dashed forward
The nightmare attacked immediately
Auel vanished and reappeared in front of the nightmare
He about to drew, but the nightmare thrust him using one of its blades
Auel didn't have a choice he jumped back, making the delayed attack wasted
While in the air, the nightmare threw one of its blades
Hit
The blade stabbed Auel on the left hand
Blood splashed
Erin couldn't move at all; he looked at Rikka on the ground while Auel almost got beaten right now
She tightened her grip on the staff, and then she whispered
The nightmare about to strike Auel again
But
A massive gust of wind suddenly exploded across the battlefield
The nightmare stopped and slowly turned its head toward Erin
That wind was coming from Erin, she was chanting
"Erin… what are you doing?" Auel warned, but pain interrupted him "Aghh… you're too exposed…"
But weirdly enough the nightmare didn't move at all
It was looking at Erin with a flat face
Erin kept whispering the incantation
Suddenly a weird mark slowly covered her body
"Here I am…"
The wind intensified, trees bent violently, the entire forest trembled
"Please accept this body as an offering…"
Suddenly a brilliant white light erupted in the center of the battlefield
"Please, heed my call…"
The light became unbearable, even the moonlight vanished before it
"…Gabriel"
At that moment
White feathers began falling from the sky, countless feathers, silent, pure
Then something emerged from the light
A massive sphere, beautiful
The wings wrapped around each other like a cocoon, slowly moving with divine elegance
Then
The wings slowly opened, layer after layer unfolded outward
Radiant light poured from within
Auel and Rikka could only stare in silence
Inside the sphere stood an angel
Long white hair flowed down its body like silver light
A magnificent white dress descended to the feet, while platinum armor protected parts of its form
The angel hands were raised up as if it was praying to the god
But its face, it was not a face, it was a mask, a mask from platinum
No expression, no humanity, only divinity
Its eyes remained closed
Yet the angel's mere presence overwhelmed the battlefield
The forest glowed beneath its light, the air itself felt holy
The angel slowly lowered its hand and turned toward the nightmare
Suddenly tear flowed from the angle's closed eyes, quietly falling through the light