Master Of Myths

Not a fraction of a second after YuJu disappeared from his place Ellis and Zero blasted off without hesitation, they did not know what they were running but knew that it must be dangerous

Their guess didn't take long to be proved right by a shadow covering the sky, something huge was descending at a speed incomparable to its size, their own speed incapable of escaping it

"Shoot behind them!"

They heard before a fireball came blasting under their arses, giving them enough momentum to fly forward and doge the descending thing before being blown over by the shockwave of its slam

"Uuuu"

"..."

The two women got up while rubbing their stinging behind, if it was any other time they would certainly give Ika the talk of her life, since she did it to save them however they could only keep the complaints to themselves

Such trivial things soon faded from their mind as another similar object dislodged from the dome and flapped down onto the earth, then, as if alive the dome started to shake and move, slowly rising out of the earth while turning upward

Before long the dome was lifted off the earth by two huge feet, the things flapping over turned to be the ears of this thing draped forward on its face, covering much of the yellow eyes, most notably however was the toothy maw laying just under the overreaching ears

"...I see, that makes more sense"

Why was the gaze he sensed inconsistent? Because the creature wasn't looking at him directly, it was buried into the earth and used illusions to gaze at him

"What is that…"

"Clearly it's one of those hairballs we have been fighting"

Ika looked between YuJu and the big creature in disbelief, that thing was one of those murder floofs? Though she could see the resemblance in the maw and eyes but nothing else! Not the size, no ears, and certainly not this hairless body

"It must have evolved too fast, straining its body and turning it bald"

He further explained noting her ridiculous expression

The creature turned its eyes to look down at them casually conversing, glaring upon the intruders who caused its land much misery, it was time to take this problem into its own feet, literally at that

Lifting one big foot it moved to squash them, assured that they won't be able to escape in time

""...""

YuJu and his followers did nothing to escape the incoming attack, not that they thought they could take it on but…the thing was just too slow

"Wasn't it fast a moment ago Master?"

"No, that was just its ears falling down, I guess the body became too heavy for it to move itself"

Certainly, the hairless ball had to move its entire body with the foot just to take a step forward, by the time of which they already retreated enough of a distance to avoid any damage whatsoever

After seeing them deftly avoid its step attack the creature debated internally, finding no other way than to use its powers to end this fight

The big maw opened toward them, a deep breath coming out as the feeling of heat increased to a scalding level

"! Dodge!!"

Realizing what it was up to YuJu commanded before disappearing from view, Ika followed suit while Zero and Ellis had to run for their lives again, something that has been happening way too often these days

This time however it wasn't just a flap of the ears, the creatures took aim and followed their retreating figures, focusing on Ellis who was the slowest of the bunch and shot the gathered up flames from its maw

"Come to me!"

Yelled Zero, summoning Ellis to appear behind her, fully avoiding the nasty explosion that could have wounded her badly

The creature frowned upon the escaping little things, even more so when it felt fire burn its skin, small as the part burned may be

"Minor damage my Lord, at this rate I can't cause any wounds"

Ika reported after trying her fireballs on the massive thing, just the size was a bother not to mention its strong defense

"Remain at the ready for any possible attack opportunity"

She nodded and disappeared

'I called back the Witness, it should be able to help, with it and Ika we might be able to roast this thing over time'

His plan was simple, drag time on until he could crack down the big fellow, after all it was too slow to keep up with them

'Though it definitely stronger than this I am positive of our ability to escape'

In the end it wasn't of great importance to kill it here and now, not at the cost of anyone's life, though he would like to not have his efforts for the last few months wasted

Just then the creature which had gone silent for a time suddenly gave a wide smile, one giving him a very bad feeling

Not a moment later his senses proved to be right as a dome of aura manifested around the area, trapping everyone inside

'....I hate this'

There was nothing worse than jinxing yourself to death, perhaps only the tornados forming around them to rip them into shred could compete, or the flaming purgatory that was opening up to fill the earth

'Anput, get Jasper to lift us'

The hound responded by summoning the shadow dragon under his feet, Zero came in her bat form with Ellis caught in claw before dropping her on the dragon and morphing back

"My Lord, I can't break through the barrier"

Ika reported after striking at it with her flames, leaving not the smallest dent

"Guessed as much"

Turning to the smiling big guy he frowned heavily

"Zero, think you can handle its weight?"

"Maybe"

'Then try to fling it away"

Nodding she rushed to get under the beast, but fiery eruptions kept barring her path making it impossible to go in unscathed

"Ika, cover its eyes with your flames"

Explosive fireballs were shot following the command, the creature did not even try to take them head on, moving its ears lightly to cover the eyes entirely from harm

That seemed ineffective however as the natural disaster like attacks kept being thrown at them, Jasper barely able to maneuver out of harm's way while Zero was constantly kept at bay

'Right, it can sense with its aura, no need for the eyes'

If only he had a way to block its sense then they might have a chance to get to it

'Block its senses…certainly I have the perfect counter'

The entire place was already lit up in flames, he might as well add the smoke

Like a dark cloud his aura engulfed the sky where they flew, no longer allowing the attacks to acutely chase them, which not only gave them a lot of room to breath but for some reason dissipated almost half the power of the attacks that came in

'Well, it is an illusion ground reinforced by aura, if it enters my own domain then it makes sense for it to return to its illusory state'

That made things a lot easier, especially for Zero, the smoke clouded a path for her to venture through unharmed

Woooo~

A breath of wind gust upon the smoke, clearing it for the most part, the other side was intelligent to quickly counter it,, sadly, it was too late

"Haaaaaaa!"

Finally under the creature Zero gripped tightly, putting her all to lift the creature upward, her veins verged popping and her bones creaked under the weight, but they never gave up, not until the creature was slowly lifted off its feet

"That's it, now through it out"

Whether it would bounce on the wall or break it would decide his next course of actoin

Feeling itself rise the big fellow felt conflicted on what to do, then an idea popped into its head, apparent by the small smirk just before its skin was covered in a rough layer of earth, doubling its eight instantaneously

"!!!"

Like a bug Zero was squashed under the weight, a burst of flame came at the exact moment and sparked lightly just before Zero was mush

YuJu's breath was held during the process, it wasn't until Ika appeared before them with the somewhat broken Zero did he heave a sigh of relief

'What am I relieved about, we might all follow the same route sooner or later'

The battle may have just begun but he could see the ending already

'No need to test it further, its defense is impenetrable for us, energy levels much more lasting, not to mention the area is barricaded, even I cannot take us away with my stealth if I cant get out'

The last ray of hope, the Witness, would also prove useless even if they managed to live long enough for it to arrive

'We lack penetrative firepower'

To begin with, a creature of this caliber was not supposed to exist in a new world

'No, even if ti could how did hat fool of a man kill it, and why the hell had he kept it under wraps!'

There was never a mention of this creature in the recounting of the person who killed it, knowing that guy's bragging nature he should have said something about it

'Now's not the time to think about that, I need to deal with this thing'

The first and foremost thought that came to his mind was using his contract to subdue it, but he reconsidered

'I can surely overpower its soul with my own but…am I going to do that every time I meet a deadly foe?'

Of course, if it meant living then he was all for it, never would he risk his life to try and overcome a dependence on skill, but he would like to entertain other ways first

'Cant get past its defense, cant drag the fight on, cant escape….hmmm, defense huh'

He was reminded of that small dome they met a while back, more precisely the thought he entertained then

'That could indeed work, the only question is…'

He turned to the target of his doubt

'Will she be able to handle all that?'

There was on way to find out