Immediately after releasing the Arrow, Himalton vanished from his position along with the Spirit Bow. He didn't remain there to see whether the attack would hit because everyone had already agreed that staying in the same place after the first attack would only give the Boss another opportunity to attack them. The other three members of Team Asfalon moved almost at the same time, each of them already prepared to launch their strongest attacks the moment Himalton's Arrow entered the pathway.
Raison, the member wearing the metal gauntlets, stepped forward and raised both of his arms. He then started punching toward the dark pathway at an extremely fast speed. One punch became dozens, then hundreds, and within a few seconds it became difficult to distinguish the individual movements of his hands. "Hiyaaahhhhhhh!" he shouted as he continued punching without stopping.
The punches did not travel through the air like ordinary physical attacks. Small particles of Spirit Energy were mixed into each one, and every punch released from his fists turned into a streak of light before moving toward the same pathway where Himalton's Arrow had already disappeared. The attacks followed almost the same trajectory, creating a continuous stream of Spirit-powered strikes heading toward the darkness.
Heddeon moved immediately after him.
The dagger in his hand was already prepared, and he stepped forward before swinging it twice. The first slash crossed the second one, forming a massive X-shaped attack in front of him. The two cuts were made entirely from condensed Spirit Energy, and the moment the X was completed, it shot forward like a blur and entered the same pathway.
Unlike Raison's continuous attacks, Heddeon's attack was concentrated into two powerful slashes. He had no intention of wasting Spirit Energy by throwing several weaker attacks after the Boss. The first attack had already shown them that the Monster could move faster than they could react, so there was no point trying to slowly wear it down.
Armado was the last of the three to attack.
His hand remained on the hilt of the Long Sword at his waist for a brief moment. Then he pulled it out.
The moment the sword left its sheath, the ground beneath his feet shook slightly. The movement was not caused by a large amount of Spirit Energy being released, but by the weight contained within the sword itself. The Long Sword looked like an ordinary weapon from a distance, but the reaction of the ground made it clear that there was something unusual about its weight and the force behind it.
Armado didn't waste time explaining anything.
He raised the Long Sword and slashed downward.
For a moment, nothing seemed to happen.
There was no visible flash, no large wave of Spirit Energy, and no sound that could tell the others where the attack had gone. But everyone with strong enough perception suddenly sensed something moving forward from Armado's position.
An invisible crescent-shaped slash was traveling toward the same pathway.
The attack seemed to carry a strange effect as it moved, with the surrounding space slightly bending around its path. It wasn't large enough to cover the entire chamber, but its presence was enough to make the three stronger members understand that Armado had also used one of his strongest attacks.
All four attacks had now entered the same pathway.
Himalton's Arrow went first, followed by Raison's hundreds of Spirit-powered punches, Heddeon's massive X-shaped slash and finally Armado's invisible crescent. There was barely a second between each attack, and the moment the four attacks disappeared into the darkness, everyone scattered from their original positions.
Himalton had already moved away from the entrance while the three remaining members of Asfalon went in different directions, each choosing a position where they could react if the Boss suddenly came out. Alberion also disappeared from his previous position, finding a place from where he could observe the pathway without making himself an easy target.
For the first second, nothing happened.
Everyone waited in silence as their perception remained focused on the dark pathway. There was no sound coming from inside, no sudden release of Spirit pressure and not even a reaction from the ground beneath them. Even Himalton frowned as he continued waiting because he had expected some kind of response immediately after his Arrow reached its target, but the complete lack of any reaction made it difficult to understand what had happened.
'Did we miss?' Himalton thought.
The possibility was difficult to accept, but it couldn't be completely ignored. The Boss had already shown a level of speed that none of them had expected, and if it had sensed the incoming attacks early enough, it could have moved deeper into the pathway before they reached its previous position. If that had happened, then all four attacks could have passed through the area without actually hitting it.
Atlas considered the same possibility while keeping his perception fixed on the pathway. 'There is no reaction...but the attacks definitely entered.' He had clearly sensed Himalton's Arrow entering first, followed by the other three attacks almost immediately afterward. Unless the Boss had completely left that area before the attacks arrived, there was no reason for all of them to disappear into the darkness without producing any reaction.
Then the answer came.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
An enormous explosion erupted from deep inside the dark pathway. The sound spread through the entire chamber as the ground beneath everyone's feet shook, while a massive wave of Spirit Energy pushed toward the entrance. Dust and fragments of stone were thrown into the air, and the surrounding walls trembled from the force of the impact as the combined attacks finally collided with something deep inside.
The explosion was much stronger than any of the attacks would have been individually. Himalton's Arrow had already contained a huge amount of concentrated Spirit Energy with Gravity added to its tip, while Raison's attacks had followed behind it with hundreds of individual impacts. Heddeon's X-shaped slash and Armado's spatial crescent had then entered almost at the same time. The four attacks had reached the same area within an extremely short period, causing their combined force to erupt inside the pathway.
The pressure from the explosion began moving toward the entrance.
Atlas narrowed his eyes as he sensed the Spirit Energy spreading through the pathway. 'It's coming out.' If the explosion reached the chamber at its current strength, the remaining members of Asfalon would also be affected despite having scattered away from the original position. There wasn't enough distance between them and the pathway to completely avoid an explosion of this scale.
However, before the destructive force could reach the chamber, something changed.
Roots suddenly emerged from the ground around the entrance of the pathway. They appeared from several different points at once before rapidly growing toward each other, their thick structures crossing over one another until they formed a dense barrier across the entire entrance. More roots continued growing over the first layer, creating several layers between the explosion inside and the rest of the chamber.
BOOM!
The explosion struck the roots.
The entire barrier shook violently from the impact, but it didn't break. The members of Team Asfalon watched from their respective positions as the roots continued holding the explosion inside the pathway. None of them had expected the Roots to appear at that exact moment, but they quickly understood what they were doing and who was behind this.
They were containing the explosion and...it was none other than Alberion.
More roots spread across the entrance until the entire pathway was sealed from the outside. The enormous sound of the explosion could still be heard from the other side, but most of its destructive force was now trapped inside instead of reaching the chamber where everyone was standing.
BOOOOOOM!
Another impact struck the barrier.
The Roots shook violently again, but they continued holding their position. The sound from inside the pathway became mixed with the grinding noise of the Roots as they resisted the force coming from the other side. Everyone remained where they were, none willing to approach the entrance before knowing what had happened to the Boss.
Himalton kept his attention fixed on the barrier with a serious expression. 'That should have been enough to injure it.' He didn't allow himself to believe that the Boss was dead because none of them had actually seen the result of their attack. The Monster had already shown them something to understand that assumptions could get them killed inside this Ruin.
Atlas had reached the same conclusion.
He remained concealed while his perception continued covering the surrounding area, waiting for the explosion to weaken enough for him to sense what was happening beyond the Roots. The chamber gradually became quieter as the force of the explosion started decreasing, and the shaking of the barrier also became less frequent.
Until...a violent tremor passed through the whole chamber, making each and every one widen their eyes in horror.
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