Linus’s heart was pounding. He was just as hyped as the others, watching the performance of the two guys in front of him.
Even though they clearly lacked battle experience, their ridiculous power and seamless teamwork more than made up for it.
"You two are really strong," Linus said sincerely. "I apologize for what I said earlier about you both relying only on Hero Grace. It seems you truly have great potential."
"No big thingy," Bob said with a proud smirk. "We’re used to people looking down on us... only to be beaten later."
Kuweek!
The elite Red Condor was still alive, wounded but far from finished. This thing was tough. Then again, it was an elite so no surprise there.
Suddenly, a flock of Red Condors appeared on the horizon, soaring in fast.
They were heading straight toward the fallen elite, more than ten of them.
"This is bad," I muttered.
Fighting all of them at once? That would be suicide.
, Bob, and Linus instinctively tensed, preparing for a second wave.
Plump, on the other hand, was still casually pecking at the ground, completely unfazed.
Kuweeeek!
The elite Condor let out a thunderous screech.
It raised its head, blood still trickling down from the wound Plump gave it, and locked eyes with the incoming flock, like a general commanding its troops.
Then sothing strange happened.
The condors in the sky suddenly veered off, turning mid-air in perfect unison. They descended and perched quietly on the rocky hill near the mountain. Watching, but not interfering.
I blinked.
"Wait... did it just command them to back off?"
If so, then I had to respect it.
That was either the act of a noble, battle-hardened warrior...
Or a prideful boss refusing to be seen defeated by lowly human ants like us.
I’ll never know.
Suddenly, the elite Red Condor spread its wings wide, using the last of its strength.
A crimson glow began to form across its feathers, and a glowing insignia pulsed on both wings.
"What is it trying to do?" I asked, my voice tightening.
Linus’s face turned pale. "It’s going to self-destruct!" he said, eyes wide with alarm.
"Isn’t that a good thing?" Bob asked, confused. "Just let it blow itself up and be done with it."
"You don’t understand," Linus said, shaking his head. "When a Red Condor self-destructs, the impact is enormous. A normal one can level a town. But this is an elite. If we let it escape, it could destroy the entire nearby region!"
Suddenly, the atmosphere shifted.
And then... the elite Red Condor began to lift off the ground, slowly rising into the air, its wings glowing brighter, the red insignia pulsing like a countdown.
This thing wants to take us down with it, knowing it’s already lost, or maybe just lost its pride. That’s why it warned its flock to get away.
Looking at the distance where the other Red Condors had landed, it was clear, that was a safe zone.
But just as Linus said, the blast radius could easily reach over 500 ters.
Even if we tried to run, escaping in ti would be nearly impossible.
With Plump, maybe I could make it, but he could only carry one person.
The elite Red Condor was already mid-air, its wings fully spread, glowing brighter by the second.
"What are we gonna do?" Bob asked, his voice tight with worry.
"We need to kill it before it completes the process!" Linus shouted.
Easier said than done.
But we didn’t have a choice. Either we stop it, or we all go down with it.
---
On the other side of the field, Cerdic’s group had also noticed the change in the Red Condor.
"It’s going to explode! Just like what happened in Tulip Town two years ago!" one of the n shouted.
"Are you blind?" Aaron snapped. "That was a normal one. This is an elite! This is going to be a disaster!"
Cerdic, still calm atop his horse, casually swung his hair back with a dramatic flick of his hand.
He turned to one of his teammates.
"Dorian," he said coolly, "can you handle this explosion?"
A massive man stepped forward. Black-skinned and towering over the rest, Dorian was built like a fortress. His muscles bulged, perfectly defined across his fra.
He smirked. "This is child’s play."
He walked ahead of the group and took a stance. His movents were smooth, almost ditative, like a dance. His legs spread wide apart, toes pointing outward. Knees bent deeply into a squat. His spine stayed straight.
He pressed his palms together at his chest in a prayer position.
"Lotus Barrier."
A glowing sphere of light blood around the group like a protective do. A lotus symbol glimred faintly at the top of the barrier, pulsing gently like a heartbeat.
"Your barrier can handle the explosion? Is this barrier tough?" Aaron said as he knock on the barrier. It produce sound like a glass being knocked.
"Of course it can! This is the strongest barrier in Asana..." Dorian scowled. "...if we are in this range," he added.
They were now near 500 tres from the red condor. Even if it exploded, the shockwave would be strong. But Dorian was confident in his barrier.
They were focused on the trio who were facing the beast directly.
---
"Aqua Bullet!" I shot bullets of water jets with my Indra toward the condor.
Boom! Boom!
Water splashed at its wing, but it still stayed in its form, determined to self-destruct.
"Hey Linus, how long before it explodes?" I asked worriedly. The bird looked more and more red in color, like it was a TNT ready to explode anyti.
"I don’t know. But it will stop if we kill it," he replied.
Bob then kept slashing Aero Slash toward the bird. Its body was slashed and red, but it still didn’t move an inch. Blood and feathers started to fall apart.
"This thing doesn’t want to move. I think we need to run," Bob said. He was more worried than .
"I agree. Let’s run from here," I said. and Bob then started to move. But before we could get away, suddenly we were blocked by Linus.
"Hey, where are you running? Don’t you care if this thing goes to the nearby town?" Linus said. He was angry at and Bob for only wanting to save ourselves.
"Of course we care, but at this mont, nothing can stop this thing. Not like we can make it freeze or what," Bob said as he struggled to release himself from Linus.
"Freeze?" I suddenly stopped.
"Yes, Bob! We can do that!" I shook Bob’s shoulder, making his head tilt forward and backward.
Linus and Bob were confused.
User Comments
0 comments from readers