Antaeus chuckled and the room rumbled with his voice.
Veronica, Jax, Sophia, and the other players stared at the giant with shocked expressions. With a bunch of players left, most of which weren't as skilled as Victor or as tactical as Nico, how were they supposed to land a hit on the god?
Veronica gathered her mana anxiously and coated her entire body with a blue aura, turning her back into a phantom.
At the same time, she could hear the Earth speaking to her, along with the walls and the ocean water the walls kept hidden away.
Much to her surprise, she could still hear the World Serpent, Jörmungandr, as well, as he taunted her knowing that she could feel his presence.
Veronica shook her body and focused before taking off into the air and drifting towards Antaeus.
Antaeus then swatted the back of his hand towards Veronica, but it simply phased through her.
When she saw an opportunity, she possessed Antaeus and took control of his entire body. Then, she slammed herself against the wall and landed a gut punch to her stomach, causing injury to the statue.
Antaeus laughed loudly and vibrated himself, causing Veronica to shoot out of him as she floated in the air.
"Hahahaha! It appears we have another clever mortal amongst us! You pass!" Antaeus exclaimed as his hand turned ghostly pale and trapped Veronica, who screamed as she wasn't expecting to get caught.
The giant then opened his palm once more and a bubble appeared around Veronica, trapping her and floating next to Nico and Victor's bubble.
"See? That was easy," said Nico.
"Except it wasn't... Jörmungandr is a mean monster..." Veronica admitted as she shook and fell to get knees.
"These three mortals may gain the favour of my father and uncle, but the rest of you are not as significant as they are," Antaeus taunted as he glared at the remaining 12 players.
One player gathered his mana and coated his entire body in steel. He then charged towards the giant, who threw a punch and caused a bunch of smoke to cover the area.
When Antaeus lifted his fist, he couldn't see the player, who had miraculously appeared behind him and kicked his left calf, lowering him to one knee.
"You're gone!" the player exclaimed as he jumped high and threw a punch, only for Antaeus to flex his back and blow a gust of wind at the player.
The player flew and hit his back on the wall.
Before he could slide down onto the ground, Antaeus forcefully placed his palm onto the wall and scraped his hand, wiping off the blood on his head.
{ Tusk45 has been slain! }
"I forgot to mention... No player may use the same technique that was used by those who have passed," Antaeus explained as his eyes began glowing white.
"Show me, mortals, that you too can adapt to anything the world throws at you!" he added with a wide and crazed smile.
Sophia gritted her teeth and glared at Antaeus. 'A giant like him shouldn't be this agile, but he is. I blame Nico for this...'
'Because he moved so swiftly, Antaeus adapted to his movements and made sure that we either matched his speed or surpassed it. But, that also means we can't attack him from behind...' she concluded.
"Guess I'll have to use that move. Although, I was hoping not to use such a crude technique," she admitted as she stretched her arms and legs.
"See you on the other side, Jax."
"Huh?" Jax was puzzled.
Sophia took a deep breath and stepped forward. She then slowly raised her right arm while her eyes went from blue to pink very quickly.
Then, an ethereal purple appeared beneath her feet, swirling around her like a dark cloud of cumulonimbus clouds.
Runes gracefully danced and whipped around her as she gathered her energy. Then, dark tendrils rose from the shadows and quickly wrapped themselves around Antaeus before he could react.
"These feeble vines won't hold me, demon!" he boasted with a proud grin.
Sophia smirked and faced her left palm right side up, forcing Antaeus off the ground. Then, the giant felt his energy being siphoned away.
"Eclipsing Embrace," Sophia chanted her she swiftly lowered both her arms.
Within a split second, the dark tendrils wrapped around the giant poked through his tough skin and detonated, creating a massive explosion that sent away even the floating bubbles the other players were trapped in.
As the smoke cleared out, Antaeus laughed once again as he rose from the ashes, his body piercing itself back together.
"You pass, demon!" he declared as Sophia was suddenly trapped in a bubble without being touched.
She then appeared next to the other players and took deep and heavy breaths.
"You had an attack like that hidden this entire time? That has to be at least rank A if not S," said Victor.
"Yeah well, it drains the shit out of me, so excuse me if I don't feel like using it," Sophia retorted. "It's also very degrading..."
"Even so, it worked. Now, no one else will be able to use a similar spell," said Nico. "But, I doubt that we don't have any awakened people here. So, everything should be fine."
Right after he said that, Jax was crushed brutally beneath Antaeus's feet. When the giant lifted his foot to check, there was only a smudge of blood and intestines left, along with a few visible bones.
Nico and the other players watched quietly as they looked at the lad's dead body, Veronica's heartbreaking as she had grown strangely close to him.
{ Jax_Sun has been slain! }
Victor furrowed his brows and punched his bubble in frustration, while Nico and Sophia simply continued to watch the other players fight for their lives.
Amongst those other players, one stood out to Nico. She had long, black hair and dark purple eyes. And, her technique was strange, to say the least.
She kept summoning swords that only managed to bounce off Antaeus's skin. But, over and over, she continued to summon them and they started getting stuck on the giant's skin.
Antaeus then charged for the girl and kept throwing a barrage of attacks, only for her to summon a massive sword and use it to block the attacks.
She wielded the blade effortlessly and had a tired expression on her face as she did. Then, Antaeus gritted his teeth and grabbed it, throwing it behind him.
"I thought I had sealed away your access to your weapons. How are you able to create more, mortal?" he asked curiously.
"Oh, that's because those aren't weapons," Nara responded as she snapped her fingers.
The swords then turned into dolls, revealing their true form. While they were stuck on Antaeus's skin, they began devouring it.
Antaeus attempted to swat them away, but they only began multiplying the more he struggled. Eventually, his entire body was covered in small puppets that kept gnawing at his skin.
Then, he fell to the ground and refused to laugh.
"You... pass..." he admitted as he snapped his fingers, forcing Nara into her bubble.
'Nara... She's been quiet all this time, but she's a ghoul that can manipulate shadows and create illusions,' Nico began explaining.
'She can also turn anything into a shadow, which can also change shape. What she was throwing at Antaeus wasn't a bunch of swords, but rocks she manipulated onto shadows, changing their form not only once, but twice and even three times when they turned into puppets.'
'She has an incredible power that allows her to adapt to anything...'
Nara looked at Veronica and smiled softly. "I couldn't get a good look at you before, but you're quite the cutie," she said.
"Uh... Thank you...?" Veronica responded in confusion, unsure of how she should respond.
"Nara, with that ability, you would've been able to seal off the water falling from the ceiling in the Tidal Clockwork Chamber. Why didn't you?" Nico inquired.
Nara smirked and shrugged. "It's more fun to make others work. Besides, my brain capacity can only handle so much. Man, I want a pack of chips..."
'A ghoul with a shadow affinity... That's awesome...' Nico said to himself.
As they continued to watch the giant attack, everyone, the fight concluded 18 seconds after Nara joined Nico and the others.
{ Antaeus has chosen his people!
5/15 players have proved themselves to be worthy of the next phase!
-Reward: Instant Heal }
"Congratulations, mortals. As capable fighters, I, the son of Poseidon, shall commend you for your adaptability! Continue to fight on as the storm arises!" Antaeus said as he stood back on his platform and returned to stone.
When he did, another statue began moving. It had a spear at hand and was topless with bulging muscles. The statue then stood in front of the battlefield and plunged the end of his spear onto the ground, forcing the bubbles to float to the ground and pop.
"Now, let's test your ability to think, weaklings," the statue said as his eyes glowed white.