The caw caught Hesk's attention, and he almost slipped up in his evasion from Mike's hungry chains.
Mike on the other hand did not spare it a glance, he noticed some radiant beasts who unlike the other charged at him instead of scrambling, and there was something peculiar about their aura that he could not particularly put his finger on, he got reminded of the pirate skeleton, the darkness their radiance oozed.
A circle of flame balls drifted about him, hurling round and about before pulling to him and exploding.
A massive boom, followed by a shockwave.
"Heh Heh Heh." The flames burned the oxygen in the air, and Mike struggled to breathe, coupled with his draining stamina. The first chain unwrapped around him, and the others followed. He had been protected at the last second, the chains forming a ball about him.
'What about these chains drives them to protect me?' He was beyond grateful for their presence and the abilities they have bestowed upon him, but it was difficult to understand their motive. They were sentient, could their role simply be to protect their master, host?
He snapped from his thoughts and attended to the more pressing matters before him. The ground shook by him, and he saw a large radiant beast running towards him, and as it did, a blue energy gathered at the massive horn on its nose, and then it blasted.
A streak of energy comparable to lightning in speed and power came at Mike. The distance was short, too short and it came quickly, his chains could not respond as fast. However, something happened. Aura flared from his body, brighter than ever before—aura from the dwarves he had siphoned, the radiant beasts, and in his current battle. A thin protective wall instantly materialized over his body, taking his shape.
The energy attack struck. Hesk did not know what these comrades of his were up to, but he was grateful for the time they bought, it got him enough time to build his destructive trump card: The fireburst cyclone—an attack perfect for destroying numbers, but could be shrunk and utilized against an individual, packing the same amount of power.
The fiery beast howled, wisps of flames poured from its nostrils, it could not contain the blast any longer. The beast with the horn sensed the attack behind it, and it scuttled away desperately.
'Die!'
A powerful torrent of flame escaped Hesk's jaws and mouth, and instantly pulled and morphed into a miniscule cyclone. The attack zoomed at an incredible speed accompanied by a horrifying whistle and it struck Mike, short of a second of the blue energy attack.
A loud boom reverberated across the forest, even the dwarves kilometers away felt the clash and destructive radiance, it was unlike anything ever before, since the terrors of Enojar.
Trees caught flames, and another radiant beast had to cast a water spell that conjured a ball, sending pools of water to the burning vegetation. It was reckless of Hesk, he had put the radiant beast in danger with that attack, and had caused significant damage to plant life.
Plants were highly appreciated and cared for in Talcaf, and Hesk had dismissed that in that attack.
Smoke was everywhere. Hesk looked ahead hoping to see nothing but ashes of the monster.
"Fuck!" Mike cried, he looked at his burnt arm, flank and leg. His right part of him got hit, and it hurt, oh hell it hurt. Even the right side of his neck was partially charred, and normally, he ought to have lost consciousness at the very least, but the copious amount of radiance he possessed sustained him, and he could feel his swift regeneration taking place. He was a walking miracle. The chains by the left side of his body had moved quickly enough to shield him from the attack, but his right side of his body was left partially exposed, and though his field of radiance sought to protect him, it was not enough.
"Monster! What are you?!" Hesk cried, backstepping in fear. Mike heard its wails, but he was far too concerned about the pain he was experiencing. The beast froze as it felt a sharp pain through its neck.
"What are you doing?" Hesk questioned, bowing his head to the pain. Another had bitten him, and it was Logg.
"Something I have always wanted to do." It said with a chill that made Hesk's legs wobbly.
Enuma had managed to possess Logg, the earth elemental beast in the chaos, and with its great camouflage, managed to sneak up on Hesk to deliver a possession bite.
It was a success, and the creature's consciousness moved from Logg to Hesk, overriding the latter's consciousness and will.
"Finally, so much power!"
Not only was Enuma capable of possessing creatures and certain items, it could take with it the radiance and life force of its previous host with it and into the next, expanding its abilities. Hesk had been a radiant beast it had hoped it could possess, and it did not seem feasible until now.
It crackled once again, fire blasting out of its mouth. It looked behind, and the radiant beasts that had gathered were in total disarray. It knew they could sense the change, the difference in radiance. It was nothing like they had ever experienced, and they freaked out.
"Now XelanaTon will have to interfere. In the meantime, you are coming with us."
Mike watched as the last parts of his charred skin healed with new smooth skin in place.
"I do not know what is going on, but I'm done running. I am taking you all on." He pronounced.
"Heh Heh! Seems like it's up for resistance. I like that." Said one of Enuma's brothers.
A dozen radiant beasts with strange flickering aura surrounded Mike now, a much better situation than earlier, but what was the chill he felt against these ones? Was it the drool that they let out of their jaws or was it their red hollow eyes.
He was taken aback, but he was not going to run. It was then, soon after his pain subsided that he noticed his burnt trench coat, only half remained on him, and he was completely exposed.
"You assholes!"