Chapter 344: Chapter 343 - The Fight Begins.
The cracked earth of the Ashen Expanse quaked under nine separate battles, each one a miniature apocalypse.
Heat rippled, shadow bent, and corrupted mana screamed through the air as Raven’s squad met the charging part-dragons head-on.
Raven, on the other hand, merely observed them, just as the colossal beast on the other side did.
Both of them wanted to see how the fight went before they began. After all, once they start, they wouldn’t be able to focus on others.
The first one Raven looked at was Selena.
A shadowy surge erupted behind her, blotting out the dim light.
Her devourer beasts slithered up from her own shadow like liquid nightmares—six-eyed creatures with serrated jaws and bodies stitched together by pure void.
Skeletons of long-dead monsters clawed out of the black haze and locked themselves to the devourers, forming a titanic, armor-plated silhouette around her.
A skeletal titan—her personal Susano-no-Mikoto of death—rose with a roar that wasn’t human.
Inside its ribcage, Selena stood with regal calm, eyes glowing violet.
The worm-like beast opposing her shrieked as Selena raised one palm.
Bone whips snapped forward like lightning, while devourer cannons in the titan’s shoulders fired black projectiles that hissed like falling stars.
"Crawl back to extinction," Selena said, her voice a whisper that carried over the chaos.
The huge worm lunged, earth spikes rising from the ground—but the skeletal armor merely shattered the spikes.
Its ribs closed like a maw and spat it back as a concentrated beam. The worm screeched, its tail smashing the ground.
’Well, she’s doing fine,’ Raven thought before his eyes turned to the next person.
Across the battlefield, Clara danced. Her sound-forged whip-like sword glowed faint blue, flicking through poisonous gusts.
Every crack of the sword sent vibrations slicing through the air, deflecting the basilisk’s cousin’s toxic clouds before they could reach her.
"Illusions are useless unless I touch you," she muttered, her eyes narrowing. "Fine. Let’s get personal."
She blurred forward, sound amplifying each step into a sonic boom.
Her whip lashed around the beast’s horn; she vaulted up, palms pressing against its skull.
BOOM—a silent tremor shot directly into its mind.
The monster froze, eyes glazing as phantom doubles of Clara multiplied across its vision.
"Yeah," she said with a smile, leaning close to its ear. "Try hitting the real me, big guy."
’She’s having fun,’ Raven smiled, and although he narrowed his eyes for a second, he was sure that she would win, one way or another.
So, he turned toward the next person.
It was Jessy, and she was skating the battlefield on a gleaming iron board, dodging claws by a hair’s breadth.
"Left, left, le—NOPE!" She yelped, twisting mid-air as a wing nearly clipped her.
Iron spikes materialized from her wake, homing in on weak spots.
The beast roared, jaws snapping shut inches from her board.
"Whoa, personal space!" Jessy called, flipping upside down as a magnetic burst propelled her higher. "Ever heard of boundaries?!"
A storm of steel nails rained from her fingertips, shredding scales.
Raven merely raised a brow at her antics, but again, Jessy was capable enough not to get killed by some beast.
Next was Siris, and she was giggling—actually giggling—as she launched herself upward.
Cryovoid ropes shot from her palms, daggers spinning at the ends like living grappling hooks.
She zipped around the colossal dragon-beast in dizzying arcs, each swing cracking the sound barrier.
"Stabby time!" She cheered, slamming a dagger into its shoulder. Frost bloomed instantly, crawling across black scales.
The beast howled and shattered the ice with a mana burst—only for Siris to already be behind its neck, carving another frozen wound.
"Bleed slower," she whispered in its ear, her eyes glowing like twin moons.
Looking at the beast, who couldn’t even touch her while she ran on its spine, drawing a straight line, Raven shook his head in pity.
’May your soul rest in peace.’
He offered his condolences to the poor beast, as it was unfortunate enough to be chosen by a sadistic stabber.
Even Omni offered a word of condolence. "Amen."
Then he turned toward Rufus.
That guy rocketed through the haze in his red-black nanoparticle suit, light thrusters screaming.
Golden beams speared out of his palms in rapid pulses—PEW! PEW! PEW!—but the armored beast barreled forward unfazed.
"Okay... not impressed?" Rufus muttered. "Let’s dial it up!"
His chestplate split open, gathering blinding light.
"Solar Burst Mode—ENGAGE!"
A miniature sun detonated around him, forcing the beast to shield its eyes.
"Boss," Omni’s voice echoed in Raven’s head. "Is it just me, or do Jessy and Rufus look like battle twins?"
’Yeah, well, their fighting style is similar, so I guess you can say that,’ Raven replied before turning to the quietest person in the group.
Jake moved like a nightmare.
One moment, he was a silhouette on the ground, and the next, he emerged from the beast’s own shadow, scythe whispering across its hide.
Black ichor splattered the cracked earth.
The monster bellowed, healing as fast as it bled—but Jake merely sank back into darkness, silent and relentless.
If death had a patience level, it was Jake.
’As expected from Jake, I guess,’ Raven chuckled inwardly, imagining the game called ’Whack-a-mole’ from his past life.
Right now, the beast looked like the guy with a hammer trying to whack the mole, who was Jake.
Shaking his head, Raven then turned toward Alex.
The guy—half man, half molten symbiote—bounded across the monster like a deranged acrobat.
Blargh’s gooey tendrils snapped out like web-shooters, pulling him from horn to wing.
"WOOO! Spider-Alex, Spider-Alex!" Alex sang, slamming a lava fist into the beast’s jaw.
Blargh growled through his chest, "More tentacles! MORE!"
A whip of magma lashed out, branding the creature’s flank with sizzling scars.
"Claws of the tiger!" Alex yelled, raking molten talons across its eye ridge.
"Jump of the monkey!"—he launched high.
"Strength of the elephant!"—he came down like a volcanic meteor.
He had already upgraded the technique Hamilton had taught him, and now, he could use the skills of almost every animal he had seen.
’At least he won’t die,’ Raven muttered inwardly, making Omni chuckle.
"Yeah," the sword drawled. "Maybe he learned the tenacity of cockroaches."
Before Raven could comment on it, a loud boom echoed as Graye took a punch the size of a carriage directly to the chest.
BOOM!
The impact cratered the earth. Dust cleared to reveal her... laughing.
"YES! HARDER!" She shouted, purple fire flaring hotter.
Another strike sent her skidding across the battlefield.
"THANK YOU, SIR. MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?!"
Each blow only made her stronger, her armor glowing brighter, and it was so apparent that even the beast recoiled in confusion.
"Hit me again, coward!" Graye taunted, stretching like she was warming up for a jog.
Raven sighed, wondering just what this girl was becoming, until finally, he turned back toward the huge beast.
While chaos reigned, Raven walked forward—calm, deliberate.
The black-boned leader, with its wings folded, merely watched.
"You’re brave," the beast rumbled, voice like grinding stone. "But foolish. What you see now is only a test. When we fight for real, we win."
The beast could tell that Raven was relaxed because his companions seemed to be winning right now.
Raven, on the other hand, sighed, smoke curling from his scaled jaw.
"Every third-rate villain says that before dying."
The beast growled, molten eyes narrowing.
"Now you sound like prey."
"Finally," Raven said, crimson gaze sharpening. "Now you’re acting like a beast."
He raised one hand.
"Omni."
The tattoo on his arm flared, and a black blade slid into existence, humming with void energy.
The beast snorted. "That toy wouldn’t pass for a toothpick."
Raven grinned. "Omni. Grow."
SHHHHRRRAAANG!
The sword exploded in size, stretching past three meters, dwarfing even Raven’s current height in Voidborn form, which was around 2.5 meters.
Yet, he casually rested the massive blade on his shoulder.
"So," Raven said, tilting his head. "Still think it’s a toothpick?"
The beast’s molten grin cracked wider. "Better."
"Good," Raven replied, eyes blazing. "Let’s make some noise."
The ground shattered as Raven charged like a comet of black-red flame, while the beast stood like a mountain of bone and fury.
The sonic boom that followed birthed a shockwave that tore the battlefield open, scattering ash and sparks across the night.
Above, sound barriers broke like fragile glass as the rest of the squad unleashed their own crescendos of chaos, each impact painting the Ashen Expanse with an anime-bright fury of light, shadow, and laughter.
{PS: The reason why Omni’s size increases and decreases is that it is the ability Omni unlocked when Raven grew stronger.}