For the first part of Kai's trip into Rosemount, he couldn't get his mind off Jonijix and what he was doing in the Commonwealth. Yes, they hadn't triggered a total genocide, but what kind of victory was that? Anyone suffering when he could have protected them was a failure... and Kai realized that meant he would always fail, because he could never end all suffering.
At least in Rosemount he could fly at top speed without worrying about being interrupted by cultivators - a few people might try to interrupt him, but he could easily outpace them and they'd forget it. Occasionally he got more information, particularly about Omilaena or the great powers, and that was what led to the second part of his trip adopting a different tone.
First he learned that Jonijix was pushing north to ravage the Elven Expanse, then he heard contradictory and implausible rumors about a monster that had appeared in the Commonwealth of Traebor. Some believed that Jonijix had unleashed it, others that it was the spirit of Rosemount come to life to defend them. A few even suggested that it was the Slumbering Colossus awakened, which was absurd...
Until he hung in the air over the Colossus as it crawled forward.
This was definitely the Insanity, animated for the first time in recorded history and moving inexorably toward the heart of the Commonwealth. There were a few signs that it had been attacked - not damage to the enormous stone body, just blood stains and the remnants of elemental attacks that had utterly failed to stop the creature as it moved onward.
Normally Kai would have stopped to gather more information and fully analyze the monster, but he realized that there was a Commonwealth city ahead. He could see a stream of people evacuating the city, but they utterly choked the roads, and the Colossus moved faster than it looked. Soon it would be on top of them, and most likely it would smash directly through the city without even noticing.
So Kai built up his monstrous armor and shot down at the monster's back. He had attained fully transformed state by the time he struck, a Tyrant's Claw slashing across its back.
The blow gouged the stone, so it wasn't invulnerable... but the strike didn't cut deep, blocked by the Colossus's enormous defense. For just a moment, Kai had to admit that he wasn't sure if he should have picked this fight. The next moments weren't much better, as the Colossus turned ponderously to look at him.
Then he shot Manticore's Spines directly into its eyes - Kai wasn't going to be intimidated by any monster, no matter how big it was.
Despite the glow of the eyes, they appeared to be primarily stone, so Manticore's Spine had nothing to stab or poison. Legion Bite would be even more futile, and Monstrous Tail was absurdly out-sized by such a monstrosity. Kai flew back, out of range, and hovered while he shifted his monstrous essence to try more techniques.
What exactly was the Colossus, other than an Insanity? If it was a monster, he should have been able to get a stronger sense for it with spiritual sight - he didn't think it could be worse than the Abhorroid. If it was a sacred beast, he couldn't make out anything coherent. It did feel alive, unlike a machine, but whatever power it had, he didn't sense anything like a human soul, so he didn't think it could be some unknown species from the outside world. Maybe it was something he had no category for.
In the time it took him to shift his essence, the Colossus stopped and rose to its full towering height. Nice that it acknowledged him as a threat, at least. Was it slow and stupid enough that he could beat it with mobility alone? Kai stretched Thunderbird's Wings and shot to the side, flying in a circle just outside the monster's reach.
Its head turned to follow him part of the way, then slowly shifted back. No matter how Kai tried to bait the Colossus, it refused to spin around after him. In fact, it closed those flickering eyes and its shoulders sagged slightly, almost as if it was resting. As if it was too much effort to chase around a little gnat.
Well, he could do better than a gnat. Kai gathered his strength while he circled, then without warning, flew directly toward the Colossus's head. He exhaled a fully phased Baleful Breath directly into that strange face, not stopping when it opened its eyes. The Colossus opened its mouth, and he felt a draining power emerge from that cavern, but he had better control over his power than that. Kai resisted the drain and breathed directly into the monster's mouth, thinking he saw the stones begin to split...
Enormous force struck his entire body at once and Kai hurtled through the air, demolishing the peak of a mountain before he realized what had happened.
Groaning and shaking his head, Kai slowly pulled himself out of the crater as Behemoth's Heart began to heal the bruises all across his body. The Colossus must have struck him with one of those over-sized hands, moving faster than he had given it credit for. Almost anyone else would have been splattered by the blow, and even he was injured. Another reason he needed a pure armor essence.
When Kai looked up, he saw that the Colossus had begun to run toward him. It seemed impossible that such an unwieldy shape of stone could run, but it managed to put one foot in front of the other and make an earth-shaking line toward him.
So far all his best techniques had only done a little damage to it - the Colossus wasn't completely beyond his touch, but he was chipping stones off a mountain. The only way he could beat it would be to get deep and destroy something essential with the most intense attacks he could manage. He'd already tried to strike the face and that hadn't been effective, so he targeted the chest and the enormous heart he could feel there.
Kai easily spun around the hand reaching for him and struck the chest with both feet, hard enough that the Colossus actually staggered back a step. But he'd done no damage, and he had to get through a lot of stone.
Isulfr's Bite yawned open, hungrier than usual, and Kai tore out a hunk of rock. That at least broke the creature's defense, but he needed to get deeper, and his teeth were aching from the dense stone. It would take more bites, and he didn't have time t-
A shadow fell over him and Kai couldn't move fast enough to prevent the Colossus's enormous hand from closing around him. Even though it squeezed, its offensive power wasn't as strong as its defense - Kai's bones hurt, but he could survive the grinding. It was raising him up, and if it intended to smash him, he would have more than enough time to escape and land another blow.
Except suddenly he felt his life draining from him. He could feel the Colossus opening its maw, trying to consume him, and he cried out in pain.
Instinctively his hunger fought back and he unleashed Famished World. The sphere expanded from him, sweeping past the hand gripping him. Not only did the drain stop, the Colossus let go in surprise and seemed to shift back. Kai struck in all directions, slamming the hand open to free himself.
That left him suspended in the air, opposite the enormous face. The Colossus was definitely staring at him now, not yet attacking, but he could tell that it knew no fear. Whether or not it was a monster, it had the same mindless determination.
And Kai didn't. He reversed direction, climbing higher and putting significant distance between himself and the Colossus. Even though he wanted to keep fighting, his honest assessment was that dealing a little damage to its chest had cost him too much: he was drained and injured, not able to keep fighting against an Insanity like this.
At first the Colossus continued to follow him, lumbering instead of running, but as Kai moved further away it slowed. Eventually he saw its lower itself to the ground and begin crawling in the other direction again. It didn't hate him, it just wanted his energy, and if he was too hard to reach, it would go toward something else.
He hovered in the air for some time, catching his breath and letting Behemoth's Heart fully restore his body. At least he'd shifted its path away from the city, but that was a very temporary solution.
"There you are!" Omilaena flew up to him on a levitating ribbon, practically shining. "I got you a present, dear husband, but you ruined the surprise."
"The wrapping is a bit tough." Kai spat out some stone and realized that he spat out a tooth as well. "So that's the Slumbering Colossus, huh? I'm guessing you got the invaders to wake it up as a distraction."
"Indeed it is, and so glad to see you're smarter than they were."
Kai was considering his next question when he glanced at Omilaena again and realized that she wasn't just beaming in enthusiasm, she had transformed. Her Physique had changed, granting her the power she sought, and he noticed a few subtle details: her fingernails looked suspiciously like metal, for example. But the most striking thing was that she had an aura like the elves, telling his mind that she was astonishingly beautiful.
"Hey, you got your new Physique," Kai said with a smile. "It's strong, too, but I bet you're dying to see what it gains at E-1."
"Really, you want to talk about math?" Omilaena stamped her foot and pretended to fume. "Your wife becomes literally the most attractive woman on the planet and it's still about power to you?"
"Eh, I'm sick of soul abilities trying to tell me what to think. This whole business with the invaders thinking everyone here is ugly just seems wrong-headed to me. You're still the woman I married, and that's what matters."
"Okay, that's very romantic, but I didn't-"
He lunged out, grabbing her hips with one claw, tugging her off her ribbon against his chest. "I can show you how I feel later," he growled, "but what are we going to do about the Slumbering Colossus? For that matter, where are Jonijix and the invaders?"
"I don't have a plan for them yet." Omilaena grew serious, but she didn't bother to push away from him. "We still have a serious problem with the invaders calling for genocide, unless Zin Nim has broken through."
"Not yet."
"Then that's still a problem to be solved. But the Slumbering Colossus? Now that you're here, the solution is obviously for you to eat it."