The arms of the King spread out wide, revealing two sets of arms as he loomed over the two humans before them, a jubilated smile spread across his face. Carol looked to Ryuu with concern in her eyes. "Who are you!? Can you beat that thing!?"
Ryuu was bothered by her question for a moment before letting out a growl from within his chest in response. "Not without you, now lock the fuck in!"
Carol was left in shock as Ryuu stomped into combat, waiting for the King's march to begin as the beast in front of him proceeded to raise its back, its body looming over him more and more as he approached. I will kill it.
Massive hands launch down onto Ryuu, heat bellowing out from within his core to launch himself forward at a horrendous speed, skipping off the ground before slamming into the stomach of the beast in front of him. The creature grabbed him by his neck just in time with one of its feet, slamming him against the cave wall beside itself.
Coral rushed in behind Ryuu, shocked at how quickly he was dispatched, but desperate enough to keep the fight going. Another hand launched down to take care of her, but she weaved out of the way, using the crystaline armor to dig into the fleshy mass that was the hand of this monster, causing blood to spill.
The King winced, but was relatively unaffected, sweeping a hand against Coral's body, sending her flying into a wall as well, the hand smashing a few of its comrades like bugs in the process.
The creature dragged Ryuu against the wall with its foot, throwing him against the ceiling where he latched onto with his blades. Ryuu used the momentum to throw himself toward the King, who reached out with multiple arms to finish him off. Ryuu spun in the air, smashing the creature's fingers on one of their, somewhat slicing into the back of their hand before latching on with one of his curved blades.
The Cakranoids dispersed out of fear, leaving Coral on her lonesome, watching as Ryuu somehow kept living after the previous strike made against him.
She watched as he was once again slammed into a wall, attached to the forearm of the King, stones of the cave now beginning to fall onto itself as it proceeded to utilize its environment in an attempt to kill the small creature attached to it.
Ryuu let go of the blade, holding onto the monstrous King, careening into the ground before catching himself, feet digging into the stone below as his blade grew larger, the other blade disappearing.
A hand swung out toward Ryuu, who deflected the strike with his blade, cracking open another one of the monster's fingers.
Coral jumped back into the fray, making a wide berth away from the King, attempting to get a jump on the Cakranoid as it was distracted.
Ryuu stuck to the wall, the monster in front of him throwing multiple attacks his way, feet and all, slamming against the cave wall with a fury unfounded until now. Chunks of stone fell onto it, causing it to cry out in pain.
Ryuu struck one of the arms during its moment of pain before being slammed into a wall by one of its palms, multiple parts of his body rupturing on the outside.
Coral climbed the beast's body at an incredible speed, armor encompassing herself from the legs down, digging into the King's flesh just before jumping into the air, spinning as she fell, cutting them open from the face down, bouncing off halfway down the left breast.
They cried out once again, a hand clinging onto its newly found wound, now blinded in one eye, a chunk of their mouth now split open, teeth splintering outward from the sharpness of Coral's cut. An ear-piercing screech echoed throughout the cavern, more chunks of the cave walls falling one by one onto the beast's large body, but in its newfound rage, it swung carelessly at its assailants.
It rose itself into the ceiling, slamming down all of its limbs onto the floor below.
One limb found itself rocketing toward Coral, Ryuu jumping in, in time, taking off a chunk of the hand with his blade, which caused the beast to cascade forward.
Ryuu grabbed Coral, jumping out of the way as its head collided against the other end of the cave. Coral was startled by the sudden contact but soon became even more shocked as one arm dug into the cave walls like drills, arms running across, carrying a wave of dust with it like some sort of raging tsunami. As its arms met the other end of the cave, stones were sent flying at the two, Ryuu letting Coral down as they prepared for impact.
In her weakened state, she could only muster a basic shield to her front whilst Ryuu used his blade as a shield against the onslaught of stones.
Coral was injured during the exchange, bits of shrapnel stuck within the outer layer of her skin, but she looked to Ryuu, who was worse for wear, stones and cuts scattered across his entire body, along with the gradually increasing injuries that he had garnered throughout the fight.
Ryuu coughed, spitting out blood that splattered against the dust-covered ground, watching the King rise into the air to slam their full weight onto the two.
Ryuu swallowed hard. "Final stretch."
Coral thought as hard as he could; eventually, she enhanced her legs, breaking away from Ryuu, getting out from the massive beast soon about to slam onto them.
Ryuu used his ability of Tempering against his blade, reshaping it into a familiar shape, hoisting up a blade that he had used against the Wretch. He crouched low and waited for the monster's hand to come down, slamming into the weapon, arm breaking instantly. Ryuu felt the impact, slamming hard into the ground as blood splattered behind him in response.
The King cried out in pain as it carried a limp arm in one of its hands, one side exploding open, revealing the bone from within.
Coral took the opportunity to cut off the tendons on their legs, soon attempting to go for its throat. Before she could, the King lurched forward with its remaining arms, stumbling into the wall behind it, causing it to audibly gasp in pain, a hiss coming from the deepest part of their throat, leaving their body.
It scrambled for life, and Ryuu, even in his bloodied state, jumped at the opportunity, sprinting at the creature as it flailed, avoiding or blocking its hits. One hand grabbed one of Ryuu's legs, in he swung his blade into the monster's wrist, slicing it open, a fountain of crimson spilling out from the wound, causing it to cry out once again.
Ryuu was set free, landing awkwardly on his ankle, causing him to slip down the creature's stomach. His ankle twisted, he pulled himself up the monster's stomach, and through his frustrations, dismissed his weapon, and plucked out two bits of his hair, taking out the twin blades that he had started the fight with.
A visceral scream escaped Ryuu's throat, both blades digging into the monster's stomach. He used it as leverage to climb, all of the Monster's available fingers and hands attempting to hit, or slap him off, even grab him, but he wouldn't let up.
He bit into the flesh, tore through the bone, until finally reacting, the creature's face, which watched helplessly as he smashed its skull open with a violent flurry of blows.
Coral watched in astonishment at the display of brutality presented before her, even getting splashed by stray streams of blood coming from the edges of Ryuu's blades.
"Gods..."
The creature died long ago, Ryuu loosely holding onto his blades before sliding down the corpse in exhaustion, stopping after sliding a few feet forward. Ryuu coughed, looking down at his injuries.
Coral clambered up the beast to get to him.
Ryuu swallowed, and soon a notification appeared.
[Congratulations! You have beaten the King of the Cakranoids! For that, you will receive bountiful boons for your extreme efforts!]
[You have unlocked another level of your ability, and your weapons will become your armor against the elements. Weaver: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆]
What the hell is a Weaver?
[Along with this achievement, you will receive one of four rewards to choose from.]
Haven't gotten that for a while.
[An Odd Weapon, an Oath Trait, an Odd Trait, and Revolutionary Armor.]
[Odd Weapon: Trident of the Depths. Anyone who is stricken by this Trident will be tracked by whoever owns it.]
Oh...?
Coral interrupted him with more descriptions of his items, a look of concern on her face. "H-Hey! Who even are you!?" She blinked, looking at his injuries. "W-What do I do?"
Ryuu took a deep breath, coughing as he attempted to sigh. "I... I just... bring me somewhere so I can rest... or... or I might die." He pointed to the angered beasts that had begun to collect behind them.
Coral cursed under her breath, throwing Ryuu over her shoulders, straining a little before running to a beam of light coming from the ceiling, using the King as a bridge.
She grunted, setting the large young man down, sitting beside him as he lay listlessly on the ground, looking through more of his rewards.
[Oath Trait: Oath of the Bull. The essence of a King long dead, a King of Beasts, looks upon you and believes in your potential. An Oath of Family and Brotherhood. Protect those lower than you, and form a Brotherhood with one closest to you. During that time, you will receive greater power.]
What the hell are traits, even? Not in the mood right now.
[Odd Trait: Your senses become exceptional. The distance at which you can detect things has increased significantly.]
[Revolutionary Armor: Black Memorial Threads. Malleable threads that can be formed into pieces of armor or clothes.]
Seems they attempt to go for things that would benefit the user the most. It'd explain why it takes so long to get more rewards after each time you get 'em... or rather, the number of things you have to do keepsincreasing.
Threads are an ea-- Ryuu's thought is cut off by Coral. "Hey! You're gonna explain who you are!? Stop ignorin' me!"
Oh, shit... I think I might be closer to death than I thought. I could barely hear her a second ago. Ryuu coughed a little as he straightened himself against a tree just outside the underground. He got distracted quickly, taking in the air around him, looking out to the descending sun in the distance. "Oh..." He paused, "Been a while..."
Coral observed him, tending to her wounds. She didn't respond, just watching.
His only working eye looked over to Coral. "Hey."
"Who are you? Why are you here? Are you one of the missing?"
Ryuu shook his head slowly. "Nah." He paused. "Kinda hurts that you don't recognize me."
Coral blinked. "Hm?"
"Ryuu."
Coral's eyes widened in horror.