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Chapter 66: A Gate In The Sky?! (III)
The ground beneath Zayn and Bran was cracked from their previous clash, but neither had time to rest.
The monster rose, its skeletal body twisting unnaturally, its fingers growing longer, the bone reinforcing itself into razor-sharp talons.
Its eyes, hollow, endless voids, locked onto them.
A chill ran down Zayn’s spine.
This thing was growing stronger?
They had to finish it. Now.
Zayn didn’t hesitate — he reached into the Soul Forge mentally and pulled out a soul.
Golden light exploded from his body as he grasped a soul, his aura surging in a blazing inferno of power.
The air trembled around him as the light enveloped his form, his golden energy crackling like divine fire.
Bran, standing beside him, took a deep breath.
Then, he unleashed his own power.
BOOM!
A deep blue aura exploded from his body, his muscles tensing as the energy flooded his veins.
His battle-axe hummed, a deep resonance vibrating through the air as his soul energy coated the blade.
Bran grinned. "Alright, ugly. Round two."
They moved.
The ground shattered beneath them as they launched forward, pure force propelling them like warheads.
The monster reacted instantly.
Its elongated claws slashed, aiming to impale Zayn mid-air —
CLANG!
Zayn parried, golden sparks erupting as his sword met the monster’s wicked talons.
Bran was already in motion.
He swung his axe in a devastating horizontal arc, aiming to cleave the creature in half.
The monster twisted — inhumanly fast.
SHING!
It blocked Bran’s strike with its armored forearm, but the force drove it back, its clawed feet digging into the ground.
Zayn didn’t give it space to recover.
He vanished.
One second, he was in front of it.
The next —
He was behind it.
His golden soul energy flared, his blade whipping through the air in a lightning-fast slash —
SLASH!
The monster screeched as black blood sprayed from its side.
But —
It retaliated.
It spun, one claw shooting toward Zayn’s head like a spear.
THUD!
Bran intercepted, his axe slamming against the bone hand mid-attack, sending a shockwave through the street.
Zayn landed, his breath steady. "Nice save."
Bran smirked. "Don’t mention it."
The monster roared.
Its bony spinal spikes extended, cracking as they sharpened into deadly spears.
It lunged.
Zayn and Bran moved in sync, their instincts sharpened through countless battles.
Bran swung first, his axe igniting in a blue arc, crashing down with enough force to split a boulder.
BOOM!
The monster barely dodged —
But that was exactly what Zayn wanted.
He was already there.
His sword blurred, striking the monster’s exposed ribs.
CRACK!
A fracture splintered through its hardened bones.
It shrieked, but before it could retreat —
Bran caught it.
The axe warrior lunged, his massive strength forcing the monster into a grapple.
"NOW!" Bran roared.
Zayn didn’t hesitate.
He took a deep breath — his golden soul energy pulsed, coalescing into his sword as he raised it.
The energy spiked, the blade vibrating with power.
The monster struggled, but Bran’s grip was unbreakable.
Zayn vanished again —
Reappearing right above it.
Golden light exploded.
Zayn’s sword descended, soul energy erupting as he drove it straight through the creature’s skull.
SHINK!
For one horrific second, the monster tensed.
Then —
BOOM!
A golden shockwave erupted outward, cracks splitting across its body as the energy devoured it from the inside out.
Its screech died.
Its bones crumbled.
And finally —
It was dead.
Silence followed.
Zayn exhaled, stepping back as his golden aura slowly faded.
Bran let go, shaking his arms out. "Damn thing was tough."
Zayn sheathed his sword. "Yeah."
...
Tobias stood amidst the chaos, his sword drenched in dark blood.
The storm howled, rain lashing down like a curse from the heavens.
He exhaled sharply, flicking the blood off his weapon, eyes darting across the battlefield.
They just kept coming.
Kara, perched atop a moving stone pillar, was a force of nature.
Her bare arms glistened with rain and sweat as she swung her fists, sending boulders flying toward the monsters.
The moment her stone crashed into a creature’s skull, she propelled herself off the pillar, flipping midair, then slammed another monster’s head straight into the dirt.
Tobias, meanwhile, had to adjust his approach.
Fire magic was out of the question in this rain.
So instead —
He raised his hand to the sky.
Lightning cracked through the storm.
BOOM!
A bolt descended, striking Tobias’s outstretched palm, his entire body momentarily illuminated in blue light.
His axe crackled, energy arcing along the blade as he twisted his stance.
A monster lunged — its jagged fangs reaching for his throat —
SHING!
Tobias swung down, bisecting the creature in a single, clean stroke.
The monster convulsed, its nerves fried from the electricity surging through it.
But there was no time to rest.
They kept falling.
At first, the dungeon gate had spewed out monsters haphazardly, the majority dying on impact from the height. But now —
Now, they were surviving.
Every single one.
Kara landed beside Tobias, panting. "This is getting ridiculous," she muttered, kicking away a severed claw.
Tobias wiped his forehead. "No shit. Zayn and Bran better be handling that thing up there because I — "
A screech.
Tobias barely had time to react before something huge lunged at them —
A monster bigger than the others.
It crashed down between him and Kara, forcing them apart.
Its massive frame loomed, six red eyes glaring down as it let out a guttural growl.
Tobias gritted his teeth, his hands tightening around his axe.
Kara smirked. "Big guy, huh?" She rolled her shoulders, stepping forward. "My turn."
She stomped the ground —
And the earth responded.
The ground cracked, stone rising beneath her as she punched the air.
A massive pillar shot forward, slamming into the monster’s gut and lifting it off the ground.
The monster howled in pain, but Kara was already moving —
She jumped, twisting midair, bringing her fist down on its skull like a hammer.
CRACK!
The force sent the creature crashing down, its head slamming into the mud with a sickening squelch.
Tobias didn’t waste time —
Lightning arced.
He raised his sword, eyes glowing with energy as he drove it straight into the monster’s spine.
BOOM!
The explosion of electricity shook the battlefield, the beast convulsing violently before finally — going still.
Kara exhaled, flipping her damp braids over her shoulder. "You really like overkill, don’t you?"
