Is this really a Game?!

As the creature's aura intensified and its form shifted, the air around it crackled with dark energy. It seemed to grow in size and strength, the tentacles from before appearing again, this time tens of them that came from all over its body, elongating and becoming thicker.

The creature now stood at about 6 meters tall while standing on six legs, its eyes glowing with a malevolent light. The ground trembled beneath its feet as it let out a deafening roar, signaling its newfound aggression.

Reign and Shadow braced themselves, their previous confidence now tinged with caution. They knew they were facing a much more formidable foe, one that was no longer holding back. The rest of the group prepared themselves as well, readying their weapons and abilities for the coming onslaught.

The creature surged forward, its tentacles lashing out with incredible speed and force. Reign and Shadow dodged and weaved, narrowly avoiding being struck. The others joined the fray, attacking the creature from all sides with their combined powers.

The tentacles were all incredibly fast and powerful, so much so that even Reign and Shadow were having difficulty tracking them with their eyes and dodging on time.

Each strike of a tentacle held immense power in it, leaving a deep trace and many cracks on the ground. Each time a tentacle struck a tree, the tree would break with ease while only slowing the tentacle down for a bit.

Greenie swung and then threw his hammer with immense strength, sending shockwaves through the creature's body. Wolf unleashed torrents of flames, engulfing the creature in a blazing inferno. Mia summoned icy spikes that pierced its flesh while freezing some parts, the tentacles included, in order to slow the monster down.

Despite their best efforts, the creature seemed unfazed, shrugging off their attacks as if they were nothing. It retaliated with even greater ferocity, its tentacles whipping out with deadly accuracy.

The tentacles, however, were not the only problem that the group faced.

The monster was still heavily resistant to their attacks, merely absorbing them in its body and regenerating incredibly quickly from injuries.

Reign and the others still had no idea what they could do to defeat the monster.

Was there some sort of weakness it had?

If it did have one, they weren't able to locate it, at least not on its body.

The only thing they could think of was that the monster had a weakness, but that it was deep inside its body, perhaps a core, one that served as the core of the corrupted area before it gave birth to this monstrosity.

If that was true, then that was the only way they could defeat the monster, but the problem was locating the core, which even now, after attacking the monster for so long, had not shown itself.

But, the worst thing was the fact that the monster was still adapting to them.

It was adapting to everything.

Their attack patterns, their powers, their strength, all of it.

With each passing second, the monster continued to adapt and, worst of all, learn.

Yes, it was learning, and Reign and the others were its involuntary teachers.

They should have expected it, after all, the creature was born mere minutes ago, and it was still just learning how to use its body and powers.

A couple of days, and the creature would fully comprehend its body, its powers, and what it was capable of, and then, Reign and the others would probably not be its match even if they went all out.

It was merely a newborn, and yet, the powers it was given were enough to put Reign and the others on the back foot, making them almost helpless against the monster.

If it was allowed to survive after today, to actually grow, learn more, and become more powerful, then the danger the monster would pose would be too big to even imagine.

Left with little choice, everybody went all out, activating their marks and any other boosts they could activate, even Aelrinder had used his power of the stars, but instead of using it as a single attack that could deliver astonishing damage, he used an entire charge of his ability to boost himself.

In the past, this would have given him immense strength for about 2 minutes before he would be weakened, but now, after the ability had actually become his innate ability, he was capable of using it for much longer, without being left in a weakened state after it ended.

Another difference was that before, he would need to meditate and spend time outside during the night to gain the power of the stars, spending many hours for one charge, and he was incapable of getting more, but now, he was able to have 7 charges of the power at once.

That meant that even after the boost was finished, he could use it 6 more times, or use a charge for an attack.

As they all unleashed the marks given to them by gods, their powers grew exponentially, but that was not all.

The marks were now acting different as well.

Previously, the marks would boost their power depending on who had given them the mark, but now, the marks were also slightly changing their bodies when being used.

The one with the biggest change that was visible was Wolf, who gained scales and even one small horn on the left side of his forehead.

That was thanks to Miriam, who was not only a Peak God, but a dragon as well.

Shadow's body was wrapped up in a coat of darkness, and a small flower could be seen on the coat, a white flower that had six petals, the favorite flower of Persephone herself.

Beast barely changed, with the only difference being the fact his hair gained streaks of purple. Mia's mark gave her an armor of ice that covered her body while her hair became slightly blue, but pale, whitish blue.

Tank turned into a demonic ogre, like the god that had given him the mark, and Reign, well, his hair rose, and what looked like tattoos appeared on his body while his muscles swelled up slightly.

With their strength boosted by such a margin, they attacked the monster again, ready to destroy it with everything they had.

The battlefield turned into a chaotic scene of destruction and desperation. The monster, now fully unleashed, towered over the group, its tentacles lashing out with terrifying speed and precision. Each strike sent shockwaves through the ground, uprooting trees and leaving deep gouges in the earth.

Reign and Shadow danced around the monster, their swords, and daggers flashing as they attempted to find a weak point in its defenses. Greenie's hammer flew through the air, smashing into the creature's body with bone-shattering force. Wolf's flames engulfed the monster, creating a fiery barrier that momentarily slowed its advance.

Mia's icy spikes pierced its flesh, causing it to roar in pain as the spikes stabbed into the ground before freezing everything around them, making it difficult for the monster to break out and move.

Beast's arrows continued being launched, all of them exploding before hitting the monster in order to deliver maximum damage, Laura was doing her best to copy what Beast was doing and damage it while Aelrinder kept hitting with his spear, the star power that was now around him being capable of damaging the monster.

Tank was mostly there to, well, tank attacks, but he also used his axe to slash off the tentacles at times and to do his best to slow the creature down.

Despite their best efforts, the monster seemed unstoppable. Its regeneration was faster than ever, healing even the most grievous wounds in a matter of seconds. The group's attacks, while powerful, were simply not enough to overcome its resilience, even after using their marks.

As the battle raged on, the monsters began to adapt to their tactics. It anticipated their moves, countering their attacks with unnerving precision. It seemed to be learning from each encounter, becoming more efficient and deadly with every passing moment.

Reign and the others realized that they were running out of options. Their powers, while formidable, were ineffective against the monster's adaptive abilities. They needed to find a way to defeat it, and fast, before it became too powerful to stop.

"We need to find its core," Reign shouted over the din of battle. "That's the only way to kill it!"

But finding the core was easier said than done. The monster's body was covered in goo, in fact, they didn't even know what the monster looked like underneath all the goo.

Ever since it had gone all out, one could see some tentacle-like muscle fibers at times as well when it moved, and they couldn't be certain that if there was a core deep inside the body, it wasn't moving at all times, making it nearly impossible to locate it.

But still, they had to try, that was the only way they would be capable of defeating the monster.

Reign was getting ready to transform if he had to, after all, that might be the only way they could deal enough damage to the monster to finally see the core.

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