CRACK—THOOM—CRASH—!!
The sky ruptured with every clash.
Kael blurred in a wide arc around The Abomination, lightning sparking across his limbs, fists carving through air like blades. The Abomination retaliated with a ceaseless barrage of tendrils, swinging in overlapping patterns that could crush mountains — but Kael was no longer merely dodging.
He was dissecting them.
A tendril came screaming toward his left.
Kael sidestepped, planted his foot, and roared:
"Scorchbreak Drive!"
His palm erupted in blazing Flame Essence, and he thrust it forward — a focused, piston-like strike that detonated against the tendril's base.
BOOM—!!
The entire limb ignited from within, imploding in a pillar of fire. The backlash scattered burning ichor in every direction.
Before the flames faded, Kael vanished again — only to reappear above the creature, inverted, spinning.
"Storm Vault Execution."
His body launched like a kinetic spear, wrapped in crackling Storm Essence. The impact was cataclysmic. The Abomination was hurled backward, skidding through the ruins of scorched mountains, the ground folding upward like torn paper.
Kael landed in a crouch, sliding to a stop. Sweat trickled down his temple. His lungs pulled in air — hot, vibrating, thick with broken essence.
But he was smiling now.
The Abomination shrieked — its entire upper structure rearing like a mortally wounded serpent.
Then it surged again.
Massive limbs lashed in a horizontal wave. Kael braced, lifting one arm and calling upon Flame and Kinetic Essence in tandem.
"Breakforce."
CRUNCH—!
His punch met the wave of mass — and shattered it.
Chunks of black substance flung skyward. The Abomination tried to reform the limb, but Kael was already in motion again. His form flickered — almost teleporting — as he ducked, slid, spun, then erupted upward in a powerful uppercut.
"Voltbreaker Ascension!"
A burst of Lightning shot skyward, Kael's strike connecting with blinding force. The Abomination convulsed — stunned — its body cracking from within as arcs of voltage tore through its mass.
It shrieked. Not in fear. But in anger.
Kael landed again, breathing heavier. His fists ached. His body bore welts, cuts, burns — but he was still standing. Still moving forward.
And winning.
The Abomination was adapting, but Kael was ahead of it — faster, sharper, stronger.
It lunged again — tendrils converging, but this time Kael responded with an overwhelming surge of Essence.
He crouched low, channels in his arms glowing.
"Tempest Reaver Drive."
A spiraling vortex formed around him — winds laced with lightning and kinetic impact. When he launched forward, the air howled.
He tore through the limbs like they were paper, carving a tunnel through The Abomination's structure. Explosive detonations followed in his wake as he embedded anchors of Essence, each one erupting after his passage.
The monster reeled, flailing, its grotesque form beginning to tremble — no longer stable.
Kael skidded to a stop, cloak shredded, armor scorched. He stood tall, panting, surrounded by ruin.
It was working.
But then — something changed.
The Abomination stopped moving.
All of its limbs curled inward.
Kael narrowed his eyes. "What—?"
The creature's outer layers began to twist — black sinew spiraling inwards. Tendrils merged, one by one, like ropes being braided. Its massive blob-like form condensed, reshaped, pulled in on itself.
Mountains groaned as the very pressure of its transformation began to collapse the surrounding landscape.
Kael took a step back, instincts flaring.
Then the sound came.
A low, wet grind — like flesh and bone trying to sculpt themselves into something that should never exist.
Kael's jaw clenched. "It's… changing?"
The Abomination's body continued to compress — now forming what resembled a torso.
Then arms — long, jagged, ending in twisted claws.
Then legs, cracked and unsteady, bending as if born broken.
And finally — a head.
Vaguely humanoid in structure, but devoid of features. A blank mask of pain, where its face should be, with faint glowing slits where eyes might have once been.
It stood.
Towering.
Tens of thousands of feet tall, the sky itself now veiled behind its colossal figure. Black clouds churned around it. Its newly formed arms flexed — muscles made of woven agony and ancient essence.
Kael took a breath. "It evolved."
But more than that — he felt something else.
A pulse.
Not from its heart — it didn't have one.
But from its core, now buried deep beneath layers of twisted sinew and cursed flesh. Whatever had been mindless before… now had intent.
Kael steadied his breath, fists rising once more.
"Good," he muttered.
"Then let's keep going."