The Yeti grinned, bearing its fangs as it leered gleefully at the group, like it was ecstatic just to be in the company of another living being.
And yet, Kai couldn't help but be horrified at the though that this beast wanted to consume them. It was already scary enough, but just knowing that it wanted to eat them whole made it even worse.
It was going to be a rough fight, Kai knew that much. Even when he fused with Umbra he would only be eight feet tall, which was less than half the size of the Yeti, and he still had no idea what level it was.
So, Kai mentally prepared himself for what he was about to see and activated Soul Sense.
Winter Titan
Level 175
Kai froze.
What the hell sort of level inflation was that?!
How the hell were they meant to beat something that was that level? That was 110 levels more than Kai was.
Kai swallowed, hesitantly summoning Esurient from his soul and gripping onto the Ruby blade somberly, trying to work out some sort of plan for the upcoming fight.
It wasn't exactly impossible. He had killed Ezekial and he was over level 175, but then again Kai had been benefitting from a huge upgrade and Ezekial had been massively underestimating him.
So, to put it bluntly...
The situation was not looking good.
What was just as bad were the Yeti's stats. It's soul was basically entirely made up of Strength and Constitution, with a little bit of Stamina and Mana thrown in as well. There was nearly no Will, Luck or Dexterity. The beast was just a hulking abomination that could probably one shot Kai if it landed a good blow.
How lovely.
But for some reason, the Yeti wasn't attacking just yet, like it was waiting for them to make the first move.
A moment later, its horrible and ear grating voice came out of its mouth as it spoke one single word.
"... Fight."
It was now that Kai realised what Frosty had meant when it said the beast in charge of the Third Trial had been starving for millions of years.
It really wasn't that the Yeti was starving for food.
No, it was starving for a good fight. The beast was a goddamn battle junkie.
Kai scowled, cursing his luck.
"Fine... fight."
Grinning madly as its eyes seemed to turn an even darker shade of black, the Yeti outstretched its hand, as if to grab onto something.
Then, the environment around it began to react.
The snow and ice on the floor of the arena began to fly up, condensing near the beast's hand as it slowly began pulling it back.
At the same time, the strange edges of its fur began to light up, it's body turning luminescent as the snow began to form something in its hand.
And Kai's eyes widened when he realised just what it was.
"Split up!"
He instantly fused with Umbra, his body growing in height, mass and fur as he let go of Esurient, letting the Ruby blade attack as its own aerial unit.
And while he done that, Cecilia cautiously shielded Petunia with her body as she stayed behind, also realising what the Yeti was doing.
It was opening with a goddamn super attack, creating a powerful spear of ice that it was just about to let loose and attempt to obliterate its target.
So Kai had to make sure that target was him.
...
What am I doing with my life?
Resisting the urge to sigh, Kai instead chose to grit his teeth as he dashed forward, activating every single one of his skills at the same time.
Aura of the Chaos Beast, Soul Inferno, Mana Surge on every inch of his body, with Ignition being the final skill to be activated, doubling every single one of his stats.
There was still a massive difference in strength between him and the Yeti, but at least it had closed ever so slightly.
What hadn't closed, however, was the distance between him and the Yeti. The arena was a lot larger than he had expected, so there was no way he would be able to reach the beast before it unleashed its attack.
And sadly, that's exactly what happened.
A thunderous roar made the ground shake as the Yeti's entire body lurched forward, moving its arm like a trebuchet. The thick and powerful spear of ice left its hand like a bullet shot from a gun, aimed directly at Kai.
Then, it was like the entire world exploded in sound. The noise after the attack was released made it seem like the sound barrier had been shattered. Kai's ears rung as the spear travelled right towards his face.
And there was no way he would be able to dodge it in time. He had forgotten that even though the Yeti itself did not have a lot of Dexterity, that didn't mean any items it threw couldn't travel incredibly fast.
But just as it was about to collide with Kai, the wind that had been warping around the spear pushed him slightly out of the way, knocking him off balance and making the attack just about miss.
As Kai stumbled to regain his footing, he heard a massive crash behind him as the spear hit against the outside of the arena, shattering and destroying a large chunk of the seating area with it.
Slowly steadying himself, Kai glanced back at the Yeti with wide eyes, wondering once more just how was he meant to beat this thing.
He then watched as the beast let out a disappointed huff at the missed attack. Then he watched in horror as it began to wind up another super attack.
That attack would not be allowed to be completed though, as a Ruby blade descended from the air above the Yeti, its tip aimed right at the beast's left eye.
Esurient dived like a falcon aiming for its prey, its body a weapon, figuratively and literally, that was going to damage the Yeti's eye.
Noticing the blade barrelling towards it, the Yeti growled and...
Blinked.
Esurient hit against the beast's eyelid, bouncing off it and being deflected another direction. They then instantly turned themselves around and tried to attack again, but it was no use.
The Yeti just swatted Esurient away, like a giant swatting a fly, because that's what the situation was.
It was David vs Goliath, except instead of having a slingshot, the David in this story had a flying sword.
And luckily, that flying sword managed to buy enough time for David to get close enough to attack.
Gritting his teeth, Kai roared as he swung at the Yeti's ankle, hoping to cut into its flesh deep enough to actually deal some sort of damage, but he had to hiss in pain when his claws practically bounced off the almost impenetrable flesh of the Yeti. It was like it wasn't even flesh, it was more like a solid stone or even a weak metal. Kai had no idea how his claws were meant to pierce it.
Even when he used Concise Claws to try and amplify the damage, to try and cut even the slightest bit into the Yeti's flesh, nothing changed.
Even when he adjusted the shape of his claws to make them even sharper, it had barely no effect.
Kai could not cut into the Yeti's flesh.
The situation was looking hopeless. If he couldn't damage the beast, how was he meant to win?
It obviously had some sort of weak spot, so he just had to find that.
Yeah... find and exploit its weak point. That plan would work, as long as he didn't get hit in the proc-
Yelping, Kai lunged to the side as the Yeti's foot shot forward, hitting the air where he had just been standing. He watched as its muscles throbbed, showcasing the immense power that was in the beast's legs.
He felt lucky that he hadn't been kicked, otherwise he might have been turned to paste.
Hopping around the Yeti's leg, Kai kept trying to slash at it, only to deal little to no damage at all. All he was doing was slowly infuriating the beast, which probably wouldn't be good in the long run.
At same time, Esurient kept trying to attack its eyes, only to be countered by the act of blinking.
Truly, a powerful counter.
In the corner of his eye, Kai caught a glimpse of Cecilia quickly weaving something, her hands working overtime as she was mumbling something to herself, desperately trying to pick up the pace.
All three of them were trying their hardest, but the fight just was not going well.
If the arena wasn't an arena but an actual large landscape of some sort, they would be able to run away and plan, but they just couldn't here.
And it's not like they had a lot of time either. Kai was working with a timer, he could only keep all of his skills active for so long before it became unsustainable and dangerous to him, and once that happened the group was as good as dead.
Unless...
Pausing his relentless slashes at the Yeti's ankle for a moment, Kai grinned darkly as an idea popped into his mind.
Maybe this idea would work.