The forest, now resembling a battlefield of fallen monsters and charred trees, seemed to mock the weary team. Each step felt like dragging bricks through mud, yet the ominous rustling of leaves and distant roars promised that the worst was yet to come.
"How many more of these things are there?" Ken grumbled, rubbing his bruised shoulder.
Zane consulted his device, which was now sparking and flashing wildly. "Uh… all of them?"
"That's not even a number!" Elena snapped, reloading her blaster.
Akamatsu, ever calm, tilted his head slightly. "Quiet. They're here."
The ground trembled, the air grew heavy, and a cacophony of snarls erupted from the trees. Emerging from the shadows was a parade of horrors: a gargantuan centipede-like creature with molten lava dripping from its fangs, a floating, gelatinous blob oozing acid, and a wolf-like beast covered in writhing, venomous snakes.
Ken pointed at the blob. "What even is that? A monster or Zane's failed science experiment?"
"Hey!" Zane protested. "I only made one blob, and it didn't have teeth!"
The centipede hissed and lunged, its molten body leaving scorched earth in its wake.
"That one's mine!" Anji yelled, summoning a fiery orb. She hurled it at the creature, but the centipede swallowed the attack whole.
"Uh… so fire's not its weakness," she said nervously.
"Great observation!" Simon growled, grappling with the snake-wolf, which was attempting to strangle him with its tail.
"Everyone focus!" Akamatsu ordered, raising a hand to deflect a spray of acid from the blob.
"Easy for you to say!" Ken shouted, dodging a swipe from the centipede's massive claw. "You're not the one covered in snake bites!"
Anji was mid-battle banter when the centipede reared back and spat a stream of molten lava directly at her. The attack hit her squarely, reducing her to ash in a flash.
"Anji!" Simon roared, only to be caught off guard as the wolf's snakes coiled tighter. It bit down on his neck, venom coursing through his veins. With one final, strangled growl, Simon crumpled to the ground.
"Okay, uh… we're losing people," Zane stammered, frantically trying to repair his cannon.
"Ya think?!" Ken snapped, just before the centipede wrapped around him. Its molten body burned through his armor, and with a sickening crunch, Ken was gone.
"Ken too?" Elena shouted, taking aim at the blob. She fired shot after shot, but the creature absorbed each blast like a sponge. It retaliated with a glob of acid, melting through her blaster and armor. "Oh, come on!" she screamed before dissolving into the goo.
Zane, now the last remaining fighter besides Akamatsu, held up his cannon. "Don't worry! I've got this!" He fired a concentrated beam at the centipede, hitting it directly in the head.
The creature didn't even flinch. Instead, it lunged at Zane, slicing through him with its razor-sharp claws.
"Well, that didn't work," Zane muttered before collapsing.
Akamatsu stood alone amidst the chaos, unbothered as the monsters turned their attention to him. The centipede hissed, the wolf growled, and the blob quivered ominously.
With a sigh, Akamatsu adjusted his jacket. "Amateurs."
The monsters lunged simultaneously. Akamatsu raised a single hand, and in an instant, the air around him erupted with a blinding flash of energy. When the light faded, the monsters were nothing but smoldering heaps.
Dusting off his hands, Akamatsu glanced at the pile of ash and goo that had once been his team. "Well, that's inconvenient."
He turned and walked deeper into the forest, muttering to himself. "Guess I'll have to find a new group. Hopefully, they last longer than this bunch."
Behind him, the forest grew quiet once more, save for the distant sound of rustling leaves. The monsters weren't done yet. But neither was Akamatsu.