Chapter 6: Breaking Free
The snow fell without pause, swallowing sound and softening everything it touched. For a moment, the entire platform felt suspended in something unreal.
Yuri stared at Damien first, then Seris, then Chad. None of them spoke.
Their expressions were stuck somewhere between disbelief and absolute terror. Even Chad’s usual attempt at composure had cracked slightly, his brows drawn tight as if trying to understand a problem that refused to make sense.
Seris looked like she wanted to say something, but her lips only trembled before she gave up.
Yuri didn’t look away from Damien, she couldn’t, because somehow he was still moving. Even as blood ran down his face and dropped into the snow beneath him.
A suppressed groan came from his dry throat as the Eidolon priest struck him again.The impact echoed across the ruins like a hammer against stone.
And still, he didn’t die, that was the problem, the Eidolons noticed it too. One of them tilted its head, watching Damien like an object of dread.
Yuri’s fingers twitched. Her gaze dropped to Chad’s restraints.. She inhaled slowly.
"Chad," she said quietly.
Then a small but sharp current of electricity shot out from her fingertips, it flew past Seris with relative ease, and reached Chad’s cuffs
At first, nothing happened, but moments later, a soft click rang out and Chad felt his left hand become free. The Eidolons had sharp ears, but the sound of the cuff opening was drowned out by Damien’s relentless screams.
Chad locked the free cuff and tightened his grip around it with his right fist.
The Eidolons were still preoccupied with the undead insect in front of them. One of the ones pinning Damien’s leg began to falter, its grip slowly losing strength as confusion crept into its movements.
It had never seen anything like this before. Its thick muscular arm softened, then slackened entirely, and before it could even process what was happening, it let go of Damien’s leg.
The other Eidolon looked at it in dismay, that dismay didn’t last, It shifted almost immediately into fear.
The Eidolon that had just released Damien barely had time to turn its head before Chad’s fist came in from the side.
There was a heavy sickening impact that echoed through bone. The Eidolon’s face collapsed under it, its nose flattening instantly, cartilage and bone giving way without resistance. Its skull caved in at the point of contact as if struck by a falling weight. The antlers snapped midway, brittle like frozen wood cracking under pressure. One eye bulged violently outward, bursting in a wet, abrupt rupture, blinding it entirely.
Seris froze, but Yuri didn’t.
She shot to her feet and used her dormant ability, impulse to zap her own cuffs, it broke free and fell on the soft snow, without pause she grabbed Seri’s iron cuffs and did the same.
The Eidolon priest finally reacted, it pointed in Chad’s direction and growled angrily. The priest ignored Yuri that was helping Seris up her feet, it clearly saw them as weak and negligible.
The two Eidolons released Damien and began to approach Chad; they weren’t taller than he was, but their large builds were imposing.
Chad retreated with each step, until his back met a monument.
"Yuri, now would be a good time to help out".
Before he even finished speaking, a figure blurred past him.
A sharp impact followed, Yuri’s kick slammed into the Eidolon’s knee with brutal precision.
Its bone buckled under the force, the joint collapsing inward as the Eidolon let out a guttural roar. Its body jerked violently, but the damage was already done. It was forced down onto one knee, snow bursting outward from the impact.
Yuri landed a short distance away, sliding slightly across the frozen ground before steadying herself.
Her breath was uneven, from the strain of using her dormant ability. Electricity still faintly crawled along her fingers.
Her Dormant ability wasn’t built for prolonged output. Still, her eyes stayed locked on the Eidolons.
Chad saw his opening and charged at the other Eidolon.
But it had already noticed him.
Compared to Yuri’s speed, his movements were sloppy, more direct and easier to read. The Eidolon turned to meet him head-on, with aggression matching his own, and threw a punch straight toward his face.
Chad dropped low at the last moment, slipping beneath the swing and gliding under its wide stance. He came out behind it in one continuous motion, already pushing forward again.
Before the Eidolon could fully turn, Chad leapt onto its back, using the momentum to step up. His hands shot up and locked around both antlers.
Then he pulled hard.
The Eidolon was forced down with him, its body dragged off balance as Chad drove it into the ground. Stone and snow exploded outward on impact as its face was crushed against the frozen surface.
A roar tore through the air as the Eidolon finally snapped.
Its head jerked upward with brutal force, launching Chad off its body. He was thrown several meters back, skidding through snow and stone before crashing down hard.
For a moment, the impact held him still, but only for a moment.
The Eidolon didn’t hesitate. It came charging in immediately, closing the distance in a matter of seconds..
Chad pushed himself up just as it arrived, the expected collision didn’t happen.
He slipped just outside its reach, avoiding the full weight of the charge, but staying close enough to fight. The Eidolon swung wide and heavy, but Chad kept moving, refusing to meet it head-on.
Except, every time Chad’s right hand moved, it landed a brutal blow.
The Eidolon had full sight of him, its reactions sharp, its body built for dominance in open space, but something about Chad kept breaking its defense.
Each attempt to block came half a second too late, like his fist arrived where its guard used to be instead of where it currently was.
Strike after strike slipped through that gap, the Eidolon was struggling to perceive Chad’s right fist, but it didn’t last for long.
