The minotaur's halberd struck the monstrous beast, fire exploding outward in a deafening roar. Before the flames could fade, the rock golem's immense fist crashed into the creature, sending it careening through the air. In a flash of motion, the wolf vanished, reappearing directly above the soaring monster. Its paw swung in a blur of motion, slamming the beast back toward the ground.
Boooommmm!
Icicles rained down next, detonating on the creature with sharp, cracking blasts. High above, a phoenix flew in a graceful arc, a breath of pure ice pouring from its mouth.
The turtle's shell shimmered, and a lattice of hexagonal patterns—its defensive intent—formed over every fighter, holding their wills in place. The same patterns bloomed in the air, congealing into a massive, shimmering hammer that crashed into the creature with bone-shaking force.
A wave of dust and frost erupted from the impact point, and the battlefield stilled.
Then, a sudden, pained caw shattered the silence as the phoenix dropped from the sky.
The beast hovered above the ground, one hand clutching a wing made of solid ice. The wing shrank, then vanished entirely, the crystals on the creature's body humming with a faint, crimson light. Below, Selene, the ice woman, coughed up a mouthful of blood, her intent visibly injured. The phoenix's wielder grew pale as she forced its wing to grow back.
"It's absorbing our attacks," a lithe woman said. She was a silhouette in a form-fitting black bodysuit, shadows swirling around her like a living cloak. Behind her, the wolf stood silent and menacing.
"I struck it with my axe before; it didn't absorb that," Ross replied, his brow furrowed in concentration.
"So it can absorb elemental attacks but not physical ones," the shadow assassin confirmed, her voice a flat, emotionless cut through the tense air.
The atmosphere shimmered. A sudden wave of oppressive heat assaulted them, followed by a bone-chilling cold that seemed to suck the very air from their lungs. The sky was no longer visible, obscured by hundreds of thousands of elemental weapons—some forged from white fire,some from black fire, some of shimmering purple ice, the rest of blazing stone.
The creature floated there like a god of annihilation, looking down upon them. It slowly lowered its hand, and catastrophe followed.
Booms thundered as the attack rained down, impacting the ground in a cacophony of explosions. Intents and their wielders were flung aside, some intents dissipating as their masters lost consciousness or simply ran out of energy to sustain them. The turtle stood its ground, spawning hexagonal shields to protect its allies, but the relentless assault was too much. Its intent was ripped apart, the hexagonal patterns shattering like glass.
The attack finally stopped, and all conscious combatants were left writhing and groaning in agony. No one was unscathed. Their injuries ranged from severe to critical.
Above it all, Quinn was suspended in the air, impaled by the creature's spear.