Theleaus was correct on one point: in a war of attrition, Kaiser would most certainly lose. He doubted he could outlast the regenerating monster even under normal circumstances, let alone with an invisible clock ticking down the seconds until his organs started to shut down one by one. The situation certainly looked dire: as the creature was made of a multitude of elements, not just darkness, his Holy magic would not have much effect. He canceled the spell he'd been preparing, using the mana for a new tactic. Aurora Barrage wasn't going to be enough, this he could tell. Theleaus probably knew as much, too: he knew that with the abilities shown thus far, Kaiser couldn't put a dent in the creature. It seemed hopeless to fight a monster of that size, its roar alone shaking the ground he stood on.

There was nothing for it; he threw back his head and laughed. "You may be a perverted, psychotic, totally unlikeable sorry excuse for a living being, but I'll give you credit: you got a flair for the dramatic."

And Theleaus would begin to sense it: mana condensing in Kaiser, compacting and creating pressure that drew more in. He'd sucked the land dry of mana, but Kaiser was now taking it out of the very air...not even taking it, really, more like it was being drawn in of its own accord. What was truly noteworthy was the feel of it...it would not be anything he'd ever felt before, no type of magic he'd encountered previously.

"See, you made two mistakes though. One: The rock with arms and legs is imperfect, eh? Well, that's not good enough, 'cause I'm as close to perfect as anyone can get."

Now the distortion was visible: even Usurii, who had no magical senses, would be able to see the changes with her eyes alone. The air around Kaiser began to distort, and trying to see past him would be like looking through curved glass. Light occasionally glimmered around him, but not the light of a spell. It was light caused by mana so dense it was visible.

"Two: You think I'm afraid of the gods? You want power to rival even them, huh? Power greater than either light or dark?" He looked up at him, and even with the huge distance between them he still locked eyes with him. A predatory grin spread across his face, in its own way just as intimidating as his multiple rows of teeth. "I'll humor ya, Theleaus. Since this is my grand finale, I'll show you power even the gods are wary of."

"Perfect? Heh . . . that'll only make eating you that much sweeter . . ."

Theleaus had whispered that, and with the distance between he and Kaiser, it would go heard only by the warlord. The Imperfect had just settled itself by the time Kaiser was beginning to show his power outside of his body. Whether or not Theleaus noticed was not evident.

"Hah! Haha~! I don't think you understand what power a god is made of . . ."

Indeed, Usurii could see the distortion of light around Kaiser. There wasn't much light produced to notice, but what little moonlight crept from behind the Imperfect was showing it. She caught it out of the corner of her eyes, which distracted the woman from the enormous shadow that eclipsed her and Fenix. Usurii couldn't even begin to theorize what was happening with Kaiser, knowing only that he was doing it on purpose. These two men, Kaiser and Theleaus, were monsters in their own right. But at the very least, Kaiser was a monster that Usurii personally liked.

While Theleaus folded his arms across his chest, the Imperfect reared its arm back. The gargantuan limb tensed and grit dirt and dust where its joints met with one another. The power behind it was immense. It threw its enormous fist down towards Kaiser, intending to take him out in a single blow, an attack Kaiser was unable to block. The raw strength behind the Imperfect ensured that he'd never be able to match it. Whether it struck Kaiser or not, it would jam its fist into the earth, tossing up dust and debris everywhere as it indented its fist eight feet into the dry earth. If any of them thought its roar shook the ground hard, the force emanating from its fist into the ground would actually distort and rattle the air itself, making even an airborne opponent shake and waver, temporarily ensuring that all around it, even in the air, would be unable to attack for half of a second.

The time for taunting was over, it seemed: despite his self-assured stature, he knew he couldn't afford to hold much back at this point. His mana was still gathering, though...it would be a little bit before he could pull off something huge. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't fight in the meantime, and maybe even speed up the process. Mana...it's running through it like blood, looks like.

"Abyssal matter that fills the void between worlds," he began as the hand descended.

To Theleaus (and likely the creature as well), it would appear that he didn't move at all...only Usurii, who was at eye level with him, would see that he practically disappeared before the fist struck, jumping back many feet before jumping straight up.

"Gather in my hands and sharpen your edge."

While he couldn't control his movements much due to the impact's shockwave, he could continue his chant, and his location would be obscured by all the dust and debris until he could regain his bearings. And though Theleaus would be able to sense his mana, unless he had a way of controlling the creature or conveying his location to it, it would have no way of knowing.

As he regained his ability to move, he grabbed onto a nearby chunk of rock, pulling his feet up against his chest in order to plant them onto it. If there was an attack directed at him, he'd try to time his jump to avoid it...

The young woman watched with wide eyes as the Imperfect's fist came down upon Zach Kaiser. Her heart skipped a beat as it closed in, but a deep sigh of relief was released when she saw the man disappear. For a moment, she was able to relax, though still concerned about what was happening within the large cloud of dust that had been kicked up from the Imperfect's blow to the earth. It still hadn't withdrew its hand, either, which merited quite a bit of curiosity from Usurii. Then, from a small, split second break in the dust, Usurii noticed the stones upon the creature's fist bulging. She was immediately shocked and now terrified for the safety of those in the area.

"W-watch out--!!" Usurii cried, trying to get Kaiser's attention towards---

She moved, uncharacteristic of herself, to sit in front of the downed Fenix, positioning herself so she'd be between Fenix and the Imperfect's fist, with her body leaned over him slightly and back facing the direction of the fist. The reason for it was revealed rather quickly: the bulging rocks upon the outer edge of the fist exploded like a massive grenade, sending stones to rocket off of its form like bullet speed shrapnel. Kaiser, still nearby, would be susceptible to the wide area attack, as well as Usurii, Fenix, and Shin--the latter two incapable of defending themselves against it.

Usurii, in front of Fenix and huddled over him, took the brunt of the blows in that direction. She let out a pained cry as she was barraged with a series of blows; stones berated her back, sharper ones cutting her clothes and skin, more blunt ones bruising and possibly even breaking some of her ribs. By the time the single barrage was over, she was huddled over Fenix, who would have taken no blows whatsoever. The clothes on her back were shredded with a blood staining the cloth that was left; she gasped in exhaustion and pain, but still refused to allow the silver flame in her hand to die out. She hadn't been able to protect Shin, and inwardly hoped that Kaiser would have been able to. Strange . . . she wasn't particularly attached to these humans, but the young woman still wanted to see them continue living.

Once the single barrage was completed, the Imperfect withdrew from the earth its gargantuan fist, which had only lost a single layer of stone--one out of what could easily be a couple of hundred. Theleaus looked down upon his creation, visibly surprised: clearly, he hadn't ordered it to do anything at all . . .

Hearing Usurii's shout and glancing to see what she was doing, he made a quick modification to his plan: he grabbed a large slab of debris before using shunpo to jump off the one he was standing on, appearing in front of Shin just in the nick of time. He used the slab as a shield to delfect the shrapnel, leaving the two of them of them relatively unscathed.

Glancing at Usurii, his eyes widened as he was able to fully comprehend what she'd just done. Using her own body as a shield, she'd protected Fenix from the attack, a boy who was practically a stranger to her. Even though he'd protected her, too, there weren't too many who'd jump in front of an attack like that. His expression shifted-the fierce and cocky attitude faded, and he looked upon her with compassion and a measure of respect. It was odd for him, especially considering how he'd behaved thus far.

"Thank you," he said softly as he set the stone slab down, "I'll try to make sure you don't have to do that again."

Knowing he couldn't afford to be distracted for too long, he returned his attention to the giant creature, and to the spell he'd paused. His expression changed back to one set for battle, even fiercer than before. Usurii's selfless act served to strengthen in resolve, and in response the mana gathering around him grew more volatile. It was time to strike back.

"The ultimate weapon, a blade to sunder the very fabric of reality."

He held out his hand, and a good portion of the mana around him went into it. It whirled and shook, as if it didn't want to be constrained in such a way.

"Darksaber."

The energy sprung forth, a black, chaotic energy forming into the shape of a sword slightly larger than the Aquasoul. It wavered and twisted; the mana didn't want to be controlled, it wanted to burst forth and destroy. Soon, he thought, as if he could somehow communicate his intentions with it, soon I'll give off a bang that'll be worth the wait. Until then, be patient.

It was Star Magic, the most destructive form of elemental magic. There wasn't much known about it, as those who could use it were few and far between, and the magic was so unstable that even fewer survived long enough to study it or wield it with any amount of skill. Some speculated that it wasn't really an element at all, but rather condensed, destructive raw mana. Whatever it was, it was dangerous both to the enemy and the user, and if it weren't for Kaiser's boost in ability it was likely he'd be physically unable to control it well.

But thanks to the serum, he'd achieved a level of physical ability practically unheard of in humans. He still had to be careful, but he had little choice, as he was certain it was the only magic in his arsenal that could possibly defeat the giant rock monster.

He dashed forward to the fist that was still buried into the ground, swinging in a wide arc. His reasoning was fairly simple: if mana acted as its blood, he'd make it bleed, and absorb the mana for his own use. He knew the Aquasoul couldn't put a dent in that rock, but he had little doubt that his strongest level of magic could.