Chapter 555: Bad to Worse (3)

Chapter 453

BAM!

A translucent shield materialized in front of Van just as a massive fist slammed into it. The impact sent a violent shudder through the barrier, the force almost blasting him out of the air.

If not for the sudden burst of his rocket boots, which worked overtime to keep him airborne, Van would have been sent hurtling through the surrounding buildings like a human cannonball.

Blood continued to trickle from his nose as he pushed his ability beyond its limits. He didn’t even have a chance to reach for a beast core to replenish the energy powering his suit. Everything was happening too quickly for him to reload, let alone go all out.

And now that they were facing Two-Spined Aberrants, the situation had become considerably worse.

The cohort had grown noticeably stronger since their previous battles, but that didn’t mean they could blitz through Two-Spines as if they were nothing. They could take one down at a time, but with so many enemies surrounding them—and the Aberrants seemingly fighting with more intelligence than before—every opening was becoming harder to find.

Fortunately, Van wasn’t facing a dozen Aberrants at once.

He only had two to deal with.

Speaking of two...

Van kicked the air beneath his feet, his rocket boots propelling him higher just as a pair of claws slashed through the space where he had been hovering a moment earlier.

BOOM—!

A beam tore through the air toward the Aberrant. The creature immediately crossed its hands in front of its face, barely managing to defend itself before the attack struck.

WHAM—!

The beam slammed into its guard with bone-rattling force. Blue blood spilled from between its crossed arms, but despite the damage, the attack wasn’t enough to take it down permanently.

If anything, he had only given the bastard a boost in power.

The first Aberrant lowered its arms and reached toward a nearby boulder, wrapping its massive claws around the rock before hurling it straight at Van. The boy’s rocket boots flared, sending him darting sideways as the boulder thundered past.

His mistake?

He had turned his head to follow the boulder’s trajectory.

And in that brief moment of distraction, the second Aberrant pushed off the ground and launched itself into the air with a tremendous leap, its enormous body closing the distance far faster than Van expected.

One hand stretched toward him, its claws spread wide enough to swallow the boy whole.

By the time Van turned around, the hand was already upon him.

His teeth ground together in frustration.

*Damn it, Van!*

Alas!

Just before the massive hand could close around him, something whistled through the air from the side and slammed into the Aberrant’s wrist with the force of a speeding train.

The creature’s hand was knocked violently off course, giving Van the split second he needed.

His mechanical hands crumbled and reshaped into a pair of energy blades. He swung both weapons forward, driving one deep into the Aberrant’s already bleeding arm. Before the creature could recover, Van kicked off its body and spun backward, his heel descending toward its head.

At the last moment, one of his rocket boots crumbled apart, its mechanical components shifting as an energy blade slid out from within.

The weapon slammed into the Aberrant’s head with enough force to send the enormous creature crashing back toward the ground.

Van’s gaze immediately flickered toward the direction from which the boulder had come.

His lips curled into a smile.

There, partially concealed behind a roof beam, stood Chloe with an arrow already nocked against her bowstring. She had positioned herself behind the ruined structure, keeping herself out of the immediate fray while remaining ready to support the others whenever an opportunity presented itself.

*Nice one, Chloe.*

Unfortunately, the first Aberrant had noticed that Van was distracted again.

The creature kicked off the ground and rocketed toward him, its massive body surging through the air toward the boy hovering high above the battlefield.

Van was distracted, yes, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t react in time.

Only for—

"DON’T TOUCH MY BROTHER’S BEST FRIEND!"

A loud howl tore across the battlefield as something blurred forward.

Before the Aberrant could reach Van, a pair of powerful hands clamped around its waist. The next instant, the creature was dragged out of the air and driven headfirst into the earth with such tremendous force that the ground caved inward beneath them.

BOOM!

Chunks of earth erupted into the air as a thick cloud of dust swallowed the impact site.

Van squinted into the dust for a moment, trying to make out the figure responsible for the sudden rescue.

Then he recognized him.

Felix!

"LOOK OUT!" Van shouted, his voice laced with panic.

Only for a purple crystal war hammer to blur through the air and collide with the foot of an Aberrant just as it was about to crush the werewolf beneath its weight.

The impact sent a violent shockwave through the air, and the blanket of dust surrounding Felix immediately dispersed, revealing the chaos beneath.

For a moment, the Two-Spined Aberrant froze in surprise. Standing before it was a handsome boy, his amethyst eyes narrowed in fierce concentration as he stared directly at the towering creature.

Almost immediately, the boy reached up, grabbed the black bandana resting over his head, and slid it down over his eyes.

His vision disappeared.

And in the very next moment, Kai pushed off the ground.

The purple crystal war hammer shifted in midair, its massive head stretching and reshaping into a greatsword. With a sharp swing, Kai drove the blade through the Aberrant’s foot, slicing it open as blue blood rained down on Felix.

The werewolf barely paid attention to the blood splattering across him. He was too busy pummeling the creature beneath him, his fists blurring as one devastating punch followed another. He gave the Aberrant no opportunity to recover, driving its head deeper and deeper into the cratered ground with every strike.

Meanwhile, Kai dragged his greatsword upward, only to snap his free hand in front of his face and deflect a pair of claws lunging toward him.

His hands remained steady.

His breathing remained even.

Kai Larson was locked in.

For most people, losing their vision in the middle of a battlefield filled with enormous, bloodthirsty creatures would have been a crippling disadvantage. For Kai, however, it was an entirely different story.

Ever since he was a child, he had discovered something unusual about himself.

He was always at his strongest whenever his vision was taken away.

Whenever that black bandana slid down over his eyes, it meant one thing: Kai was done playing around.

There was a story behind it.

But as memories of that day threatened to surface, Kai forcefully pushed them back into the depths of his mind. He had no time to dwell on the past.

Kicking off the pillar Captain Raze had erected, he shot into the air, his arms bulging as he shoved the Aberrant’s claws away from him. He twisted his body into an aerial spin, bringing his greatsword down with devastating force.

The blade cleaved through the creature’s neck, decapitating it in a single strike.

Before the headless body could even collapse, Kai followed through with a precise thrust, driving his greatsword straight into the monster’s abdomen.

The crystal blade tore through its midsection, leaving a gaping hole in its torso.

Without pausing.

Without taking a breath.

Kai was gone.

His next target was already waiting.

The Two-Spined Aberrants struggled to swarm him as he moved relentlessly from one location to another. Every time they tried to surround him, he was already slipping through the gaps, striking before they could properly react.

An arrow suddenly whistled past his ears, embedding itself in the ground a metre ahead of him.

BOOM!

The arrow exploded, ripping chunks of earth into the air as a thick cloud of smoke swallowed the surrounding area.

Kai didn’t hesitate.

He launched himself off the ground and cut straight through the smoke, his greatsword gleaming purple as he closed in on another Aberrant, catching the creature completely off guard.