Chapter 268 - Behemoth

"Erebus: Starless Night. Anything caught in there will die within one minute; simple but powerful. It's not a poison or curse you can defend against; it enacts the concept of death on whoever is caught in its bounds."

No kidding, what the hell kind of spell is this?! It's obviously great magic, but he used it without an incantation again, Fai thought. 

He tried once more to break free from the holds of the quickly-formed cage, throwing a rapid flurry of fists against it, a few kicks, and even a blast of fire--nothing. 

"It's no use. Once you're caught in it, you can't break it."

"Oh, yeah?"

Fai only smiled as if those words from Avdima came as a challenge, only hearing from him "try to break it, if you can", placing his hands together. Even if those eyes still held that same, eternal boredom in their gloomy depths--Fai could tell, whether it be by the instinct of a fellow fighter or his intuition--Avdima wanted him to find a way out. 

If I'm right, then there is a glaring weakness with this spell. Something that entraps its victim quickly with unbreaking bars and kills them within a minute? Spells with this level of potency need to have a drawback to exist. I'm putting everything on this guess! Fai thought. 

Sprouting from beneath his feet, the puddle of gooey, thick darkness extended out, stretching from beyond the holds of the cage. 

"Huh?"

Avdima watched, jumping back to avoid stepping in the puddle bearing an unknown depth to its dark nature. 

Using this is going to hurt, but it's either this or death! Fai thought. 

"Rise, Behemoth…!"

The strained call sounded as if the words came out of his throat coated with blades, ripping his vocal cords as he fell to his knees the moment he uttered the name of the familiar. 

"More of this…? When will you figure out that you're just throwing fodder to the wind…"

Avdima seemed disappointed at this seemingly futile effort from the man as he ran his hand through his hair to slick bang his few hanging, curled bangs from his forehead. That indifference that was hardly different from confidence itself was tested as an aura like none other suddenly burst forth from the bounds of the abyssal lake around Fai's feet. 

"...I haven't been able to tame this one yet, so it's a gamble, but against you--I need to play with my odds."

Fai breathed heavily as he released his flame-born form, looking up with only one eye open at Avdima, who was no on full-guard with instincts now as sharp as a feline's--witnessing a figure drenched in the sable substance of the puddle rise and rise; a height that surpassed his expectations and continued to do so. 

It felt as if the entirety of the valley shook beneath the presence alone of the beast being birthed from the abyss; the soil split and the creatures that dwelled in the luxurious evergreen fled as the breath of the enigmatic beast was as heavy as a storm, and as warm as a pit of flames. 

The aura felt from its boundless hide as bulwark as a mountain wasn't magical, but the pinnacle of one's instincts being driven--it was an air of death and destruction that came from its unnatural existence; a creature that should not walk upon the crust of this world. 

"This is…"

Avdima watched with eyes that didn't know what they were perceiving, witnessing the black muk fall from the beast's hide as it stood on two, club-like fists that dwarfed the size of a cottage multiple times over, hunching over like a gorilla. 

With its form being unveiled by the fall of the sludge, its fur was thick and obscuring, inhabiting an orangish-brown hue that scaled over every inch of its enormous body. A steamy breath left from its unseen maw, tucked behind its shaggy fur; two husks protruded from the sides of its head, holding a length similar to that of the nearby trees. 

Taking on such a large form with fur that had never been graced by soap, the natural stench from the creature rivaled that of the slums Avdima originated from; igniting a nostalgic feeling from the man as he had to strain his neck to look up at the beast. 

With its full form on display, it struck a mix between a mammoth and a gorilla--a cross that inhabited the maximum proficiency for destruction, an unnaturally born entity that was in itself a natural disaster upon the world. In every right, it was the absolute embodiment of "Behemoth", a term used to describe many large creatures on Gaia--but this was the progenitor of that title, the very origin of a beast too large to belong naturally. 

The Behemoth stood dormant between the two, crushing the trees that impeded its path as an entire section of the forest was folded by its oversized existence. In contrast to its body the size of a village and its fist as mighty as steel pillars, the feet it stood on were rather small--the same going for its legs, likely the reason why it chose to walk on those clubs of its. 

"Go, Behemoth…!"

Reaching those sky-high ears, tucked behind such curly, intertwined layers of fur, Fai had to yell at the top of his lungs to grab the attention of the colossal entity. As it slightly turned its head with eyes veiled by abundant fur, looking down at the summoner who commanded it--Fai felt a chill trickle down his spine, a coldness running along his skin as his words became stuck in his throat. 

One of the four Chaos-Monsters I can summon...but good luck controlling them. Once it begins its rampage, it will only be stopped by death. I just need it to break me out of this cage--which should come even if it doesn't intend to listen to me, Fai thought. 

The crystallization of absolute, raw strength, a being that has devoured countless before. 

Its movements came slowly, but with the significance of a great mountain; it raised its massive, unrivaled fists which it leaned against into the air--relieving a burden upon the soil of Gaia as it did. 

When it comes to a certain point, the exact height of something stops being sought out, reaching a definition that is simply "far too large"--becoming hard for one to perceive with their own eyes.

That was Behemoth, the one who stood amongst the gigantic forest sprouted healthily from Gaia to stand tall, yet the trees were merely blades of grass to its stride. 

"Gh…!"

Avdima had been too caught up in the spectacle of such a dark, harrowing entity that he only realized once those boulders of fist were in the air what Behemoth intended to do. 

Even breathing in the toxic fear exuded from the enemy of humanity itself, Avdima's instincts as a fighter weren't for naught; raising his hand to the air, he produced a that exhibited a size great enough to cast a shadow over the field he stood in. 

Laced with refined magical energy into a multi-layered protective form that maximized defense, the shield formed of gloomy, dusk mana was fittingly sized for the likes of Behemoth, who finally began to bring its fur-clad, boundless hands down as the air whistled and hissed beneath such weight. 

A bellowing roar that engrained itself in the foundation of the valley released from the maw of Behemoth, releasing leaves from the limbs of the oak and generating a wind just by its own call as it slammed its massive hands against the dark shield--cracking it with ease. It was by the fury of those gargantuan fists that the world beneath shook, crying out beneath the power of such an indomitable force.

That's right, just like that, you big, hairy bastard! Fai smiled weakly. 

Just from the aftershock alone, the clash of Avdima's refined shield and the fists of Behemoth was enough to shatter the imprisoning, deathly spell that held the Outlanders. 

As I guessed...a spell as unfair as that had one, absolute weakness: it was brittle from the outside, he thought. 

As he straightened himself to his feet, now being free from the hold of the imprisoning magecraft, he found himself standing near the clubbed feet of Behemoth that rivaled the size of most cottages alone. 

I'm starting to wonder if I was safer inside that cage, he thought. 

All five senses were privy to Behemoth's monstrous, savage beat of his fists against the shield that stood between his hands and the flesh of the Argonaut. Being such a high-caliber beast, the harder the hunt for his food became, the more Behemoth became enraged--sinking into a rampage that Fai knew well spelled disaster for the already devastated forest. 

"This is certainly a rowdy one."

Avdima squinted his eyes a bit as he stood beneath the obsidian shield that hung over him like a somber roof; each impact from the otherside of the compromised barrier sounded like a mighty explosion engulfing his ears abrasively. 

With one hand focused on stabilizing the airborne bulwark, Avdima manifested a sphere in his other; a mixture of utter darkness with particles of a magenta shade gyrating in its building form. 

It's strong; I can admit that. A shield specializing in shock absorption--a counter to brutes like itself, yet it is still able to damage it? Fai, I hope you have more where this came from, Avdima thought. 

The roars that echoed from the boundless depths of Behemoth's gut didn't stop as it enacted its rampage of fists it brought down like heavenly cannons, causing even Fai to plug his ears with his fingers as he winced, tucking himself against a tree in hopes that the beast didn't turn that savage anger towards its summoner. 

After the patience displayed by the Argonaut paid off as he timed his counter perfectly; turning the massive, horizontal shield into formless particles as his eyes set on the towering, mountain of fur and rage looking down at him with its fleshy clubs raised to the stars. 

"Erebus: Absolute Night." 

As if chucking a baseball, Avdima tossed the sphere of intertwined, brilliant darkness up to Behemoth as its form crashed against the beast's blubbery stomach. 

Fai thought his eyes deceived him; with an object that minuscule, especially against the scale of Behemoth, it seemed like something straight out of his worst nightmares: Behemoth was lifted into the air by the force behind the sable sphere. 

Possessing unseen wings, the unmatched in size and fur beast was carried straight into the air by the spiraling, aggressive ball--flailing its limbs as it roared out in complete confusion, its saliva raining down on the forest below in a repugnant shower. 

"If you're as tough as you are big--survive this."