CHAPTER 233: FRACTAL VEIL [11]

The explosion had come from the adjacent building.

Dust and smoke curled into the air, rolling across the ruined courtyard like fog.

Kyle and Eleanora sprinted without slowing, boots slamming against the stone floor.

And then they saw it.

A swarm of monsters, wolves with stretched skin, crooked bodies like half-rotted puppets, twisted shapes too thin for their own frames, were running straight at them.

Kyle instinctively raised his tachi, Eleanora’s hand brushing her estoc.

But in the next heartbeat, they both froze.

The monsters weren’t charging them.

They were fleeing.

Their grotesque limbs stumbled and clawed at the ground, eyes wide with panic as they scrambled away from the collapsed building.

They weren’t predators anymore.

They were prey.

Kyle and Eleanora exchanged a quick glance, tension sharpening in both their eyes.

Then, wordlessly, they pushed forward into the wake of retreating creatures.

The closer they got, the clearer the destruction became. A third of the building’s front had caved in.

Rubble was scattered everywhere, crushed desks, shattered stone, broken beams. Smoke hissed out of the wreckage.

And in the middle of it all stood the thing responsible.

A mammoth.

But no ordinary monster.

It towered eight meters high, a mountain of muscle and thick fur striped black and white, like a nightmare stitched from shadow and snow.

Its tusks gleamed like polished steel, curving forward in brutal arcs. And around its body a violent cyclone of wind whipped the dust and rubble into a storm.

Kyle felt his chest tighten.

He’d fought things larger than himself before.

But this? This wasn’t a beast. This looks like a walking calamity.

The mammoth’s red eyes narrowed on a figure crumpled against a cracked wall.

Cedric.

He was half buried in debris, blood dripping from a cut on his forehead, as he struggled to push himself up.

The wall behind him looked ready to give way with the slightest touch.

The mammoth roared, the sound like a crashing wave, and charged.

Kyle’s mind snapped into focus.

"Eleanora!"

She didn’t need more than his tone. She understood. They couldn’t reach Cedric in time.

There was only one option, buy seconds.

Her estoc slid back into its sheath with a sharp ring as she threw her arms wide.

Shadows welled between her palms, pooling and writhing like liquid tar. Her crimson eyes ignited, a glow that cut through the smoke.

"Bind," she whispered.

The ground beneath the mammoth cracked open as a massive black circle spread out, stretching across the ruined floor.

From it, hundreds of tendrils erupted, darkness solid as iron, whipping around the beast’s legs, curling around its tusks, wrapping its trunk and torso.

They lashed and tightened, pulling, dragging, shrieking as the mammoth strained.

For a heartbeat, the giant slowed.

Then with a violent twist of its body, the tendrils began to snap one after another. The sound was like tree trunks breaking under a storm.

Eleanora’s lips tightened. Sweat dripped down her temple.

"Hold... damn it—"

But it was enough.

Ten seconds.

That was all Kyle needed.

By the time the last tendril burst apart, Kyle’s body was already halfway sparking with blue light. Lightning crawled over his arms and legs, wrapped his body like armor.

His figure flickered in the air, breaking apart and reforming like static.

The mammoth lowered its head, tusks gleaming, rushing toward Cedric like an avalanche with legs.

In the next instant, Kyle appeared in front of Cedric.

"Got you."

His hand hooked Cedric by the shoulder, pulling him in tight. Before Cedric could even react, Kyle vanished again, the space around him tearing open with a sharp crack.

Behind them, the mammoth slammed headfirst into the wall with a thunderous crash, tearing through the stone.

The entire building shook with the impact, rubble cascading as the beast forced its bulk through.

Kyle reappeared on the other side, Cedric still in his grip.

He eased him down carefully, eyes flicking over his injuries.

"You look like shit."

Cedric coughed, trying to laugh but wincing at the pain in his ribs.

"T-this... this is the first thing you say to me?"

Kyle shoved a potion from his storage ring into Cedric’s hand.

"Drink."

Cedric didn’t argue.

He downed it in a single gulp, the liquid glowing faintly as it spread through his body, knitting flesh and bone back together. Color returned to his face little by little.

Eleanora jogged up to them, her face pale, her steps heavier than usual.

The mana drain from her spell had hit her hard.

She uncorked a blue vial and tilted her head back, swallowing a mana potion in one practiced motion. Her breathing steadied, but her cheeks were still pale.

"You okay?"

Kyle asked, eyes narrowing at the sight of her shaky stance.

"...Yes."

She wiped her forehead with the back of her wrist.

"That... took more out of me than I expected."

He gave a short nod but didn’t push.

Kyle turned his attention back to Cedric.

"So. How the hell did the roof come down?"

Cedric leaned back against the rubble, grimacing.

"That thing. It... it appeared on the second floor. Just, smashed straight through."

"..."

For a moment, none of them spoke.

The silence wasn’t confusion... it was resignation. None of them wanted to ask how something that size had simply appeared on second floor.

Finally, Eleanora broke it, her voice gentler now.

"Cedric. How are you feeling?"

Cedric rolled his shoulder, still stiff.

"Better. Not good, but better. Thanks."

The air trembled.

"PWWAAAARRRHHHH!"

The mammoth’s trumpet tore through the courtyard, shaking dust loose from the half-collapsed building.

The beast’s fury echoed off the walls as it turned, red eyes burning with fresh anger. Its prey had slipped away.

Wind swirled again, stronger this time, ripping chunks of stone from the ground and hurling them into the air.

The cyclone screamed around the beast’s body.

Kyle lifted his blade, sparks racing up its length.

His eyes narrowed.

"...It doesn’t look like it’s going to let us walk away."

Eleanora drew her estoc once more, crimson eyes steady despite the exhaustion still etched across her face.

"Then we don’t walk away. We kill it."

Kyle smirked faintly, lightning and ice humming louder around him.

"Basically."

Cedric pulled himself upright, wiping the blood from his chin as he drew his weapon too.

The three of them stood side by side, facing the towering monster as it bellowed again, the wind screaming around its massive body.

The fight wasn’t over. It was only just beginning.

"Pwwaaarrrhhh!"

The mammoth’s roar rattled through the courtyard, shaking the fractured walls.

The cyclone around its massive frame twisted sharper, shredding rubble into dust. The air itself felt like knives.

Kyle planted his feet, sparks flickering faintly around his arms.

He glanced back at Cedric, who was still pale, still struggling to keep his breathing steady.

"Cedric. Get back. Recover your mana first,"

Cedric didn’t argue. He knew he couldn’t keep up like this.

He gave a quick nod and retreated, dragging himself a few steps back, focusing on letting the potion do its work.

Kyle exhaled.

"Eleanora. Buy me a few seconds."

Eleanora smiled her crimson eyes glowing faintly.

"Of course."

And then she was gone.

Her body melted into the shadows beneath her feet, slipping across the broken ground like liquid.

She emerged just behind the mammoth, estoc flashing with a coat of darkness as she slashed toward its hind leg.

But the beast’s cyclone howled, forcing her attack wide, flinging sparks of black mana off into the air.

She vanished again, appearing above its shoulder this time, flicking her blade to launch bolts of darkness at its head.

Each one hissed through the air like arrows, only to scatter harmlessly against the gale, shredded before they could reach their mark.

The mammoth slammed its trunk down with a thunderous crack, stone exploding beneath the impact.

Eleanora darted aside, her form melting into the ground again.

She reappeared on its flank, only for a violent gust of air to rip past her, slicing the floor where she had stood into jagged scars.

The fight was a blur.... strike, vanish, reappear.

To the beast, she was nothing but a flicker in the dark, a fly it couldn’t swat.

To Kyle, she was the only reason he had a chance to act.

And that was enough.

Kyle raised his hand.

The air chilled instantly, frost crawling out from the stones beneath his boots.

Six enormous spears of ice, each half a meter thick, spiraled into being above him.

Their jagged tips hummed with power as arcs of lightning danced across their surfaces, weaving themselves into the frozen cores until they glowed white-blue.

The spears spun furiously, buzzing like saws, heat and cold warping the air around them.

Kyle narrowed his eyes.

[Auralis Lances]

The six spears fired all at once, splitting the air with a deafening crack as they shot toward the mammoth.

Eleanora vanished back into the shadows the moment she saw the glow, trusting him completely.

The mammoth felt it too... the surge of mana pressed down on the battlefield like a crushing tide.

The cyclone around its body twisted violently, gathering in front of it, condensing into a wall of screaming wind.

The spears slammed into the barrier. For a heartbeat, nothing gave, ice and lightning screeched against air made solid mana.

Then...

With a shudder, the spinning points of the spears tore through, punching holes into the mammoth’s thick fur.

The beast roared, staggering a step back as the projectiles embedded shallowly into its hide.

They hadn’t pierced deep, but Kyle hadn’t expected them to.

He lifted his hand, finger poised.

And snapped.

"Detonate."

The ice shattered.

The lightning screamed outward, a flood of blinding arcs that coursed through the mammoth’s frame.

Its fur crackled with sparks, smoke rising as the electricity tore across its muscles.

The beast howled, the ground trembling beneath the sound.

For a moment, it faltered, its body jerking under the shock.

But only for a moment.

"PWWWAAAARRRRHHHH!"

The mammoth’s trumpet boomed again, this time loud enough to rattle their bones.

Kyle winced, clutching his ear with one hand.

"Damn, he’s loud."

The cyclone thickened around the beast, no longer wild but honed, concentrated with mana.

The air bent under its control. Then, with a sharp roar, dozens of blades of wind burst outward in every direction, screaming across the courtyard.

"Move!"

Eleanora dove, slipping into the shadows just as the first wave tore through where she’d stood.

Cedric rolled across the ground, barely dodging a line of air that carved a deep trench where his body had been.

Kyle ducked low.

But the blades didn’t stop.

Another wind blade came from the front, faster.

Kyle raised Zalrielle, his tachi, both hands gripping the hilt.

The black blade caught the wind, steel meeting air sharpened to kill.

The force slammed into him, nearly driving him to his knees. His white hair whipped wildly, his jaw clenched tight as he bore the pressure.

For a second, he was locked in place, teeth gritted as the wind roared against Zalrielle.

His muscles strained, veins standing out against his arms.

"Not... today."

He shifted his weight, twisting his hips, and deflected the wind blade downward.

The wind blade, slamming into the ground in front of him, carving a crater into the stone.

Kyle exhaled sharply, his arms trembling from the force.

"What the hell..."

But when his eyes flicked up, what he saw made his stomach drop.

The mammoth’s wounds, those fresh burns from the lightning... were already sealing.

The flesh knitted back together, the smell of charred fur fading.

Eleanora stopped mid-step, staring wide-eyed.

"It... it has regeneration?"

Kyle’s jaw tightened.

"..."

They both turned slowly toward Cedric.

Cedric gave a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh... right. I forgot to mention that."

The silence that followed was heavy enough to crush him.

Kyle’s stare was flat. Eleanora’s glare was sharp.

"...Sorry?"

Cedric offered weakly.

"..."

No one spoke.

Then Kyle and Eleanora shared a look, nodded once, and sprinted forward together.

Cedric blinked.

"Huh?"

His jaw dropped as he watched their backs vanish.

"W-wait! Don’t leave me here!"

He scrambled to his feet, stumbling after them.

"You traitors!"

The mammoth roared again, the wind screaming louder than before.

——————

Author’s Note: I know this Arc is getting annoyingly long as I also didn’t expect it to be, so I’ll end it in the next Chapter or two.

Thanks for reading.

Peace out

——————