Apotheosis

The numerous eyes around the beast's head had all trained to look at the Princess Royal.

Zen was close enough that he could see the woman's reflection in all of those eyes, like a kaleidoscope of numerous mirrors on a wall.

Suddenly, a fair and slim arm grabbed him. It was the Princess Royal, holding her umbrella in one hand and Zen in the other. She summoned her full strength and they raced even faster; far faster than Zen would have been able to go on his own.

They were both out of breath by this point, but they had no choice. They had to keep going.

The rotating umbrella seemed to exude a strange force that removed all resistance in their way. Air parted in front of them, and the ground turned to a blur beneath their feet. The wind built into a roar in Zen's ears.

There was a sound like the splitting of the earth and the crash of ten thousand thunderbolts.

The Formless Sky Python drove through the earth like a spear through flesh. The tumult of sound had come from behind them. They managed to escape!

As the massive body of the Formless Sky Python drilled into the ground, the earth gave way and a tsunami of rock was sent rippling outward, its crests like mountains and troughs like valleys.

The wave hit Zen and the princess, pushing them forward in the hurricane of dust. After ten miles, the cloud had lost its strength and the waves had returned to the ground. The two caught up in the wind, and continued to fly forward.

Shock. Terror. They saw carnage as they spun around.

The procession of Spirit Transformation Realm warriors following the princess had long disappeared without a trace, swallowed in the

them in a flash, but the Formless Sky Python's jaws grew taller and taller around them. The jaws began to close...

Suddenly, the Formless Sky Python froze, turning rigid mid-flight.

Zen and the Princess Royal were stunned. They looked up to discover that, only a few hundred miles away, Kennan and Woodrow had appeared and had once again cast their Wishing Spells! They had sealed the other head of the Formless Sky Python!

The Formless Sky Python had two heads at both ends, and when its tail was sealed, it meant that one of its heads became sealed as well. As its tail head was taken care of, the head under Zen and the princess's feet could no longer rise any further!

"It's done," whispered Zen in disbelief.

He had never felt so overjoyed to be alive before. He dragged the princess with him, leaping over the huge mouth of the Formless Sky Python, escaping from the mouth that led to the abyss.

Before he could say anything else, however, violent tremors thundered out into the heavens. The tail of the Formless Sky Python was thrashing madly, struggling to escape its bounds.