Chapter 135: The Path to Rescue {Bonus Chapter}
A flash of blue ignited, and everything in its path was reduced to ice. The men in crimson cloaks shattered like brittle ice sculptures.
Elaine’s eyes flashed with a cold glint. One had to realize, her frozen army wasn’t the only form of might she could employ.
Her one-on-one combat skills were just as lethal, only more contained.
Behind her trailed the blind Trisha. Led by the trail of glistening, shimmering orbs of essence, the two progressed through the networks of caves.
Their mission was to rescue, so Elaine’s focus wasn’t on laying waste to all she came across. Those out of her reach she silently overlooked.
Though she felt the driving compulsion to kill rage in her heart, she culled its flames.
Her mission to save was far more important than her flaming urge to vanquish these bastards.
She came across heartbreaking sights of broken and killed victims.
And it hit hard on her psyche. Unlike Seth, Elaine was still a greenhorn when it came to the brutal reality of the world.
She had spent all her life bred, nurtured, and doted on by her wealthy family. She was hardly confronted with the knowledge of what it meant to be less privileged.
But this raw, unfiltered savage reality revealed its ugly face to her now, and she understood.
This world was never about fairness. The strong took, and the weak were plundered.
All these innocent figures hadn’t committed any sins that warranted death, none except one... being weak.
Their weakness led to this brutal fate...
She slowly closed the vacant gaze of a little girl’s corpse sprawled at the side.
Her heart ached. It was a fact that even more vile events were happening worldwide, far away from her reach.
People who would never find the salvation they sought in desperation. People who would never get help.
Elaine became sober, and Trisha remained silent — not out of ignorance.
Even without her sight, she could still use noise and smell to see in her own way.
And she saw all of it. She just remained silent because she was used to this.
How many stars had been extinguished since the apocalypse began and she had been bestowed this accursed but blessed gene skill?
She couldn’t count. Not to add, at their last moments of life their fear, pain, and hope were all projected to her.
So she was long accustomed to death, though her mental fragility faltered now and then.
Elaine rose to her feet and stared ahead. Just a bit further and she could save those that still needed her help.
Her fists clenched, and she took a step forward when suddenly, she felt the abrupt appearance of a foreign presence behind.
Trisha’s senses, even sharper, blared. She spun around, her lips curling downwards into an unpleasant frown.
"Sorry girls, but I will have to ask you to go no further." A sultry feminine voice rang out.
Elaine turned, her expression cold, her gaze even more frigid.
And indeed before her was a lady, her features exceedingly beautiful, her figure even more provocative.
With a massive, soft, bobbing chest and outlined curved hips, her hair flowed with the dull gleam of peach pink.
Her red lips curved into a smile. "Oh my, such beauties. It will be a true pity to kill you. Just surrender."
A flicker of amusement flashed in Elaine’s eyes. A Shackled Rank creature dared threaten her so?
But then she realized, her foe’s presence was off. It did not give off the distinct inferior aura of the Shackled Rank, neither did it give off that of an Awakened.
Trisha braced, her frame tensing as though she was before something too terrifying to behold.
She was blind, but in some cases she could see more than those who had eyes — like now...
Her heart pounded at the vileness of the aura that wafted off whatever was before them.
That thing wasn’t human, not anymore.
Her expression contorted into a mix of disgust and terror, gleaning the true presence of the figure before them.
"Be careful, Elaine. She’s a variant, and one that has been enhanced through vile means." Trisha spoke, her disgust evident in her tone.
Elaine finally understood. ’A variant, huh?’ Her gaze narrowed. To be honest, she was quite curious how they worked.
But the lady’s demeanor shifted at Trisha’s words. Her expression went ferocious. "Blasphemy! You dare call the gods’ blessing vile? Die!"
She raged. Space warped beside her figure at her declaration, and from within, a scaley head whipped forth, maws wide as it shot through the air straight for Trisha.
This sudden attack caught Elaine and Trisha off guard, but that didn’t numb Elaine’s reflex.
Elaine quickly moved, swiftly pulling Trisha out of range and into safety.
Boom!
The earth where Trisha had just stood seconds ago crumbled, as a scaley head with open maws slammed into it, biting the dust.
Only after settling in the distance did Elaine finally get a good look at the monster.
It was a huge, long snake, scaled brown, its black slits mirrored in green. It slowly rose from the debris of its own making, shaking its head.
Elaine frowned. That thing had just rushed out of nowhere. She didn’t feel any rush of essence or activation of skill.
It was odd. So far she had honed her reflex through countless battles, and she could react instantly in response to the stir of her opponent’s essence.
The activation of their skill triggered her muscles to act in tandem. But now, fighting a foe that exhibited none of this was odd to say the least.
Not only could she not use her full prowess, her reaction would be delayed since she had to rely on her physical senses.
It was irritating. Her gaze moved from the snake to its master. Her eyes went cold. This would surely be a tough battle.
"Trisha, can you take care of yourself?" Elaine suddenly asked.
And Trisha instantly understood what she meant. She nodded firmly.
There was no way the government would let a vital card like her go on such a dangerous mission without making assurances of her safety.
Not only was she armed to the teeth with protective treasures, she also possessed the physique of a Royal-grade Shackled Rank creature with fully brimmed stats.
"Go. I can handle myself." Trisha had barely finished speaking when she activated a trinket, and her figure vanished.
Elaine was assured at the sight. Her guard finally relaxed. Her main concern was the seer.
But now that she could fight without the burden of protecting someone else, she felt this battle shouldn’t take long to reach a conclusion.
The cold billowed from her frame as frost slowly crawled on her hands, forming into sleek familiar blades. Suddenly they flared with a crimson light.
Yes, she could tap into the abilities of all the dead rallied into her frozen army. This was one of the most frightening features of Elaine’s gene skill.
She took a step forward, causing a sheet of frost to spread in her wake.
Ice crackled, the temperature plummeted...
But suddenly a voice shouted in warning, disrupting her momentum.
"ELAINE, WATCH OUT!" Trisha screamed in panic.
Elaine frowned. Why was she being warned? Her gaze swerved, settling on her foe.
And she saw the priestess adorned in a crimson gown wearing a sinister smile. Elaine’s gaze honed, and from the reflection in her foe’s irises she saw a sight that made her heart run cold.
An abyssal behemoth had silently slithered out of a warped gate, its maws wide, encompassing her in its shadow.
Her muscles tensed and tendons snapped as she tried to move... but it was too late.
If she hadn’t been consciously trying to restrain her might, maybe that fraction of a second would have been enough time for her to escape.
But now...
BOOOOOOM!
The maws descended, bursting into the earth, kicking up a wave of gales and dust.
