After hearing Ethan’s guess, Blackie’s eyes glead. Without hesitation, he absorbed and refined the few tiny energy crystals in his hand, the process so fast it was almost casual. The mont the crystals vanished, his expression froze, then his eyes widened in pure realization as his gaze snapped straight to the basketball-sized crystal in Ethan’s grasp.
Ethan caught that look instantly. With nothing more than a thought, the large energy crystal vanished into his storage.
"Boss..." Blackie whined, staring mournfully at the empty air where the treasure had been.
"What?" Ethan waved his hand toward the endless swarm around them. "Look at all this. We split up and collect. Don’t push forward. Fan out, clear these things, and et back here."
Before Blackie could even begin to protest, Ethan chose a direction and shot off like an arrow, the circle of falling stars still hovering above his head as he vanished into the distance.
Blackie stood there dumbly for a mont, scratching his head as he stared after Ethan. With a resigned sigh, he turned and headed in the opposite direction.
The smaller mosquitoes posed no threat at all, dying in droves the mont they were struck. It wasn’t until the creatures reached the size of soccer balls that they began dropping energy crystals, tiny grains no larger than sesa seeds, but rich with power.
Ethan and Blackie tore through the endless swarm like twin whirlwinds of destruction. The fighting never slowed, and neither did their excitent. This place was nothing short of paradise. The sheer quantity of energy crystals was enough to make even veteran powerhouses lose their composure.
Two days passed. A full two days before they finally reconvened.
Both were exhausted, but the excitent buzzing beneath their fatigue was impossible to hide. Blackie, now in his true form, looked noticeably sleeker. His scales were darker, glossier, and faintly radiated power. Ethan could feel the difference imdiately. Aside from his lightning affinity, even his other elental abilities had grown stronger. The damn mutt had been absorbing energy the entire ti he fought, leaving Ethan to do all the collecting.
Ethan, by contrast, lifted a hand and summoned a small mountain of sand-like energy crystals into existence.
"Absorb them. I’m resting," he said, flopping onto his back.
For the first ti since arriving, the ground beneath them was real sand instead of scorched stone, soft enough to welco his battered body. The exhaustion hit all at once, and he fell asleep almost instantly.
Blackie grinned, not bothering with thanks. He opened his massive jaws, and a glittering river of crystals stread straight into his mouth.
Hummmmm...
A dense, oppressive aura rolled outward as his power swelled, the air itself vibrating faintly under the pressure.
Ethan had no idea how long he slept before a sudden sense of closeness jolted him awake. His eyes snapped open to find Blackie crouched beside him, one hand resting on his shoulder as he shook him gently. Blackie’s gaze was locked in the direction they had co from.
"What?" Ethan sat up sharply, all traces of sleep vanishing.
"Sothing’s coming," Blackie said, his voice low and tense.
Ethan rubbed his eyes and shifted into Panther Form. The world sharpened instantly, distance compressing as his vision enhanced. In the hazy distance, eight massive figures were moving toward them.
"People?" Ethan narrowed his eyes. Their silhouettes were humanoid, but grotesquely muscular.
"No," Blackie said without hesitation. "No human scent."
Ethan frowned. Without his Soul Sense, Blackie’s beast-kin instincts were far more reliable than his own. Sll alone told Blackie what Ethan couldn’t.
As if confirming the warning, the eight figures suddenly stopped, adjusted their trajectory slightly, then surged forward in a perfectly straight line. Flas erupted from their backs in controlled bursts, propelling them through the air in powerful, rocket-assisted leaps. Each bound devoured massive stretches of ground.
"They’ve spotted us," Ethan said, already on his feet.
"Good," Blackie replied, raising his hands. Wind spiraled into a dense sphere around his left palm, while a blazing ball of fire ignited in his right. "Let’s wreck them. What the hell are they?"
The distance of nearly a kiloter vanished in seconds. Now Ethan could see them clearly.
"These are... cyborgs?" His brow furrowed deeply. The eight figures were absurd, bristling with heavy armor plating and visible tallic fraworks. Rocket boosters were mounted along their backs, limbs clearly chanical. Only their heads appeared organic, sealed within massive, reinforced helts. He had never fought anything like this before, but years of sci-fi exposure left only one word that fit.
"Boss," Blackie asked, "what’s the plan?"
"Make it quick."
Ethan could feel their intent locking onto him, weapons already deploying. He didn’t hesitate. Panther’s Agility activated, and he launched forward as the Twilight Spear materialized, extending and rging seamlessly with his arm and chest plate. Razor-sharp claws erupted from his fingertips.
"Target acquired. Engage."
The cyborgs reacted instantly, their movents precise and inhuman. Shoulder-mounted rotary cannons swiveled into position, targeting systems humming beneath their helts. Even at Ethan’s speed, the lock held firm.
BRRRRRRT! BRRRRRRT!
All eight cannons roared at once, barrels glowing blue-hot as a storm of fire tore through the air.
In that split second, Ethan triggered Swift Stride. His speed surged by seventy percent, his body weaving in a tight, serpentine pattern as he closed the gap in a heartbeat.
"Target confird. Priority elimination. Transmit footage. Do not let trailing units claim credit," one cyborg barked in a cold, synthetic voice.
"Target velocity exceeds predictive modeling. Barrel overheating," another reported as smoke curled from the cannons.
"Switch to thermal-seeking ordnance."
The remaining units acknowledged in perfect unison. Panels slid open on their opposite shoulders, revealing racks of compact missiles. With a sharp chanical clunk, red-tipped warheads locked into place.
WHOOSH!
Eight rockets scread into the air, streaking straight toward Ethan.
"Fuck !" His heart slamd into his chest. He’d faced countless enemies before, but never modern weaponry. The sight of rockets ignited a deep, primal fear rooted in a lifeti of knowing exactly what they could do.
He veered hard to the side. The missiles banked instantly, correcting their course.
"Shit, they track?!"
"Bear Form. Iron Hide!" Swift Stride was already fading, and outrunning them was impossible. Ethan braced himself, preparing to take the hits head-on.
Then Blackie’s voice thundered from behind him.
"Windfire Annihilation!"
The swirling wind sphere and blazing fireball slamd together in his hands.
WHOOSH!
A massive orb of roaring fla burst into existence, wrapped tightly in violent currents of wind.
"Go!"
Blackie hurled it skyward. The blazing mass shot over Ethan’s head at blinding speed.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The eight rockets hesitated for a fraction of a second before abruptly veering upward. Locked onto the overwhelming heat signature, they arced through the sky in a wide, looping path, chasing the firestorm straight back toward their original owners.
Blackie planted his hands on his hips, watching with an infuriatingly smug grin. "Pfft. Thermal-seekers. Think I haven’t seen those before? Spent enough ti in the badlands to play with every toy there is. Enjoy your own fireworks, tin n."
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