While Noble had been working to find the poor, unfortunate soul who had woken the monster, the three men with her had not been idle.
Searching for weak points, they inflicted all the damage they could to the drowsy beast.
The Terror mostly ignored them, rolling up to lift to its full height. Like a person wrapping a blanket around themself before standing from bed, the creature stretched. Now, towering above the forest, the column of land finally seemed to gain consciousness.
A roar which nearly deafened the two women came from the column of earth. Like a scroll, the monster began to unfurl, shaking the ground with a violent force.
"Retreat!" Roan yelled to the men on the ground.
Noble caught Flint and Aether and lifted them into the air as she and the woman beside her soared out of harm's way. With Roan on his griffin, the cohort fell back to regroup.
"I told you we should have retreated. Now it will never go back to sleep!" Flint crossed his arms.
The leader ignored his grumbling. "It doesn't seem particularly agile. Though I wouldn't expect something the size of an island to be very quick on its feet."
The monstrous swath of earth flattened, blocking out the sun with its tall, two-dimensional form.
"Look at that!" The stranger's mouth dropped open as she pointed.
A series of holes riddled the surface of the Terror about three-quarters up on its massive body.
Noble raised one eyebrow before glancing at the Zenith. Although the poison of the blade had not done any additional damage, it had prevented the bizarre creature from closing the holes.
Pushing back his blue scarf, Roan nodded. "Looks like the creature is not invincible. If we can find the soul cores, maybe we can kill it by removing them. If we divide and aim for different cores, it should be too distracted to come after all of us."
"That seems reasonable," Aether nodded solemnly.
"Your solution to this situation is to use us all as bait for each other?" Taking a deep breath, Flint adjusted his helmet with a scowl. "Fine. Let's get this over with."
Roan glanced at the dark-eyed Master. "Well?"
"Well, what?" Flint raised his eyebrows.
The man on the griffin motioned toward their enemy. "Tell us where the cores are so we can attack."
"Oh...that." Flint rubbed his eyes before squinting at the colossus. "It has no discernible heart, but I think you already knew that. The nodes are formed like a star with one in the center. I can try and mark them if you like, but the darker patches of grass will get you close. Blondie nearly got one of them on the left."
The earth shook below them as the giant took a step toward them....a scoot? Either way, it moved, leaving a canyon where its foot scraped along the ground.
The griffin screeched as its Master barked out the orders. "You ladies get the top point and the one on the right. Aether and I will handle the center and the left. And Flint?"
"Don't worry about me or this flying business. I'll get the two at the bottom and do all the heavy lifting." The man brushed his fingers through the orange streak in his hair.
"You get one of them at the very least. Whoever finishes first can go after the final core. Be careful!" Roan's final words were drowned out by the next earthquake as the behemoth took another lurching step.
The Terror's clunky movements were deceptively fast, covering many meters in a split second. The group was forced to part as a boulder was launched in their direction.
On Flint's signal, Noble released her hold on the Master. Aether leapt behind Roan, leaving only the other woman in her power. That was just as well.
Noble was beginning to feel the strain from holding so many powerful people. At least she wasn't going to have to lift any of them out of a small hole in a dome while being chased by a million skinwalkers.
'This has to be easier than that, right?'
Next to her, the auburn-haired woman seemed to still be reeling. She needed to get her emotions under control.
"How good are you at close-quarter combat?" Noble watched the other woman shake her head.
"I'm good. Only..."
'She's still in shock.'
"Relax." Noble sent a wave of calm. It was more forceful than she had intended, but the brunette absorbed the emotion, thirsty.
"Thank you," she breathed. "I am good at close combat, but I'm more skilled with my bow. I have arrows that can—"
"Good enough for me!" Noble lifted them both to the darkened patch of grass closest to the existing holes.
Noble felt the other woman tug forcefully on her arm.
"Watch out!"
Beside them, a violet-maned creature manifested, but instead of evading, Noble simply smiled.
"That's my Symncus. Go get him, boy!"
Noble had already determined that touching the living mountain would activate her flaw, and she had no intention of feeling pain if it wasn't necessary. So this time, Helios would be the one to dig while she managed from afar.
The grass reached out to bind the Symncus as he drew near, but it never got the chance. Slicing through the air, the Zenith moved by an invisible hand to mow down the tendrils and widen the hole for the violet echo to enter.
Noble blinked as she saw the edge of a shimmery core.
'Is it always so bright?'
The floating Master had not seen a living core before, only the shards once the abomination was dead. This was a rare occasion.
Digging his claws into the turf, Helios excavated one of the six sources of the creature's power.
That was not to say that it was easy. Unhappy with the scar left by the Zenith, the Terrestrial Giant tried to bury the creature who had burrowed into it like an unwanted insect. Boulders tumbled from the sheer cliffs, pelting the violet fur and drawing blood.
The ferocious struggle between the echo and the mountain was a losing battle from the start, and when Helios barely escaped having his head crushed by an MPV-sized boulder, Noble recalled him to her Soul Sea to heal.
'Good boy. I'll finish what you started.'
By now, the core was exposed to the light of day. Except for the strange coloring, it looked like a miniature sun. It would have been beautiful if it didn't represent a power that was intent on destroying the small band of humans.
The Zenith flew gracefully back into Noble's hands. She infused it with her essence, and a feeling of untold strength coursed through her slender body.
"I'll be back!" Her soul was already in tatters; Noble could not handle this feeling for long.
With the hummingbird's wings gracing her feet, she became a blur of speed.
She made the Zenith and herself as heavy as she could as she aimed for the shimmering target.
'This better work…' she thought belatedly.
If it didn't, she would be flatter than the pancakes she had seen served at the restaurant that morning.
The point of her sword pressed against the nebulous mass, and for a moment, Noble thought her blow might glance off entirely.
But then she felt it give, and all at once the core gave way. Glassy shavings flew in every direction, cutting gouges into the metal of her armor. Gritting her teeth, Noble pushed harder as she rammed against the inside of the giant. Helios had dug as much as possible, but he hadn't finished clearing the way.
Noble used every bit of momentum to pierce the other side. Everything went dark as the dirt filled behind her where the core had been.
Her worst fear was about to come true. She would be buried alive.
But before she could seriously consider the prospect, sunlight glinted off her sword as her battered body and soul exited the other side.
'I…I made it!'
Noble heaved a sigh of relief.
That was, until she got a look at the back of the Terror.
"Just great…"