[Nightmare]

Only Helix could see a herd of over 100 Lara Rines running for their lives.

They were drinking at their water hole fifteen seconds before when they sensed death approaching.

Lara Rines had a strong sense of smell but extremely poor eyesight and hearing.

Their action was not that out of the ordinary.

Stalkwalkers were so rare that most creatures would not come across one in their lifetime.

That was a fact that made the 350-foot Colossus grin in delight.

It [knew] that the Lara Rines would not know its danger until they felt its steps rocking their bones.

With an ecstatic smile, it moved its foot to stop inside the small lake.

The entire waterbody glowed bright white, and a massive [Cataclysmic Waterspout] spell created a geyser 150 feet high, soaking its right leg.

It splashed the other leg when its foot crashed down and soaked its left ankle.

"[Sub Zero]!" Tyrene yelled in a battle cry with her sword in the air.

The beast's legs froze from the lake up, creating a solid white block of ice forming on its legs.

Silent battle cries reacted to her sword thrust that the one-sided invisibility walls did not hide.

Hundreds of shots of large balls of water shot across the battlefield from the west, soaking its left thigh.

Tyrene used her [Sub Zero] again to freeze the monster's leg with the full might of her Level 217 stats.

Water flooded from flood ditches leading to the massive pond filling the area with more water.

The Stalkwalker looked down in disbelief as its legs movements slowed and its second step filled its body with pain.

"KEEEYYYAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHKKK!"

—

"I'm impressed by your strategy. This battle will be the first time I've fought with people who had calamity spells.

In the past, I was the only one. If I were with my army, I'd have every mage with a water spell flood the area.

Then I'd freeze the ground before freezing the Stalkwalker's thighs."

Helix listened to her intently and didn't interrupt.

"That would limit mobility from the onset and give us time to attack it at once and bring it down." Tyrene concluded.

He nodded in agreement.

"I think that's a better starting approach and utilizes your strength.

If we lure it into an attack, we can create a lake that we can use to free its movements.

We'd have Tilo create a Level 5 layer Cataclysmic Waterspout to create a 150-foot water tornado.

That would increase the range far higher than the mages." Helix added.

—

The pain-filled screech of the Stalkwalker was strong enough to rupture the eardrums of every low-level soldier.

However, everyone was standing in three layers of Circle of Silences that TIlo was regularly activating with [Chain Activation].

So they could not hear a sound.

They could only see the Colossus suffering at maximum volume, filling their hearts with malicious grins.

[Chain Activation] was a skill that allowed Tilo to activate multiple spells at once.

He used the skill to manually activate magic circles at his will.

During his youth, the overpowered skill led him to be a magic circle battle mage.

Marie watched the sight in disbelief.

Tyrene slapped her on the back, breaking her out of her daze.

The young woman nodded and pulled a lock of red hair obstructing her vision away from her eyes.

"[Chasm]!" She yelled while pointing her sword at the beast.

A massive earthquake rocked the earth, breaking the earth along a single faultline.

The rocks 100-feet below the ground cracked and split the battlefield's earth in two.

Massive rocks half the size of boulders exploded from the earth on either side of the abyss.

There was now a 25-foot chasm that separated the soldiers from the Colossus.

It wasn't enough to prevent the beast from walking over it.

However, it couldn't with its legs frozen.

Helix touched the shoulder of Charlotte next to him.

She jolted in shock and sent Helix a murderous glare.

However, Helix tilted his head in the direction of the Stalkwalker with a panicked expression.

Charlotte's eyes went wide, and then she turned to the beast in a flash.

A wicked grin formed on her face, and her eyes lit up with malice.

"[Domain]!" She whispered.

30 G's of gravity smashed down on the Colossus' head.

While its head could withstand the pressure, the gravity sent its extended and unsupported snout to the ground, and its eyes followed.

—

"If I went with the freezing approach, I'd wait to use the fire spells until after the Stalkwalker was frozen and the earthquake hit." Helix asserted.

Tyrene's eyes gilded to the left.

"Why? Not only would that melt the ice, but it also wouldn't assault its nose with smoke…." She reasoned.

Helix gave her a slight smile.

"Hear me out. Once the beast is immobilized, Charlotte would activate Domain on its head." Helix explained.

"While it won't create a gravity force great enough to stop it from moving, it will push the beast's eyes to the ground."

Tyrene raised an eyebrow.

"Stalkwalkers rely upto their sense of smell, and their attacks aren't restricted by their sight." She commented.

Helix gave her an evil grin.

"That's not the purpose. Once it's eyes are down—"

—

"[Firestorm]!" Charlotte yelled with the eyes of a demon.

A tornado of flames wrapped itself around the beast's body.

A cloud of steam-exploded in an instant.

It savagely burned its nostrils and eyes simultaneously.

"KEEEYYYAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHKKK!"

The firestorm disappeared instantly.

"[Blizzard]!" Tyrene yelled.

The Stalkwalker's body was shocked by a massive wall of winter snow.

Snowflakes instantly melted upon contact, sending a cloud of mist into the Stalkwalker's direction.

Its body exploded with fog that made the silent atmosphere increase in eeriness.

—

"Charlotte will hit it with a firestorm to liquefy the ice instantly and create a steam explosion.

The steam will attack its nostrils, burn its face, and cauterize its eyes instantly." Helix explained with a smile.

Tyrene's eyes widened.

"So… you'd move from a defense strategy to an attacking one?" She asked in bewilderment.

"Your entire strategy centered around preventing it from attacking, fleeing, or preventing attacks.

We agreed on that."

Helix chuckled and shook his head.

"No, it's a defense-first strategy that accomplishes two things simultaneously." He replied with a slight smile.

Tyrene sent him a pensive gaze.

"How? I can't see how that's defensive?

The Stalkwalker attacks by striking the ground.

So assaulting its senses will allow it the mobility to strike the ground in panic." She reasoned.

Helix nodded in agreement.

"I agree. However, the Stalkwalker will fall to the earth and create a shockwave that breaks the ice.

Moreover, the glaring issue with the freezing strategy is that we can't attack its legs after they're surrounded by impenetrable ice.

Also, it won't affect its arms.

The moment the beast realizes it can't escape, it will commit to a smash attack using the momentum of its fall.

If it accomplishes that, it could wipe out all soldiers instantly.

That's why the chasm is at knee-arm length to prevent the direction of the attack from landing west." He reasoned.

"The best option is to—"

—

"[Sub Zero]!" Tyrene yelled with a sweating expression.

A thin layer of ice crawled up the Stalkwalker from its ankles to its head.

It was uniform and only half an inch thick, but it covered every part of its body.

—

"I see… so the steam will allow Sub Zero to hit its entire body." Tyrene replied with wide eyes.

"Exactly." Helix replied with a slight smile.

"Hmmm… I love that strategy, but—"

—

Tyrene fell to her hands and knees and started sweating.

Helix released his lips from Charlotte's mouth and jumped the other mountain using his incredible agility spell.

Marie ran to his landing point and caught him like a fastball.

Her legs dug into the earth, creating a massive cloud of dirt.

The Stalkwalker's attention turned to its attackers for the first time.

It had a lot of difficulties turning to them.

But it turned its body like a rusty cog.

Marie put Helix down, and he sprinted to Tyrene's position.

She looked into his pitch-black eyes with a pathetic smile filled with indignant shame.

Helix gave her an expression that said [this isn't a time to get caught up with pride, woman]!

He grabbed her face without a second thought and pressed his lips against hers.

—

[A/N: Please comment, so I know you're reading. Things are about to get wild, and I don't want to slow down if at least a few people are reading this.

However, I'm writing three novels. So if people aren't reading, I'll focus on the other two novels, which are getting much more attention now. Thanks!]