Cherreads

Chapter 70 - Chapter 69

10/9 14:41 (Autumn, Night, Mysterious Island)

As the Fake-Kobolds separated to dodge the wall of rocks thrown towards them only for Sider to jump up from behind it, using it as a ramp from which she launched herself high in the air, spinning in mid to land feet first against the roof, her Terran Lightning condensing around her right hand, before she hurled herself down in a kick towards one of her still mid-air opponents.

Before her attack could land and with the Monster crossing its arms to protect itself, a gust of wind struck it, sending it flying away from the Werewolf but this was far from enough to dissuade her from her attack as she demonstrated by unleashing her previously condensed Composite Attribute in a thunder bolt-like attack towards the still-stunned Fake-Qi user.

Said Fake-Kobold crossed its darkly scaled arms in front of itself to minimize the Damage of the Terran Lightning bolt, one of its arm being crushed in a rain of blood, muscle and bone shards that fell upon the ground near it, long glowing cracks spreading on the remains of its arm while its other limb had a hole in it, a dim yellow light that illuminated its other limb from the inside through other cracks caused by the blade of the bolt that was able to, even if only in the tip, pierce its scales through its other arm.

The Kobold fell with a brief scream of pain, air coalescing around its wounds before encasing them, a Spell belonging to the Air-Attribute Druidrcraft activated with the same collective Casting as before and with the purpose of helping the Kobold's Vital Energy in mending its wounds before a second Spell was Casted, a Spell that was a mix of Druidcraft, Sorcery and Magecraft, causing the air of the room to be filled with Mana.

Sider stepped towards the wounded Kobold before it could finish healing intent on finishing it off, immediately noting the increased air pressure, as if a strong wind was erect as a wall in her way, far from enough to stop her, sure, but being able to either slow her down or make her waste some Energy to compensate for the loss of speed.

The black-haired one scowled, Terran Lightning, her newest favorite Composite Element despite it being even harder to control that the regular Lightning-Attribute, flaring around her left foot as she stomped on the ground.

Ground that she used as a medium by taking advantage of the fact that all six of them currently held contact with it to strike at them all, four of them taken by surprise by the sudden even if weak attack and flinching at the shock while two others, the one she previously injured included, were able to jump over it, assuring that not all of them would be too stunned to try and resist the invader's next move.

Move that came immediately, Earth-Attribute Mana flowing around her right foot that pierced the ground beneath them with a second stomp, before she used her left leg as a counterweight to rise her grounded foreleg and the boulder she picked up thanks to her Mana flowing within the ground, boulder that with a kick she threw towards the already injured, mid-air Monster.

While the Kobolds on the ground writhed in pain and the one Sider aimed at with her block was forced to swing for it with its wounded arm, despite knowing that doing such would only worsen its previous wounds, its Fake-Qi flaring around its sharp claws and shattering the rock, blood exploding from both of its arms, before it reabsorbed the excess to reignate some of the spent, thing to dangerous for Sider to do in a place as filled with the Fake-Qi as this one.

The Werewolf during this was far from still, taking advantage of their distraction to attack the Kobold most unharmed between them, the other one currently mid-flight, by leaping at it with a new pair of stone staffs held in her hands, launching in a series of strikes that, even while weakened by a dense layer of wind between the two, were still enough to start a one-sided beating.

Sure, by using her Unique Skill over any of her stuff strike it would certaintly kill her target in a single hit but this would not only destroy the weapon she used but would also increase the counter of her "Berserker".

After all every time the Unique Skill's ability is activated, Sider would recieve a Stacking Status Alteration called "Berserker Impetus" with a timer that not only refreshes completely upon being recieved but also increased its lenght for each Stack that caused its effects to become more pronunced, both the positives, the increased boosts it would provide, and the negatives, the backlash she would suffer at each activation of the Unique Skill's effect.

And so the Kobold she struck at was sent flying down to the ground, bouncing once before the Werewolf fell upon it with a rain of blows, the ground beneath it shattering rapidly, stones flying up before stopping in mid-air, clad in the half-Amazon's Mana while bolts of Terran Lightning created a net around the two to slow down the other Monsters' interference.

The Fake-Cultivator did not let itself being bombarded without response, its Fake-Qi enveloping its body, its scales shattering into pieces before reforming into slightly more effective scales, a subset of Qi Reformation called Tempering that consists of enduring blows and hostile conditions while in a meditative state to increase mostly their defensive prowess once healed while its Vital Energy accelerated said healing and its Mana muffled the strenght of her blows as much as it possibly could.

This defensive measures, however, could be considered an half-assed measure if it wanted to maximize its defense as it should have used its Qi purely defensive in that case as it should have been well aware that it would not survive long enough for this measure to proceed, especially considering how its comrades were not even trying to interfere with her assault.

And in the midst of said attacks, Sider was able to note how within the Fake-Kobold's reptilian pupils, there was a small, dimly lit flame that burned weakly, leading her to immediately try and understand and leading her to being forced to jump away when it noticed her distraction and tried to impale her with its claws.

"That purple light…" The black-haired one murmured to herself, trying to remember if any of the Fake-Goblins had a similar thing to it and falling short, before with a quick glance she noted how every single one of the Fake-Kobolds had it. "Is it a result of the Fake-Qi? No, I don't think so, I would have notice if the Goblin had something similar. Then is it because they are Kobolds and so are close to Dragons? It's possible but it's not a self-destruction mechanism or the Kobold would have activated it while I was holding it and it wouldn't explain why every single one of them has those flames."

The Amazon bent the knee, dodging a claw swing from the Kobold she had trapped before, once the arm passed where she was, jumping over a low kick from the Draconic Monster, her left arm rising to block a tail swipe while she was in mid-air before her right leg blurred forward, sending an harsh kick to the Kobold's mouth.

"It's not a Spell to increase their power in exchange for lifespan." She continued on, trying to figure it out, her curiosity getting the better of her. "They are too weak for that to be the case and they aren't bleeding out Essence. What are you planning?" She asked aloud, being unsurprised when she recieved no answer, sighing aloud before deciding to end her current opponent to see if any of the others changed in response.

One of her staff sharpened to a spear, spear that she casually thrusted forward to force the trapped one to deviate their trajectory while kicking at full strenght, Terran Lightning bursting forth together with her kick and shattering its shoulder, noting once again the non-reaction of the rest of its pack and its refusal to use a suicidal move to try and bring her down with it.

"Why? Well, I guess I'll figure it out in the future." She murmured to herself, her right arm fully transforming in a bestial one covered in Terran Lightning, her newest favorite Attribute, before swinging mercilessly, severing its head from its shoulder with the combination of her sharp claws and raw destructive force.

As its body rapidly, too rapidly, fell apart, Sider turned her attentions towards the rest of her opponents, her arm turning back in her more natural one.

-

10/10 5:52 (Autumn, Day, Midrar, Base)

Amber watched as Mafel and Luna poured over the base's Runic Array, working together to first add in the Rune that Luna just acquired by devouring both the Mana Regeneration and her Storage rings, the increased Complexity helping to increase the efficiency of the whole, even if only marginally.

The Runic Array quickly spread all over the air in its entirety, allowing the two to easily seek out any irregularies by enlarging the image to more easily see them both as a whole and in specific parts, their eyes quickly roaming over it before, once they both decided the Runic Array was stable, they moved towards their real objective, Luna bringing one of her hands to her mouth before biting down, her bloodied hand moving over the Runic Keystone and letting drop after drop fall upon it.

Said stone greedily drank in the black fluid and Vital Mana, gradually staining itself ever more until it became something like a materialized shadow somehow both solid and liquid at the same time before shattering, leaving behind only a solid flat disk of Black Blood, glowing with a faint iridescent light shaped like the Lunarian's Mark, a circle with multiple points as the epicenters for the corresponding concentric ripples, a combination of Artifact and Keystone with a very simple function.

"It's done. At least for now." Luna affirmed calmly before dropping the result of their work in her shadow, satisfied when it easily sunk beneath the surface of her shadow while still being able to maintain the Runic Array and their base without any issue while making sure that it would be easy to bring and set up their base once they set up in a new place.

"It now has a bigger Well, generates Vital Mana automatically and at an higher speed, is more capable defensively, even harder to sense and can be manifested in the Material World either as a fortress or as an hidden room in a set building as is required." Mafel said, satisfied by their changes. "Additionally, Luna can now access this base's Storage from her shadow or blood as needed, eliminating the necessity of any Storage Rings, especially considering how once she reaches C-Rank we will be able to access her shadow at will too."

"Changing topics, Hale and Jay just arrived and are waiting outside the door of the shop." Sabel avverted from her current position in the Security Room, the Runic Array easily being able to transfer the sound of her voice to her Mates before the Human went to let them in, allowing them access to their base of operation without any particular hesitatio from her or any of her Mates.

Luna and Mafel calmly shut down the reproduction of their Runic Array without any particular care, the Lunarian standing up and stretching slightly, inadvertibly giving somewhat of a show to her two present Mates before turning towards the Phoenix. "So, ready to meet our Sabel's friends?" She asked calmly, her voice presenting not a shadow of concern.

"Wha- Why are you asking me if I am ready?!" The blonde exclaimed, rising to her feet in an instant.

"Because you never had any friends?" The white-haired one answered, confused why she was even asked in the first place.

"Y-yes, I-I had some friends when I was in Phorar!" The shorter one of the three affirmed, embarassed, only for that to arouse Mafel's attention.

"No, you didn't." The grey haired one teased, unable to stop herself from playing with her oldest Mate, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "You yourself defined them as friendly acquaintances, if that."

"I-I am not going to suffer these baseless accusation!" the Demon-blooded one affirmed before retreating at full speed, unwilling to cede victory in even this.

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