When they enter the clearing and see just what monstrosity they're actually about to face, Avery immediately turns around, preparing to leave.
"Where are you going?" Belle asks, grabbing onto her shoulder to prevent her from leaving, a drop of sweat trailing down his face.
"Do you see that thing? We're going to die! I say we leave, call in some of my exorcist buddies, and have them deal with it." Avery states.
"But…do any of you happen to know where the exit is?" Leslie interrupts. Belle and Avery glance at each other, and then at the surrounding forest, sinking down slightly.
"No…" They both trail off.
"Then, I guess we should just beat this guy up and then find a way out of here." He says, pointing toward the hulking figure of a ghost amalgamation. Its head goes above the tree line, with multiple arms lashing out at the surrounding trees, screaming faces leaking out of its body, and hundreds of legs slowly crawling across the forest floor. This nightmare was something that even Belle had a hard time looking at.
"How the fuck are we supposed to beat that thing?" Avery questions, glancing up at it in trepidation.
"I mean…I guess we should just start hacking away…" Belle offers. With no better option, the other two shrug their shoulders in agreement. The destruction left behind by the behemoth of a monster was enough that they could see a clear trail leading from the monster to the ritual site, but it was far enough in the distance that they couldn't make out any details.
With little other choice, they raised their weapons and silently rushed the monster. It noticed them at the first cut when Belle swung the axe at its leg. The monster roared, making him cover his ears as it got enraged. Leslie struck next, throwing the knife at another of its legs and watching as it cleaved right through it and returned to his hand.
Avery clasped her hands together, mumbling a few short words before the kusarigama in her hands glowed, then she swung the chain around in an arc and cut off an entire row of legs. At this point, the monster had figured out what was happening and swung at them with its massive hands.
Belle dodged the first strike, but the resulting shockwave made him stumble back into one of its legs. The monster kicked out, and he flew, only to be caught at the last second by Avery with an 'Oomph'.
"Thanks." He says dizzily.
"No problem, now hurry up and start slicing away, this thing is going to be trouble." She huffs, throwing him back toward his side. He slices the axe around a bit more while dodging the hands that strike down every now and again. When they've gotten about half of the legs cut off, the monster switches tactics and starts splitting apart.
"Is this a bad thing?" Leslie asks, jumping back to regroup with the other two.
"Maybe," Belle answers. The monster gets smaller as several ghosts break off the amalgamation and start flying toward them as the monster continues to send giant hands out to attack them.
"Shit, now we gotta avoid these guys as well." Avery curses. Jumping back and slicing out at the ghost that tried to attack her.
"You guys take out the big guy, I'll handle the smaller ghosts," Belle states, throwing the axe back in the system. He grabs the gun instead and aims at the smaller ghosts. Focusing his emotions he shoots them down one by one. Every time they get close to the other two, he aims his next shot.
Each time they explode, the monster roars again, until it eventually stops pouring out more. All of its legs are gone by this point, and it's using some of its arms to keep itself upright. It turns to face the three of them with its multitudes of faces before letting out an ear-splitting screech as Belle hurries to cover his ears to avoid damage.
The miasma suddenly increases in volume, pouring out of the monster in waves, and he feels a bit dizzy. Avery and Leslie collapse one after the other, and Belle rushes toward them before an arm can flatten them like pancakes.
"Guys, wake up!" He shouts, trying to slap their faces. They won't wake up, so he hides them behind a tree so they won't be found and faces the monster again. It's stopped screeching and has a smug air about it as it faces down Belle. Without a second of hesitation, he reaches into his system and grabs out the Ghost Capsule, throwing it down to the ground.
"...You called for me?" Cam turns around to face Belle.
"Yep, it's good to see you again." He greets him in a friendly manner. Cam turns around and gets a glimpse of the monster they're facing.
"...I can't do anything about that." He says, whipping his head back around to face Belle.
"Ah, yeah, I thought so. Luckily, I have hoarded quite a few Ghost Points." He muttered, quickly buying the upgrade for Cam's Ghost Capsule. Belle watches in amazement as Cam goes still for a second before glowing as invisible shackles fall off his body.
"How about that?" He asks the floating ghost.
"Hnnnn, I could probably do something now, what's the plan?" He answers.
"You keep the arms from attacking me as I cut them off one by one," Belle replies. Grabbing out the axe, he steadies his nerves and faces the monster again.
"Go!" He calls out, running forward to leap at the nearest arm, pushing his strength through the axe, he chops cleanly through it. Another arm tries to stop him but Cam sends out his ropes and holds it still as Belle rushes toward the next arm.
Rinse and repeat. They continue this repeatedly, the tiring process eliminating arm after arm as the monster screeches. It tries sending out more ghosts, but Cam employs some extra arms to stop them while Belle cleaves them in half. Finally, he manages to cut the last arm off, leaving the monster a lump of its former self, about the size of a small tree now.
"Huff, huff, finally." Belle groans, rubbing his back.
"You call me out for the weirdest things," Cam complains.
"You…so you're the one…" A voice suddenly cuts between them, and Belle turns to find an old man standing behind him…his friends captured in his arms.
"You…who are you? Let them go!" Belle shouts, turning toward him.
"Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn't move if I were you. I just have a few questions for you, if you don't mind." The old man grins as Belle gnashes his teeth. But seeing no other option, he puts away the axe and nods his head.
"That's better." The old man says.