Chapter 556: Bad to Worse (4)

Chapter 554

The Aberrant Caster was darting toward wore a wide grin as more of its kind emerged from the sides, attempting to flank the Legacy.

Even though Caster was moving at almost impossible speeds, they weren’t about to let him escape. No matter how fast he was, they intended to bring him down.

"Dark Wolf!" Caster shouted, spinning his short swords in his hands.

Swooping up from below, the wolf appeared beneath the Legacy, allowing him to land on its back with controlled ease.

"AWHOOOOOO!"

The wolf unleashed a thunderous howl, sending a powerful shockwave tearing from its throat and crashing into the Aberrant ahead of them. The force struck the creature squarely, pushing its massive body a foot backward and leaving it momentarily disoriented.

"Keep the others out of my way."

Caster didn’t wait.

With barely a second separating him from the recovering Aberrant, he vaulted off his wolf and flickered into existence directly in front of the creature.

For an instant, all that could be seen was a short sword rocketing toward its eye.

The Aberrant, however, recovered faster than expected. Its hand lunged toward Caster, claws raking through the air in a vicious attempt to tear his head apart.

But its attack struck nothing.

Caster vanished from its reach and reappeared directly on top of its head, his movements so swift that the creature barely had time to register what had happened.

Meanwhile, the wolf had already engaged the two Aberrants that had been closing in on its tamer.

A kick came crashing down toward its head, followed by a flurry of punches aimed at its body. Yet the beast evaded every strike, blitzing through the attacks as though they were nothing more than obstacles in its path.

Its movements were fluid, each dodge flowing seamlessly into the next. It twisted, dipped, and sprang between the incoming blows, its paws barely touching the ground before it was moving again.

The wolf wasn’t attacking.

It was simply dodging.

One enormous knuckle came dangerously close to crashing into its dark, matte fur, but the beast sprang into the air at the last possible moment and darted forward. It landed directly on the arm belonging to the Aberrant whose fist had cratered the ground moments earlier.

Without wasting a second, the wolf rushed forward, racing along the creature’s massive arm with astonishing speed.

The Aberrant twisted its body, desperately trying to catch the annoying beast crawling over its limb. Its claws swiped from one side while its other hand followed, striking at the wolf from different angles.

It was like trying to swat an irritating fly.

No matter how hard the creature tried, it couldn’t snatch the beast off its arm.

Its partner, meanwhile, had decided to ignore the wolf and turn toward the human engaging their kind.

Only to witness a precise sword strike carving into their comrade’s neck.

Blue blood oozed from the wound as the Aberrant dropped to its knees, its massive body struggling to remain upright.

Caster flickered away from the creature’s head and landed several steps in front of it, his back turned toward his fallen opponent.

"Divide and conquer."

That was all the Legacy whispered.

He immediately lunged forward, deliberately abandoning his superspeed as he decided to go all out using his normal movement.

Even without activating his ability to its fullest, his speed was still remarkable for a human.

Unlike the other powerhouses who relied on beast armours that granted them various abilities and effects, the Vanguards were equipped with exo-suits. In some cases, their technology could prove even more effective than beast armour, giving them the tools needed to survive against creatures that dwarfed them in size and strength.

The Aberrant wasn’t about to let Caster dictate the fight, however.

Its tail whipped toward a nearby pole, coiling around the object before violently launching it at the approaching human.

Caster shifted aside, narrowly avoiding the projectile.

But that was only the beginning.

The creature’s tail lashed out again, snatching up one projectile after another and hurling them toward the Legacy with terrifying force.

Caster ducked beneath one, slid sideways to avoid another, and shifted his weight from left to right as more objects whistled past him. Each projectile threatened to pierce straight through his body, yet he continued evading them with calculated movements, never allowing himself to remain in one place for too long.

He was doing a remarkable job.

Even while dodging, his eyes occasionally flickered toward the battle between his wolf and the other Aberrants, checking on his companion’s condition.

So far, it was still alive.

Unfortunately, that brief distraction was all his opponent needed.

The Aberrant suddenly surged forward, the ground cracking beneath its feet as it launched itself toward the Legacy. In the blink of an eye, it appeared directly above Caster, its enormous frame casting a shadow over the human.

Caster’s calm gaze lifted toward the towering creature.

BAM!

BOOOM!

The Aberrant’s fist slammed into the ground with devastating force, shattering the earth beneath it. Chunks of rock erupted into the air as a thick cloud of dust billowed outward, swallowing the point of impact.

Bursting out of the dust like a sniper’s bullet, Caster appeared above the creature, hovering for barely a second before flickering out of sight.

Left.

Right.

He darted around the Aberrant in rapid succession, his short swords flashing with every movement. The creature twisted and turned, swinging its claws through the air in desperate attempts to catch him, but every strike met nothing but empty space.

No matter how quickly it reacted, it couldn’t lay a finger on the boy.

Activating his glasses, Caster exposed the creature’s weakness. His gaze settled on the vulnerable spot, and his movements immediately shifted.

With one final burst of speed, he slashed through the back of the Aberrant’s thigh, tearing the flesh open and throwing its balance into disarray.

Then came the decisive strike.

His blade cut through the creature’s heart.

Without wasting another second, Caster whirled around and rushed toward the Aberrant his beast had been keeping occupied.

...

Dancing between incoming strikes as though they were nothing more than obstacles in her path, a pale-blue-haired female could be seen standing atop a platform erected by Captain Raze.

Twelve Aberrants surrounded her.

Twelve enormous creatures, each capable of tearing her apart with a single well-placed strike.

Yet despite their numbers, their claws couldn’t touch a single strand of her hair.

Trisha was pushing herself to her absolute limit.

Her hands worked in tandem like a seamstress threading a needle through fabric. A parry here, a duck there, a slight tilt of her head to let a claw sail past her face. She spun on her heels, sending a dozen ice spikes bursting toward her opponents before continuing to move, never allowing herself to become an easy target.

Her Meta-Force was dwindling by the second, but she refused to slow down.

Her muscles ached from the prolonged fighting, and every collision sent another wave of pain crawling through her bones. Blocking the massive claws of Two-Spined Aberrants was no small feat, even with her swordsmanship and physical conditioning.

Still, she didn’t stop.

The clang of metal and the shattering of stone filled her ears, accompanied by explosions from the other battles raging around her. She barely had time to register any of it. Her eyes darted from one opponent to another, tracking every twitch, every movement, every claw that threatened to tear through her defenses.

She never remained in one spot for long.

Even on the limited space of the platform, her footwork remained immaculate. She danced between the Aberrants, parrying one strike only to duck beneath another, her body twisting and turning as she searched for an opening.

A heavy clang rang out as she deflected another claw to the side. The force of the collision reverberated through her arms and sent a painful vibration crawling into her bones.

She gritted her teeth.

She couldn’t go on the offensive just yet.

The opportunity hadn’t presented itself, and rushing into an attack against twelve opponents would be little more than a death sentence. For now, she had to keep moving, keep defending, and wait for the right moment.

Sweat rolled down her beautiful ivory face, dampening strands of pale-blue hair as the drones circled overhead, capturing every second of her struggle.

Meanwhile, the livestream comments continued pouring in.

[Jimmy_ Parker: She’s amazing. Her skills are impeccable for her to avoid sustaining a major injury against Two-Spined Aberrants.]

[Unholy Pervert: She’s beautiful and sexy too. Oh, mamacita!]

[Proud Hater: What’s with the whole aura farming? Why doesn’t she just go on the damn attack?! What’s with all these kids?!]

A massive fist suddenly descended toward her from above.

Trisha’s eyes flickered from the incoming fist to the other Aberrants already preparing to attack.

A twitch.

Her gaze snapped back to the fist.

WAM!

The platform collapsed into rubble.

[Proud Hater: And now, she’s dead. Rubbish.]

But the moment the dust swallowed the battlefield, something gleamed within the thick cloud.

An ice-covered katana.

Trisha burst through the blanket of dust, her blade flashing as she closed in on the creature responsible for the attack.

*Fighting you all with such numbers is disadvantageous. So thank you.*

Her glasses activated, revealing the Aberrant’s weakness just as her sword sliced through its neck, opening a deep wound.

Before the creature could retaliate, Trisha launched herself into a backflip, clearing the collapsing rubble and landing beyond its reach.

She didn’t stop to admire her work.

Her next target was already waiting.

And Trisha was moving again.