Battle 5
The Earth Chimera slammed its fists into the ground.
The battlefield shook violently.
Darek jumped backward as chunks of stone erupted beneath his feet. Carter planted himself firmly in front of him, his bronze armor absorbing the impact of the scattered rocks.
Mordren moved to the side, keeping his distance while watching the Chimera carefully.
Darek raised his sword.
"Terratory."
A massive wave of earth pulsed outward.
The ground across the battlefield changed instantly. Uneven ridges rose from the earth, trenches formed between them, and several large stone formations emerged at different angles.
The Chimera roared.
Darek moved first.
He jumped onto one of the raised formations and launched himself toward the beast.
The Chimera swung its massive arm.
Carter stepped between them.
"Move!"
He raised his arms.
The blow struck his armor.
BOOM!
Carter barely moved.
Darek used the opening.
"Terra Smash!"
His sword extended as a massive formation of earth erupted beneath the Chimera.
The beast was lifted into the air.
Before it could recover, Darek swung his extended blade across its body.
The Chimera crashed into the ground.
Mordren immediately followed.
"Thorn Reaper!"
His scythe swept through the air, sending several sharp thorn projectiles toward the Chimera.
The beast rolled away from the attack.
Darek landed beside Carter.
"Keep it busy."
Carter nodded.
He charged.
"Heavy Press!"
His massive body slammed into the Chimera.
The impact pushed the creature several meters backward.
Carter's bronze armor glowed as he continued forcing it back.
The Chimera dug its claws into the ground. Then it suddenly stopped. Its horn lowered.
Carter's eyes widened.
"Brace!"
The Chimera charged.
Carter activated Ironclad Guard.
The beast's horn struck his armor.
CRASH!
Carter was pushed backward, his boots carving deep lines into the ground. But he refused to fall.
Darek attacked from the side.
"Tectonic Edge!"
His blade extended, surrounded by hardened earth.
The sword struck the Chimera's shoulder.
The beast roared and turned toward him.
Mordren summoned vines around its legs.
"Vine Snare!"
The vines wrapped around the Chimera.
For a moment, the beast was immobilized.
Carter immediately struck.
"Bronze Impact!"
His fist slammed into its jaw. The Chimera staggered.
Darek followed with another slash.
Then Mordren attacked again.
The three worked together smoothly.
Carter absorbed the Chimera's strongest attacks.
Darek controlled the battlefield and attacked from unexpected angles.
Mordren provided support, restraining the beast whenever an opportunity appeared.
But the Chimera was far from helpless.
It suddenly released a wave of earth energy.
The vines around its legs shattered.
Its massive arms slammed into the ground.
A barrage of stone projectiles erupted toward all three.
Darek cut through several.
Mordren dodged another group.
Carter simply allowed the rocks to crash against his armor.
The Chimera charged again.
Darek raised his sword.
"Earthsplitter!"
He brought his blade down.
A fissure tore across the ground toward the Chimera.
The beast jumped over it.
Then its horn struck Darek.
He barely managed to block with his sword, but the impact sent him flying.
"Darek!"
Carter charged toward the Chimera.
The beast swung its arm.
Carter blocked.
The impact pushed him backward.
Mordren attempted to restrain the creature from behind.
But the Chimera turned and fired another barrage of earth projectiles.
Mordren was forced to retreat.
The battle became a struggle.
The three continued attacking whenever they could.
The Chimera took damage.
Darek landed several clean strikes.
Mordren's vines repeatedly slowed its movements.
Carter's punches and tackles visibly shook its body.
But the Chimera refused to stop.
It became increasingly aggressive.
Its attacks grew heavier.
Its earth magic spread farther across the battlefield.
Darek noticed the problem.
The terrain he had created was no longer responding properly.
He tried to reshape a section of the ground.
Nothing happened.
His eyes narrowed.
The Chimera slammed both fists into the earth.
The terrain shifted.
The ridges Darek had created began collapsing and reforming into completely different shapes.
"What?"
Another section of ground rose sharply.
Darek jumped away.
The Chimera had taken control of the battlefield.
It was now using the earth itself against them.
Darek gritted his teeth.
"I've lost control."
Carter looked toward him.
"Then what do we do?"
"You two take the lead."
Darek stepped backward.
"I'll support you and try to take control back."
Mordren nodded.
Carter moved forward.
The Chimera charged.
Carter met it head-on.
The impact shook the battlefield.
Mordren moved around the side, looking for an opening.
But there wasn't one.
The Chimera continuously shifted the terrain beneath their feet.
Stone walls rose without warning.
The ground dropped.
Rocks erupted from unexpected directions.
Carter had to constantly protect himself and Mordren.
Mordren summoned vines to slow the Chimera, but the creature simply tore through them.
Carter tried to attack.
The ground suddenly rose beneath him, throwing him off balance.
The Chimera swung.
Carter barely blocked.
Mordren struck with his scythe.
"Verdant Cleave!"
Nature energy coated the blade as it cut into the Chimera's side.
The creature roared.
But instead of retreating, it slammed its fist toward Mordren.
Carter intercepted.
The impact sent him sliding backward.
"Damn!"
Mordren looked toward Darek.
"Any progress?"
Darek was surrounded by shifting stone.
"Not yet!"
He attempted to reshape the ground again.
The Chimera immediately countered.
Every time Darek established control over one section, the Chimera changed another.
The battlefield had become a constant struggle between the two earth users.
But the Chimera had the advantage.
Darek could feel himself losing ground.
Carter and Mordren were barely able to attack anymore.
They were simply surviving.
Then Darek noticed something.
The Chimera's control wasn't perfect.
There were small moments when the terrain stopped shifting.
He focused.
Again.
Nothing.
Then... A section of ground responded.
Darek's eyes sharpened.
"I can neutralize it..."
He pushed harder.
The Chimera's control over the battlefield began weakening.
The ground stopped changing as violently.
Carter noticed immediately.
"Now!"
The Chimera was currently focused on Darek.
Mordren attacked from the side.
"Thorn Reaper!"
The thorn projectiles struck the Chimera's shoulder.
It turned toward Mordren.
Carter charged.
The beast didn't see him.
"Titanfall!"
Carter gathered momentum before launching himself forward.
His massive body became a blur.
The Chimera turned too late.
Carter's two-handed strike slammed into its chest.
BOOM!
The Chimera was thrown backward.
It crashed through several stone formations before finally stopping.
For a moment, everything went silent.
Then the corrupted aura began to rise.
Dark energy spread from the Chimera's body.
Darek looked at it.
"We don't have time."
He tightened his grip around his sword.
"Continental Divide."
He extended his blade to its maximum length.
The earth beneath the Chimera began shaking.
Darek brought the sword down.
The ground split apart.
A massive eruption of earth exploded beneath the Chimera.
BOOM!
Stone and dust filled the battlefield.
Carter raised his arms to protect himself.
Mordren covered his face.
Darek stared into the smoke.
They waited.
Slowly, the smoke began to clear.
The Chimera was still standing.
Its body was damaged.
Blood ran down its face.
Its armor-like stone plates were cracked.
But it was still standing.
Then it roared.
The corrupted aura exploded outward.
The Chimera began rampaging.
Huge rocks launched through the air.
The ground shifted violently beneath their feet.
Carter barely avoided one.
Mordren was forced to retreat.
Darek struggled to maintain his balance.
They tried attacking.
Carter punched the Chimera.
The blow landed.
But it barely seemed to matter.
Mordren's scythe struck its side.
The Chimera simply turned and attacked again.
Darek used his sword to deflect a rock.
Another one hit his shoulder.
He staggered.
The battlefield was becoming completely unstable.
The Chimera wasn't fighting with any real strategy anymore.
It was simply attacking everything around it with mindless rage.
And strangely, that was the only reason the three were still able to survive.
Its attacks were powerful, but predictable.
They couldn't overpower it.
They could only endure.
Carter stepped in front of Mordren as another wave of rocks came toward them.
"Stay behind me!"
He activated Bronze Bastion.
His armor reinforced itself as he spread his arms.
The rocks crashed against him.
One after another.
He refused to move.
Mordren looked toward Darek.
"Darek!"
"I know!"
Darek was watching the ground.
The Chimera's control had become chaotic.
That chaos was giving him an opportunity.
He lowered his sword.
The earth beneath the Chimera began shifting.
Not enough to trap it.
But enough to slow it.
Mordren saw it.
He immediately understood.
"Leave it to me."
He raised his scythe.
"Nature's Grasp!"
Enormous roots erupted from beneath the Chimera.
They wrapped around its legs.
The beast roared and tried to pull itself free.
The roots held.
Mordren pushed harder.
"Hold it!"
Darek moved.
"Got it."
He struck the ground.
Earth rose around the Chimera's legs, reinforcing Mordren's roots.
The beast was trapped.
But its upper body remained free.
It swung its massive arms.
Carter stepped forward.
"Behind me."
He activated Bronze Bastion again.
The Chimera's fists crashed into him.
BOOM!
Carter didn't move.
Another strike.
He still stood.
Mordren continued maintaining the roots.
Darek reinforced the earth around them.
The three were finally working together again.
The Chimera struggled violently.
Carter's armor groaned under the pressure.
"How long?"
Mordren looked toward Darek.
"Long enough."
Darek nodded.
Mordren raised his scythe.
Nature energy began gathering around him.
The air changed.
Roots spread across the battlefield.
Mordren's eyes remained fixed on the trapped Chimera.
"Yggdrasil: Final Judgment."
The ground erupted.
An enormous tree rose behind him, towering over the battlefield.
Its gigantic branches spread across the sky.
The Chimera looked upward.
Hundreds of colossal spears made of pure nature-element mana formed among the branches.
Then they fell.
One after another.
Then hundreds at once.
The battlefield disappeared beneath the barrage.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The Chimera's roar was drowned out.
The spears pierced through its stone armor, driving it into the earth.
The ground shook violently.
Finally, everything became still.
The enormous tree slowly faded.
The rocks stopped moving.
The corrupted aura disappeared.
Carter lowered his arms.
Darek released his sword.
Mordren stood silently, watching the dust settle.
The Chimera was buried beneath the shattered earth.
None of them spoke for a few seconds.
Then Carter exhaled.
"That was... a lot harder than I expected."
Darek looked at the destroyed battlefield.
"Yeah."
Mordren rested his scythe against his shoulder.
"But it's over."
The fifth evolved Chimera Beast had finally fallen.