The King's Beloved

[Music Recommendation: "The Ancient City" by Masayoshi Soken (Final Fantasy XIV OST) - available in Spotify or Youtube]

"Be careful," Elliot bid goodbye to Clavis and his team. "Let us know right away if you need help."

"Same goes for you, your majesty. May the Supreme be with you all."

"And to you all."

Ducis transformed into a dragon once more and carried Clavis' team on his back. He headed to the far west where Ignis' continent was located, just beside his' and opposite Fauna's. It would probably take them half a day or more to get there.

On the other hand, Fauna turned herself into a Griffin and carried Elliot's team on her back. She continued the path towards the south of Caligo's continent—straight to the continent of Terra. Being the biggest continent in all of Gaia and having its shrine at its center, it took them twice the travel time from Fauna to Caligo's shrine. 

On their way, Rania noticed the black smoke from afar even when they hadn't reached the shrine itself. It was just near enough for her to see the horizon where the shrine stood. The black smoke was like a thin tornado attaching itself at the tip of the crystal obelisk towards… somewhere. She couldn't see the end of it, but it led towards the sky—a faraway sky beyond the clouds.

"Elliot, Luna," she called them, "can you see that?" She then pointed her fingers towards the smoke, and the two shook their heads, just as she suspected.

"Is it the black smoke again?"

"I think so. But this time, it's connecting towards the sky beyond those dark clouds."

"Oh no," Luna worried. "If it's above the clouds, then only Ventus' and Amare's continents would be there since they both float above the ground."

"And Vindicta is in Amare's continent, right?"

"Yes, that's where we fought with her long ago and trapped her in the holy crystal—at the very center of Gaia."

"If that black smoke leads to her, then this can't be good. I think we best be more careful this time around."

"Yes!"

As they got closer to the Shrine of Terra, monsters gathered on all sides to the point that it was hard for them to enter the shrine's door.

"Bruma, Bronte," Elliot called two of his Guardians. "Clear up all the monsters in this area. I'll go inside with the rest."

"Yes, master," they agreed and went out of Elliot's Zweihander, landing amidst the monsters in a pillar of light.

They made a path for them to enter, and Fauna flew straight to the door while Luna opened it for them. Once inside, there were lots of monsters again. This time, Fauna and Amare were left behind to deal with them. Rania, Elliot, Luna, and Eres proceeded towards the innermost place where Terra's brown crystal obelisk stood. And in front of it was the monster they were about to fight—a Dark Dryadalis.

The Dark Dryadalis had a form of a woman Magi except for its pointed ears, darkened skin, and clothes made from tree trunks, branches, and leaves. Its dark golden eyes stared at them like preys, sending shivers to their skin. And for some reason, its aura looked more menacing and dangerous than the monsters they fought before.

"Who dares enter my shrine?" the Dark Dryadalis said.

"My shrine?" Luna asked. "She's claiming it as her own when this is Terra's shrine. Why would it think that—"

"Anyone who's unwelcomed deserves death! Aaaaahh!!!"

An ear-splitting screech almost turned their ears deaf, followed by attacks after attacks—earth spikes, golems, earthquakes, and all kinds of earth-element magic. Surprised by the sudden attack, the team scattered and protected themselves with barriers. Then, they fought back, canceling and destroying each of the monster's skills.

A very long fight followed right after. With only four of them fighting off the Dark Dryadalis, it was hard to form a specific strategy where one of them would take time to create highly concentrated magic. The monster moved too fast. Its blows were too hard and its skin too thick to penetrate. To add to that, its tree trunk dress was like tentacles with a mind of their own, attacking them as soon as it saw them. 

If they were ever going to defeat this monster, they needed to create highly concentrated magic in a matter of minutes instead of hours. They couldn't do a surprise attack as well since the rest were still fighting outside the shrine and inside—by the entrance. Thinking that, Elliot did his best to create highly concentrated magic as fast as he could. The others helped distract the monster somehow until he managed to do it.

With his hands shining in white light, Elliot teleported at the back of the Dark Dryadalis and touched its back.

"Disintegrate!" he shouted, making the monster screech in pain.

"AAAAAHH!!!"

Suddenly, a massive blast of dark aura knocked him back, away from the monster.

"Tsk! Did it work?"

Unfortunately, it didn't. Instead, the monster's back only appeared to have a burnt mark on it. Due to this, it strengthened its defense all the more and turned its once soil-looking skin into that of a silver-looking metal. Actually, no—it wasn't silver. It was darker—just one look at it, and anyone could tell that it's the hardest metal there ever was.

The team tried to fight it once more until minutes turned to hours. With its heightened defense, it just made it more impossible for them to defeat it.

"Haah… Haah… Haah…"

Soon enough, everyone began to feel exhausted.

"This monster is really tough," Rania said under her breath. Turning to Eres, she said, "Eres, your dominion is fire, right?"

"Huh? Ah, yes! That's right."

"Fire can melt metal, right? Do you think you can create a scorching fire that can melt its defense?"

"Well, that's—I do know of a skill, but I haven't tried it before."

"Go ahead and try. Elliot, Luna, and I will try to distract it. Once its defense is down, Elliot, you can try to disintegrate it again. But you need a more concentrated one than last time."

"Yes, I think so, too. I'll target the same area on its back since my skill corroded its skin and made it unable to regenerate that area."

"Okay. Let's do this!"

As discussed, Eres fell back on the battle, and the others played with the monster for a while. Elliot learned to use one of his hands to concentrate spiritual energy and the other for attacking. Usually, it was easy to multi-cast skills, but it's different if one was trying to create highly concentrated energy. A complete focus was needed, and any distraction could cancel it. But with the direness of the situation, Elliot learned to adapt and push himself to the limit.

Like him, Eres pushed his limits and managed to create a super destructive firestorm with the highest heat level of over a million degrees. Everyone had to put a thick barrier around them so they won't be affected by its massive heat. Once the skill was ready, Eres quickly took the chance to corner the monster and attack it!

"Solar Flare!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

The Dark Dryadalis' defensive skin melted into nothingness, revealing its sheer skin and burning it into charcoal—just like everything nearby. Weakened, Elliot went to its back again and cast "Disintegrate," further turning the monster into nothingness. At its last breath, it glared at Elliot and tried to reach him with its burnt hand. But even that hand turned into ashes, blown by the wind. Only the terrifying scream from its mind remained…

"I will destroy anyone who tries to stop me."