Battle of the Black Skull (3)

It seemed as if the world was ending.

Even more than during the battle against the titanic horde or in Falcon Scott, it seemed like the world was breaking apart.

There had been clashes of similar scale in Antarctica, but at least there was some logic and structure to them. The thunderous roars of the railguns, the orderly formations of mundane soldiers, the power of the Awakened, the demented fury of the Nightmare Creatures — no matter how frenzied a battle was, there was a distinction between the clashing sides, at least.

Today, it was just chaos.

Thousands of Aspects tearing the ground and the sky apart. Awakened, Masters, Echoes, and enthralled Nightmare Creatures intertwined in murderous violence. Even the Saints were fighting each other, making the world shake with each strike.

Somewhere not too far away, Silent Stalker was entangled with Sir Gilead. The monstrous black panther had long ago ripped Summer Knight's mount apart with her claws, and was now trying to extinguish the valiant Saint himself. It was not that easy to do, because he had transformed, as well.

Where a handsome knight in resplendent armor had been, there was now an ethereal figure that seemed to be made of pure sunlight. The figure was human-like and of the same height as Sir Gilead, but every time Silent Stalker struck at it, her claws simply passed through the light, not leaving any wounds on Summer Knight's shining body.

When he lashed out with his sword, however, deep wounds were left on the panther's sable hide. Silent Stalker did not seem to pay them any attention.

…As they continued to fight, the radiance of the luminous figure was slowly growing bleaker.

On another spot of the battlefield, the ground trembled as a giant thunderbird fell from the skies. Sky Tide had withstood the rain of arrows and slaughtered the swarm of winged thralls, but then, it was a wall of invisible force crashed into her.

Saint Tyris rolled on the ground, unable to sustain her Transformation anymore, and knelt while grabbing her head. Her beautiful face was pale, and there was a dazed look in her eyes. She glanced at the distant formation of Clan Song, where Beastmaster was hidden, concentrating her incredible power to deliver a terrible mental attack.

Then, still kneeling, Sky Tide outstretched her hand and summoned her sword. As she slowly rose to her feet, swaying, a rush of Nightmare Creatures and enemy Ascended was already closing in on her.

Somewhere else, four Reflections were entangled in a strange fight with the wind. The lightning-wreathed thunderbird, a creature that looked like a towering hybrid between a wolf and a human, and a devilishly beautiful woman were launching one attack after another against an invisible opponent. There was a fourth mirror of Clan Song, and so, Beastmaster had to concentrate her fearsome mental attacks on only one person.

Now that Saint Tyris had been brought down, however, the enchantress would be free to wreak havoc among the rest of Clan Valor's forces soon. Once that happened, the situation would very likely cascade into a disaster with terrible speed.

Apart from Saint, who was immune to mental attacks and mind manipulation, every other combatant on the battlefield would be at risk. Perhaps even Beastmaster was not powerful enough to break the will of a Transcendent instantly, but she did not need to, either.

Considering how dire the clashes between the Transcendents were already, a moment of distraction would be enough to give the enemy a crucial opportunity to deal a fatal strike.

She could turn her diabolical powers against the mass of Awakened, as well, ensuring that the spine of Valor's army was broken.

Which meant… that Beastmaster had to be stopped.

But who could stop her?

Every powerful combatant on the side of Valor was tied down. Only the Masters were relatively free, or at least could extricate themselves from the melee with relative ease.

However, among them, Sunny alone possessed the ability to bypass the mass of Song warriors and attack the alluring Saint.

Problem was… he was not sure that he would be able to withstand her power.

More than that, he simply did not know where she was.

Beastmaster was not very strong in a physical clash, so she did not show herself freely.

Cutting down an enemy Ascended, Sunny jumped back and sucked in a hoarse breath.

'Damnation…'

Something had to change.