Chapter 107: Edler Beast

Slimo held his makeshift blade in front of him as he soared toward the vile bird in the sky. Its dark red eyes seemed to glow with an insatiable hunger. Right as Slimo swung his sword towards its neck, the bird slapped him down with its wing, sending him flying back into a dune of sand. Lidia managed to get on the creatures back and prepare a downward kick.

"Get on the ground you bastard."

Her leg glowed a dark orange, steam came off of it, and with one powerful downward motion, she sent a foot right into the creature’s spine. The beast flew downward toward the ground at insane speeds. However, it didn’t seem too damaged from the attack. It twisted its body as it spiraled, throwing Lidia off. Right before it reached the ground, it flapped its wings with all its might, softening the fall and causing a storm of sand to be created.

Slimo seemed to shake off the first attack and darted towards his opponent once more. The nasty bird was ready for this and threw a talon at him as he approached. Slimo dodged it easily and got right against the creature’s belly, preparing to gut it.

However, something Slimo would never have expected happened. The bird’s other talon seemed to be shooting towards him at speeds that didn’t make sense. All Slimo could do was watch on in horror as the claws were ready to slice him to bits.

’No way. Did it just feint its first attack to bait me to get closer?! This can’t be!’

Right before the claws closed around his body, Lidia rammed her shoulder into the talons, sending it flying back the way it came.

"Snap out of it, Slimo! If you hesitate, you’ll die!"

Slimo shook off the surprise and put his guard back up. The bird flew backward with its massive wings to gain some distance between itself and Slimo’s blade. Lidia and Slimo followed it, trying to not let it get away. Slimo grabbed Lidia while they ran and threw her slightly in the air. Lidia immediately read what he was going for and slightly bent her knees forward. Slimo threw himself backward, lined up their feet, and with one massive push from both of them, Lidia was sent hurdling forward. The wind seemed to scream while she flew against it.

Lida sent a massive fist into the bird’s stomach, causing it to screech and bite down at her head. As its beak bit past Lidia, Slimo’s makeshift weapon pierced right through one of its eyes. Lidia took advantage of the opportunity, yanked it out of its eyeball, and continued stabbing its face over and over. The bird howled and threw its own head into the ground to get her off before flying back in the air. Slimo jumped after it and grabbed hold of one of its wings.

No matter how many times the bird flapped its wings, Slimo refused to let go. He held on to its shimmering feathers with all his might, until something strange seemed to happen to them. The feathers seemed to be slowly falling off its wings, like leaves on a tree. Slimo panicked and kick off the wing he held on to, shooting back towards the ground. Lidia was already preparing to jump back up with her blade and devastate the birds face even more. However, her plans were almost immediately thwarted.

More and more feathers fell off the elder beast’s wings as it flew higher in the sky. The feathers seemed to be suspended in the space they fell off. When every feather had finally dethatched itself, the bird let out another deafening screech across the sky.

"What the hell is it doing? Is it calling for help?"

"I’m not sure. But I don’t like the look of those feathers one bit."

Suddenly, the feathers seemed to aim themselves down at the pair. Before either of them could react, a barrage fell over them. Thousands of sharp feathers whizzed toward them in an instant. Lidia got hundreds of tiny cuts all over her body. She struggled dodging between each and every one. It felt like she was trying to dodge every rain drop in a thunderstorm. Slimo seemed to slip past them easier but still got a few cuts of his own.

To make matters worse, bird swooped in right as the barrage ended, closing its massive maw around Slimos body. He screamed in pain as his bones were crushed under the monstrous strength.

Bum Bum.

Lida’s heartbeat slowed down.

Bum Bum.

Her vision became much clearer. Her body reacted to a strong feeling inside of her.

Bum Bum.

Her muscles pushed against her skin to its limits. Seeing her friend and guide in so much pain, on the verge of being eaten alive in front of her was too much for her to handle.

She dashed her way over towards the creature as Slimo writhed in its mouth more, trying to break himself free. Even with blood gushing over her body, Lidia’s mind was only set on one thing: killing this beast in the most painful way possible.

She jumped above its head. Slimo looked up at her. All he could see was her dark silhouette shadowed by the sun as she fell, but even he felt something terrifying emanating from her being. Lidia threw a fist down against the elder beast’s jaw with all her might. The beak shattered under the immense force and its head was thrown into the sand. Slimo was sent hurdling away from the fight.

The bird looked to be completely stunned from the insane attack and quickly got up to see what had attacked it. Immediately, Lidia was already on one of its wings. Opening her mouth, she bit down on it with all her might and tore a large chunk off before spitting it out on the ground. She didn’t stop there. Using the newly made opening in its wing, the tore the entire thing in half using her gargantuan strength.

The bird squealed and twisted its body all it could to try and shake Lidia off. It was useless. She found her way to its large talons and grabbed one of them with her hands. She then lifted the bird up with easy and threw it over her shoulder, slamming it on the ground with all her might. She repeated the process over and over and over... until the bird finally went limp. Even when it finally stood still, Lidia did the craziest thing she has ever done. She jumped inside the creature’s mouth, disappearing into its dark stomach.

From the outside, Slimo looked over at the bird laying still on the ground. Something strange seemed to be happening in its belly. It kept pushing outwards like something was fighting its way out. Very soon, Lidia cut open a large hole in its chest before climbing back out, panting heavily. Her entire body was soaked with a mix of the bird’s dark blood and her own. Her hair and face both looked crazy.

’What the hell.’ 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Then, the wounds around her body slowly healed themselves. More steam seemed to come off her body before slowly coming to a stop. She coughed up a lot of blood and fell to her knees. Slimo tried to sit up and run over to her, but his ribs and most of his internal organs were a complete mess. He would not be able to move anytime soon.

After a short while, Lidia finally walked over to him, a cold gaze still held on her face.

"You better be alive, or I’ll kill you."

Slimo smiled and winced in pain once more.

"Unfortunately, it looks like you can’t get rid of me that easily."

Lidia fell to her knees in front of him. Small tears ran down her cheeks while her face stayed emotionless.

"I’m so glad you’re okay..."

She passed out right on top of him. Slimo looked to the sky and all around him. Slowly, he started covering both of them with sand.

"I’m going to hide us as best we can until the others find us. Hopefully you can recover soon. You did great, Lidia."

Right as he finished saying this, something strange happened with the sun. It was as if it completely disappeared. Looking up, a horror beyond anything he’s seen before reflected in his eyes. It was the most massive bird he had ever seen in his life. Its wingspan was a mile long. Its dark black beak looked sharper than any steel.

This creature also seemed to have three pairs of talons across its long, thick body. The feathers made it look like it was wearing its own personal armor as it descended. Slimo stood still in fear, unaware of what this creature was or what it was planning on doing.

’Is this... a deity?!’

The beast deity seemed to bend its long neck to look down at the elder with pity.

"Weak. You are food."

Before Slimo could even blink to process what he just heard, the deity scooped up its fallen familiar it its maw. The elder, somehow, seemed to still be alive and squirmed as much as it could. The screaming went silent with a loud crack as the larger predator ate its meal with avarice.

’Cannibalism...’

Just as quickly as the monstrous being appeared, it used its massive wings and flew back into the sky, disappearing beyond the horizon in mere moments.