BXBX NOVEL Chapter 68: The Forgotten Beast
"I\'m not sure," Finn answered truthfully, looking ahead at the grim structure as the sounds of screams had quieted down, though that somehow was even more unnerving.
The entrance into the colosseum was entered through an opened, black gate, leading through a pitch-black tunnel. As he ran behind those ahead, the screams that were muffled became clear once more.
At the end of the tunnel, he found himself stepping onto a vast battlefield of black sand, overlooked by the empty seats of the blackened colosseum.
"What the hell?!--" The shocked shout came from the fur-coated monk.
Dozens of bodies laid lifeless across the arena; split and torn apart, squashed and impaled. Fates that were better left prayed not to experience for oneself.
Finn stood there beside the others, brought to the same pause as them as he looked upon the one responsible for the abundance of death.
"No! Please!-- Don\'t!--Arrgh…!"
A man in armor screamed out before the black blade befell his body, snuffing the life out of the helpless survivor. What stood there with a slight hunch, wearing a tattered, bloodstained cloak on its body of dark fur was not a man, nor not quite just a beast.
The beastman stood with a colossal presence, enough to dwarf the tallest of the survivors three times over. It held in its right hand a curved, sable sword large enough to bisect a redwood. As it plucked its blade from the blood-puddled sand, it turned to face the newly-arrived survivors.
Beneath the head that hardly hid its bestial appearance, it snarled, revealing its teeth that feasted on flesh and its eyes that spiraled with a scarlet bloodlust.
["Sleuth Status"]
[...Assessing information about [???]...]
[BOSS Identified: "The Forgotten Beast"]
[Level: 43]
Above the colosseum grounds were massive chains that hung from the pitch-black sky, lightly swaying with a chime as if coaxing the start of a new battle.
There were still a couple other survivors scattered throughout the arena, though the focus of the blade-wielding beast seemed to be on the fresh meat that had just arrived.
"Move!" Seung yelled, being the first to move as he dashed right for the imposing figure.
It was just as quickly that the gauntlet-wearing man rushed in was he forced to slide across the black sand. The beastman moved at the same time, though more swiftly.
Ignored entirely, Seung was passed right by the Forgotten Beast, only an afterthought as the sword it dragged along almost swept through him. It leapt right towards the group, raising that eerie blade as it crashed down–
["Stance: Bulwark"]
Jasper placed himself at the forefront of them all, raising his shield before the frighteningly swift beastman.
The blade was swept forth, casting the sand in its path away before it swung right against the shield—CLANG.
"Nngh!—" Jasper winced.
Even blocking the beast\'s sword wasn\'t quite enough as the knight was flung back from the force.
["Turn Shadow"]
At that moment, Finn emerged from the darkness, sprinting around as he brought himself to the black-furred swordsman\'s side. He wasn\'t alone in his assault; from above, the gauntlet-wearing man leapt in while the white-haired monk came from in front of the beast.
Finn flexed his body, seeking to instantly strike at its head, though found that intent quickly intercepted—
Before any blade or fist could reach it, the cloaked beast spun itself around, using its far-reaching blade to drive them all back.
"Hah!"
"Shit!"
"Get back!—"
Through the sand, that blackened tool of evisceration swept, bringing the beastman to jump in the air to continue its unrelenting assault.
Finn slid back, watching as the gauntlet-wearing crusher confronted the beast in the air.
["Burning Smash"]
A glow engulfed Seung\'s fist before punching downward, manifesting a flaming replica of his fist, only to be countered by the black blade.
"—Ah? Oh!—" Seung reacted as the beast\'s blade cast away the flame of his fist like a breath to a candlelight.
Despite the size of the beastly swordsman, it moved like an acrobat, twisting its body around and wildly swinging the sword with a mixture of animalistic wildness and masterful grace. With a flick of its blade, it sent the flying gauntlet-wielder flying across the colosseum.
The cloaked beastman landed with glimmers of light coming down from the void above; descending cannonballs sparking with flame and bright-blue fireballs.
"Hff!--" Near the entrance of the colosseum, Magnus breathed out while squeezing the trigger of his cannon, keeping the shots going.
Not far behind the cannoneer, the nervous mage stopped trembling, keeping her stave pointed high as a burst of azure light extended from the catalyst.
The combined volley of flaming power rained down onto the black sand, erupting into explosions of fire and smoke. It became a sight like that out of a nitty-gritty war as each cannonball crashed down with the air whistling, landing down–BOOM.
Finn kept his distance, raising his arms as each volatile impact caused embers and grains of sand to fly outward.
Though he hoped to find the beastman turned to ash, what he witnessed was a more dreadful result; the nimble swordsman flipped around, using its sword in conjunction with its evasion maneuvers to cut through the descending projectiles.
\'It\'s dodging and countering all of it? What the hell is this thing?--\' Finn thought.
The disheartening sight was no more daunting to the cannoneer and mage, who witnessed the futility of their barrage.
"Seriously?!" Magnus let out in a shocked gasp.
"This is too much…!" Ember shouted.
With a dense smog of smoke around the swift beastman, the only choice was to keep fighting as Finn forced his feet to keep moving.
["Greater Gale Blessing"] [4:59]
The sand was tossed around his feet as he sprinted towards the smoke, casting away his dagger and calling into place a larger, far-reaching weapon: a winged spear lengthier than his own body.
As he arrived within striking distance, seeing something within the smoke moved, he pulled his spear back, seeing out of the corner of his eye that he wasn\'t alone; the glow of radiant light from Charlotte\'s spell-infused blade arrived from the right.
With a thrust of the spear, the tip carried with it the blessing of the wind, casting away the blinding smoke. He watched as the smog faded and the weapon\'s point narrowly missed the beast\'s body as it leaned itself to the side.
As it moved its body, the beastman used its leg to command its reach, using the end of its claw to scrape across the assassin\'s chest. It cut right through the fabric of his uniform, lacerating the skin beneath.
"Hff!" Finn let out, flinching as he moved back.
Charlotte swept her blade, casting an arc of light towards the knees of the nimble swordsman, yet it performed a flip in the air, jumping right over the spellblade with quiet grace.
Finn watched the beastman land right behind the woman, yelling out, "Charlotte!--"
Right as he flexed his body with the intent to warp in front of the Forgotten Beast\'s blade, a buzz in the air intercepted the white-maned wolf\'s strike–
Bzz. Bzz.
A pair of round objects flew through the colosseum, pointing their dual barrels down at the beast before opening fire. Flashes from the muzzles carried an array of electric shots that forced the creature to jump back while using its blade to block the storm of bullets.
Finn looked around, confused at the steel-forged, flying objects that swooped in, though found the one responsible for their creation–
CLANG
At one end of the grim colosseum, the shirtless man caked in sweat brought his hammer down as its steel was coiling with electricity, "Keep \'em coming!" Ramon shouted with a burning smile.
Bringing the hammer down then raising it again gave rise to bits and pieces of metal being connected by the strands of electric power, forming a miniature drone that immediately chased at the beast.
\'Right, that guy is a Maester…That\'ll be helpful,\' Finn thought as he ran over to the side of his companion.
There was visible distress on Charlotte\'s face as she steadied her breathing, keeping her blade raised as the infusion of light dissipated.
"Are you alright? Can you keep fighting?" Finn asked.
Charlotte took a moment to answer, gulping down, "Yeah. I can…Don\'t worry about me. I\'m fine. What about you? You\'re bleeding!"
"Nothing I haven\'t dealt with plenty of times already," Finn assured her, feeling the cut spanning his chest as the adrenaline in his body dulled any pain.
Amidst their brief discussion, the drones that kept the beastman occupied only lasted for a sparse string of seconds. The spray of covering fire was quickly swept through as the cloaked creature leapt up, using its sword and claws to destroy the mechanical inventions.
Only one of the rune-powered drones remained, only to be caught within the snapping jaws of the sword-wielding wolf.
"Oh no! Dammit!" Ramon watched, tugging at his own hair.