Murphy had just been about to use Apparition when a flash of lightning struck him with a crack, interrupting his spell.
Then a pair of enormous talons pinned Murphy down, carrying tons of impact force as they smashed him into the ground.
The Thunderbird was huge. This one was practically like a truck, weighing at least three or four tons.
For an instant, Murphy felt as if every bone in his body had shattered.
Fortunately, after undergoing advanced Magus transformation, his physical strength had already far surpassed that of an ordinary person. Though the blow broke several of his bones, it still failed to kill him.
But the Thunderbird did not stop moving. It seemed dead set on making sure Murphy was thoroughly finished, raising its talons to stomp on him a second time.
Murphy immediately transformed into a raven and slipped out from under the Thunderbird's foot, avoiding the blow. He mixed into the flock of crows, trying to use them to escape the Thunderbird's pursuit.
After the Thunderbird arrived, the crows were so frightened that they fled in all directions, cawing, "Divine bird! Divine bird! The divine bird and Moga are fighting..."
But they did not fly too far away, either, and were still whispering to one another nearby.
This flock of crows gave Murphy excellent cover. He did not believe anyone could pick him out from among more than a thousand crows.
Yet to his surprise, the Thunderbird was only confused for an instant before locking onto him again. Its great beak opened, and several bolts of thunder spread out and exploded, blasting a few crows that had not managed to dodge into pieces.
What was going on?!
How had this thing found him?
Murphy did not understand, but with his extraordinary mobility, he once again dodged