Clay had always been using the ground to attack, create walls and affect the landscape of the battlefield, however, his ability wasn't limited to that and it allowed him to affect everything about the ground beneath his feet.
The only limiting factors were his control, energy reserves and creativity and Clay knew that attempting to restrict the monster's movements using rock walls would be useless.
It was too fast and strong for such means, so instead of trying to use a direct method to block the monster, he could restrict its movements by affecting the ground that it stood on.
Damian who had copied Clay's Innate Ability had a great understanding of how it worked and was curious to see what he was planning.
The ground beneath the monster's feet and the area around it appeared to begin melting and it seemed the ground had turned into sludge and formed a swamp-like surface.
It had sensed the large amount of energy that Clay was using, but it was unsure of what it could expect and wasn't able to react quick enough even with its speed.
"Good job"
Damian couldn't help but be impressed as he himself knew how difficult it would be to pull off something like that.
It required Clay to find moisture beneath the ground and raise it to the surface while mixing it with the mud and forming a pit of sludge.
The monster had no solid surface to move on and was slowly sinking in the sludge that acted similar to quick sand and the more it struggled, the more it sank.
However, it became clear to Damian and Clay that it would only be able to confine the monster for a few seconds as it continued to become angrier and more frustrated and was on the verge of breaking free despite being caught in Clay's trap.
"You better not waste this opportunity and it won't work a second time" exclaimed Clay who was barely able to pull it off and knew that the monster and the other mercenaries would be prepared for it a second time.
Damian knew that his skills alone wouldn't be able to defeat the monster and that his offensive power while using Shadow Energy wasn't very strong, so he switched to Fire Energy.
[I only have one shot at this and I still have multiple more opponents that are out for my life. I have only survived up until this point thanks to Clay and the crazy leader of the mercenary group that seems to be entertained by my life or death battles. But I will not back down until the end and I am sure that I will make it out of here alive so that I can make my mother proud and reach the peak] thought Damian to himself.
He needed a powerful attack that could swiftly take down the monster beast and he only had a few seconds.
Closing his eyes, Damian concentrated on controlling his energy and was streaming large amounts of energy into his arms.
As he did so, he walked closer to the monster, unsure of the range of the attack that he had come up with on the spot.
When he reached a position he was comfortable with, he then placed his palms outwards and together and as he did so, released a powerful burst of Fire Energy.
He had taken too long and the monster had managed to break through the sludge it had been trapped in and pounced toward Damian, however, the fire burst released from his arms pierced straight through the monster's chest.
It left a gaping hole where its heart used to be and everything before the burst had been incinerated.
The temperature of the fire that Damian had released surpassed any other attack he had used before and it used most of the Internal Energy that he had left, leaving him fatigued, dizzy and barely able to stand.
Using the Flame Burst Skill that he had previously used for explosive movement, Damian created the Fire Beam Skill that he would only use as his final resort as his arms were numb and felt useless.
He had used too much energy in them at once and the impact that had launched him sliding backwards was too much for his arms to bear, even after training his body and reinforcing it with energy.
They were all amazed by the powerful attack that Damian was able to pull off, but even after that attack, the monster was still struggling to stay alive and was yet to die.
It was struggling with its body continuing to destroy itself and cause itself more pain as it attempted to stay alive.
"I will put you out of your misery" uttered Damian as he staggered over to the spear that the mercenary previously used.
He then walked over to the monster who was struggling and wailing in pain, then pierced it into the head of the monster with the last of the strength left in his arms.
"That is two down, who is next," said Damian.
Despite the conviction behind his words, it was clear that he could barely stand let alone continue to fight and it was only his strong willpower and physique that was keeping him conscious.
"Just finish him off already. If you can't do it, we will do it for you" said the two royal academy students who were starting to become frustrated.
However, they immediately retracted what they said after being glared at by the mercenary group leader and by Clay who walked over to Damian's side and seemed to be planning to fight with Damian to the death of them.
"Be quiet and don't disturb my entertainment. I don't care who you are, if you disturb me while having fun, I will kill you" the mercenary group leader stated.
His words showed no signs of being fake and the two royal academy students moved back and away from the mercenary group leader.
'I wish I didn't hire such a crazy group of mercenaries, but at least they seem to intend to give those two bastards slow and painful deaths, so either way, we win and get rid of the traitor and that threat' thought the two royal academy students to themselves.