An Owl's Rise



With the juggernaut of a man rushing towards her and Otis, Evelyn acted quickly.

To start she brought forth the strongest gravity she could muster and slammed it into the hooded man.

'Gravity Hammer.'

Her attack struck home and the six-meter-tall behemoth coming for them was knocked down off of his straight path towards them.

However, despite Evelyn's best efforts, she and Otis would not be able to escape their enemies reach with her attack alone.

Luckily, Otis was in perfect sync with Evelyn and followed up immediately after her attack.

He had created two huge hands made of sand that flew from above and capitalized on the area of increased gravity that Evelyn had created to accelerate faster and slam into their opponent.

The giant man punched up towards Otis' magic to disperse its power, but as was the nature of sand it was quite malleable, and Otis allowed it to absorb the blow before tightening around the man's fists and dragging him down.

With their combo complete, Evelyn and Otis flew up higher at a rapid pace as Evelyn lessened the gravity around them. It was clear that a close quarters battle would put them at a massive disadvantage, and they wanted to gain some distance.

As they ascended, Evelyn did not just run away, but began spinning her body around as she prepared to unleash her next attack.

A tornado began to whip up around her as she used her wind magic to rotate the air around her.

When she reached her desired height and had created a powerful vortex around herself, she twisted her body around and aimed directly downwards where the hooded man was.

'I figured he would charge right back towards us. Let's see how he handles this.'

"Crimson Twister."

Exploding with her heavenly flame Evelyn allowed the tornado around her to suck up the flames and increased the gravity around her to create one of her most devastating combo attacks.

The flaming whirlwind descended down on Evelyn's target and the widespread magic attack threatened to swallow the man and shred him to ribbons before turning him into ash.

At the same time a web of sand spread out over a large area and threatened to entangle the hooded man should he attempt to dodge.

Yet, just before the raging inferno consumed the gigantic man, he threw his right first forward and launched a projectile of pure magical energy directly into Evelyn's Crimson Twister.

The difference in their magical energy output became apparent immediately as the attack of magical energy exploded within Evelyn's Crimson Twister and all of the power she had amassed was blown away by a devastating explosion.

"I finally caught you." 

Completely disoriented after he attack had failed Evelyn was floundering in the air and the hooded man reached out with both of his massive hands to grab and restrain her.

She knew that the moment she was captured she would be squeezed into unconsciousness and would be unable to offer any resistance. That was why she had a contingency plan ready in case her attack failed.

Before the member of the Deamhain Sect could reach her, a whip of sand wrapped around her torso and swiftly yanked her higher into the sky.

"Thanks Otis. I would have been finished there without you." Evelyn said when she found herself hovering next to one of her trusty companions.

"Of course, I would be willing to even sacrifice my life for you. "Otis said with complete sincerity. "Still, I am surprised that he was able to dissipate that attack of yours. I do not think I would have been able to."

Honestly, Evelyn had been surprised as well. Her attack had combined all of her different types of magic to create a power that should have reduced everything in its path. 

However, the power she could generate with her magical energy was simply far inferior to her opponent. As advanced as her magic was for her level, it could only get so far in the face of overwhelming strength.

"After that exchange I realized that any attack he can react to is going to be ineffective. Otis, I need you to keep him busy while I prepare something he cannot hope to block or dodge." Evellyn said, her expression resolute.

Sensing that she was confident, Otis dove down and was ready to play his role. Even if he was pebbled to a bloody pulp, he intended to give Evelyn the time and opening she needed to finish this battle.

'I know that she does not approve of me using this form, but I need its ability to fight this man.' 

As he dropped down to meet his opponent, Otis' body began to warp and change shape until he had taken his humanoid form.

He normally refrained from utilizing this power that he had gained when evolving to tyrant rank beast since it made Evelyn uncomfortable.

Nevertheless, he realized that a part of his strength lied within being able to switch between his two forms and had practiced in secret.

He had only a few spells he had developed that he could currently only use with his humanoid form, but the one he needed now was something he could not properly visualize while an owl.

For most tyrant rank beasts, they gained a massive size in their bestial forms and shrunk when utilizing their humanoid form, but the opposite was true for Otis.

His species was naturally tiny, and he lacked pure physical strength. Of course, his nimble movements and talent for magic more than made up for his lack of raw might, but right now that was exactly what he needed.

He understood that he would never win this way as he was hopelessly outclassed, but it would give him the best chance to hold this behemoth of a man in place while Evelyn prepared. He needed to be a challenger that could not be ignored.

"Sand Titan."

Releasing as much magic as he could control, Otis wrapped a large quantity of sand around his body until it resembled a giant statue of himself.

At his current level of control, he could not utilize this magic without being inside of it and having it mirror his movements, but with it he could wield greater strength and fight as a giant just like his opponent.