As Thaddeus the Flesh Titan continued regenerating his burnt skin and muscle, he brought all four of his limbs down on the Sentinel Lighthouse.

  Keep up the pressure! Ethan heard Tara shout over the din of the great beast’s roar.

  Another volley of explosive cannon shot ripped into the side of Thaddeus. But the hulking creature from the sea did not even flinch. He took the blow, let it rip his entire left side to shreds, exposing his pulsating muscle and cracked ribcage beneath. Pieces of the great giant’s bones went flying across the village, smashing through houses and impaling themselves on the curtain wall where villagers were currently running to for cover.

  And through it all, the beast pushed forward, his grafted limbs sailing down towards Ethan.

  WELL?! Sys screamed in his mind.

  But Ethan was cool. The voice of rage was his, now. He had brought it under control. And this thing bellowing down at him with all its might – it was the enemy. And its core was no longer being protected.

  He lifted Greybane in his hand and closed his eyes, readying a Wing Buffet that would catapult him right into the arms of his enemy.

  ANY TIME NOW WOULD BE GREAT!

  He smiled at Sys’s insistence. Even after all the pain Sys had experienced, he still wanted to live. Just like anyone else. All that nihilistic talk before was just for show. Ethan knew that, now.

  And when he opened his eyes again, he did so with a smile.

  “Sys”, he said. “Get ready for my command.”

  He pushed off from the lighthouse, channeling his Wing Buffet and soaring straight forward. Thaddeus’s sword and mace arms came flying to meet him and with a Roar and Twilight Edge combo he stopped them in their tracks and sliced the grisly tendons attaching the great weapons to the beast’s grotesque arms. They fell away to crash into the ocean, causing tumultuous waves that rocked the Hybrids battleship away from the pier. Still, Thaddeus did not stutter. Did not relent. He looked down at Ethan and spewed a torrent of viscous spume that smelled like it could turn the stomachs of the dead.

  With nothing but a thought Ethan activated his Repulsion shield and weathered the deluge of disease. He flapped his oaken wings once, twice, and then one more time once Thaddeus tried to knock him aside. Finally, he saw his opening – the center of the abomination where its core shone like a dark stone against the moonlit sky.

  But the Titan was faster in defense than it was in offence. As Ethan crept closer to its weak spot, its body reacted on impulse and formed a protective cocoon that wrapped its exposed core in a matter of seconds.

  No!

  Ethan sent a Spectral Snipe sailing towards the cocoon to no avail. His attack bounced off the flesh-armor and two shadows loomed above him, the arms of the beast ready to take him out.

  Shit!

  He activated [Dive] just before the spear arm pierced his body clean through, and managed to wedge himself onto Thaddeus’ shoulder joint, creating a small crater of burnt flesh at the site of his impact.

  Thaddeus roared, his arms twisting as they tried to dislodge him. Ethan jumped, embedding his blade into the back of Thaddeus’ neck, twisting it in his hand, trying to rupture the creature’s spine if he could. Trying to do anything to slow the beast of the Sentinel Bay down…

  I need a clear shot at the core…Ethan thought. But you just won’t give up, will you?

  As Ethan dangled from Thaddeus’ nape, the creature twisted and turned with impossible speed, trying to shake him like a lion attempting to dislodge a pesky flee. With his firm claws gripping Greybane’s hilt, Ethan held firm, and through the use of a well-timed [Skitter] managed to run across the beast’s shoulders and end up right under its bloodied chin.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  [Twilight Edge]

  He fired his arc of shadow right up at Thaddeus’ maligned face, trying to force the beast to protect its eyes and re-direct energy away from its core. But even with keeping up constant pressure, Ethan could already feel that his attacks wouldn’t be enough. Every pustule and pimple he popped on the gargantuan, hideous face simply grew again – more disgusting than its previous incarnation.

  And then Thaddeus readied another belch again.

  Sys! Wing-Buffet, no-

  Don’t have to tell me twice!

  The Archon dropped away from the hulking titan’s mouth as it let its torrent of filth spew out, polluting the entire ocean bed beneath its body. Against the moonlit skies above Sentinel, the Archon sliced and diced away at the brute, and got nothing but frustration in return. Meanwhile, the hybrid bombardment continued from the shoreline, knocking Thaddeus back more and more until it seemed like he would topple and fall on the town – flattening the place.

  No! Ethan screeched into his Rune, narrowly avoiding another strike as he glided from one limb of Thaddeus to another. He’s too close to the town! Hold fire!

  The reply that came back was stuttered. Hesitant.

  Ethan, we need to –

  Your compassion for the townsfolk is misplaced. We have a chance. We must take it.

  The first reply had been Klax’s. The wolfman’s voice was unmistakable. But equally unmistakable was Lamphrey’s, cutting into his eardrums like the ring of truth itself.

  It was the exact same tone of the rage-filled voice that had dominated him before he began his assault on the titan. It was a voice that had reason but lacked…humanity.

  I can bring it down, he snarled back from Thaddeus’ broken sword-limb, looking into the snarling face of the demon. I just need a – chance!

  Thaddeus’ deformed face broke into a smile. He knew his target was wavering. And he wasted no time in taking advantage.

  Ethan jumped, readying his Repulsor Shield as every limb of the titan crashed into him. He steadied himself in the air, keeping up his Wing Buffet and trying with all his strength to push the great beast back.

  Come on…you’ve been through worse…than this!

  He felt his new oaken bones crack under the Titan’s pressure. Now, it was ignoring all new wounds. Now, it knew it had him.

  This was your bright idea?! Sys yelled.

  No…Ethan snarled back, holding Thaddeus’ limbs at bay, making sure that the giant had committed every weapon it had to keeping him pinned. This was.

  Albionic Authority: Activated.

  From the center of the village square, there came a roar – a real, bestial roar of branches snapping, roots twisting, and an entire living organism shifting as it obeyed the command of its new master. Without warning, the spear-like branches of the new Albion tree wrapped themselves around Thaddeus’ limbs, binding them together and leaving the giant dumbfounded as he struggled against them, using all of his remaining strength to break their dark, oaken chains.

  But the bonds held firm, and Ethan Skittered up the bridge formed by the giant’s limbs and dove headlong for its core.

  Now, Sys!

  As the command formed itself in Ethan’s mind, he felt Sys send shockwaves through his Host.

  A-Are you s-

  NOW!

  Hide: Activated

  Wing Buffet: Activated

  Twilight Edge: Activated

  Spectral Snipe: Activated

  Dive: Activated

  Thorn Hail: Activated

  In a flash of overworldly light, Ethan shot towards Thaddeus’ core like a bolt of starlight, activating his Hide just as the giant’s eyes were focused on the Albion to get his maximum sneak attack damage. His Thorn Hail burst from his speeding body and each sliver of supercharged thorns embedded themselves around the perimeter of the giant’s protective coating round its core, followed up by a Spectral snipe that cracked the thing apart like an eggshell.

  Then, with a final push off from the hulking behemoth’s limbs, Ethan dove, his entire body wrapped in threads of shadow and light, Greybane shining in his hands.

  To those looking on, it was as though the moon itself had sent a speak of divine light down to rid the world of a devil that had risen from the ocean.

  Come on, Ethan groaned within his mind. Come – ON!

  The attack connected – the tip of Greybane smashing through the thin remains of the protective shell and piercing into the pulsating black core that was the creature’s heart. Ethan didn’t stop. His Dive carried him right through the creature’s innards and his Twilight Edge sent slivers of shadow through its entire body, searing away the titan’s organs from within. With nothing but a bestial scream on his bloodied lips, Ethan emerged out the backside of the great beast covered in chunks of blood and viscera, coated with scraps of intestine and black goo that seeped from the hole he’d left behind.

  His eyes blinked through the sticky remains of his enemy to try and get a read on the actual damage he’d dealt.

  He didn’t see the actual number. But he saw the number that really mattered:

  THADDEUS, THE FLESH TITAN

  HP: -150/2500

  He smiled as he felt himself plummet into the ocean.

  See that, Sys? he groaned in his mind. Your other Archons ever do anything that crazy?

  Ironically, Ethan, Sys muttered before his head slammed into the water. If they had, they might still be alive. Perhaps some insanity was what they needed after all...