Erebus [Hunter Exam Finale Pt. 2]

Kenji peered into the firey bloom, trying to make out the Behemonth's form, confident that even the empowered explosion wasn't enough to take the Thornback out of the fight. Not a second later, a deep, rumbling growl echoed from within the thick cloud of smoke, confirming Kenji's suspicion. 

With a single flick of its tail, the Thornback cleared the lingering smoke, summoning gale-force winds that ripped through the forest. Inspecting the beast, Kenji couldn't find any sign of injury besides a slightly blackened hide from where his swords had detonated. 

Instead of feeling daunted, Kenji's predatory nature soared as he imagined his catharsis after devouring the Thornback and feasting on its power. 

Returning to the fight, Kenji made eye contact with the Behemoth, which had relented its seemingly endless barrage and was now stalking back and forth across the ground, staring up at Styx and Kenji. The Dread Beast had realized they were a threat it had to take seriously and was now waiting for an opportunity to strike. 

'Fine, I guess I'll make the first move,' Kenji jumped off Styx's back as a mass of chains emerged from his outstretched hand, wrapping around the abyssal griffin and returning the creature to Tarturus. 

As Kenji started to fall, the Thornback growled before tensing on its haunches, storing energy like a compressed spring. Then, in the blink of an eye, the Behemoth launched itself at Kenji, flying up from the ground as its massive claws reached out, ready to slice Kenji into pieces. 

Not expecting a creature so large to move so quickly, Kenji barely had time to react as his body scattered into a dense cloud of ash. Instead of dashing out of the way, Kenji opened a portal to Tartarus and let out his second prisoner. 

An unholy, chittering screech echoed through the air as Nyx emerged from Kenji's vaporous form, meeting the Thornback head-on. While Styx had undergone the most drastic transformation from a vulture to a griffin, it didn't mean Nyx had been static the entire time. 

The Thornback roared as it crashed into the ground, and Nyx's countless legs stabbed into its hide as the fifteen-foot-long and three-foot-wide insectoid covered in white alabaster chitin coiled around the Behemoth. 

Ignoring the Thornback's spikes that slid off her carapace, Nyx clicked her crushing mandibles as thick ropes of tar-like webbing trailed from her mouth and clung to the Thornback, restricting its movements. 

 The Thornback roared in protest and thrashed against its bonds, managing to snap the webbing with its immense strength. But Nyx remained undaunted as she continued to coil and slither across the Behemoth's body, content for the beast to expend all its energy fighting off her webbing. 

Hitting the ground, Kenji wasted no time rushing in as twin swords appeared in his hands. He started to cover the Behemoth in countless cuts that dripped with acid as Nyx went to work. 

It was a tactic that Kenji had seen work time and time again. Against most opponents of immense size, once Nyx managed to mount them, there was nothing her prey could do. But Kenji hoped that the Thornback would be the exception. Fortunately for him, the Behemoth didn't disappoint. 

Nyx had managed to pin the Dread beast down using a thick band of webbing across the Behemoth's back despite its best efforts. Realizing it couldn't escape using sheer muscle alone, the Thornback suddenly ceased all movement, and it went deadly still as its claws gouged into the earth. 

Sensing the danger, Kenji scattered into ash before dashing away, but Nyx was too slow as the Behemoth flexed its entire body, and every single spike on its back flared with a razor-sharp aura before going off like a missile barrage. 

Nyx let out a wailing screech as she was sent flying, and countless spikes impaled her body, sending dark black ichor splattering through the air. With a sharp crack, Nyx slammed into one of the few trees left standing, staining the truck with a dark trail of ichor as she slid to the ground and landed in an unresponsive heap. 

Shaking free of the shredded remnants of Nyx's web, the Thornback, now without its spines, roared before whirling around to fixate its beady eyes on Nyx, who tried to move but only managed to twitch her legs uselessly. Bloodlust shone in the Behemoth's eyes as it stampeded across the ground, going in for the kill, saliva dripping from its mouth as its jaws opened wide, ready to crush Nyx's carapace and sever the insectoid in half. 

But before the Thornback could sink its teeth into Nyx, a massive plume of ash rolled across the ground with the speed of a bullet train. Just before slamming into the Behemoth, the cloud of ash transformed, and two clawed feet slammed into the Thornback's jaw, slamming its mouth shut and knocking the massive onto its side as it slid across the ground. 

Not a moment later, Kenji arrived in front of Nyx and knelt before stretching out his hands and gently binding the centipede in chains, 'You did well. Now let me and your brother finish it.' 

Once Nyx was safely returned to Tartarus, Kenji stood back up as his final prisoner turned to stare at him, its intelligent purple eyes burning with fury, "You've turned out to be a rather fearsome protector, haven't you, Erebus?" 

Unlike all his other prisoners, Erebus bore no resemblance to any animal or creature that Kenji had laid eyes on. Erebus responded with a deep growl from its throat as it settled onto its hindquarters. 

Erebus possessed a sleek, muscular build, standing roughly twelve feet tall with long, sinewy limbs, including a set of muscular digitigrade legs similar to that of a cat or gazel and two arms that hung low, nearly scrapping the ground with long sickle-like claws that Kenji knew could cut through almost anything. 

The first time Kenji saw Erebus move, he assumed the creature ran on all fours. Erebus was mainly bipedal, but its upper body was practically horizontal to the ground when it ran, which was only possible due to the long whip-like tail that ended in a spike and razor-sharp edge. Erebus was also covered in light grey armor plates that, while thin, could take significant damage.

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Just then, a deep rumbling roar from the Thornback as it managed to right itself drew Erebus' ire once more, and he responded with an unnatural high-pitched bellow in challenge before dashing forward. Appearing little more than a black blur, Erebus reached the Thornback in the blink of an eye, and he swiped out with his claws in a furious blur, rending chunks of fleshing from the Thornback's hide. Recoiling from the pain, the Thornback spun, whipping around its tail like a club in retaliation. 

Erebus' tail moved as well, but instead of attacking or blocking, the appendage suddenly split, revealing four individual tendrils, each tipped with a bladed point that stabbed into the ground and lifted Erebus into the air like stilts. 

Like a spider, Erebus skittered out of reach of the Behemoth before landing back on the ground and sending its tendrils spearing through the air to gouge into the Thornback's flesh spilling even more of its blood to wet the forest floor.