The moment after I managed to rouse the rest of my family from the brief stupor the roar had pushed them into, things became hectic. Incredibly so, with everyone scattering, trying to get into the best position possible. Lia instantly moved to the side, trying to keep her portable shade as deployed as possible during her evasion. But given that fighting with the thing was nearly impossible, she moved into an area of the probable battlefield that was shaded by the mountains around us, allowing her some freedom of movement within. It was a bad solution, but it might just be the best one we had, if she tried fighting in the sun, she would be done in a few minutes.

Luna, on the other hand, didn't move all that much. Sure, she retreated until she reached an area primarily composed of actual earth, not the gravel and snow surface the valley was just transitioning into, but that was about it. There, she dropped a few seeds, her body blazing with Astral Power as she was infusing them with massive amounts of power so they would grow in seconds. While I couldn't get a good look, I was fairly certain she was trying to create a hardpoint for the coming battle, a position that we could retreat to. I had no idea if that would be enough to stymy the massive beast we were facing, but she certainly wanted to try.

Silva had answered my shout with a howl of her own, Divine and Astral Power surging out to bolster our spirits, increasing our instinct and intuition, especially when it came to cooperative tactics. We were all already highly in tune with one another, but her assistance took that to a higher level, allowing us to fight as a perfect unit, working together to bring down a much larger foe. Just like a pack of dogs or wolves would bring down a bear or moose, by working together.

Sasha, on the other hand, moved to the side, not quite retreating but also not in a position to fight. Not that I was actually annoyed by that, she simply wasn't ready to fight just yet. Her level was comparatively low, and she didn't have any outstanding abilities or traits that allowed her to punch above her weight class. Even the usual critters in the area were a serious threat to her, let alone this monster. If she were primarily a ranged attacker, she might have been able to do something, but given that her only weapons were her teeth, claws and maybe a thrown rock if push came to shove, there was nothing she could do to the thing beyond staying out of the way.

That left only me, trying to figure out the next step, beyond taking a bit of distance from everyone else on the battlefield. A quick Observe told me that the monster had the wonderful name 'The Tallest' Guardian and a welcoming level of one hundred seventy-seven. That level, on top of the indomitable body, meant we might just face an impossible foe. Maybe this wouldn't be the right path to travel after all, and a detour would be wise.

Shaking off these defeatist thoughts, I focused on what I could do to tie down the monster. I was a creature of Ice, on top of Earth, so a large part of its massive body was covered in Ice. A grin spread across my face as I reached out with my magic, sensing the glacier ahead and the Ice covering the beast, feeling how it was incorporated into its body, binding the gravel together. Then, I focused on the Shatter-rune, experimenting with a potential way to get rid of this thing.

Only for the Ice on the beast's body to flash with silver light, and a spike of pain was driven into my head. It took me only a moment to realise that the thing was easily able to keep me from directly affecting its body, meaning I had to consider another way. But, on the positive side, I now had its complete and undivided attention, its eyes blazing with visible hatred despite the somewhat alien face.

The thing reared up, turning from a beast some seven metres at the shoulder while on four paws into a tower standing some twenty metres tall before slamming down, the ground shaking from the impact. Then, moments later, I felt a massive surge of Astral Power in the ground below me and immediately moved to evade. The sheer amount of power was enough to make me activate overflow and draw on the air around me, augmenting the effect of my cloak and letting me flee into the air.

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And not a moment too soon. Thankfully, my feet were already in the air and I was moving in an upward direction, giving the sharp, stone spikes that shot out of the ground little to push against. I still had to pull in my legs, reducing the impact even further, to the point that what little force was transmitted into me wasn't sufficient to do more than push me up a little faster. Anybody else would likely be in some serious pain, as the spikes were piercing out of the ground in a cone some three metres across, enough that a normal dodge would have been insufficient.

Considering my options, I decided that trying to break down a rock formation of that size with brute physical force just wasn't feasible in any reasonable amount of time. I needed something else, something to strike directly at the spirit, not its formidable armour.

Mind Magic, given my proficiency with it, was the obvious solution, which is why I used some of the tricks I had learned while influencing the giants, in combination with the lessons I had learned when binding the spirit to strike at the guardian. Compared to my earlier attack, this one was a lot subtler, barely a ripple in the air as the magic sought to envelop our foe and start tweaking its senses. No matter how strong it was, if it was unable to strike at us, the fight would be a lot easier.

By this point, Luna had managed to grow herself a nice little retreat by twisting together a few shrubs. It wouldn't stand up to a full charge of the guardian, that much was obvious, but it gave her an elevated position, cover and some fairly decent overall protection.

Lia, on the other hand, had noticed what I was trying and added her own twist to things, using Darkness Magic to increase the guardian's susceptibility to my magical attacks. It wouldn't do a whole lot, not while the guardian was in direct sunlight, but it would certainly help a little.

Silva was similarly working on things, her howls continuing and adding more and more layers to the protection she had placed upon all of us. I could feel the additional insights flowing into my instincts, allowing me to react to things I wouldn't be able to see, but one of the others could. Additionally, I felt a trace of divine power flow into me, joining the Astral Power I was using to fuel my spells and empower what I was doing even further.

However, while their efforts were valuable, they did little to stall the massive monster. This was one of those moments in which I desperately missed my Sigmir. Not on a personal level, I always missed her that way, but on a professional level. Though, to be fair, I wasn't sure if she would have had the strength to hold back the massive amalgamation of Ice and Stone, but I was certain she would have done her very best.

Moments stretched into seconds as my mind was awhirl with sensations, trying to manipulate the alien perception of the guardian, twisting it into something we could take advantage of. It helped, to a degree, especially as it continued to focus on me, allowing me to exploit my ability to fly to the maximum. It helped that a big part of its senses, if I understood the feedback I received through my Mind Magic correctly, was based on sensing contact with the earth, giving me a huge advantage.

But I could see that it was losing interest. The more my companions moved around, and the deeper the roots of Luna's fortification grew, the more its attention shifted away from me. And towards them, who remained earthbound.

Another tremor went through the rocky ground beneath us, the stones shaking and rippling in its wake. But I wasn't the target this time; Luna was. By the time I realised that she was in trouble, she had already started to move, throwing herself off the fortification she had made to clear the area. And not a moment too soon, she had barely landed and was sprinting away as fast as possible as the woody construct was reduced to splinters by the jagged teeth of the earth the thing had summoned.

After a moment of consideration, I decided that fighting it in this situation was foolish. The sun weakened us, making Lia nearly useless and draining some of my strength, making what would definitely be an incredibly hard encounter impossible.

"Retreat!" I called out, concern for my daughters overwriting the desire to reach the Nexus as fast as possible. Then, as the others started to distance themselves from the guardian, I used Overflow to confuse its senses for a little longer, my power draining away as the guardian's world plunged into darkness. We could get away but defeating it?

That would be a lot more difficult.

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