Nightmare Realm Summoner Chapter 75: Chimera

A howl tore from the Mutated Chira's mouth like the wail of an air raid siren. Alex and Claire both staggered, clutching their hands to their ears. Finely barely even flinched — and neither did Alex's monsters. Spark and Glint raced ahead of Princess as they made for the huge monster.

"I'll make an opening," Alex said to Claire. "Wait for the right ti."

She gave him a terse nod.

The muscles in the Mutated Chira's legs bunched. Its eyes focused on Glint and its lips pulled back in a snarl. The ground beneath it shattered as it exploded into motion. It blurred through the air and brought its claws down toward Glint.

Dodge to the side!

Glint flung himself at an angle, narrowly avoiding the huge paws as they crashed down where he'd been with a loud crunch. The Chira pulverized a huge chunk of stone into nothing but dust.

Spark arrived before the monster. He ford a shadow on the ground and lifted into the air, swinging his hands down in a dual strike for the Chira's skull. They connected with a thud — sending the doglike monster staggering.

Swap!

The barbed tail on its back whipped forward with such speed that the air cracked. Spark swapped places with his shadow before the attack even went off. His shadow exploded into swirling fragnts of darkness.

Alex extended his power toward Princess as his final — and slowest — monster arrived before the Chira.

I've used Qi when I've summoned my monsters, but it worked on Funhouse. That ans it should work on any ability — so what happens if I use it on Rift Flood instead of when I directly summon my monster?

Alex's lips stretched in a thin smile.

He drew on his Qi until the warm, buzzing energy filled his entire body like an ocean waiting to be called upon. Then he activated Rift Flood. A link snapped to life between him and Princess and power rushed out of him and into her.

Princess' body roiled. Rift smoke burst from bubbles that burst on her back. She ballooned outward, gaining nearly five feet in height as pulsing purple veins carved through the black sludge that made up her body.

The undulating arms that extended from her back exploded in size, more than doubling. Hundreds of centipede legs squird in the air, peeling away from the center of the arms like they were blooming flowers.

The Chira didn't look too pleased with the change. It hissed and swept a massive paw for Princess.

The Dredge and she lifted her own hand in response. A shockwave passed down her arm and through her body. Sludge splattered from her body and across the ground and her form wavered — but it didn't collapse.

Princess' hand wrapped around the Chira's paw, keeping the monster from pulling away. The tendril-legs on her back exploded forward, ripping apart to form into dozens of different squirming limbs and wrapping around the boss's hand to bind it even further.

His Dredge had transford into so sort of wretched eldritch monster from a child's nightmares.

Holy fuck. She's incredible.

The Chira's barbed tail slamd through Princess' chest and drove into the ground behind her with a loud crash. Sludge splashed across the ground, but Princess didn't so much as flinch. Power pulsed in the veins running beneath her skin and the goop on the ground twisted up behind her, sliding back into her chest and reforming around the tail to pin it in place within her.

A furious snarl ripped from the Chira and it yanked on its tail. For a mont, Princess managed to hold onto it, but the tail exploded free from her a mont later in a spray of black liquid.

The Chira fought to lift its captured paw into the air. Strands ford in Princess' body as she started to stretch apart. Despite her best efforts, the boss was still stronger than she was. But, in the brief few monts she held the chira down, Glint was able to scale the side of the monster like a craggy cliffside.

Alex could have had Glint attack well before, but that would have ant he landed a blow on a limb instead of sowhere where he could do actual damage — and now he was on the Chira's back.

It realized what was happening, but not quickly enough. The monster's head twisted to snap at Glint even as he struck.

His claws flashed through the air as they ripped into the monster's furry neck, carving through its matted defenses and carving deep into flesh. The Chira's many eyes went wide in surprise and pain and it scread in pain.

It ripped its paw free of Princess and slamd the other one into her sidelong, ripping through the Dredge's entire body and sending it splattering across the ground. Her mask clattered to the ground.

The Chira shook its head furiously, dislodging Glint and sending him plumting to the ground.

Spark shot over to the falling Shardwalker, grabbing Glint by under his arms and tossing him to the ground in a roll. The Echo Wraith dipped to the side as the Chira swiped a paw at it, but it wasn't fast enough to avoid the sonic strike of the Chira's tail as it exploded forth like a gunshot.

The Echo Wraith exploded into fragnts, its teleportation still on cooldown.

Glint darted for the Chira again, but the monster was wary of him now. The wounds on the back of its head and neck wept blood that soaked into its dark fur. It hopped back a step, readying its tail over its head.

Alex yanked on Glint with his magic. The monster exploded into a strear of energy and flew back into him. Monts later, the Chira's tail smashed into the ground where the Shardwalker had been standing.

He resummoned Glint with a thought, but the precious few seconds that the monster's dismissal had cost him gave the Chira enough ti to turn straight toward Alex and Claire.

"Alex?" Claire asked, her voice taut.

"Working on it. Not yet," Alex said, his jaw clenched. "You saw its tail, right? That thing is an instant kill device against anyone other than Spark and Princess. You'll never get close as things are."

Glass shattered, raining down beside Alex as Glint erged beside him.

The Chira exploded into motion — and Princess burst up from the ground like a black wave. Her entire body ford into a huge fist as it slamd into the boss's chin, snapping it up with a loud crunch.

Glint dashed forward, bounding across the ground toward the boss as fast as he could move.

A howl of fury ripped from the monster's mouth and it swiped its paw straight through Princess, splattering her across the ground once again. This ti, Princes pressed the attack imdiately.

Strands of sludge grabbed at the Chira's foot and tried to bind it down. The massive boss's tail drove into Princess, ripping her body to ribbons in a split instant. The monster ripped its tail free and drove its foot down on top of her instantly.

A loud crunch echoed out.

Her mask shattered.

The Dredge's body collapsed to the ground. She pooled before transforming into a stream of energy that flowed into Alex.

She had died, but she'd bought Glint more ti. The Chira realized that too, but it realized too late.

The Shardwalker launched himself into the air and slamd straight into the Chira's face. His claws ripped down across the monster's features, shredding the boss's face like confetti. One of its eyes burst under Glint's onslaught.

"Now?" Claire asked.

"No. Not yet." Alex's hands clenched at his sides. The Chira was weakened, but it wasn't downed. The monster's tail was terrifying. They couldn't afford to overextend when a single misstep would end either of them in a split instant.

I should have Princess' powers now, so I might be able to tank a hit, but I've got a better idea.

An agonized scream tore from the Chira and it whipped its head back and forth furiously. It staggered to the side and slamd its face straight into the ground. There was a crunch, followed by silence.

Energy flowed into Alex as his third monster died. The Chira lifted its face, wounded, bleeding, and partially blinded. Fury shone in the monster's three remaining eyes and it stalked forward. Blood and saliva dripped from its mouth and ford a trail that marked its wake.

Alex drew deeply on his power. He still had a fair amount left — there had been no reason to use Funhouse when the Chira was so much larger than him that he'd never be able to envelop it within the ability's radius.

"Co on," Alex called. "You haven't even landed a single blow on yet. Isn't that embarrassing? So boss, getting fought off by a single Initiate Stage. You might have to get the boss bit scrubbed from your na."

He doubted the Chira had actually heard him, but it was pissed — and that was enough.

It burst into motion.

Alex snapped his fingers, and all the power he'd gathered exploded out of him in an instant.

"Encore."

The ground before Alex exploded in a spray of black liquid.

Princess rose up from the rippling darkness and. She drove into the stunned Chira's. She wrapped herself around its front legs and slamd her weight into the monster, grinding its charge to a halt. The Chira down bit on her shoulder, tearing a huge chunk of black flesh free, but Princess held fast.

Electrical energy crackled and glass shattered. Spark burst out from a buzzing blue portal and grabbed Glint as he erged from a jagged fragnt in reality. The Echo Wraith spun once before whipping the Shardwalker into the air like they were acrobats in the world's most dangerous circus.

The Chira's remaining eyes went wide. It tried to flinch back, but Princess' grip tightened on it, not letting the monster escape.

A brilliant crack rang out as the sound barrier shattered. Glint's body jerked as the Chira's tail slamd into his chest. The Shardwalker went limp, then exploded into particles of dust.

"Now!" Alex yelled.

Wings exploded from Claire's back and she burst into motion. There was a brief mont between strikes where the Chira had to retract its tail before it could attack again. And in that mont, Claire arrived before the boss monster.

She slamd into its face with such force that it staggered. Bone crunched and blood sprayed across the ground. Claire didn't wait to see the results of her attack. With a snarl, she drove her katana down straight through one of the Chira's eyes.

Blood and bodily fluids sprayed from the wound. The Chira scread in agony, but Claire wasn't done. She drove her hand down straight into the center of its skull, striking the location that Spark had hit at the start of the fight.

Bone crunched beneath her empowered hands. Her claws carved deep into the monster's skull and ripped a huge chunk of flesh free.

Yes!

The power flowing from Alex abruptly vanished.

Encore's ti was up.

Princess and Spark vanished with a pop.

The Chira staggered. Without Princess to interfere, it could move properly once again. Blood mixed with saliva and sprayed from the monster's mouth as it roared and focused on Claire once more.

Its tail lifted into the air.

No!

Alex left a shadow on the ground behind him and sprinted forward with a yell, trying to get the monster's attention. The mont it turned its eyes to him, he'd have to swap back. There was no way for him to react fast enough to the monster's tail. He would just have to predict it.

But the Chira wasn't paying attention to him. It was fully focused on Claire. She'd thrust her right hand back behind her, and the blood coating the ground churned beneath them.

The boss whipped its head to the side with a sharp snap. Despite Claire's best efforts, she was launched into the air. Her wings snapped, stopping her tumble mid-air. The huge monster's head turned to follow her path as it lined up a strike with its tail.

Alex called on Glint's powers as he closed the gap between himself and the Chira. There were enough open wounds to attack the monster from within if he could get close—

Clair clenched her fist shut.

Blood flowed upward from the ground in a smooth arc. Its surface shimred as it solidified and sharpened, forming into a blade. The blood drove up through the bottom of the Chira's skull and burst out through the top of its head with a wet crunch.

For an instant, the Chira stood frozen in place. Blood dripped down the frozen blade running through its head. The monster twitched once.

Then it pitched forward and crashed to the ground, dead.

Power poured into Alex as he skidded to a stop, nearly overwheld by the wave of energy. Claire dropped to the ground beside him, breathing heavily.

"Holy shit," Claire said. "That was almost worse than if I'd been fighting the whole ti. My heart is going to explode."

"It was well played, though, wasn't it?" Alex asked with an adrenaline-fuled grin. "What a fight."

He glanced back to the dead monster. A Soul Fla materialized above its body.

Field Boss Slain. Rewards Earned.

Alex's grin grew wider.

That's what I'm talking about.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted soone standing beside the glowing white teor that had fallen in the center of town during the 2nd Initialization.

Finley.

The rchant's eyes were wide and his mouth hung askew in abject disbelief. He lifted a shaking finger toward Alex and Claire, almost as if in accusation. Finley's mouth worked as he tried to piece together what he'd just seen.

In the end, he managed to force just a single, stunned word from his lips.

"How?"