Chapter 45: Chapter 45
Influencer.
The violet glow in Damien’s eyes intensified.
"Halt."
The single word left his mouth, and the charging crane suddenly faltered. Its talons scraped against the asphalt as if an invisible force had taken hold of its movements.
The creature’s eyes widened.
"You—"
"Shut up."
Its voice died down and movement became sluggish, as though every action required far more effort than it had ever before.
And that opening was what all the others needed.
Kaelan moved first, shooting several fireballs in rapid succession directly at its body.
BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions erupted around the crane relentlessly.
The creature spread its wings and generated a violent gust that dispersed much of the flames, but a halberd thrown by another one of the awakeners from its left had slipped through the opening and struck its shoulders.
The crane shrieked in agony yet no voice came out of its mouth, blood stained its white feathers while burns covered parts of its body.
Only when Damien’s control faltered and the crane’s resolve hardened was it able to speak.
"Y-you insects!"
A compressed blade of wind suddenly formed in front of its wings.
Lucien’s eyes narrowed.
"Dodge!"
Evelyn immediately stepped sideways and the wind blade shot forward.
CRASH!
An abandoned vehicle was sliced cleanly into two pieces as Lucien stood back up from the ground.
Not now, I should still wait.
As if a D++ combat-rated human was not enough, a spirit beast of the same rank had also appeared. Not to mention it seemed slightly stronger than Roman who had the same level of combat power, at least when he hadn’t used his berserk talent.
The crane attempted to rise into the sky but failed as Damien’s voice rang out again.
"Stay on the ground."
For a brief moment, uncertainty appeared in the spirit beast’s eyes just like before, slowing its ascent temporarily.
Lucien immediately seized the opportunity, using telekinesis to create pressure upon the creature.
The crane’s body tilted awkwardly.
"Evelyn!" Lucien shouted.
She stepped forward, gathering cold mist around her, and causing the surrounding temperature to plummet noticeably.
Even Lucien could feel goosebumps forming on his arms.
"It’s a new trick I learned, let’s see how effective it is."
Frost spread across the ground beneath her feet before a beautiful lotus bloomed above her palms.
Each petal of it looked as though it had been sculpted from a pure crystal.
Its instincts screamed to dodge the attack, and for the first time since appearing before them, genuine fear had managed to replace the forever arrogant look present in its eyes.
The next instant, the lotus flew forward with considerable speed and still managed to look graceful.
The moment it reached near the crane’s stomach where the injury was still fresh—
It collapsed inward and exploded.
BOOM!
A storm of razor-sharp ice erupted outward, causing hundreds of crystalline shards to pierce through its body and completely damage the organs near the wound.
"SHRIEEEEKKK."
Blood exploded into the air, followed by its screams that echoed throughout the ruined district.
Several ice fragments had also managed to penetrate deep into its wings from outside while others buried themselves throughout its torso.
The force of the explosion sent it crashing into the street nearby.
The ground cracked beneath the impact.
"Is it dead?"
But the answer arrived shortly after.
The crane twitched weakly amidst the growing pool of blood that now drenched its skin. Its breathing had become ragged from the damage.
Even Damien exhaled slightly, thinking it was finally over.
RUMBLE.
The ground suddenly shook, freezing everyone in their spot.
RUMBLE!
The tremor intensified and only then did one of them finally react, "What the hell was that?"
And before anyone was able to even answer—
A black blur lunged forward from a nearby building.
SMASH!
Concrete shattered as a massive creature burst into the street.
Everyone except Damien’s pupils shrank in recognition, for it was the same mutated cat that had been chasing Kaelan and its group from earlier.
Though that alone wasn’t the reason for their reaction.
The big cat looked nothing like before, its body had nearly doubled in size, and dark fur covered powerful muscles beneath. Its glowing eyes radiated abnormal intelligence which wasn’t present before.
The crane’s eyes brightened when the cat appeared for a brief second before returning to normal.
It moved so quickly that most of them barely saw it, and the mistake cost them heavily.
One of the awakeners screamed as the cat’s jaws closed around his arm before tearing it off in one go.
CRUNCH!
"AAAAAAAH!"
The creature had clearly intended to swallow the man whole, not intending to leave anything behind. But because of his companions’ reactions and the awkward angle he managed to move into, the mutated beast was only able to succeed in tearing off his arm.
The severed limb disappeared into its mouth.
The man’s scream worked as a wake-up call for the other two friends.
Whereas Lucien had already readied himself with lightning moving beneath his veins, prepared to strike it at point-blank if the creature lunged at him or Evelyn.
"Watch out!" Damien screamed in horror, and the distraction caused him to lose focus.
"Protect him!"
The cat landed several meters away with a single jump. Just as he was about to give another command, it turned around and fled into a building like a silent ghost as quickly as it had appeared.
Only the screaming remained.
The injured awakener collapsed onto the ground while blood poured endlessly from the stump of his shoulder.
Evelyn’s heart pounded violently, for she had already used more than eighty percent of her spiritual energy in that single attack and was now vulnerable.
"It evolved this much?"
The creature had risked exposing itself just to launch a single attack.
It was almost as though... it had specifically come to create chaos and serve as a distraction.
A sharp screech suddenly echoed overhead.
Lucien’s head snapped upward, and sure enough, his assumption proved to be correct as he saw the crane desperately trying to escape.
Despite its injuries, it was still able to fly.
"No!"
Spiritual energy surged through Lucien and lightning gathered around his arm.
Crackling arcs danced across the air and unlike before, he didn’t attempt a large discharge of electricity but instead used an attack he had only used once.
The lightning rapidly condensed before forming a brilliant trident made of pure energy.
Lucien hurled it with full force.
The projectile became a streak of golden light crossing the sky at breakneck speed.
The crane sensed danger and immediately twisted its body, but alas, its injuries made it unable to dodge completely.
The lightning trident tore straight through one of its wings.
"HOW DARE YOU!"
Feathers exploded outward.
The spirit beast nearly lost control and plummeted several meters downwards.
For a moment, everyone thought it would crash, yet somehow, the crane managed to stabilize itself mid-air with the help of its remaining wing that continued beating frantically against the air.
The creature glared at them with hatred, especially at Lucien and Damien.
Its voice thundered across the district as it finally escaped from Damien’s range of influence.
"Your days are numbered, humans!"
Its eyes burned with fanaticism and something unexplainable.
"The Great Three Tribes will soon defeat your kind from this land and make you our slaves!"
A chill ran down Damien’s spine, for he didn’t understand what the chatterbox was talking about.
The three tribes?
Delivering its final warning, the crane flapped away and disappeared into the horizon.
"...we need to return soon."
