A monster with tan flesh pulled taut across its large frame, with any watching able to see its insides move as it does. Faces that would seem humanoid if not for the fact that they seemed to be sloughing off from the skin of the creature. The faces twisted in pain as their skin sags and their mouths eternally open in a quiet scream.
The body of the horrific entity had no eyes itself, instead it had a swirling mass of sharp teeth the size of daggers. The part of its body which was revealed was easily thirty five feet tall and forty feet wide with more of it seemingly hidden underground.
The very sight of it caused a chill to run down the two adepts' spines. The Veterans gathered on the other hand only shook their heads ruefully at the adepts, having witnessed monsters of a much worse variety at least once in their lives.
Charon saw the Beast, towering above those gathered on the bridge, as he couldn't help but think of the strange entities in his Afterlife. Stopping himself from getting distracted by his rampaging drive for knowledge, He gathered Astral Energy within his legs and arms.
Accentuated by a white glow, he moved at blinding speeds to land directly on the creature just at the edge of its swirling mouth. Using the intention to walk on it, his legs somehow were able to stay on the creature even as he was standing perfectly horizontal.
The Veterans gathered began throwing out various spells, even as they were confused about how he can stay standing on that creature without seemingly any purchase.
The adepts, Howard and Kathy, woke up from their stunned states. Howard began to convert a large amount of mana into undeath attuned mana while Kathy pulled out a bow which had been hanging on her back.
Charon looked at the creature, trying to guess where a weakness may be, as his instinct told him to look at the grotesque faces scattered across the monster's skin. He ran over to one of the nearby faces as he found an unknown orb inside the face's mouth.
Without hesitation, he willed his fists to change into Tiger Claws as metal plating covered them and his nails extended into long metal claws. He then pulled his arm back before jamming his hand claws first into the grotesque face's mouth.
He could feel his new claw appendages puncture the orb as a screech came from the abyss of teeth that was the monster's mouth. Having confirmed what his Inherent Ability had told him, he quickly began to run to the next face while opening his mouth.
"Aim for the mouths on the faces! It seems to be its weakness!" Charon's sentence was punctuated by another chilling screech as he stabbed another one of the faces in the mouth.
Having taken his advice, Kathy pulled back her bow as an arrow made entirely of fire appeared on the string. She aimed for another mouth further away from Charon before letting the arrow loose.
The arrow would have hit the mark if not for the Monster thrashing around, hitting the ground over and over so as to get Charon off. Deciding it was a good time to step in, Odysseus and Ramnis jumped down from the bridge as they drew their swords.
Enhancing their speeds with mana, whenever the worm dropped to the ground they would quickly enter its range before accurately stabbing as many mouths as they could before it rose again.
Hades had his ring turn into a meteor hammer, two metal balls the size of a fist connected by a long chain. Grabbing onto one of the ends of the meteor hammer, Hades slowly spun the other end in a circle next to him as he looked for a face to hit. Finding a good chance as the monster hit the ground again, Hades flicked his wrist as it was enhanced by Astral Energy.
Much like its namesake the meteor hammer launched towards one of the face's mouth causing a loud thud which was accentuated by another screech from the monster. Hades flicked his wrist backwards causing it to shoot back to him. He grabbed the end in his unoccupied hand before letting it fall only to start swinging it at his side again.
Aeacus had the green mana which was actually Life attuned Mana ready to heal any who needs it. He was currently enhancing his eyes with Astral Energy to increase his sight, allowing him to recognize any injuries almost immediately.
On the other hand, Howard was still gathering up his mana seemingly preparing for a big attack. A cloud of Undeath attuned Mana gathering above him, growing in intensity with every second the battle rages on. Howard had heard from Charon that many had likely died on this beach. As such he had a very simple thought.
'If those skeletons are still here and haven't been digested, what happens if I raise them inside that monster.'
Charon, during all this, kept running along the surface of the monster, calmly avoiding becoming a splatter upon the ground while destroying every orb in his path. He was actually grinning at the distraction this monster gave him.
He could tell that it would be quite easy for him and the other veterans to defeat but right now, he's pretty sure they all needed the distraction from the sense of loss. The other veterans also seemed to agree with him as they were also clearly holding back in this fight.
Seeing the cloud of mana floating above Howard, he chuckled at the serious face on the young adept before quickly using his enhanced leg strength to jump off the worm. The moment he landed on the beach, he tapped the shoulders of the two veterans and then pointed at the young adept. Having pointed him out to the veterans, he then crouched before jumping over the end of the bridge to land right behind Kathy who was at the very back.
Hades saw Charon's actions and looked back to see the cloud of Undeath Mana looming ominously over Howard. He quickly willed his meteor hammer to turn back into its ring form before leaping back to land beside Charon. He was followed by Aeacus and the two other veterans as they sat back to see what Howard was going to do.
Howard had finally gathered enough mana to perform what he wanted to right as he saw his chance. The monster had turned its mouth towards those gathered on the purple bridge as it let out a vicious roar seeping with pure rage. With pure willpower, Howard took the chance and launched it inside the monster. Waiting to see if he would be able to do what he wished to.
Perhaps it was due to some unknown combination, or rather something that those involved weren't entitled to know yet. But when the mana went inside the creature, something happened. Magic is not a science, and much like Astral Energy, intentions are key. Howards intention was simple when casting the spell.
'Bring back anything inside that monster to destroy it from the inside!' Those were Howard's thoughts as he cast that spell.
And so, the spell followed through.
The moment the Mana went inside the monster's mouth, the surroundings went utterly silent. The only noise was the sound of animals moving through the forest as the seven gathered watched on in curiosity at the results. The void of silence overtook the beach for a moment.
Then all hell broke loose, The faces on the monster began to move as their eyes looked over at those on the bridge. Their sagging skin jiggled as they all opened their mouths slowly, as if getting used to moving it again after a long time. Howards face went as pale as a piece of parchment as he watched on in disturbed curiosity at the result of his spell. The first voice was a whisper, but it carried with it the magnitude of an ocean.
"Please…" The voice carried pain, crackling like a dehydrated man stranded in the desert as one of the faces whispered before the others.
As if that single word was the trigger all the other faces began to speak as well. The only difference was that each plea was louder than the last, each chant growing in both desperation and strength.
"Save us. Save us! SAVE US, SAVE US! SAVE US SAVE US SAVE US SAVE US SAVE US SAVE US SAVE US SAVE US SAVE US SAVE US SAVE US SAVE US…"
At first, only Howard covered his ears. But as it grew louder with no sign of stopping, even Odysseus had to clap his hands over his ears to stop the screams. They both could feel blood trickling down their cheeks. Their hearing began to fail just before Aeacus blasted them with healing magic, having noticed their injured ears.
Right after this, it only grew worse however. The already taut skin of the monster pulling out as vaguely humanoid hands with bumps all over began to reach out as if begging for mercy. Those gathered began to pale as well at this image, with Charon deciding to end this monster once and for all.
A huge blade made of purple mana appeared above the monster as it screeched in pain. A blade which began to slowly pick up speed as it fell down upon the horrific monster.