As Atticus's hands gravitated towards the katana hilt on his left waist, an eerie silence enveloped the cavern.
No words were spoken, no sound made, the silence disrupted only by the subtle hum of the approaching dark beam.
And then, like a lightning bolt, an incalculable number of silver streaks filled the air, each slicing through the dark beam like millions of sharp blades, its once menacing form disintegrating in to the void.
The beast unleashed an angry screech as it witnessed its attack being effortlessly blocked.
Suddenly, a palpable dark aura erupted from the beast's form, its blood red eyes igniting with an intense glow.
The thousands of dark tendrils, both above and below it seemed to elongate and expand in both height and mass, until each one became as big as colossal tentacles reminiscent of an enormous octopus.
Its torso and head maintained their original size as the thousands of massive tendrils whipped about in the air, each movement causing the cave to quake.
The sharp ends of the tendrils seemed to have become even more razor edged as each tendril coiled and strained backward, the air vibrating with intensity as though anticipating what was about to erupt.
The blood red eyes of the monster flashed, and as if that was the call sign, the thousands of tendrils shot toward Atticus's descending form in the air at supersonic speeds.
Each tendril attacked from every conceivable angle, converging on Atticus with a relentless onslaught that seemed to originate from every corner of the cavern.
Atticus's expression remained unchanged, his heart rate completely calm as though the thousands of tendrils approaching with frightening speed had nothing to do with him.
Atticus had truly never liked drawn out battles. Although he loved the thrill that came with battling, he never liked prolonging battles.
They were truly unnecessary and a huge waste of time.
He had always seen his katana arts as too over kill, especially considering the opponents that he usually faced.
And truly, they were over kill.
The strength of the katana arts in the past could never be compared with how strong there were currently.
And this huge power up occured when Atticus had advanced in to the expert rank.
That day, he had tested the arts on one of the training robots in the advanced training room, and the result had left him utterly and completely astounded.
As each of the tendrils cleaved through the air, filling the space in front of him from every direction, with his right hand on the katana's hilt on his left waist, Atticus calmly uttered,
"Katana Series: 2nd art,"
His words seeming to halt time it self as each of the tendrils initially moving at fast speed towards him froze in their tracks.
Reality it self seemed to bow down to the power that was about to erupt.
Without Atticus visibly moving an inch, with his form still gracefully descending, every single one of the thousands of tendrils initially shooting towards him was mutilated in an instant.
SCREEEEECCCCCHHHH!!!!
A piercing, deafening screech echoed through the cave, its intensity causing the very walls to quake and shake. A spray of black substance filled the air, gushing out from the mutilated tendrils.
In response to the anguished screams of their master, as the cave reverberated with the scream, thousands of blood red eyes flickered open in response from the dark, dog sized holes that surrounded the cave walls.
The scene resembled the sudden illumination of thousands of red light bulbs.
"Fuck," Atticus muttered, as though he knew exactly what was coming.
Then, hundreds of thousands of rabid wolf like beasts surged forth like an unstoppable tsunami from each hole, hitting the ground with the force of a massive wave.
The cave was quickly filled, creating a surreal scene as millions of creatures converged. Every single blood red eye locked onto Atticus, who had manipulated the air and was now floating above the imminent chaos.
Then, they all immediately started charging from all directions, the quaking of the caves increasing before the intensity of their march.
As they gathered beneath him, Atticus watched as they all suddenly started coalescing at different points around him, with more creatures joining in, forming multiple living, grotesque ladders that just kept expanding in height, all converging towards him in the air.
Atticus, his expression not changing one bit, silently placed his hand on the katana, and immediately, the air thumped with an intense energy as Atticus's blue eye blazed with furious intensity.
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