For Oru the Devourer, today was not a good day. As a matter of fact, it was a cursed day.

The almighty walls of Luna were being assaulted and harassed by filthy, unholy forces. Rarely had he borne witness to such blatant disrespect. It was unforgivable.

He had already engaged the fray when a tripped trap inside the Arch Temple alerted him to suspicious activities. Those vulgar little pillagers had fallen by his hand, by the will of the moon. Like maggots stomped into the dirt they had died.

Andihar Dayarunar of the Nidafjeld Alliance was personally present in the midst of the assault, his titanic form unmistakable as he towered above buildings, his massive blade crushing everything and wreaking havoc all around. And from the back line, Gul Ougi was hurling his dark spells like a coward.

Majestic though it may have been, a gaping hole now marred the wall, allowing the vermin to flood the streets. It was a disgrace of the highest order.

And the blue ocean among the clouds above lighting up the night sky like a glimmering aurora. Oru recognized the specific sensation of power that emanated from that thing. Eik Magnasen. The destruction unleashed by the roiling sheet of turquoise was a testament to Eik's meteoric growth since he had escaped from Luna two years back.

Oru still had a bad taste in his mouth from the frustration of having been forced to send that imbecile Gih to recapture Eik in his stead. In his younger years, during his endless chase for power, strength being a hindrance under the wrong circumstances hadn't even entered his mind.

A massive shard of crystalline toxin had plunged down toward him, but he had crushed it, the power of it surprising him. That toxic sea had to be destroyed before it laid waste to the entirety of Luna. The longer it ran amok like this, the more the devastation would spread. The city shield wouldn't be able to hold forever.

But even then, the divine temple came first. He could never allow the divine seat of Moon Shall Swallow to be tainted by the stain of heretics. There had only been time for a few exchanges between him and Andihar Dayarunar when he received the report of trash having forced themselves into the Arch Temple. He had been forced to leave the rest of the invaders by the wall.

As he left, Andihar gave chase in a clear attempt to keep him, a shield of bright light slamming into the ground to block his path. Shifting into his true form, Oru brought his might to bear upon the shield, seven rapid strikes shattering it like glass.

In that moment a wave of pure energy from the swing of Andihar's blade carved a wicked gash into his shoulder, but the elf gave up the pursuit once another of the Great Generals of the Moon, Bobopahn the Reacher arrived at the battlefield, his mighty spear felling a handful Alliance troops with no mercy.

That gave Oru the freedom to head to the Arch Temple, his enhanced body healing rapidly as he ran.

Bursting through the front gates, his S-rank legs carried his beastly form upward at breakneck speeds. His full size didn't fit into the narrow hallways of the Arch Temple so, however much he disliked it, he was, at least for now, forced to operate at reduced size. So be it. The enemy would die soon.

He had already had his suspicions about who had broken in to the temple, but when he encountered the first of the blue monsters any doubts were wiped away. Eik Magnasen was back. Finally.

***

The boom of the rapid movement vibrated the air as Oru the Devourer arrived in front of Eik, debris following in his wake, pelting the walls and ceilings and enveloping him in dust.

He was smaller than Eik remembered. Significantly so, as a matter of fact. But that dark, furry figure with its wicked claws and glowing eyes remained the same.

The Profound Toxic beasts that had made up the vanguard had already been torn to shreds, so Eik had begun to reinforce the back line instead, the soldiers pouring out of his back as he faced Oru.

"Oru…" he growled.

"Eik Magnasen. You have stomped around in our divine temple long enough," the thing which had lost any semblance of the frail, old man Eik had first met, rumbled. The fact that he was even capable of forming such coherent words with an elongated, canine snout like that was a miracle in and of itself.

"And you're very… small." Hannan, Sinki, and Wapan'aksh would have reached the blank area by now. But exactly because it was blank, there was no telling what other difficulties they might run into in locating the oracle, not to mention actually getting her out and away safely.

They had already been lucky that an S-ranker hadn't already been present to defend the Arch Temple the moment they triggered that alarm trap. After all, why would invaders place themselves in the center of Luna, surrounded by enemies, when they could stay at the walls, relatively open ground at their backs, like the distraction team had done? The distraction must have worked… until now.

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What his three teammates above needed was time. And if there was anything Eik had learned that his foolish, ill-timed ramblings could do, it was buy time.

Unfortunately, Oru didn't bite. He was silent for a couple of seconds. Then he spoke a single word. "Die."

Eik only barely managed to release triple doses of a variety of potions into his system and pump Backflow to max before Oru practically teleported straight in front of his face. And even with all of that, he couldn't react properly to the strike in time. Oru was just too fast.

Dozens of Profound Toxic beasts were crushed by Eik's body as he was sent flying backward through the corridor, crashing into and through three walls. A violent pulse of residual energy followed the enormous blow, causing spiderweb cracks to spread across the reinforced interior of the Arch Temple, underlining just what kind of power Oru could deliver.

He was pretty sure something in his body was broken but, honestly, everything hurt like crazy so he couldn't put his finger on what. Wrist, maybe? Was this fucking bastard even going all out?

The green of Panacean Quintessence flowed over his body in search of injuries to heal as he leapt to his feet, only for Oru to appear right in front of him again.

This time he was more prepared, slipping out of the way, but the Devourer, his beast form now only a head and a half taller than Eik, pivoted and caught him across the torso with a slash of those wicked claws. The Armor of the Scourge protecting him was smashed like ice by a pick, allowing the claws to rip deep gashes into Eik's chest.

Although Armor of the Scourge had originally shown up as an ability, not a trait, it had been absorbed by Profound Toxin in the same way that Resistance: Toxin had been after only gaining a few levels. It meant that he couldn't get evolutionary traits for it anymore, but the fact that it then scaled with Profound Toxin, which was he highest leveled skill, made it totally worth it.

Although it just wasn't powerful enough to block Oru's strikes. S-rankers really were something else.

Panacean Quintessence was already there to mend the wounds, but if things continued like this, new injuries would overwhelm him far faster than they were healed.

Fuck. This shit was nothing like decimating an S-ranked dragon that couldn't do anything to defend itself. This fucker hit back, and it hurt like hell.

But he would have to start going on the offense as well, since defense was clearly not sustainable.

Throwing his arms up, he ate another strike, both feeling and hearing the bones in his arms break, but also managed to unleash a surge of pure Profound Toxin enhanced by Monarch's Will directly into Oru's face where it raced through his fur, looking for a way in.

"Your last attempt two years ago should have taught you that it's useless!" the furry bastard snarled, his crushing aura abruptly bursting out to dispel the liquid toxin. But unlike last time, he only managed to get rid of about half, the rest continuing its quest for ingress.

"I'm not the same as I was then, bitch!" Eik barked back through ragged gasps, the injuries making it difficult to get a proper breath. Profound Toxic beasts rushed in to assist their master, jumping onto Oru and raking him across the back with wild strokes.

With speed befitting an S-ranker, Oru whirled about and slashed the air in a horizontal arc, his arm extending as if it was made of rubber, ripping through walls and Living Manifestations alike. But in that split second where his attention was elsewhere, Eik lobbed a small Profound Toxic beast curled into a ball ball up in front of Oru's eyes.

"I'm not falling for that again," the S-ranker said and batted the sphere away before Eik could detonate it he had done to escape two years earlier.

"Try this then," Eik said and triggered Accelerant as his own body instantly turned into a solid block of Eik-shaped toxin.

The sensation of being literally ripped apart on a molecular level was one he was pretty sure he was never going to get used to. It was just so… strange. Like a sensation that wasn't supposed to be. Like some manner of placeholder until something more appropriate could be experienced instead.

A human wasn't supposed to ever be vaporized like that. And they certainly weren't supposed to be alive to vividly remember every single moment of it afterward.

The moment he was thrust into the body of a little blue guy he had left around the corner, he flowed back into human form and leapt onto Oru's furry back.

The levels kept trickling in, both from his fight with an S-ranker here as well as the Apocalypse Canvas that still raged unstoppably outside.

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 123]

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 124]

[Acquired Apocalypse Canvas — Lv. 73]

[Acquired Apocalypse Canvas — Lv. 74]

[Acquired Apocalypse Canvas — Lv. 75]

[Acquired Apocalypse Canvas — Lv. 76]

[Acquried Apocalypse Canvas — Lv. 77]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 139]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 140]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 141]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 142]

[Acquired Movement Boost — Lv. 107]

[Acquired Movement Boost — Lv. 108]

Profound Toxin continued to slowly approach level 200. And Eik had no idea what would happen when it finally reached it.

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 196]

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 197]

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 198]

Eik may not have the physique or defensive capabilities to withstand more than a few of Oru's unbelievably powerful blows, but he was positive in his ability to cause harm.

With a small knife that he had conjured the moment he had been thrust into the body of the Living Manifestation, its edge impossibly sharp, he drew a single line across the S-ranker's skin before being struck and sent flying again. Unfortunately, for Oru, however, small as it may be, the knife did manage to draw blood.

And that was all he needed,

Even as Eik tumbled through another couple of reinforced walls, a gash delivered by Oru's claws nearly severing his arm, the Profound Toxin that still flowed through the fur now rushed into the Devourer's body. Only about half of it got inside before the wound closed back up, but it was the beginning of the end.

It had to be.

"What's this?" Oru suddenly asked, sniffing the air. "Who did you come here with?"

Fuck.

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 199]

Just one more god damned level… And it had better give him something good.

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