The N'ghftnah drove its claws against the glowing barrier, muscles tensing violently as it fought to tear apart the crushing prison around it, while keeping its eyes locked on the group, slowly tearing the sphere barrier apart.
Riven's eyes widened as he saw the N'ghftnha slowly tearing through the barrier. He immediately barked an order to the group. ''Kill it now, before it vanishes again!"
Kani sprang forward the instant the N'ghftnah shredded the glowing barrier apart with its claws. Raising both daggers overhead, she brought them crashing down toward the creature. But the N'ghftnah instantly dashed backward, evading the strike by inches. Tatsu released an arrow, but the creature sharply ducked its head, the projectile whistling past before slamming into a tree trunk behind it. In the very next moment, the N'ghftnah bolted to the right and vanished into thin air once again.
"Damn it!" Riven shouted.
"Stay close to each other!" Jack commanded Riven's group to immediately close ranks, Alette hurrying in beside them. At the same time, Jack alone faced the darkened forest, his gaze fixed upon the unseen predator lurking among the trees.
He took several slow steps forward before closing his eyes and steadying his breath. With a measured tap of his foot, a pulse spread through the forest. Through seismic sense, he perceived the vibrations traveling beneath the earth, allowing him to track the N'ghftnah despite its invisibility and extreme stealth.
Through the vibrations beneath the earth, Jack sensed the N'ghftnah lunging toward him from behind, both claws outstretched like blades ready to tear him apart. Frost spiraled around the fingers of his left hand as he tightened his grip on his sword. ThenJack spun, perfectly intercepting both claw strikes in a shower of sparks before thrusting out his free hand. A violent cloud of ice erupted outward, engulfing the N'ghftnah and instantly freezing the creature solid within jagged ice.
"Caught ya!"
Bryce surged forward, his spiked mace blazing with radiant energy as it scraped low across the ground. The crushing strike slammed into the N'ghftnah's chest, exploding the prison of ice apart and fracturing the creature's armored scales in every direction. The N'ghftnah was violently hurled backward, its exposed flesh laid bare, only for Riven's spear to burst through its back and erupt from its stomach in a spray of blood.
The N'ghftnah roared in agony before lashing out with its blade-like tail, violently striking Riven and hurling him into a nearby tree alongside his spear. The creature tore itself free from the impalement in the process. "Riven!" Alette cried out in shock, convinced for a terrifying moment that he had been killed. Dust and splinters scattered across the forest floor. Then, slowly, Riven pushed himself back up, one hand clutching the shattered remains of his armor plate where the tail had sliced clean through it. "I'm alright…" He muttered through strained breaths. "It just… broke my armor."
Bryce surged forward once more, swinging his radiant mace toward the N'ghftnah in a relentless barrage. But the creature moved with terrifying agility, weaving around the strikes and deflecting several blows with its razor-sharp claws. Then its four eyes shifted upward. Jack was descending above Bryce, sword raised high into the air as violent winds spiraled around the blade like a storm. With a single swing, he unleashed a crescent of compressed wind toward the monster. The N'ghftnah instantly darted to the right, narrowly evading the slicing gale before springing away from Bryce's reach.
Kani burst forward in a blur. Her daggers carved downward through the N'ghftnah's exposed flesh between its shattered scales before flashing upward toward its left eyes with deadly precision. The creature snarled and snapped its head toward her, raising one massive claw high overhead. It came crashing down with enough force to shatter the earth, but Kani had already leapt backward, narrowly escaping as the claw slammed into the grass where she had stood moments before.
The N'ghftnah slowly straightened and stepped backward, its four reptilian eyes locked onto the group while deep snarls rumbled from its split jaws. Gradually, its body began dissolving into invisibility once more. But an arrow suddenly pierced between its parted mandibles. The creature staggered as its invisibility faltered. Tatsu lowered his bow slightly, having interrupted the N'ghftnah before it could vanish again.
"Oooohh....Nice shot." Bryce said, wincing while giving Tatsu a reluctant compliment.
While the N'ghftnah writhed from the arrow lodged within its split mandibles, the earth beneath it suddenly erupted. Two massive stone pillars burst upward, smashing the creature into the ground before pinning its entire body beneath crushing rock.
Jack soared above the towering stone pillars that restrained the N'ghftnah and landed atop them, looming over the trapped creature. He raised his sword to his right side as searing heat engulfed the blade, its glow intensifying while he fixed his aim upon the monster's neck.
"No way to hide this time. "The moment when Jack was about to cut off its head, he widened his eyes as his senses suddenly tingled. He quickly dashed to the right, but his armor plate was slashed, flung him to the ground, and Bryce's arm that was holding a mace was instantly cut off. It shook everyone in the group that an unknown monster had sliced Jack's armor and Bryce's arm at the same time.
"Bryce!" Tatsu cried out. A shadowy creature abruptly manifested behind him, towering overhead as it swung down with enough force to cleave him in two. Kani reacted instantly, leaping forward to tackle Tatsu away from the strike. However, the attack severed her rabbit foot in the process. The pair tumbled across the ground, and Kani clutched the bloody stump with a pained groan.
Tatsu looked at Kani and shouted desperately, guilt and fear overwhelming his voice. "Kani!!"
"Aaaah!!" Alette shrieked, recoiling in horror. "W-Was that… another N'ghftnah?"
Riven answered Alette, his widened eyes trembling with both fear and disbelief. "No… it isn't…" His voice faltered. "But… that couldn't be…"
Before Riven and Alette stood another eldritch soldier, equal in height to the N'ghftnah yet distinctly different in appearance. Dark crimson armored scales plated its limbs, contrasting against the exposed black flesh of its chest and claws. Its reverse-jointed legs ended in four talon-like toes, while an exceptionally sharp blade-like tail extended behind it. Its slender arms terminated in four deadly claws, and along its left forearm rested a blade infused with glowing crimson energy. The creature's head was concealed beneath a scale-like helm adorned with small spikes along the rear. Beneath it, two glowing orange reptilian eyes burned through the darkness as its four-part jaws slowly spread apart.
The new monster stared at them without moving. Then, it slowly raised its right arm. A razor-sharp blade suddenly extended above its hand, and crimson energy pulsed violently along its edge, bathing the forest in an ominous red glow.
"Ahephai…" Riven said with his voice filled with dread.