YM778.TV Chapter 23: Let's go back
Jael whipped his hand forward and pulled himself into the branch above and Temur\'s leaped back while Litha jetted herself sideways.
The red energy hit the floor and ate into it like acid on flesh, a melted smoking crater was formed. The monster focused on Litha and then shot forward; the monster reached her and punched her in the gut, slammed her head back into the tree, and crashed the whole thing down with her.
Her body bent with with pain and here eyes flashed with anger of having been caught off guard, but there was no time to waste. She pushed herself off the ground and dodged the next punch, then she returned one of her own with her fist reinforced with mana, creating space between them.
She didn\'t let it go to waste; she concentrated a beam of her own on her hand, a glowing blue orb that sizzled and sparked with power. The monster saw it and tried to avoid by propelling itself back but it was too late.
A powerful, concentrated beam exploded between them, hitting the monster in the head and melting through flesh and bone with brutal force. The monster fell, its head smoking.
Litha was breathing hard. She had not expected the explosive power of the monster or its speed. "This one lookss like a rank A." She had used so much power in that last attack.
"Or a very strong rank B," Temur grunted, he checked its skin with his hand. Turning the monster sideways. "I\'ve not seen this type before."
"They are not supposed to be in this Zone," Jael said. These monsters are like Hermit\'s kin, and he knew they were not here before, or Hermit would have reacted.
"We have to make a decision. Should we continue, or should we leave this place."? Litha asked, eyes blazing, she put her hand on her side, still angry that the monster caught her off guard.
"I say we continue. We\'ve already paid. And although the monsters are strong, they are not posing much of a threat." Jael said. He wanted to fight more, to show just how strong he was.
Temur shrugged. "It\'s fine. Jael has to train, a good opportunity for him. And you Litha, are you getting rusty?" He asked the question as if he already knew the answer.
Jael expected Litha to snap, but instead, she grinned, her blue eyes burning blue cold fire. "Rusty? Come Jael. Let me show you how monster hunting is done."
*****
Outside, Arkin was getting impatient. \'Why are they not back here? They couldn\'t have defeated the monsters right?\' He shook his head, it\'s impossible. Or have his plans failed, backfired and they are already killed by the monster?
It seems possible. But Arkin didn\'t want to enter the zone himself. He didn\'t know the type of monsters that were summoned; there was no reason in taking an avoidable risk.
Right. Arkin turned to the masked paladins. "They are not coming out. It\'s time for you to do your job. Bring them for me."
"Yes. High Priest."
*****
Litha\'s abilities could be explained in a number of ways; one of them is that she has complete control on her internal energy. She could direct it to desired areas to strengthen, or cool it down to some degrees if she wishes.
She could make her mana hot. She concentrated Mama into her hand to create a blazing orb, then she made another one and another one until five hovered beside her like bubbles.
She led the way this time and the rank B monsters fell like flies as they appeared. They simply had no chance to get close to them before, \'pow!\' A steady scorching beam would take them out, their bodies stored away inside the Jael and Temur\'s ring.
But the constant flow of monsters finally stopped as they continued deeper undisturbed. The closer they got to the center of the zone, the more they felt the wrongness in the air. The trees here had rotten away into sludges, and the soil all dried up like the beginning of a desert.
They sucked in sharp breaths as they finally saw what caused all this. In the middle of the clearing was a massive monster. The thing is a mass of rotting flesh without a head or definite body; it has five hands, two for standing the rest just above, frozen.
They were still several feet from it,, but they could feel its aura. The power that came out of it instinctively made Jael turn his hand into a sword. "That thing must be 22 feet." He swallowed; monster hunting had just taken an entirely new light.
"Are we fighting that thing? Is that thing even Iron rank?" Temur asked.
Litha shook her head. She didn\'t know if it was S Iron rank or Silver rank. She had never fought an S-rank Iron monster before, and she didn\'t think she would start now. "Let\'s go back."
Jael let out a breath. There\'s no way they could fight that thing, being among the strongest in their set or not. The sheer strength of that thing, not to talk of any powers it might have.
Temur was the last one in the back and he started to retreat without turning. Taking small, careful steps, the others followed, keeping their eyes on the monster as if looking away might make it notice them, but the monster just sat there like too big mud with hands.
They had almost left its vicinity when several C-rank monsters like the one they killed earlier busted out of the other side.