A hand suddenly grabbed Gale's shoulder, making him wince as the shockwave rolled against the walls of the crater. "Stay," a sassy voice said.
It was Meaty, one of the Saints under Puppeteer's control. The same stupid smile that always seemed to be there spread across his Puppets face as he spoke through the Saint.
Gale tried to brush the hand away, but his limbs felt too heavy, and he couldn't even muster the strength to reach it. "I have to help, fuck off," he grunted, clearly frustrated.
Puppeteer laughed through Meaty, the sound mocking. He gripped Gale's shoulder harder, forcing him to wince again. "I'll make this Saint join the fight instead of you. Or you can go in and die, I don't really care. You know it's not like Masters can really do much against a Great Tyrant," he mocked, his tone light as if the choice was irrelevant.
'Tsk, bastard,' Gale thought, but he didn't resist as Meaty effortlessly picked him up and flashed away, heading toward Puppeteer's real body.
As Meaty flew away from the battlefield Gale saw the fight behind him.
Merlin was still soaring through the air, a shining and nearly angelic figure in the chaos. His stars rained down on Elfenlied, each one bringing a different form of devastation. One star set the Tyrant's body ablaze, while another seemed to decay it from the inside out, with others bringing forth various curses and effects.
But that didn't bring much, any damage inflicted upon the Great Tyrant was -for some reason- useless, the wounds never going deep enough to actually kill it.
Snake Saint couldn't hold on any longer as the Tyrant's tail violently whipped free, throwing the serpent off its massive body. The longer the fight raged on, the more furious and desperate the Nightmare Creature became. Its movements were erratic, its once controlled anger slowly turning into pure frenzy.
Gale's eyes widened in horror as the Tyrant's tail suddenly elongated, its tip stretching several dozen meters before thrusting into Rumble's back who was still atop its back. The sharp end pierced through the stone surface of his body with terrifying ease, lifting the stone giant up as if he weighed nothing.
Rumble's massive form flailed as he desperately scraped his hands against the tail, his weapon falling from his grasp.
The fight was rapidly spiralling out of control.
Snake Saint and Anora immediately blurred into motion, rushing to save their comrade.
But before either could reach him, Elfenlied's tail whipped around with brutal force, slamming Rumble to the ground with earth-shattering force. The tail dug deeper into his body, impaling him even further as the Tyrant's tail twisted, pieces of stone falling off.
A titanic roar erupted from Rumble as he desperately tried to crawl up the Tyrant's tail, his massive form heaving with effort. But Elfenlied showed no mercy. The creature's tail continued to smash him against the ground, over and over again. Huge chunks of stone flew off his body, each impact breaking away more of his sculpted form.
Anora's eyes were focused as she raised her arms and focused her powers, intending to strengthen the stone that made up the Saints body. The air around her snapped from the energy radiating from her as she gave her all.
Meanwhile, the snake Saint, a blur of speed and power, sank his fangs deep into the Tyrant's tail. His massive body coiled around it as he thrashed his head with furious force, attempting to tear the tail off, each snap of his jaw sending tremors through the air. His wings beat fiercely, holding him mid-air.
"Drop me and get this fucking Saint into battle!" Gale shouted; his voice sharp and on edge and to his surprise, Puppeteer obeyed without a word. The Saint halted instantly, setting Gale down somewhere between his real body and the battlefield before silently turning and shooting off into the air, heading straight for the fight.
As he soared through the air, his form twisted into a grotesque, decaying pool of flesh. Squirming and churning, the pool then shifted again, this time taking the shape of a wyvern. Its flesh continued to rot, and its beating wings were decayed and torn as it shot toward the battle.
More help followed and Gale couldn't tear his eyes away from the battle. He hated being sidelined, even though he knew he'd already done his part. Thanks to him and Merlin, there was a massive tear in the Tyrant's throat, still leaking dark blood. For a brief moment, Gale wondered with hatred if the creature had an endless supply of the disgusting liquid.
Meanwhile, Rumble's body was still being crushed against the ground -sending tremors through the stone- no one able to do much to help him.
Masker and Merlin were locked in a desperate struggle to keep the Tyrant's mouth shut. Masker's four fiery fists and kicks rained down on the creature, each strike enough to shatter mountains. Yet the Tyrant endured, snapping violently with its front legs and maw.
It felt like the front and back of the Nightmare Creature were entirely separate beings. The head and two front legs fought with their own intend, while its tail and hint legs seemed to move on their own, as if also having their own agenda, striking and thrashing around.
Thankfully, the mouths on its body were useless against the Saints. Masker and Merlin were practically immune, their souls far too strong. Anora, also immune because of her powers, kept Rumble protected, while the Puppets, with no souls to target, remained unaffected.
But despite those advantages, the Tyrant was still absurdly tough. Even with some of its powers useless, it was still too stubborn and mad to die.
Then, as Rumble was slammed into the ground again, Masker seized the opportunity. With a powerful knee to the Tyrant's chin, the lizard's head snapped upward. In that split second, Masker dashed forward, driving all four of his massive hands deep into the gaping wound in its throat that Gale made before. With a primal roar, Masker curled his fingers into the wound, grabbing the edges and trying to tear them apart.
Elfenlied fought back, its front limbs thrashing, but Merlin wasn't just watching. His seven stars shot forward in perfect harmony, connecting and twisting into one glowing, sharp disc that cut through the air, aiming straight for the Nightmare Creature.
With deadly precision, the glowing disc sliced through Elfenlied's flesh before arching gracefully through the air and returning to Merlin's back, where they shimmered as seven shining stars again.
The Tyrant shrieked and stumbled into Masker who was using every ounce of his colossal strength to pull at the gaping wound, tearing it further open. Dark blood poured over him, drenching his demonic body. He continued to rip at the skin until the tearing and snapping of the flesh echoed around the cavern.
But as the last of its flesh gave way and tore, there was no one left to keep the Tyrant's mouth shut...
Screech
A deafening screech exploded through the cavern, so intense it seemed to shake the very walls. Gale's instincts kicked in immediately; he dropped to the ground, pressing his head low and slamming his palms against his ears.
The soundwave erupted with such raw power and intend that it felt as if it could tear the very fabric of space itself in any moment.
Even with his palms pressed hard against his ears, the relentless screech still found its way inside his mind.
The pain was beyond anything he had ever experienced. His eyes felt like they were going to burst from their sockets, his eardrums ruptured under the crushing pressure and bled just like every other hole on his face, and every inch of his body screamed in absolute agony. It was pain even worse than what he felt after getting smashed into the ground minutes before.
---
He weakly rolled onto his back after several moment, fighting to stay conscious, struggling not just for his mind but for his life as the pain from the initial shock slowly began to fade.
Focusing back on the fight before him his eyes widened as he saw Rumble hanging lifelessly, fully impaled on the Tyrant's tail. Elfenlied threw his massive form off as if it were nothing, sending it crashing toward the snake Saint.
The Puppet narrowly dodged the falling stone statue, but it couldn't escape Elfenlied's tail that blurred into existence from behind Rumble's body. It wrapped around the serpent's body and wings, squeezing with titanic force.
'How the hell?!' Gale groaned, his eyes widening as he watched Masker rip open the Tyrant's throat wide enough for even his colossal body to fit into it. Yet, despite that, the lower half of the Nightmare Creature's body was still fighting back. Before the pain fully consumed him he could see Elfenlied's back shudder and squirm, as if something was threatening to tear out of it.
"I wish-!" was the last thing Gale heard before the unbearable pain overtook him, and everything went black.