Neral looked at the beast, now more dangerous than ever before, catching his breath as he felt the weight of the unleashed energy. He struggled to regain control of the chaotic ether flowing through his body. Glancing at Arian and Eldar with worried eyes, he knew he had to act quickly before the situation spiraled into disaster.
"Eldar! Arian! We need to work together this time!" Neral shouted, stepping toward the beast that was now growling with increasing ferocity.
Eldar nodded silently, fully aware that the next confrontation would be decisive. He raised his sword, charging it with ether, making the blade glow with a cold, silver hue. Arian, despite her injury, stood up, gripping her spear, also infused with the ether she had been painstakingly gathering.
"We'll strike together, and we have to hit it at the right moment!" Neral said, preparing to charge again.
At the instant they decided to move, the beast lunged at them with incredible speed, faster than they had anticipated. Neral barely dodged its devastating strike, but the blow stirred up a massive cloud of dust around them. From behind the dust, Eldar surged forward with his glowing sword, slashing hard at the beast's side. The creature roared with growing fury, but the strike had a noticeable impact.
"Now!" Arian yelled, seizing the moment. She, too, rushed forward, thrusting her spear into the beast from the opposite side. The spear pierced through the creature's cracked skin, which had been weakened by Neral's earlier attack, causing the beast to stagger.
Yet the beast didn't surrender. Instead, it grew even more ferocious, its eyes glowing a deep purple, as though the dark energy coursing through it had completely taken over.
Neral, feeling the ether's increasing intensity within him, realized that the new power he had gained might be the only weapon capable of stopping the creature. "No other choice..." he muttered to himself, focusing what remained of his strength.
The aura of ether around him intensified, glowing into a pure blue, shimmering with prismatic colors. Neral raised his hand toward the beast, summoning every last bit of his energy. "I won't let you continue!" he shouted with determination.
A massive wave of energy surged toward the beast, creating a powerful explosion that shook the ground beneath them. The beast was torn apart into shards of dark energy, which dissipated into the air, leaving behind an eerie silence.
Neral collapsed to his knees, completely exhausted, but finally able to breathe. Eldar and Arian, despite their injuries, approached him, catching their breath as well. All three stared at the spot where the beast had stood moments before, hardly believing the battle was over.
"Is it... over?" Eldar asked, looking around, his eyes filled with astonishment.
Neral, barely able to speak, nodded, "Yes... but there's something deeper behind all this... something I've been sensing for a while."
Arian, wiping the blood from her forehead, spoke quietly, "We need to find out where this dark power is coming from... because we certainly haven't seen the last of these monsters."
In that moment, they all knew the real battle had yet to begin, and what they had faced was only the beginning.
Neral tried to stand on his feet with difficulty, his body completely exhausted after the battle, but his eyes still reflected determination. He realized that resting was not an option at this moment, and there were bigger secrets that needed to be uncovered. The ground around them was eerily quiet, as if nature itself was bracing for what was to come.
"We need to leave before more monsters arrive," Eldar said firmly, wiping the sweat from his brow. He looked at Neral and Arian, who could barely move. "We don't have time."
Arian was staring at the horizon with thoughtful eyes. "What could generate such dark power? This isn't just an ordinary beast."
Neral, who was struggling to catch his breath, muttered, "There's something bigger… I can feel it, like it's waiting for us."
At that moment, the three of them felt a slight tremor beneath their feet, as if the earth had begun to move once more. There was a faint sound in the distance, like mysterious whispers carried by the wind. "Do you hear that?" Neral said as he tried to focus on the sound.
Eldar placed his hand on his sword again, looking around in concern. "Yes… this isn't natural."
Before they could make a decision, a massive shadow appeared in the sky, slowly moving towards them. As they looked up, they realized it was no ordinary creature, but a giant beast, its wings covering half the sky, and its eyes glowing with a deep purple hue—the same color that had radiated from the beast they had just killed.
"This… this isn't good!" Arian shouted, gripping her spear tightly.
Neral knew that this battle would be much harder. But his body could barely stand, and his energy was drained after overusing the aether in the previous fight. He needed a plan, or an escape. But the options were limited.
"We have to run!" Eldar said firmly. "We're in no condition to fight that thing."
But Neral knew that running might not be an option. The creature was heading towards them quickly, its eyes locked onto them. "Even if we wanted to run, we wouldn't get far…" Neral said as he gazed at the approaching beast. There was something familiar about it, as if it was connected to the previous monster somehow.
"So what do we do?" Arian shouted in panic.
"We need a plan… we need to use the environment to our advantage," Neral said, thinking quickly. He glanced at the rugged terrain, the rocks and canyons. Maybe they could use the landscape to their benefit.
Before they could move, the creature swooped down from the sky, letting out a terrifying roar that shook the ground beneath them. The attack was imminent, and there was no time for hesitation.
"Follow me!" Neral yelled as he ran toward a nearby canyon surrounded by high rocks. "If we can lure it here, we can use the stones to bring it down!"
Eldar and Arian didn't hesitate, following Neral quickly as they tried to keep up. The creature was getting closer, the sound of its wings filling the air like an impending earthquake.
As they approached the canyon, the rocks began to tremble beneath their feet, as if the ground itself was responding to the creature's presence. Neral felt something strange, a mysterious energy coursing through the place. "Is this… aether power?" he wondered to himself.
"Neral!" Eldar suddenly shouted, pointing to the top of the canyon. There was a strange aura radiating from the rocks above, as if the place was hiding something powerful.
"We have to get there!" Neral said decisively. "That could be the key!"
They quickly climbed to the top of the canyon, the creature drawing ever nearer. But they were on the verge of discovering a new secret, one that might be the only solution to facing this colossal being.