The roar of the feline beast blended with the thundering steps of the stone colossus and the Nexo humanoid. Dust, debris, and adrenaline filled the air. Kei held his sword firmly; each strike was a desperate act to stay alive, while Arata, Yuto, and Kael held their ground under the calculated pressure of their opponents.
Suddenly, a different sound cut through the chaos: a sharp, clear whistle that rose above the clashes and roars. From the end of the street emerged a serene figure—Eirene. With a gesture of her hands, threads of Aether drew themselves in the air. Gravity yielded, and a gust of wind destabilized the giants.
"Who are you?" Arata asked, panting.
"Call me Eirene," she replied with a faint smile. "I wield Aether magic. And… yes, I'm here to balance this out."
Varyss Draemir squinted, observing her. His Nexo threads vibrated, trying to compensate for the disruption.
"Interesting," he murmured. "You manipulate Aether with almost… academic precision."
Eirene didn't answer. She clenched her fist, and the stone colossus sank several inches into the pavement, trapped by its own weight.
"Now! Yuto, heat that rock!"
Yuto channeled his fire. Eirene waved her left hand, eliminating air resistance, doubling the boy's speed. The fiery impact, enhanced by oxygen, made the giant's leg crack violently.
[22%]
Kei seized the moment. The beast tried to regain agility, but the air felt heavy around it.
"Don't just watch, Kei," Eirene warned with an inscrutable smile. "Or are you waiting for the creature to ask permission to die?"
Kei tensed. A chill ran through his arms; it was that mix of irritation and determination that usually fired his pulse.
Damn it... Right when I could focus... he thought. But there was no time for comebacks. If she was the support, he was the executor.
"Arata, cover my flank!" Kei shouted, rushing into the attack.
Arata immersed himself in the flow of Nexo, anticipating the humanoid's counterattacks and clearing the way for Kei.
[28%]
The battle's pace changed. It was no longer just endurance, but coordinated offense. While Eirene maintained gravitational pressure, Kael used his vines not only to defend but to catch the fragments of rock Yuto detached from the colossus, hurling them as projectiles at the Nexo humanoid.
Kei pivoted on his heels. His mind remained clear, but adrenaline flowed with a new sharpness. Each slash was no longer an act of desperation, but a surgical strike.
"Almost there!" Eirene exclaimed. "Don't let them catch their breath!"
Varyss frowned. Control was slipping from him. His threads vibrated furiously, but the newcomer's manipulation maintained the advantage.
"Don't sing victory," he hissed venomously. "This is just the beginning."
[32%]
The humanoid, its armor already cracked from Arata's attacks, misstepped. Kei saw an opening. Instead of a simple slash, he coordinated his momentum with a gust Eirene sent directly to his back. The push sent him like a projectile.
His sword shone as it struck the enemy's chest. The clash of metal and energy echoed down the street. For the first time, the chaos felt contained. The team moved as a perfect mechanism, a synchrony granting them a vital respite amidst dust and sparks.
[37%]
The feline's roar returned, fiercer than before, but no longer an imminent threat—rather, a challenge they now knew how to dismantle. Kei inhaled deeply, feeling his muscles ready and his mind in tune with his companions' movements.
This... fells different. he thought, exchanging a quick glance with Eirene. For the first time, the certainty of unity filled his chest. They were no longer alone in the chaos; now, they were the chaos the enemy couldn't control.
[40%]
The feline, cornered by gravitational pressure, launched a desperate swipe that cracked the ground. Kei's agility, enhanced by Eirene's airflow, made him an unreachable shadow. The beast growled, a guttural vibration that shook shattered glass, and prepared its powerful hind legs for a leap that defied physics. However, Eirene was faster. With a swift flick of her wrist, the area immediately above the creature's back became a gravity sink.
The feline collapsed onto the pavement, bones cracking under an invisible weight of several tons. It was the exact moment Kei had been calculating.
"Yuto, the air is yours! Arata, secure the anchor!" Kei shouted, his voice brimming with authority and synchronicity.
Arata dove to the ground, driving his Nexo-imbued fingers into the creature's shadows, immobilizing its front claws. At the same time, Yuto leaped—not toward the enemy, but into an upward gust created by Eirene. In the air, he spun like a whirlwind, transforming his sword into an arc of white flames consuming the oxygen around him.
[45%]
Kei didn't lag behind. He slid under the beast's neck and, with an explosive impulse, leaped onto its exposed back. The air compressed around him, a silent assist from Eirene propelling him like a projectile. Kei rotated his body, channeling all his willpower into the edge of his blade.
The slash was no mere graze. It was a deep, brutal, upward cut. It ran from the base of the left hind leg to the middle of the spine. The sound was staggering: tearing of hardened flesh and snapping of muscle fibers releasing a mist of dark essence. The beast let out a scream of pure agony; no longer a hunter's roar, but the cry of prey acknowledging its mortality.
[48%]
Dark blood spattered the hot asphalt, hissing on contact with Yuto's remaining flames. The feline's left hind leg was practically useless, dangling erratically as it tried in vain to regain balance on a surface Eirene continued to manipulate.
Varyss Draemir clenched his jaw at the sight of his wounded creation. The Nexo threads holding the humanoid and the colossus vibrated violently, sending shocks in an attempt to stabilize the beast.
"Too slow," Eirene whispered, her playful smile replaced by absolute concentration.
Kei landed on one knee, feeling the enemy's blood heat on his cheek. His muscles burned, and the sensation of "not being alone" crystallized. Irritation toward Eirene hadn't vanished; that emotion filtered into his sword, giving it weight and intent he had never achieved before.
Now... Kei thought, locking steel-eyed gazes with the barely-standing feline. Now is when we trulybegin...
The beast tried to rise, but its left hind leg dragged uselessly, leaving a trail of dark, smoking essence on the shattered pavement. The feline's agonized roar seemed to ignite a spark of cold fury in Varyss Draemir. From his position, the puppeteer extended his fingers, and the Nexo threads connecting him to his creations turned a violent red, pulsating like exposed arteries.
"If they can't be precision tools, they'll be instruments of demolition," Varyss decreed, his voice ringing in everyone's temples.
Suddenly, the stone colossus, still with the leg cracked from Yuto's attack, roared differently: a crunch of crushed rock. Under Varyss' influence, the giant ignored the damage and swung its massive arm. Eirene reacted instantly, raising a hand to densify the air in front of Kael and Arata, but the brute force of the colossus—now overcharged by Nexo—forced the team to scatter to avoid being crushed by the shockwave. Chunks of asphalt the size of vans flew through the air.
[50%]
Kei felt pressure in his chest. His anomalous magic vibrated with such intensity it made breathing difficult, but his willpower acted as a dam, channeling that overflowing energy into his reflexes. The wounded beast, despite its limp, launched a final suicidal effort against him, guided by Varyss' threads.
"Kei, don't back down!" Eirene shouted, her tone losing its playfulness and sharpening. "Trust in the void!"
Eirene clenched both fists, and in a display of absolute control, nullified gravity entirely in a five-meter radius around Kei and the feline. Suddenly, the world lost all weight. Kei floated a few inches above the ground, as did the dark blood, suspended in perfect spheres. The beast, disoriented by the loss of traction, flailed helplessly in the void.
[55%]
Kei used the weightlessness to propel himself against a floating lamppost. Using the metal as a spring, he launched at the beast's exposed side. His sword, imbued with a determination he could no longer fake or suppress, glowed with icy light. The cut was surgical: it targeted the junction of the right shoulder's organic armor. The blade pierced deeply, reaching the core of energy Varyss used to control the creature.
An explosion of purple energy lit up the street. The beast emitted a final gasp as its body began to destabilize, losing physical cohesion. Kei landed gracefully as Eirene restored gravity with a snap, causing the creature's remains to hit the ground heavily, lifeless.
[58%]
Varyss let out a scream of contained rage. One of his three pillars had fallen. The Nexo humanoid and the stone colossus regrouped, glowing with the residual energy Varyss transferred from his own body to compensate for the loss.
"They've destroyed a toy," the villain hissed, descending slowly to ground level. "But now they have my full attention."
Kei stood, wiping blood from his cheek with the back of his hand. His eyes, fixed on Varyss, gleamed dangerously. His sword felt slightly lighter, and he knew the real battle had just begun.