Chapter 43: Going ape shit

The ape attacked immediately, forcing everyone to go on the defensive instantly. It leapt off the slippery ground and into the air, coming down with enough force to cause a landslide.

Fera was the quickest to react, her barriers forming at blinding speeds. She protected everyone from the destructive force that was the ape’s two-handed slam, but her barrier did crack, causing Fera to bleed from her nose ever so slightly.

"Garghhh! G-Guys!" Fera shouted, her arms straining to keep the barrier from shattering.

"Alue, plant your seeds; Terin, you’re with me. We’ll be the ones to fight it directly. Reda, Lopis, you two aim for its weak spots and get in a few sneaky hits." Kanan ordered.

"Got it!"

Kanan tapped Fera, strengthening her, then jumped out of the barrier. Blue energy wrapped around his arm as he rose into the air, and his fist slammed into the jaw of the ape, knocking it back and causing the monster to stumble slightly.

Terin flew behind the ape and blasted it with a gust of powerful wind, sending it back toward Kanan.

The Ape, however, slammed its foot into the ground, then spun around faster than its body size should allow, and backhanded Terin into the mountainside.

Thankfully, Fera had wrapped a barrier around him just in time, preventing Terin from being killed.

Reda teleported onto the Ape’s back, stabbing her spear into the monster’s flesh. As the ape roared while trying to swat Reda away, she teleported to the ground and stabbed the ape’s foot, then teleported away once more before the Ape could react. ℴℴ𝘮

Lopis made a shadow below the ape’s right foot. Black tendrils of energy tore into its leg, but they weren’t strong enough to pierce its bone.

"I’ll help!" Alue’s plants sprouted out of the ground like roots and coiled around the Ape’s body. Thorns on vines scraped against the Ape’s skin, and poison seeped into the monster’s body.

"Good work, Alue!" Kanan was going to end this right now. He could sense how dangerous the Ape was and didn’t wish to take any chances.

The metal staff in his hand pulsed with blue energy. A long blade materialized, its length nearly half of the staff, and Kanan pumped it with as much spirit energy as he thought was needed to kill the ape in one go.

"Die, you beast!" He threw his staff straight toward the Ape’s heart, an instant kill if it struck, and a fatal wound if the monster didn’t die right away.

Everyone was confident that they had just won, but right before the attack landed, the ape broke out of its restraints and caught the staff in its hand, blood dripping from its palm as the blade had cut it. The ape threw the staff, but Kanan extended his palm, and it flew back into his hand.

"There’s no way!"

The ape’s form started to shift, black energy oozing from its body. Fur stood up like spikes, and its mouth produced a white flame that felt oddly familiar to everyone present.

"T-That’s impossible!" Lopis shouted in disbelief

"How can a monster have traits from other monsters?"

"It’s a mutant!" Kanan shouted. "Back away!"

The ape roared, its sheer presence forcing everyone to tense. Before anyone could react, it burst forward and slammed a massive fist into Kanan’s chest, launching him through the air and into the mountainside with enough force to crack the rock.

Without pausing, it opened its jaws and unleashed a torrent of white fire at Alue. Thick vines and broad leaves surged upward, taking the flames head-on until the fire finally died against the scorched plants.

Lopis vanished into the shadows, aiming to strike from behind, but the ape’s own shadow twisted beneath her. It erupted upward, flinging her across the battlefield. Kanan pushed himself from the broken stone just in time to catch her before she hit the cliff.

The ape’s fur bristled and a storm of needles shot toward Terin. A powerful gust met them, sending most spinning off course, but several pierced his shoulder and leg, forcing him back with a grimace.

Reda disappeared, then reappeared beside the ape, her spear carving across its arm. Then she vanished again, striking its back, its side, its leg. The ape snarled before shaking its body violently. Needles exploded outward in every direction. Reda teleported twice more, but one quill tore across her side, and another caught her shoulder, knocking her from the assault.

Fera stepped forward, raising a barrier around the group.

When the ape saw this, it crashed into her shield with terrifying force. Cracks spread through it before the barrier shattered completely. The impact hurled Fera backward, and she collapsed without moving.

"We’re going to die at this rate!" Kanan hissed. "Everyone, center around me! I’ll lead the assault head-on!" Every one of them got an amp from Kanan’s ability, taking a bit away from his own power, but that wouldn’t matter if they ended up dead.

He gripped his staff, then lunged forward.

Reda touched Kanan’s back, then teleported him around the battlefield before the ape could react, letting each of his blows land from a different angle. Shadows swallowed him between attacks, hiding his movements before spitting him back into the fight. Thick roots lifted beneath his feet, launching him higher, while bursts of wind caught him whenever the ape managed to swat him away, sending him straight back into the battle.

Blow after blow, the ape began to falter. Blood loss made its movement slower, and it could sense that it was being pushed back. With an enraged roar, it gathered everything into one final attack.

Kanan couldn’t move as he was already in motion for another strike. Reda had just teleported to safety, so she wasn’t able to help, and the others were too busy repositioning themselves to aid Kanan.

’I’ll have to block this head-on!’

Just before the blow landed, a barrier shimmered around him. Fera, barely conscious, managed to erect a barrier around Kanan just in time, keeping it steady long enough for Kanan to escape harm.

The attack slammed against the shield, shattering it, but that was more than enough for Kanan.

He poured every ounce of energy into his staff, the weapon blazing as he drove it forward with a thunderous thrust. A beam erupted through the ape’s chest, tore into the mountainside behind it, and left a smoking hole straight through both.

The ape staggered once before crashing lifelessly onto the mountain.