Colt, Bruce, and Briggs were some of the strongest damage dealers in their unit, but none of their attacks held any weight in this battle.
Understanding their inability to harm the creature, they withdrew their killing intent and rather focused on buying time for Lloyd. Because all their minds were connected at the moment through the utilization of Bruce's complex, Luna and Winter also understood the new plan.
In a flash, Luna emitted a lustrous purple mist from her body, creating a smoke screen for Colt, Bruce, and Briggs to escape. As they retreated, the purple smoke thickened and completely enveloped the area.
The trees around the monster began moving like vipers being serenaded by a bard, swiftly twisting towards the owl monster with much ferocity, sharply binding it with their branches, seemingly following the will of her smoke as it invaded their bodies.
Luna's complex "Lovely shroud" gave her the ability to manipulate men and plants alike. Though it is an ability more suited for plant life, using this power, her influence on simple-minded men was next to none.
Following up Luna's attack, Winter placed both her hands on the wet snow-covered floor. Her palms let out a stark azure radiance. This light continually condensed, as if being gathered and intensified.
With one bright flash, making use of her complex, Winter sent out a torrent of frozen crystalline waves. The air crackled as a maze of jagged ice pillars erupted from the ground. Arching and winding, the ice travelled to the monster, freezing the plants that held it and its body all in one go, turning Luna's Purple smoke into snow, and creating a hill of frost in its wake, promptly immobilizing it with icy flakes.
Winter let out a sigh as cold breath exited her mouth. She was exhausted. Creating such a large ice wall had taken a lot out of her. Her display of power had briefly immobilized the owl man. Letting the group have a few seconds to gather their thoughts.
Colt thought to himself. 'Winter can probably only make an ice wall this large two more times at most. Without summer here to regulate her temperature, we can't rely on her ability. Hopefully, we won't have to push her to overuse her complex.'
With the owl man now trapped, everyone seemed to let out a slight sigh of relief. Of the two minutes that Lloyd asked for, only forty-five seconds remained.
"Bang, Bang, Bang"
Loud thuds of relentless barrages thundered through the battleground, shaking the air, quaking the ground beneath their feet, and splintering the ice that surrounded their vicinity. The thuds sent shockwaves that rippled through the combatants' ears, causing their faces to frown through the deafening din.
A large cacophony of discordant sounds erupted as the ice hill was shattered into thousands of smaller ice pieces.
Like a speeding bullet, the owl monster rushed at Winter the very moment he was freed from his binds.
"I'll take care of you first," it said, raising its long, latex, stick-like hand into the air, and bringing it down swiftly, striking Winters waist with one instant movement, sending her into the air like he was flinging a sack of meat.
Winters' left hand and ribs broke when faced with the force of a single swing from Owl's hand. Blood gushed out from every orifice in her body like she was a bloody balloon that had been ruthlessly burst wide open, exploding in a frenzy of crimson.
Although the damage done to her body was great, she did not lose consciousness and was able to slow her fall to the ground by creating an ice slope to slide down with the rest of her power.
Her condition was fatal, but not as bad as Lloyd's before he took the stim. Unlike Lloyd, Winter was not a normal human being and had the strength, durability, and vitality of three regular people.
What would kill her wouldn't be the wound itself, but rather the extreme blood loss.
As swiftly as it dispatched winter, the owl man hastily moved behind Briggs and Bruce. Using both hands, it pierced through their chest with two stabbing strikes, impaling both giants like the muscle they had spent years building was less durable than cotton candy.
Slowly, the owl man retracted his hands from their bleeding chest, letting their bodies drop to the floor like toys he no longer enjoyed playing with.
"I was holding back before, but I didn't think you guys were all this weak. Come on. At least try a little." The owl man said with blood dripping down his latex-like skin.
Golden veins pierced upwards from Lloyd's smooth skin; his wounds seemed to be healing faster and faster. But his mind was totally unbalanced.
Bruce and Briggs were more than just friends to him. Losing them was like losing his very own brothers. The shock from what had just transpired left him staring at their corpses, unable to shed a single tear as he pondered why they had to die.
And Winter, unlike her sister, was actually someone he had always gotten along with, but she was on the verge of death, slowly wasting away on the frozen forest floor.
The will he had that allowed him to speak out in the beginning was slowly fading and being replaced by hatred. A deep hatred and zeal to kill that he couldn't fathom containing.
Colt and Luna were the only active fighting forces left.
Bruce's death shook her more than anyone else. Her legs buckled as she fell to the floor, the blood of both Bruce and Briggs slowly mixing with the rain and flowing through the ice to her freezing knees.
The scent of blood became potent enough to make her hurl. Vomiting a wet sludge of undigested food on the frosty floor, the steam from the vomit contrasting with the cold of the ground.
Summer's death had shaken all of them, but it also gave a boost of adrenaline, which got their blood pumping enough to disregard her death temporarily to favor their survival.
The current state of Winter, Bruce, and Briggs gave them a much-needed reality check.
The monster before them could have slain them in mere moments if it wished to. But it didn't. It only wished to play.
The owl man's way of speech was that of a teenager, but they knew that even that was just a mask it wore. Perhaps it made this game more enticing to it.
Unlike Luna, who had now lost her will to fight and live, Colt still kept his tenacity and stared down the owl monster.
Instead of panicking, Colt kept his mind calm and collected. Unwilling to lose his cool in this situation.
Colt stretched out his hands and pulled out his saber, ready to slash at the owl man. He took a fighting stance as a translucent aura circled his body, strengthening his muscles and bulging his veins.
The wet, snowy ground gave way as he exploded into precise movements.
His legs left the wet, snowy earth, and he appeared right behind the owl man. Suddenly causing a disruption in the raindrops, this time, aiming his saber at its neck, he slashed at it with enough force to cleave through a block of tungsten.
Once again, just like before, the saber landed, but the attack was fruitless as sparks flew around. The impact from his cleave sent him flying in the opposite direction.
The owl man didn't seem to care about taking any damage. But this time, he wasn't going to let Colt get away unharmed.
The owl man twisted its torso to face Colt's direction of rebound. The force of the twist alone made the air shillyshally slightly.
Just like when it impaled Bruce and Briggs, it curled its long latex arm and extended it at tremendous speed, precisely piercing at Colt.
Colt used his saber to parry the attack of the owl man, his blade skidding along its skin as the rain violently dripped off his blade.
Although he successfully parried the attack, the force sent him flying towards Lloyd, landing just a few feet away from him.
With Lloyd and Colt now together, the easiest prey would be Luna, who was closest to the beast. But as if ignoring a soulless, lifeless creature grasping Bruce's cold, dead body, he only paid attention to the two guys at the back.
Maintaining his sharp red gaze, his crimson eyes shimmered like a ruby from ancient ornaments.
Twenty-five seconds remained.