Debora was in her base state, tentacles tore from her body like whips, splitting rocks in half and flinging soil into the air. But Kellix stood tall, his eyes locked on the towering parasite queen before him.
His Abi began to flicker, but each time he forced it beyond its limits. Every time he struck with his cleaver, it sliced cleanly through parasitic limbs, then vanished. Kellix clenched his teeth and forced another cleaver to form.
"Come on, parasite!" he shouted, gripping his clay cleaver tight. "Let's see what you've got!"
Debora grinned, her violet eyes glowing with malice.
Dozens of tentacles shot toward him like spears.
Kellix moved, his headband slipped off.
His cleaver became a blur......
SLASH!
ABI: 95%
SLASH!
SLASH!
The cleain
He shaped his hand into a meat cleaver
SLASH!
ABI: 85%
Slicing through the parasite limbs as they came.
Debora "He's forcing his body to move beyond its normal speed limit... Debora hissed, snapping back."
Another wave surged, thicker, heavier, unstoppable.
The tentacles sliced into his right arm, but he pushed forward anyway, swinging with his left.
ABI: 65%
Kellix slammed his free hand into the ground. Clay exploded from the soil, swirling around him in molten ribbons.
"Clay Maker!"
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From the ground rose a monstrous clay beast, they scharged towards Debora, her tentacles
"Time for me to show you what it means to be the son of Jerix!" Kellix shouted.
Debora screamed as the clay beast overwhelmed her, crushing pulling her limbs. She roared and released razor-sharp tentacles from her body, stabbing through the creature's chest. It shattered into dust, but it had done its job.
ABI: 60%
Because while she was distracted, Kellix was already on the move.
Kellix "lets finish this."
He used what was left of his Abi "Art of the Painter, Clay Man"
Kellix's body pulsed with lemon-colored electricity.
The current surged through him in violent waves, muscles swelling and expanding as his frame grew larger, heavier. His skin hardened, shifting in texture and tone until his entire body gleamed like cracked gold, veins of power crawling beneath the surface.
When the transformation ended, the boy was gone.
The Clay Man stood in his place.
ABI: 40%
For the first time, Debora understood.
This form wasn't reckless.
It wasn't unstable.
It was dangerous.
Her eyes narrowed as instinct screamed.
ABI: 2400%
She created distance immediately, retreating as the Clay Man turned, and began to destroy everything around him.
ABI: 40%
The ground shattered beneath his steps.
Stone and debris were reduced to dust.
He raised an arm and launched a blast of lemon Abi.
It struck Debora head-on, the impact sending her skidding violently across the battlefield, her body carving a trench through the ground. Heat flooded her chest as rage ignited.
She snarled and attempted to shift, to expand into her massive parasite form,
but the electricity crawling through her body interfered.
Her flesh spasmed.
Her Abi stalled.
No healing.
No transformation.
Her eyes widened.
The Clay Man didn't wait.
ABI: 40%
Another Abi blast erupted from him, slamming into Debora again and hurling her across the battlefield a second time. She crashed hard, rolling to a stop as black goo spilled from her mouth.
She coughed violently.
Fear crept in, hot, sharp, unwelcome.
Her eyes burned with a mix of panic and fury.
Kellix charged.
Debora hissed under her breath, teeth clenched.
"Damn it... I can't shapeshift. That means I can't dodge"
Her gaze snapped upward as his power spiked.
"And if I take that next hit..."
"...it might actually kill me."
She slammed her hands into the ground.
Parasites erupted outward, dozens, then hundreds, fusing together in a writhing mass as they wrapped around her, forming a massive parasite cocoon.
The Clay Man threw back his head and roared.
"You cannot hide," he bellowed, voice distorted and monstrous.
"I will rip through your defense."
Electricity flared.
He gathered everything he had left.
ABI: 0
And then, he fired.
Debora braced herself inside the cocoon.
But instead of impact, the wind shifted.
Silence fell.
Seconds passed.
Nothing struck. The attack fadded.
Her breath slowed.
Cautiously, the cocoon began to dissolve.
Outside, the battlefield was scorched and broken, but the Clay Man was gone.
Kellix lay sprawled on the ground, his body cracked and lifeless, barely breathing.
He muttered "I am Kellix the Brave, son of-"
ABI: -5
His Abi had dropped to –5.
Debora stared.
Then exhaled.
ABI: 2300%
"...I can't believe this," she muttered, her face dark and serious.
"That thing almost killed me."
She stepped forward slowly.
Kellix stirred, barely able to lift his head. His vision swam as he looked up at her.
Debora stopped just above him.
And licked her lips.To Be Continued...