Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

The towers and walls all moved in unison, ripping themselves out of the ground. Stone ground against each other as everyone backed away quickly, watching from afar. In seconds, the fortress turned into its second form as giant arms and hands took shape, becoming a giant golem. The smaller ones followed suit, morphing and joining the main body. 

As it stood up, this hulking stone titan stared out into the distance with its glowing emerald eyes. Without warning, it released an ear-shattering roar, a dissonant voice similar to the grinding of gears. 

Ming Yue looked at it towering above them all. 

"The teleportation circle!"

Her eyes immediately went down and felt relief as she saw that the level containing the teleportation circle was largely left alone. 

Although the floors and walls were cracked, and the ceiling was gone, the boxes were mostly untouched. 

"What should we do now?"

She Xing asked aloud as she looked to the others. Niu Hong looked at the snake-kin seriously. 

"Run!" 

Without warning, everyone turned tail and sprinted off into the depths of the Savage Lands.  None of them dared to turn around to look but they could hear the booming steps behind them. 

The ruckus was beyond loud, it was impossible for this giant being to move unnoticed. Soon enough, something came. 

Yu Tu's ears perked up as she looked forward and immediately shouted to the others. 

"Hide within the trees!" 

Everyone did as she said, splitting up and taking cover within the shadows whilst something ran past them. It charged towards the stone golem, roaring out loud. While it was swift, Ming Yue caught a glance of it. 

"A purple lion with wings?" she thought. 

It was a massive lion that was almost as tall as the trees and a third the height of the giant stone golem. 

Just as she described, it had four wings befitting of its size, and its entire body was of a vibrant purple hue. But its claws and teeth were pure white and its sharp eyes had an orange glow to them. Apart from that was its majestic mane which was large but rough. 

As it roared out, a forked tongue revealed itself from the lion's maws. 

The Four Claws that saw this muttered the same name. 

"Amaranthine Lion!"

Everyone watched as the beast face off against the stone titan. It snarled and roared out at the mindless being as if warning it to leave its territory. But this golem paid no attention to it. Rather, it scanned the ground, searching for the ones that escaped its grasp. 

The Amaranthine Lion looked at it in surprise. 

To think, it would be ignored like this?! Disrespected in such a way?! Did the golem see the lion as weak? 

It felt stifled, angered for this golem dared to intrude on its territory and give it no respect, not even a glance. Enraged by this, its body began to contort and the sound of bones cracking echoed out. Suddenly, its fur slowly changed as scales replaced them. A third eye formed as well as a third pair of legs. 

Ming Yue's eyes widened a bit. 

"That's just a beast?! Not even a Savage one? That can't be on the same level as those wolves. " she thought. 

In the moments the Amaranthine Lion transformed, the golem trend to look at the beast, finally taking notice of its changes. It raised an arm and swung out, striking while it couldn't move. But it was just a tad too slow for the arm smashed into the beast's body and the lion didn't budge from its place. 

Rather the arm crumbled from the attack, breaking apart after hitting the lion's scales. 

The golem looked at its golem arm, not expecting such a thing to happen while the lion looked up and snarled at its enemy. It lunged forward with its claws outstretched, scratching the golem and pushing it back. 

But the attacks didn't stop there. 

Pushing its weight onto the golem, the Amaranthine Lion pushed it down, digging into the golem's chest. With each claw, it carved out bits of stone, going further and further in while the golem struggled to get the lion off. 

Its arms flayed about, trying to take the lion off but it couldn't. The beast was too heavy but the golem wasn't going to let it do as it pleased. With its broken fist, the golem kept punching into its side incessantly. Stone kept falling away but the Golem didn't stop, it just kept smashing away into the scaled skin of the Amaranthine Lion. 

The lion braced for each strike, trying its best to continue its assault as it dug out more of the golem's chest until it dug its core open. A verdant glow shined brightly, blinding the Amaranthine Lion!

It jumped back, shaking its head and covering its eyes from the shock. 

In that crucial moment, the golem's fist same hard and fast, smashing into the same spot one more time. There was a loud crack as the lion's ribs were broken and the beast cried out in pain. It flew back, landing on its back and whimpering. 

The gears cranked as the golem sat up and it stared at the lion. Its core was fully exposed with turning cogs and wheels. Mixed in was a glowing green gem along with a massive formation carved within, and dozens of smaller ones. 

At this moment, Ming Yue and the Four Claws still watched from afar. 

"We should go!" 

She Xing shouted out, looking at the others but Niu Hong didn't move from his position. He raised a hand up, signaling them to stay in place. 

Ming Yue was the same as him. She put the little girl down, setting her down beside Hei Yue and Xiao Yin. 

But her eyes stayed on the battle between the two giants before her. 

They both had the same idea. Niu Hong looked to the others. 

"By the time the golem and the lion were finished, it didn't matter who won or lost, either of them would be too weakened to fight us or weakened enough for us to finish it off. And then, we can harvest the spoils. Imagine, the core of an Amaranthine Lion!" he said. 

Hearing those words, the Four Claws reconsidered. It was dangerous but the reward was equally if not worth more. 

They watched and waited, seeing the battle unfold as the two sides battled it out but soon enough one of them had to fall. And in the end, it was the stone golem that fell. Despite cracking the ribs of the Amaranthine Lion, the beast's scales were too strong. Some had fallen and some had cracked but the golem was in worse shape. Each punch it made caused more and more of its arms to break and the golem didn't stop until its arms were no more. 

And without its arms, there was little it could do to stop the lion from charging forward, lashing out with its claws. 

With that attack, the lion broke through the core, cutting through the gears and wheels. And the golem twitched and trembled, the glow in its eyes flickered before dying out. It fell to its knees before falling flat on the ground, dead. 

As for the victor of the fight, the Amaranthine Lion stared at the golem, breathing heavily before roaring out loud as if to announce its power to the world. But it was tired and injured, another fight with it would not end in its victory. 

"Let's go now! While it's still weak!" 

Everyone moved forward quickly, taking advantage of the situation. The lIttle girl stayed behind with Ming Yue's two beasts. 

As they ran forward, a screech echoed out into the air as something came for the lion, attracted by its triumphant roar. 

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