The fierce battle between the winged Tengu and the colossal octo-humanoid monster raged on relentlessly from the bright morning hours when they first encountered the beast, stretching long into the afternoon as the sky slowly began shifting into warm shades of orange and gold.
The sun dipped lower toward the horizon, casting elongated shadows across the blood-soaked white sand and turning the churning ocean waters into a shimring canvas of fiery reflections.
Tensei fought with unyielding valiance, his movents a blur of desperate grace and precision despite the exhaustion weighing heavily on every muscle.
He managed to sever several of the creature’s thick, thrashing tentacles with powerful slashes from his katana, the blade whistling through the air as dark, viscous ichor sprayed outward in heavy arcs that splattered across the beach and mixed with the salty sea foam.
Using his large wings to their full advantage, he defied gravity repeatedly, launching into sudden aerial passes and evasive maneuvers that left the monster swinging at empty space, its attacks slamming harmlessly into the sand and sending up massive clouds of fine grains that stung the eyes and coated everything in a gritty layer.
The katana Benjamin had provided him pulsed with two extraordinary god-class abilities known as Silver Touch and Golden Touch, their energies alternating seamlessly along the razor-sharp edge.
The weapon was already a legendary artifact in its own right, its resilient structure glowing with an inner light that refused to shatter no matter how brutally it clashed against the monster’s armored scales and hardened flesh.
Each successful strike left deep, cauterized gashes that sizzled and smoked, filling the air with the acrid scent of burned scale and sea food.
As Tensei had suspected from the very beginning, the monster proved far too powerful for any single fighter to defeat outright in a straightforward confrontation.
It demanded a killing blow delivered with perfect timing and overwhelming force, or so Tensei believed after hours of grueling combat.
The beast lashed out its remaining tentacles with terrifying speed and coordination, aiming to crush or ensnare the Tengu in their vice-like grips, while its massive humanoid arms swept through the air simultaneously to block off every perceived escape route.
Tensei barely stayed one step ahead, relying entirely on the powerful beats of his wings to create bursts of lift and sideways dodges, but the constant aerial exertion was draining his stamina rapidly, leaving his breath ragged and his golden eyes narrowed with intense focus and fatigue.
"I got it!" Benjamin finally called out after long hours of deliberate silence from his position farther back on the beach, his voice cutting clearly through the roar of waves and the monster’s frustrated bellows.
"What is it?!" Tensei shouted back urgently, his wolf ears flattening as he twisted mid-air to parry a devastating downward slam from one of the monster’s heavy tentacles.
The impact reverberated through his arms and shoulders, nearly knocking the katana from his grip as sparks of golden and silver energy flared brightly along the blade.
"Okay, listen to very carefully and follow my instructions exactly... I have a really great idea that might turn this fight around," Benjamin explained to the Tengu.
Then he switched imdiately to their telepathic link so their coordination could remain seamless and uninterrupted even amid the chaos.
The ntal connection allowed for instant adjustnts without wasting precious seconds on spoken words.
From that mont onward, compared to the previous exhausting hours of pure futile defense and desperate survival, Tensei’s evasions beca noticeably sharper and more calculated.
He moved like a sentient projectile through the air, darting and weaving with newfound precision as Benjamin fed him real-ti guidance on every dodge, every feint, and every opening.
The katana flashed repeatedly—golden then silver, silver then golden—slicing off multiple limbs in rapid succession.
Chunks of severed tentacle thudded heavily onto the sand, twitching and leaking dark fluid as the monster roared in agony and mounting frustration, its massive body thrashing wildly and churning the shallow waters into a frothy frenzy that sent waves crashing higher up the shore.
Then there was one small but critical opening in the creature’s frenzied movents.
"Now, Ten!" Benjamin yelled aloud, his voice filled with urgent command.
Tensei imdiately dove forward like a released arrow, his wings tucked tightly for maximum speed as he streaked through the air with the katana poised straight toward the monster’s vulnerable forehead.
The blade glead with alternating divine light, ready to deliver what could have been the finishing strike.
But before the attack could connect, the monster proved clever enough to reinforce its remaining limbs in a sudden, protective wall around its head.
It countered instantly by whipping another thick tentacle forward.
Tensei managed to slash through the limb with a desperate upward cut, golden energy flaring brightly on impact, but the sheer residual force of the blow still slamd into him like a battering ram.
He was hurled backward through the air and crashed down hard onto the beach sand several ters away, rolling across the ground in a spray of grains before skidding to a stop.
His chest heaved with heavy, labored breaths as he pushed himself up onto one knee, wings drooping slightly from exhaustion while sweat and seawater dripped from his feathers and hair.
"That was an aweso strategy, Benjamin," Tensei begrudgingly comnded the smug-looking androgynous individual standing so ters away, wiping dark ichor from his cheek with the back of his hand.
His golden eyes still flicked warily toward the wounded beast. "I personally think you have real potential to lead an army to victory soday, with those sly and unconventional tactics of yours that turn the tide in unexpected ways."
Tensei kept his gaze fixed on the squirming monster, which now appeared very badly hurt and almost wept with a low, bubbling sound that echoed hauntingly across the beach like the mournful song of a distant blue whale.
Its multiple limbs had been reduced to just three struggling stumps, and its dark, scaled body was covered in deep gashes and cuts that oozed steadily, staining the surrounding water and sand.
It was impressive and a true testant to the monster’s raw power that it remained alive at all after such prolonged punishnt.
What Benjamin had done was quite simple in concept, even if the execution had demanded ultra-sharp focus and deep mutual trust between the two n.
Benjamin had taken complete control of the defensive side of the fight through their telepathic link, calmly telling Tensei exactly when and where to dodge every incoming attack with split-second timing.
Tensei’s only responsibility beca pure offense—using his agility and the legendary katana to inflict as much damage as possible.
Moreover, Benjamin had noticed during the long hours of observation that the monster seed far less concerned about damage to its lower body and tentacles than it was about protecting its upper body, specifically the forehead area.
After carefully watching and analyzing its patterns, Benjamin realized the sea monster was guarding that particular spot with almost intelligent desperation.
With Benjamin fully handling defense and Tensei focusing entirely on offense, the tide shifted dramatically.
It did not even take up to ten minutes for the monster to beco too injured and weakened to continue fighting effectively.
Its movents grew sluggish, its roars weaker, and its massive form began to slump visibly in the shallow waters.
"Alright... kill it," Benjamin said without any visible emotion in his voice, walking steadily across the bloodied sand until he reached where Tensei was standing.
Now both n stood only a few feet from the looming, wounded mountain of a creature, the orange sunlight bathing the scene in a dramatic, almost surreal glow as the wind carried the heavy scents of battle and sea.
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