Chapter 58: Midlife crisis
Sebastian’s smirk lasted three entire seconds.
Then the ice on the mammoth’s shoulder cracked.
A jagged line spread through the frozen wound like a spiderweb before the frost exploded outward in a flurry of shards. The poisoned flesh beneath twitched and then began to knit itself back together, muscle crawling over bone in grotesque waves.
Sebastian’s grin faltered."...Oh, come on."
He watched as the gash sealed shut, slower than before but still way too fast for comfort. The thing snorted, steam billowing from its nostrils, glaring down at him like it was offended that he’d even tried.
{You’re doing great. Really. I think it’s starting to like you.}
’Yeah? Maybe it’ll like what comes next.’
He exhaled, eyes narrowing as he dropped into a stance. His aura flared, black mist twisting like smoke from a dying world. The earth beneath him cracked, unable to withstand the pressure.
Nyxian Dirge – Fourth Form: Hollow Thrust.
The world went silent for a single heartbeat.
Sebastian’s blade shot forward, the strike impossibly fast, impossibly precise. It tore through the air, through flesh, through the mammoth’s shoulder, and left nothing behind.
Not a wound, not a scar. Just a fist-sized hole, a void that pulsed faintly before fading.
The mammoth roared, staggering as its titanic limb faltered. The corrupted flesh around the hole refused to regenerate, the conceptual void severing its connection to life and mana.
Sebastian grinned. "Finally. Stay down, you overgrown—"
The ground trembled violently.
The mammoth bellowed and reared, its tusks glowing like molten iron. Its other leg slammed down with thunderous force, aimed squarely at him.
Sebastian’s eyes widened."Aw, fu—"
Before he could move, blue strings that were wrapped around his chest and arms pulled, yanking him off his feet just as the mammoth’s massive foot cratered the ground where he’d been standing. Dirt and shattered roots exploded into the air.
He spun midair, the world flipping upside down before he slammed into Annalise’s side, both of them rolling across the dirt in a mess of limbs and flying dust.
When they finally stopped, Sebastian groaned, blinking up at her as she knelt over him, panting lightly, strands of brown hair falling across her face. The faint shimmer of blue mana strings still glowed around her hands.
"Seriously?" she muttered, voice somewhere between disbelief and exasperation. "You almost died. Again."
Sebastian coughed, flashing her a sheepish grin."Hey, you’re getting faster at saving me."
{Yeah, at this rate, she’ll need a frequent rescuer punch card.}
’Shut up,’ he shot back mentally, climbing to his feet.
The mammoth’s enraged trumpeting echoed through the forest again, shaking the trees. It was hurt badly, but still far from dead.
Sebastian rolled his shoulders, tightening his grip on Sacha as the sword pulsed faintly in his hand, ice mist coiling along the blade.’Fourth form worked. Just not enough. Looks like I’ll have to make this messy.’
’Papa,’ Sacha said quietly, ’Sacha thinks messy means fun.’
Sebastian smirked.’You read my mind.’
Then the air shifted.
It wasn’t subtle; it broke.
A low, guttural sound rumbled from the mammoth’s throat, shaking the trees like a storm growling to life. Its body trembled, muscles spasming beneath torn flesh, the very air bending around it. The ground itself cracked as a wave of raw energy exploded outward, forcing both Sebastian and Annalise to shield their eyes.
When the dust settled, the mammoth was... different.
Gone was the wounded, bleeding beast of moments ago. Now, standing before them, was something far worse—something reborn.
Its entire body was sheathed in obsidian plates, blacker than shadow, glinting faintly with veins of green light that pulsed like a heartbeat. Its tusks were jagged, warped, almost molten, and its eyes blazed with a deep viridian glow. The air around it warped, like heat distortion, humming with invisible power.
Sebastian’s expression flattened. "Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me."
The mammoth exhaled, and the mist that came out wasn’t steam; it was corrosive energy, thick and hazy, hissing as it melted the dirt where it touched.
Then he felt it.
The energy it expelled wasn’t mana. It wasn’t even life force. It was something far older, far more volatile. It twisted through the air in sluggish waves, Dualflow Energy, the fusion of the essence of body and soul. It wasn’t meant to exist in harmony, and yet the mammoth’s very presence radiated it.
Sebastian’s blood ran cold.
’Oh hell no.’
He turned to Annalise, eyes wide. "We’re leaving. Now."
"What—" she started, confused, until she followed his gaze and saw the green-black aura roiling off the creature. Her pupils shrank. "That’s not... that’s—"
"Yep." Sebastian didn’t wait for her to finish. He grabbed her wrist and bolted.
The forest blurred around them as he sprinted, every step cracking the earth beneath his feet. Branches whipped past. Trees shattered in his wake. Annalise barely managed to keep her footing, her coat fluttering wildly behind her as she was half-dragged, half-running beside him.
Behind them came the thunder.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Each step from the obsidian mammoth splintered the forest floor, leaving behind trails of smoking craters. Its tusks carved through entire trees like they were twigs.
It was gaining.
"Sebastian!" Annalise yelled over the roaring chaos, "It’s catching up!"
"Yeah, I noticed!"
{This is fine. Everything’s fine. You’re just being chased by a walking apocalypse.}
’Shut up, Bastard!’ Sebastian snapped internally as he twisted through a gap between two massive roots.
A massive green blast shot past them, vaporizing a chunk of forest and leaving behind a crater that glowed faintly with corrosive light. The shockwave nearly sent both of them tumbling, but Sebastian caught Annalise by the arm and pulled her back upright.
She was panting, eyes wide with panic. "What even is that thing now!?"
"Midlife crisis," Sebastian gritted out. "It’s going through some things."
{Yeah, mainly you. It’s going through you if you don’t move faster.}
Sebastian risked a glance over his shoulder. The mammoth was tearing through the forest, glowing veins pulsating violently beneath its obsidian hide. Each step left molten footprints in its wake.
And it was getting closer.
"Papa," Sacha’s voice echoed softly in his mind, calm and eerily composed. "Sacha doesn’t like that one. It feels... wrong."
’Yeah, darling. It’s running on the same energy I use to kill things. Imagine my joy.’
Another tremor ripped through the ground, and Sebastian’s teeth clenched. He’d fought monsters, humans, even nightmares like Belle—but this? This was something that knew how to destroy.
He tightened his grip on Annalise’s wrist, dragging her forward as the horizon split open with the mammoth’s roar.
’Alright,’ he thought grimly, eyes narrowing. ’If it wants to chase, I’ll give it a reason to stop.’
And with that, Sebastian veered toward the open clearing ahead, where he could finally turn around and fight back.