Blessed Visor

The Xnihps' massive jaws, designed for crushing bone and tearing flesh, expanded to an unnatural degree as it swallowed its gruesome meal, blood pouring from its mouth and dripping onto the snow.

Cael, his stomach churning at the horrific sight, knew he had to act. Using the Xnihps' momentary distraction as it swallowed its meal, he sprinted towards the creature, moving with a speed he didn't know he possessed. In what seemed like slow motion, he ran up the Xnihps' massive back, his boots finding purchase on the rough fur and bony plates. He reached the creature's head and, with a desperate yell, plunged both his cutlasses, "Sea Serpent" and "Tidal Fury," deep into its ears. The blades sank in to their hilts, piercing through flesh and cartilage until they struck the Xnihps' skull with a sickening crack. He pulled the swords free, the broken tips of the blades remaining lodged in the creature's skull, the remaining portions of the swords now coated in thick, dark blood.

The Xnihps roared in pain and confusion, its head shaking violently as it realized it could no longer hear. The sudden silence was disorienting, as if a vital part of its being had been ripped away. David, seeing an opening, launched another bullet from his Barrett. This time, however, the round simply bounced off the Xnihps' thick hide, leaving no more than a superficial scratch. The creature's hide was far too dense to be penetrated by conventional ammunition.

Several mages, realizing the futility of conventional attacks, began to weave their magic. Some conjured powerful gusts of wind, trying to knock the Xnihps off balance, those who wielded is said "rapture and plunders, my very first breath, arise my blunders and silence thee or great sky, I beseach you heaven", while others summoned walls of ice saying "I didn't know until I knew, I didn't see until I saw, from liquid to solid,o though art Mysterious,bewilder the strange an manifest thy work", attempting to contain the creature's rampage. Earth mages raised earthen barriers from the ground chanting "for the element silver and stone, for the foundation iron and ivory, the devil beneath our world make a pact recurring the moment earth forsake me not, Gaia, Gaia, bring forth your finger", hoping to impede its movements. The adventurers and mages surrounded the remaining Gordons, trying to keep them from interfering while focusing their combined efforts on the Xnihsp.

Cael, seeing the futility of their current strategy, quickly climbed the crumbling remains of the carriage, using the wreckage as a makeshift platform to leap over the surrounding Gordons. He landed near David, his face grim. The mages behind him cried out as they heard the sounds of shattering ice and crumbling rock. The Xnihsp, in its blind rage, was smashing through the magical barriers as if they were made of paper, sending chunks of ice, rock, and dirt flying through the air. The mages frantically conjured more barriers, desperately trying to slow the creature down.

Cael snatched the Barrett from David's hands, his eyes burning with determination. He held the weapon aloft, closing his eyes and chanting in a low, resonant voice. "Blessed will of the sun, and descendants of Everburn, the dragon! By the authority of mother transfer your scales and worth to this tool!" A golden aura enveloped Cael, flowing into the Barrett, imbuing it with a powerful, almost divine energy.

At the same time, Lyra began to weave a complex incantation, her voice echoing across the battlefield. "Iron Mountain God, restrain their limits and cover our flaws! Carve into them unlimited work!" As she spoke, the very air seemed to crackle with magical energy.

The bullet within the Barrett, now imbued with Cael's blessing and Lyra's enchantment, began to glow with a dark, ominous light. It felt heavier in Cael's hand, its density seemingly increased tenfold. He handed the weapon back to David, his expression resolute.

David, his eyes fixed on the rampaging Xnihps, took aim. He fired.

The bullet shot from the barrel with an unnatural speed and force. It tore through three Gordons in a single, devastating line, massive organs and gore spraying outwards, the impact sending the creatures flying as chunk of flesh spilled, blood spilling in all directions on the same man again whom his flesh had be corroded by that blood as he rolled on the floor weeping as it spilled all over his body. The force of the shot was unlike anything David had ever experienced. This was no ordinary bullet anymore.

The bullet continued its trajectory, striking the already rampaging Xnihps. The impact, instead of simply bouncing off, caused a visible ripple across the creature's thick hide. The Xnihps, though still sprinting, noticeably slowed down. David fired again, and again, and again. Multiple holes ruptured the creature's thick hide. One shot tore through its cheek, causing its jaw to hang open grotesquely. Another burst through its eye socket, the eye itself popping out and dangling by a thread of flesh. A third shot shattered its leg, sending fragments of bone and marrow spraying outwards. Another shot struck its head, but instead of penetrating, it bounced off, leaving multiple shallow dents in the creature's skull. Finally, with a shuddering groan, the Xnihps collapsed to the ground, its massive body hitting the earth with a resounding thud.

The fall of the Xnihsp, while a momentary reprieve, was a pyrrhic victory bought with blood and terror. More Gordons, drawn by the cacophony of violence and the metallic tang of fresh blood, surged into the clearing from the surrounding forest, their numbers seemingly inexhaustible. The mages, their faces pale and drawn, were completely encircled, their magical barriers flickering and weakening under the relentless assault. From the right flank, a new and unwelcome element entered the fray: scavengers. A motley crew of opportunistic adventurers, their eyes glinting with avarice, had arrived to capitalize on the chaos, turning the battleground into a chaotic three-way free-for-all.

Amidst the swirling melee, the unsettling scavenger leader with the glowing orb in his empty eye socket moved with a chilling purpose towards the fallen Xnihsp. He was a gaunt figure, his face hidden beneath a tattered cowl, the only visible feature being the unnatural light emanating from his remaining eye. With a disturbingly casual gesture, he reached up and plucked the glowing orb from its socket, the empty cavity left behind a dark, gaping void. He knelt beside the Xnihps' mangled corpse, the snow around it stained a gruesome crimson. With a low, guttural chant that sounded like the scraping of bone on stone, he pressed the orb against the creature's frozen flesh.

The orb flared with an intense, pulsating light, bathing the surrounding area in an eerie glow. A wave of dark, necrotic energy radiated outwards, spreading across the Xnihps's body like a creeping contagion. The snow around the corpse hissed and melted, revealing the full extent of the creature's gruesome injuries. The mangled wounds began to twitch and spasm, then, with sickening pops and cracks, they began to close, unnatural flesh knitting together torn muscles and shattered bones. The Xnihps's body convulsed violently, its limbs jerking and thrashing as it was forcibly resurrected, the process clearly agonizing. The creature, its mind broken and fragmented by the ordeal, rose to its feet once more, now a mindless engine of chaotic rage.

David, witnessing this horrific resurrection, instinctively raised the broken Barrett, pulling the trigger with a desperate click. The scavenger leader, with impossible speed, materialized in front of him, his empty eye socket a dark, gaping abyss that seemed to swallow the light. He backhanded David with brutal force, the blow connecting with a sickening crack, tearing a deep gash across his cheek and sending him sprawling onto the frozen ground. David cried out in pain, his head hitting the hard earth with a jarring thud.

Stumbling to his feet, disoriented and bleeding, David's gaze fell upon a fallen adventurer, his lifeless hand still clutching a bloodied sword. Driven by a primal instinct for survival, David wrenched the sword free, his own hands now slick with the dead man's blood. He held the blade awkwardly, his hands trembling with fear, pointing it vaguely in front of him as he stumbled backwards, the newly revived Xnihps and several snarling Gordons advancing on him. He shivered, his gaze darting around the chaotic battlefield, desperately searching for an escape, but there was nowhere to run.

The scene shifted to the Xnihps, now fully revived and rampaging through the battlefield, indiscriminately slaughtering both Gordons and scavengers. One of the scavengers, a lithe elf archer with braided silver hair, nocked an arrow, whispering a quick incantation to imbue it with wind magic for increased speed and accuracy. She fired, the arrow whistling through the air, striking the Xnihps thick hide. The creature barely flinched. The elf, overconfident in her agility, continued to circle the Xnihps, firing arrows, believing herself untouchable. But she grew careless, her focus wavering for a split second. The moment her foot landed awkwardly on a patch of uneven ground, the Xnihps exploded into a burst of terrifying speed, its massive paw lashing out like a striking viper.

The impact was catastrophic. The elf's body was ripped open from sternum to groin, her intestines, colon, and other internal organs spilling out in a grotesque, horrifying cascade, stretching out in a long, bloody, curving mess across the snow, some sections nearly the length of a small car. The snow beneath her was instantly soaked crimson, the air filled with the coppery stench of blood and the sickeningly sweet smell of ruptured organs.

With the Barrett now useless in David's hands, a surge of raw energy, a residual echo of Cael's blessing, surged into Cael's body. He saw Lyra running for her life, pursued by a pack of snarling Gordons. A dark, determined smile spread across his face. "Hoes ain't loyal," he muttered, a chillingly calm statement in the midst of the carnage. He bounded into the battlefield with newfound confidence, an almost palpable aura of power radiating from him. His eyes burned with an intense light, his braid whipping in the wind as he walked dramatically towards the Xnihps. He casually dropped his bloodied cutlasses, "Sea Serpent" and "Tidal Fury", the two swords hitting the frozen ground with a loud clang. The moment they hit the floor, Cael vanished, disappearing from sight as if he had never been there.

The Xnihps, hearing the clatter of the falling swords, turned its massive head back, its amber eyes fixed on the spot where Cael had been standing. The elf's mangled body was still clutched in its clawed hand, a gaping, bloody hole punctured through her torso.

Suddenly, Cael reappeared behind the Xnihps, specifically at the end of where the elf's intestines spilled out, he noticed they were still connected to her body. With a grim determination, he seized the trailing entrails, wrapping them tightly around his hands. Then, with a guttural yell that echoed across the battlefield, he uttered a single word of power, as flame emerged from his mouth a a dark ominous purple aura. "Ablaze!" he roared, setting the elf's intestines on fire. The flames raced down the entrails like a fuse, quickly engulfing the elf's corpse still clutched in the Xnihps's hand, burning it intensely. The burning flesh quickly melted into the Xnihps own flesh, the creature roaring in pain and confusion as the burning corpse became fused to its arm. With a violent jerk, the Xnihps pulled the burning, fused mass from its arm, tearing away chunks of its own flesh in the process, although its thick hide was still mostly intact, only scorched and blackened.Cael soared into the sky, leaping from a jagged outcrop of ice formed by a mage's earlier attempt to contain the Xnihps. He moved with surprising agility, using the momentum of his jump to propel himself through the air. The burning elf intestines, now transformed into a grotesque, flaming whip, trailed behind him, leaving streaks of smoke and embers in the air. The beast launching projectile as he appears like a shadow dodging it and using it to propel him self forward choking the creature .He became a whirlwind of motion, the burning elf intestines, now a grotesque, flaming whip wreathed in dark purple flames, trailing behind him like a comet's tail. As he spun through the air, he chanted, his voice a guttural roar that mingled with the screams of the dying and the roars of the Xnihps. "Cup of eternity, fill thy vessel with chastity! Cup of eternity, fill thy vessel with chastity!" Each repetition of the incantation amplified the unnatural flames, the entrails themselves solidifying, becoming almost metallic in their density, defying the very laws of combustion. They pulsed with an eerie, internal light, the flames licking at the air around them with a hungry intensity.

He lashed the grotesque whip across the Xnihps's face, the burning entrails searing deep grooves into its thick hide, the stench of burning fur and flesh filling the air. The creature's roar intensified, a sound of pure, unadulterated agony and rage that shook the very foundations of the battlefield. Cael then wrapped the flaming whip around the creature's thick neck, attempting a desperate strangulation. The Xnihps thrashed with terrifying power, its muscles bulging and straining against the burning restraints. Both Cael and the Xnihps screamed in unison, Cael's cries a mixture of pain from the searing heat on his hands and exertion, the Xnihsp's a primal scream of torment, cael then suddenly heard a bone breaking rupture as if something snapped, the beast head turn almost full anticlockwise and it stopped suddenly it twisted it back to place as blood spilled out gushing out. The creature, in a frenzy, yanked violently on the intestines, pulling Cael closer, his face inches from the Xnihsp's snapping jaws. In a blinding flash of motion, the Xnihsp gathered its immense strength and unleashed a devastating haymaker, a blow that carried the force of a battering ram.

Cael was launched through the air like a discarded ragdoll, his body crashing into a massive boulder with a sickening crunch that echoed across the battlefield. The boulder itself fractured under the impact, sending shards of rock scattering across the blood-soaked snow. Cael's body convulsed violently, his limbs twitching and spasming as if electrocuted. His skin, already raw and blistered from the burning intestines, was further lacerated by the impact, deep cuts and abrasions opening across his back and shoulders, blood seeping into the snow. With agonizing slowness, he pushed himself up, his breath ragged and shallow. He ripped away the remnants of his damaged chest armor, the metal screeching against his burned skin, then tore strips from his already blood-soaked tunic, fashioning crude bandages for his ravaged back and neck. The cloth instantly became saturated with fresh blood, turning a dark, gruesome crimson.

He then focused his remaining strength on the crest emblazoned on his wrist—two intertwined birds, the symbol of his lineage. With a guttural cry, he plunged two fingers into the crest, drawing blood. Lightning crackled across his skin, illuminating his face with an eerie, blue light, followed by an ethereal glow that emanated from the wound. Two doves, born of pure, white-hot flame, erupted from the crest, their wings beating with powerful strokes, leaving trails of fire in their wake as they flew towards the Xnihsp, emitting piercing screeches that cut through the din of battle. The fiery doves danced around the creature, harassing it with bursts of flame and distracting it from Cael's prone form.

But the Xnihps, its mind now a swirling vortex of pain and fury, locked its burning amber eyes onto Cael, the source of its torment. It roared once more, a sound that promised death and destruction, and charged towards him with terrifying speed, its massive shoulder slamming into Cael's already broken body, sending him flying once more, this time into the shattered remains of the boulder, the jagged rocks further tearing at his flesh. A fresh wave of blood erupted from his wounds, staining the rocks a dark, glistening crimson.

In that desperate moment, as Cael was sent hurtling towards the shattered boulder, he had managed to place one of the seals – a small, paper tag inscribed with intricate runes – on his shoulder. As he tumbled across the frozen ground, gasping for breath, the Xnihps advanced, its massive foot descending upon Cael's exposed leg. The bones snapped with a sickening crack, sending a jolt of white-hot pain through his body. Ignoring the agony, Cael used his two hands to push himself away from the creature, the sharp fragments of bone tearing through his flesh, further damaging his already ravaged leg. In his frantic escape, his right foot was partially ripped away, dangling precariously by a few remaining tendons.

He scrambled away, pouring handfuls of snow onto the Xnihsp's legs, feigning terror. He wailed and sobbed, acting as if he had completely lost his mind, a desperate pseudo-performance to lower the creature's guard. As the Xnihps leaned down, its massive head looming over him, Cael seized his opportunity. With surprising strength, he grabbed a large, jagged rock, setting it ablaze with a quick burst of flame. He hurled the burning rock into the Xnihsp's open mouth. The creature recoiled, choking and sputtering, trying to dislodge the burning stone. Cael seized the moment, using his flames to quickly seal the creature's mouth shut, trapping the burning rock inside.

He then placed two more seals on his legs, one on the injured leg and one on the other, before, with a pained grunt, leaping away and placing the final seal on his other shoulder. The Xnihps roared in frustrated agony, tearing its sealed mouth open with a horrific rip, the flesh around its jaws splitting and bleeding.

Cael, his body now marked with a crest and four rune-inscribed seals, performed a swift hand sign, channeling his remaining energy. A searing pain shot through his body as he burned a matching crest directly onto his chest, the skin around it blistering and charring. "Chella!" he cried out, the word echoing across the battlefield. The seals on his body flared with a blinding light, and spectral chains erupted from them, wrapping around the Xnihsp's massive form, binding its soul as if a thousand unseen hands were pulling it down into the earth dragging it soul into the abyss.

Cael placed his bloodied hand on the Xnihsp's chest, the hot blood from his own wounds dripping onto the creature's coarse fur. He didn't flinch, didn't recoil. He stood stagnant, his face set with fierce determination, his green eyes burning with an unnatural intensity. A powerful rune glowed on his right arm, pulsing with energy. Despite the agonizing pain from his ruptured leg, he stood strong, his gaze unwavering. He began to chant, his voice resonating with ancient power. "Heaven and earth, accept this sacrifice!" He channeled all of his remaining mana into the rune on his arm, the energy flowing outwards, surging into the crest on the Xnihsp's chest.

A massive explosion erupted, the force of it sending shockwaves across the battlefield, throwing the remaining Gordons and scavengers back roughly, corpse,snow, rubble, even all flame quenched. The Xnihsp's body was consumed by the blast, reduced to a smoldering skeleton still standing, the spectral chains still binding its remains. Cael, caught in the blast, was thrown back as well, but his body was protected by the lingering energy of the seals. One of the Xnihsp's ribs, however, was impaled through his right arm, the bone protruding from his flesh, the surrounding area burnt black from the explosion, the blackness slowly fading, leaving behind a network of angry red cracks in the skin. He remained standing, his right hand still pressed against the rib, the other lying limp at his side. His body was slumped slightly, his posture mirroring the decaying Xnihps skeleton. One of his hands, the one touching the rib, was now fused to it by the intense heat and now with flame crack surrounding his hand, the other hand lay limply at his side. He stood there, his breathing heavy and ragged, his green eyes burning brighter than ever before.

The explosion sent a shockwave that rippled across the battlefield, throwing everyone nearby off their feet. The wind howled, carrying with it the smell of burnt flesh, bone, and magic. Those who witnessed the explosion were left in stunned silence, their minds struggling to comprehend the sheer power they had just witnessed.