Cain''s grip on his sword tightened as the {Argent Amphithere} dove toward him, a silver streak of malice cutting through the air. The cavern trembled beneath its weight, the sound of its wings beating like a deafening war drum.


    Cain''s mind raced, formting a n even as his heart beat like war drums and liquid chaos surged through his veins.


    From the looks of it, the Silver beast was still agitated, fixing most of its attention on him.


    Just like he wanted.


    "Floki! Now!" Cain barked, his voice cutting through the chaos.


    Floki, standing steadfast behind his ice shield, clenched his fists and released a surge of frost Ki.  The shield turned even thicker, blocking the silver beast''s path of flight. Despite its power, the beast could not ignore all rationale.


    With its speed, it would surely collide with the shield and sustain damage.


    And so, the beast twisted mid-dive, its serpentine body writhing with uncanny agility.


    Seeing the opportunity, Vincent calmly squeezed the trigger of his rifle.


    A loud bang echoed through the cave, and the bullet found its mark, embedding itself into the scales of the beast. A hiss of irritation escaped the creature''s maw as afaint trail of blood seeped from the wound.


    "It can bleed," Cain muttered, a grim smile tugging at his lips.


    But the minor injury only seemed to enrage the {Argent Amphithere}. It pped its fins with a powerful gust. In all its rage, the ice wall Floki conjured burst into countless fragments. It flew at them as icy projectiles.


    "Scatter!" Cain yelled, diving to the side just in time to avoid the beast''s snapping jaws and a rain of ice boulders.


    Then he twisted his body and struck.


    BANG!


    The force from his de caused the scales at the side of the creature''s head to dent.


    The silver beast snarled and strike back. However, Cain turned his de around and blocked with the t of his de. Then he quickly spun around, dodging the beast''s head by an inch.


    At the beast glided past him, their eyes locked.


    Man and beast, engaged in primalbat, both eager to y the other.


    ''Ah... How exhrating...''


    Cain rolled to the ground with just Eno time to spare before the creature''s huge dorsal fin came swimming by. The dorsal fin was lined with very sharp ridged that could undoubtedly slice him clean in two of he wasn''t wearing armor. Even then, he wasn''t willing to take the risk.


    The team split apart, each member taking up a strategic position around the cavern. Steve and Vincent opened fire from the rear, theirbined attacks of bullets and arcane energy pelting the creature. The {Argent Amphithere} recoiled slightly, its head snapping toward them.


    "Stay sharp! Don''t let it focus on you for too long!" Cain called out, rising to his feet and throwing himself at the beast again.


    For arge mutant creature, the {Argent Amphithere} was rather swift and nimble, dodging his attacks and dishing them out with equally dreadful force.


    Since it didn''t have any limbs, it relied on its powerful body, its rather sharp fins, and its terrifying maw tounch attacks.


    Cain''s n revolved on how well he could engage the beasts inbat. If he could gather most of its attention, it wouldn''t have the time to focus on the others.


    They would use their superior number to beat the beast down to a bloody pulp!


    Ignis, her gauntlets aze once more, charged forward with a roar. Sheunched herself into the air, spinning mid-leap to deliver a fiery kick aimed at the creature''s side. The mes merely scorched its scales, leaving a ckened mark, and the beast retaliated with a swift flick of its tail.


    Ignis barely managed to block with her gauntlets, but the impact sent her hurtling back. She skidded across the ground,


    "It''s immune to normal mes. We need something big to get past its scales!" she shouted, mming her fists together as mes reignited around her.  This time, the mes were tinted a strange shade of violet, like the sky just before the sun came to rest.


    Cain''s eyes narrowed. She was right—their attacks were hitting the beast, but they were barely scratching the creature. Even the blows he dealt were already mostly healed up.


    Chanting under his breath, Zue prepared a spell whilst Lukas dashed forward, streaks of light streaking behind him.


    He brandished his sword and merged with the streaks of light for a moment, appearing right below the beast.


    In a split second, he stabbed a hundred times. His de managed to pierce through the creature''s scales, creating wounds, but no blood flowed due to the intense heat of his light de.


    The Silver beast hissed furiously and struck down. Its body furiously coiled, wrapping around Lukas in the blink of an eye. Just before it could bite down, Zue finished his spell.


    A ball of light appeared above the beast, then split into three balls, which morphed into three pirs that struck the beast on both for fins anf its head.


    Screeching in pain, the Silver beast''s grip loosener, and Lukas squeezed out of its grip.


    However, Zue wasn''t done.


    Still chanting, the crescendo of his voice began to rise.


    Strange runes manifested into the pirs, and the pirs further split into stakes that pierced doen into the creature''s scales l, holding it doen for just a moment.


    Lukas grinned. His body was bruised, but that didn''t matter as he was going to seize this opportunity presented to him.


    With a smirked he muttered under his breath as he hefted his glowing sword,


    "Lux Domina!"


    A terrifying surge of mana burst out of the de and enveloped him as he dashed forward.


    Swinging, the de drew a graceful arch through the air.


    The {Argent Amphithere} immediately sensed the danger. It roared as a deluge of darkness began to seep out of its eyes.


    A strange rune formed above his head, and the stakes of light were inflicted by the growing darkness, crumbling almost immediately.


    Lukas gritted his teeth, but continued with the attack.


    ''Can''t go for the kill. Too risky.''


    So he settled for something else.


    With sharp precise movements, he let the crescent of sword light fly.


    The de of light cut through the air slicing through one of the beast''s wings and severing it right at the base.


    A shriek of pain made the cave rumble once more as rocks and hanging stctites fell from the ceiling.


    Cain wasted no time as he saw the opportunity.


    His muscles bulged as he put all the strength in his body into a single sh.


    The edge of the {Lonely Dragon} Warde cut through the beast''s scales, right to the flesh and bones within. A st of wind caused his hair to fly wild as the creature wasunched towards the rocks.


    He clicked his tongue. Unfortunately, the creature had twisted just before his sword connected, causing his de to deviate. A strike that was meant to take its head off clean off had only dealt it a rather deep gash.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Before it struke the ground, the {Argent Amphithere} rose up towards the ceiling. It hissed again, its boiling malice filling the air. Clearly, it wasn''t too happy with how things were turning out.


    The wounds it has just suffered were rather serious, and whatever advantage it has thought itself to have possessed had vanished. One of its fins were gone, reced with a bleeding gash.


    Although it could still swim through the air, the motion was not as smooth and unhindered.


    It hissed again and twisted its body, encircling the group, its shimmering scales reflecting the faint light from Susan''s magic.


    Cain flicked his wrist, shaking the blood with a silver sheen off his de. His gaze flicked to Susan. "Can you amplify the light? Blind it for a moment."


    Susan nodded, raising her staff. A sphere of radiant light formed at its tip, growing brighter and brighter until it became almost unbearable to look at.


    "Now!"


    Susan released the light in a blinding sh. The cavern was illuminated as though by the midday sun, the sudden brilliance forcing everyone to shield their eyes—even the {Argent Amphithere}. All four eyes closed immediately.


    The beast hissed in pain, recoiling as its sensitive eyes were overwhelmed. Cain seized the moment.


    "The fins!" hemanded, sprinting forward.


    Ignis and Li followed suit,unching into the air with powerful leaps, theirbined attacks targeting the base of the creature''s fins. Li''s sma exploded on contact, sending cracks spiderwebbing across the scales, while Ignis''s fiery punches scorched at the wounds already there.


    The {Argent Amphithere} roared in fury, its movements bing erratic as one of its other fins was torn free by Stan who brandished his giant saber with a guttural roar.


    It thrashed wildly, mming into the walls and causing rocks to rain down from above again.


    "Keep it up!" Cain yelled, his de blocking the creature''s flurry of tail strikes, each one hitting like a freight train. in


    Meanwhile, Lukas faced the beast head-on once more, his sword shining with celestial light. He leapt onto the creature''s head, attempting to drive his de into one of its eyes. The {Argent Amphithere} shrieked, then contorted its massive body, writhing as it threw him off.


    "Hold on, Lukas!" Zue shouted, his hands turning into a blur as he wove hand signs that manifested as a protective barrier around Lukas.


    The {Argent Amphithere} seemed to have finally had enough as it hissed towards the dark cave ceiling, this time, much louder than it had ever before.


    When it brought its head down, it opened its maw, and spat out a torrent of blue hellfire.


    Feeling the heat, Cain''s face immediately paled.


    ''What me is this?!''


    Floki roared as he poured out his Ki and manifested it into a huge Aegis of frost.


    And it was turned into steam the moment the blue mes hit it. The me continued uninterrupted towards them.


    ''Damn it...''


    The situation had changed.