Trial by Zeus

[13:08:16] He was stronger now, but nearly every bit of the monster he needed to be… He needed more…
Otherwise, he’d be crushed beneath another monger’s boot.

Nearing the road that lead him captured, departing from the sunken lands that’d turn out to be Alteros, he’d head back to the Trystle Caverns-- More Off ready to test his luck, for the other side…

Against all odds, he did it…
He made it to the other side, and without being detected as far as he could tell. There was no Kaor Bukuya high on his tail, attempting to finish the job that it failed earlier. He wasn’t going to give it the chance to try again… The light of such a vital, albeit barren landscape wrought one to a wince: These, were the Southern Prairies of Valmasia.
(Vile Yokai)
[13:09:07] There were only two missions at-hand…
To flee as far as he could from the new Kaor’s latest position… and to amass power in any manner he could…
If only such did not mean that he’d be hunted further…
The screech of dozens allured one’s attention to a horde of lesser beastlings, charging at the nameless daemon without regard for livelihood. It was against their nature…
It was against their Will.

Two by two, they leaped upon his person, climbing up, front and back with nails slicing into flesh; Teeth gnawed at his shelling, crackling at its hardened plates to leave one compromised!
What was considered his greatest asset was being torn asunder by those, even weaker than he! Though, in justification, they vastly outnumbered him, forcing him to peel them off for violent thrusts outward.

A foot stomped to catch one, whist a slashing hand gored another mid-flight… A risen arm with fingers clutched into an airborne fist summoned forth subterranean mayhem in the form of cascading streams of tenebrae essence, shredding the scene outright to force the immediate scape to succumb to spontaneous combustion of the occultic degree.
(Vile Yokai)
[13:09:07] Dozens were vaporized instantly in the explosion… And the dozens more that remained stopped-- But not for his display of power, but out of reverence to a higher one nigh.
One such power that this vile yokai would learn of, in the form of a streak of penetrating fulmination, piercing his left shoulder.

A gasp for air in agony possessed his person, soon fallen to a knee…
The power was so intense, managing to melt right through his armor and gattle the flesh within all throughout the endeavor.

“You’re a tenacious one, but a feeble yokai nonetheless…” It said unto him, “--which leads me to ponder, why you still stand so feral. Your calling is that, of a mouse to a cat’s paw: A toy…”
The telepathic voicing through this channel had direction, pointing itself out to him. A turn for what came from behind, and there, he saw it. Shorter than himself, but clearly potent in its advanced form.

A Zeus stood in his midst…

“ I find you worthy of pity, and for that I will not slay you in this moment. Instead, you may be gracious enough to see life another day… As a servant to a power more worthy…” It claimed, extending a palm out towards him, “Now submit, fodder-beast, before I change my mind, and consume you where you rest.”
(Vile Yokai)
[13:09:07] This was going for the worst…
He was battered up by those lesser than him, and caught off-guard by another stronger than his current form; Granted his weakness, he needed to get out of the situation… Quickly!

Time was ticking, and as the seconds drew on by… It seemed as though his first cringe would be answered the the gleam of alabaster light bewixt the Zeus’ digits. It was prepared to finish the job! And thus, with a lunge, the nameless beast took hostage of a single lesser beastling, turning it into a projectile to heave at the Elemental.

The unfortunate plebeian intercepted the first bolt of energy, suckling it up maddeningly in its flight only to combust into a lavender mist. It was an act that gave one enough time to sprint offwards for the south.
“How unfortunate! I was hoping for you to die with some dignity…”
The murmur of thunder above provided more incentive to hurry his efforts, forced to weave left and right courtesy of the occasional bolt of lightning that’d smite the earth about him.
(Vile Yokai)
[13:09:58] He needed a plan…
An escape…
But where?


Finally, an mistakable weight had crashed down upon his back, leaving him fallen to a once airborne Zeus.

“There, there… I was hoping you’d stop eventually…” It stepped back and… Off? Hardly for what one would’ve imagined. “Now, before I kill you, I want to know… Exactly, who are you?” It’d question, leaving the nameless to struggle in rising up to hands and knees.
“ If anything I must know the name of such a fool, asinine enough to attempt seeing a way out of such a prime opportunity.” It went onwards to saying…

“Consider it a privilege, not every fool shall have his name scribed in the history books…” This courtesy was rewarded with a handful of dirt, flung for his eyes-- Temporally blinding him, as means of quick thinking from the Giga. He scampered off, stammering as he pushed himself up to his feet, taking sight of an obvious hiding spot: The southern mesas. He could hide there, outside of these open plains… But it was clear to all whom roamed these lands. Anyone… Everyone, would suspect such, granted the lack of hiding places… But it was something, enough for him to stop and think.

(Vile Yokai)
[13:09:58] “You damned scoundrel… “ It rubbed vehemently at its eyes, clearing up its vision just moments before the Umbral-spawn vanished between the mesas.
“You wasted your only chance at purpose in this meaningless world…”
Teleportation was a feat that only one of the lightning element could exhibit in such stage flawlessly, something that left the prey concerned.

How much longer could he hide?
What was he to do?
How could he dream of taking on an opponent, so much faster than he was?
How could he out-think, a strategist such as the Elemental here?

“You’re already weakened, yokai… You won’t be getting far.” It sounded off, leaving the nameless with little options. “I can smell your fear… It’s almost a matter of time, before I find you.”
(Vile Yokai)
[13:09:58] Smell…
As irrelevant as the term itself may’ve been for the time being, it wrought forth a realization.
The smell of… Salt…. No, salt-water… It was close. Listening out, he could hear it too… Crashing waves: There was a shore nigh.
If it knew any better, electricity dissipated in bodies of water, did it not?
If he could only get one close enough…. Perhaps…

The vile insectoid took to a sprint southward, towards the sound of crashing waves.
“ I FOUND YOU” It called out;
The murmuring buzz of its rapid encroach soon manifested in the image of its person, immediate to his right.
“--Where do you think you’re going?”
He reached across his chest, catching him with razor-sharp digits that bored into his flesh. Natural strength allowed it to hold him off, but not entirely bring him to a crashing halt. He struggled, pushing back to attempting holding him off! But as he parted from his vessel, a spark of the electric arcane briefly left him stuned in his endeavors, enough so to fall victim to a dragged slash across the back.

It was strong enough to scathe his shelling alone, and with the damage done by the lessers before him, it’d peel off platelets in its wake, splattering blood outright.
But… He couldn’t give up, he had to keep running… For dear life.

(Vile Yokai)
[13:09:58] “There’s only but so far you can go, before you realize you can’t win… There’s no way you’ll get away from me.” It boasted…

“You’re weakened… And I’m faaaaaar faster than any yokai you’ll come across.”
The Umbra-spawn stammered nigh the drop-off… A steep fall of several hundred feet, detailed at its bottom with a rocky shore, crashed against by roaring waves.
He was right! There was water here!
The crackle of lightning behind him, beckoned his attention to find the Zeus, having cornered him.
“You’re not getting away. Cease your dreaming…” It finally demanded of him… To which, the nameless would speak against:
“ I will be getting away… But not without consuming you, and getting closer to ascending far beyond ANYTHING you could ever come to conceive!” Those words dared one’s callous approach, thinking only on the matter of consumption and nothing else. Light enveloped his entire being, charging up his magical potential to its fullest. There was nothing held back, which left the Giga with the need to retaliate in his own fashion…

But he had to think beyond what he saw…
(Vile Yokai)
[13:10:49] The attack… As lethal as it may’ve proven… Had to be ignored…
For all of the rest of the plan fell into place already… All he needed to do, was land the right blow.
“TRY ME!” It screamed out, distorted by the gattling electromancy-- Outright vanishing with its lunge.
It was an act, committed wholly out of prayer for success... But the nameless giga would commit to it regardless.
A hand of sharpened digits was lunged forth, swathed in the esoteric arcane...

--And in a flash...
They'd meet in clash!

An energy of pure lightning embroidered about one's palm, melted into the Gigai's abdomen, all whilst thrusting him foot after foot out of inertia from direct impact. All whilst an ebonically-surged line of digits pierced the neck region of the Elemental; It'd be critically scathed, but more than living enough to force them both off the edge of the cliff...
Where they'd fall...
(Vile Yokai)
[13:10:49] A penetrating hand sought out for one's heart, managing to obliterate one's defenses for their cardiovascular tissue.
"This was over, before it began..." The Elemental claimed, growing obsessed in the act of slaying this defiant stain on yokai kind.
"N- No..." The Gigai would reply, "... You... Just underestimated my power... Your LAST MISTAKE!"

The siphoning process accelerated to notable magnitude, all whilst one attempted to engage in an aerial roll midst their fall.
(Vile Yokai)
[13:10:49] It was when he was so close to perishing to one's impalement, that used placement to his advantage. As they came closer to hardened rocks along the bottom, he grew stronger-- The Elemental, soon growing feeble. He could feel the powers of such magnificent creatures... Of such remarkable powers of element-based ilk, reverberating through his being. With two added to his person, he felt nigh invulnerable...
Regenerative capabilities repelled one's waning endeavor, growing lax as crippled lifeforce was drained for his body.

"NOW! WE WILL BE ONE!"
Just as they'd crash into the earth, their bodies rotated enough so to leave the Elemental smashed into the land, shattering it into the sea. It'd survive the fall itself, but the inertia drove the Gigai's nails further into its neck. The sea that swept them away left them under... The static that forced the Umbra-spawn nigh paralyzed dissipated.. And soon after, the struggle would come to a close.

It, was over.
The Elemental had perished, another one added to one's reserves: Their identities separate, but now, their powers the same. Though, even so, he did not evolve... His threshold did not match that of theirs...
(Vile Yokai)