Eder, Sephiro, and Soren were protected by his bone fortress. Fortunately, Diak couldn't break through it easily, and if it tried, it'd either be stopped by Sephiro's arrows or Soren's magic.

Grr.

Diak switched targets, aiming for Kang Oh, who was outside of the fortress.

Bam!

Diak kicked off the floor and disappeared. It reappeared right in front of Kang Oh.

Kang Oh didn't track it with his eyes; instead, if any of his body parts felt the slightest chill, he would swing his sword as quickly as he could.

Swish!

Demon Sword Blood passed through Diak's body, and shards of light burst out. In spite of that, Diak attacked quickly, disregarding the damage that Kang Oh had dealt. Kang Oh gritted his teeth and attacked any weak points that his Hyper Intuition found.

Stab!

Bite!

His snow-white blade, which emanated red energy, stabbed Diak's neck. But at the same time, Diak managed to bite his shoulder.

'This is my chance!' Kang Oh hugged it tight. However, Diak was much larger than he was. To others, it looked like Kang Oh was dangling from Diak.

Diak violently shook, as if saying, 'Get off me!'.

'Not a chance!' Kang Oh summoned a Darkness Chain and wrapped it around Diak's body. Then, Diak lunged with its open mouth, attempting to bite his head off. Kang Oh quickly thrust Blood into its mouth.

Screech!

His blade and Diak's teeth grinded against each other, resounding with an unpleasant 'screech'. While the two fought for dominance, Kang Oh's teammates supported him from afar.

First, Eder unleashed a green snake from his skull staff. The snake slithered and wrapped around Diak's body. It was a slow curse.

Sephiro forcefully pulled his bowstring and then let the arrow fly. However, the arrow was coated in green liquid. It was a powerful paralytic poison.

Whizz! Thwock!

The arrow flew through the air and pierced Diak's body.

Darion swung his gladiuses, alternating between the two, and focused entirely on its back leg.

"Unseen, mysterious rule of power, make him heavier!" Soren grabbed her staff with both hands and pointed it at Diak.

Gravity Ball!

A gray ball, about the size of a baseball, appeared on its body. Once attached, this gray ball wouldn't fall off for a certain amount of time, and it would double the target's weight.

Grr!

Diak snarled and its body began to shine. It was a sign that its Self-Heal ability was activating. All of the debuffs would lose effect soon!

"Keep going!" Kang Oh yelled. They had to take complete advantage of this opportunity and push it into a corner.

"Remains of the dead..." Eder began his Bone Bind chant. Sephiro notched another paralytic arrow, and Soren readied her next spell.

Still within Kang Oh's grasp, Diak kicked off the floor. However, it was so much slower than before. It was an easy target now that it'd lost most of its speed.

Bam, bam, bam!

Boom! Boom!

Bam! Bam!

It was barraged by all manner of skills and spells. Kang Oh kept stabbing it with his sword too. Although Diak's Self-Heal ability was quickly restoring its HP, the damage it took exceeded the speed of its recovery.

At some point, Diak's fur bristled like an angry cat.

And...

Uwaaaah!

Diak unleashed a giant roar. It wasn't a skill that increased its abilities or weakened its enemies.

Shivering Roar!

It was a sound bomb!

A sharp sound wave, which almost ruptured their eardrums, and a giant shockwave spread everywhere.

Kang Oh's teammates lowered their bodies and covered their ears. However, Kang Oh had been too close, and had been hit by the sound bomb at point blank range.

[You have heard Shivering Roar in a defenseless state.]

[Your hearing is temporarily impaired.]

[You have been caught in the shockwave.]

[HP -8%.]

The unexpected attack caused him to lose hold of Diak. Kang Oh rolled onto the floor a couple of times. Diak seized the opportunity, and pounced on Kang Oh. However, it hadn't completely regained its speed yet.

"Attack while it's still slow!" Sephiro yelled.

"Uhaahp!" Darion rushed at it.

Fighting Spirit's Aura!

Powerful light surged from his gladius, which he then swung at Diak's front leg.

Full Moon Strike!

Diak's foot seemingly transformed into a hammer made of light.

Boom!

Darion fell to the floor.

"Stop!"

"Eat this!"

Sephiro and Soren supported Darion from afar. Diak retreated, rather than pursue Darion.

Meanwhile, Kang Oh had drunk a potion, gone over to Eder, and gotten first aid. Now that his HP had been somewhat restored, he turned his gaze towards Diak.

Diak's silver fur bristled, and it brandished its claws, which it hadn't used thus far.

'The 2nd phase.'

Now things were getting started.

* * *

Cyndia's expression was dark.

"We haven't found them yet," she stared at the mirror and said.

However, it wasn't her face reflected in the mirror, but an old man's. It was the Divine Dragon, Gainus.

"I haven't found them either. They're hiding quite well." Gainus's forehead creased even more.

They were tracking the two escaped Mayanes, Jigon and Orga. However, they hadn't even found a trace of them yet.

"Where do you think they've gone?"

"I don't know."

"Mm."

"Why don't you ask the goddess?"

"The Supreme One?"

"Yeah. She might put us on the right path."

"Understood." Cyndia ended the conversation, cleaned herself up, and knelt down.

"Supreme One!" She closed her eyes and clasped her hands. Then, the top of her head began to shine.

"Cyndia, my faithful servant." A sacred, yet mysterious voice resounded through her mind.

"I am by no means neglecting the duty you gave me. However, I do not know where to go from here. Please show me the path," Cyndia said with reverence and desperation.

"Jigon and Orgon are living amongst humans. However, they hold the God of Creation's sources, so I can't ascertain where they are right now."

"Then what must I do? Please tell me!"

"Deal with the God of Destruction and the God of Life's Mayanes first. Prevent Jigon and Orga from obtaining another source."

"As you command." Cyndia opened her eyes. Her expression was brighter than before. She knew what she had to do now.

* * *

"Unseen, mysterious power!"

The Gravity Witch, Soren, only used two spells against Diak. Gravity Ball, which would slow Diak down, and Accelerating Gate, which would noticeably increase Kang Oh or Darion's speed!

Kang Oh passed through the purple, oval portal, and quickly closed in. Diak had entered the 2nd phase, but it couldn't move faster than the eye could see as of yet. There was obviously no reason for them to let it heal.

Slash!

Kang Oh diagonally swung Demon Sword Blood, and a white line followed the path of his blade. In response, Diak brandished its claws and swung its front foot.

Tyrant's Claw!

A giant, surging energy came out of its claw.

Bam!

Kang Oh was pushed back. He hadn't been able to withstand the force of the blow.

Kya!

Diak took advantage of this and tried to bite him.

Kang Oh gritted his teeth.

Red Butterfly's Dance!

[For 10 seconds, your evasion is doubled.]

Chomp!

Diak bit nothing but air.Then, it swiped with its front foot.

Full Moon Strike!

Kang Oh quickly bent backwards. Its shining paw passed over his eyes. It was his time to counterattack!

He quickly swung his sword thrice. Two of his strikes landed, but his last one completely missed.

'It's steadily getting faster.'

Which meant that it was slowly regaining its speed.

His teammates realized this too, so they began unleashing spells/skills that would reduce its speed. However, Gravity Balls, paralytic arrows, and Bone Binds began to miss more and more. Soon enough, it became hard to track its movements.

Bam!

It completely disappeared.

Kang Oh positioned himself so that he'd be able to react to his Hyper Intuition and swing Blood at a moment's notice. However, it wasn't aiming for Kang Oh.

It hadn't forgotten that attacking Kang Oh had caused it to get caught. Kang Oh was dangerous, so it decided to choose a different target instead.

Diak reappeared near Eder's bone fortress! It swung its front paw, clad in yellow energy.

Full Moon Strike!

Bam!

Bones crumbled, as if someone had taken a hammer to it, leaving behind a large hole in the fortress. The hole was large enough for Diak to enter.

Grr.

It went inside, head first. It was almost as if it were smiling. Eder, Soren, Sephiro, and Waryong were easy prey compared to Kang Oh. However, this was a huge miscalculation.

"Now!" Eder closed his hand.

Bone Bind!

The bone fortress partly crumbled, and the crumbling bone wrapped around Diak.

Kyaa!

It struggled, but it was already too late. The bones had already wrapped around its body. Eder's bone fortress wasn't just built for defense; it was also a trap.

'If only Karin were here,' Eder thought regretfully.

What if Karin had reinforced his Bone Bind with her Sand Bind? But it was pointless to think about, since she wasn't here right now.

"Focus fire!" Kang Oh yelled.

Kang Oh and his teammates began unleashing their most powerful attacks.

Eder started things off.

"Death energy engraved on bone... Explode!"

Bone Bomb!

Boom!

There was a massive explosion, and a pile of bones went flying. When the dust cleared, a struggling, pained Diak was revealed.

"Waryong!" Sephiro yelled, and Waryong spewed flames. The flames took the shape of an arrow.

Whoosh!

Fire Dragon's Arrow!

A wave of fire instantly covered the ground.

"Huahp!"

Giant's Sword!

Darion's gladius materialized a giant, gray sword, which he swung downwards.

Bam!

A fistful of shards fell from Diak's body. But that wasn't the end.

"Pulverize everything!"

Giant's Stomp!

Diak definitely felt the effects of her spell.

Bam!

Giant's Stomp would press down on an opponent with gravity!

Now it was Kang Oh's turn. He switched to Ubist and swung downwards.

Everlasting Darkness!

Energy blacker than the very darkness itself shot straight towards Diak. However, a rough barrier formed around it like the surface of the moon!

Moon's Protection!

Bam!

A massive amount of darkness struck the barrier. However, it didn't even leave a dent.

'A barrier!? C'mon now, it's too much for a guy as fast as you to have a barrier too!'

Anyhow, Diak stood up, its barrier remaining completely intact. However, there was something strange about it. A crescent moon appeared on top of its head! It was obvious what was happening!

"Everyone, keep your guard up. It's the 3rd phase!"

Then, the crescent moon mark began to shine.

And...

Orbs of light fell from the night sky.

Light Bombardment!

Bam, bam, bam!

In an instant, a portion of the Black Forest had been incinerated.