Chapter 17.1 (1/2)
Critical: Ages Below Critical II (L.O.R.D) - Chapter 17 Part 1
[Six Years Ago – Extreme North – Congealed Stench Cave]
That orange lightning that is tight on her heels feels like Death wielding its sickle, brus.h.i.+ng it past her ears constantly. The wind sounds like it can cut her throat at any time.
Teresa pushes forth at full speed. Her skirt of the G.o.ddess rustles as she speeds over the snowy ground, making her resemble a surging lotus over the snow. Teresa dares not pause, for the ghoul-like shadow behind her shocks her with his speed. In all her years, Teresa has never seen any soul master with such an unnerving speed in all the territories of Aslan. Even Qi La, without triggering his talent, is unable to reach such a speed.
Yet this is not the most horrifying thing.
What horrifies her the most is that, the orange flash she is unable to see clearly, its gift is still shrouded in the unknown. The volatile soul powers and such an unbeatable speed is merely his normal battle condition.
And until the very end, the person hunting her has not employed any soul powers of the water element or even soul beasts. His hunt is simple and effective, direct yet sharp. Teresa finally understands why the Silver Priests will let a monster like this await her. Because in such a frenzied state of physical combat, her Skirt of the G.o.ddess, one of the top ancient soul weapons in Aslan that can s.h.i.+eld against any indirect attack is utterly useless. It becomes a beautiful dress that is inadequate and can be ripped into shreds by the storming soul powers of the enemy.
And yet, Teresa is clear that if she continues running away like this, sooner or later her enemy will catch up. This is due to the overwhelming amount of soul powers required to maintain her speed in order to escape, and when her soul powers cannot keep up, the insanely sharp soul powers behind her will slit her throat in a matter of seconds. Even now, Teresa can feel her soul powers depleting exponentially, but the soul powers Teresa can pinpoint of the monster behind her if as violent and surging as when he just left the cave. It is as if he is in a constant pinnacle in his battle state……yet how is this possible?
Teresa’s eyes close and one can tell that there is a storming blizzard in her pupils from the way her eyelids twitch. She extends her sensory powers to the limit, yet what she can sense is still the violent and complicated, chaotic soul powers. It feels as difficult as attempting to identify the movement of wind in a cyclone. She clenches her teeth and with a sudden halt, she turns –
“Screech---“
A few shrill calls of insects’ scratch against the peaceful snow-filled landscape. The orange shadow of lightning stills instantly before retreating at full force. However, it is much too late. The voluptuous female body that had been of such charms a few moments ago seem like a sack of skin pierced through by countless knives. Numerous sharp tentacles shoot out from Teresa’s body will shrieking, colossal mantis-like forelegs increase and expand from her body, morphing into sharp blades. Dozens of sharp dagger-like feelers pierces through her face like petals. The shrill screeches are heard without end.
A series of dull and badly mutilated sounds are heard.
The bright light on the empty snow-filled field is blinding. Nothing moves as the blizzard engulfs all sound, leaving only silence behind. Two dark shadows can be seen on the vast field – one of a tall and strongly-built man, the other a barely distinguishable silhouette of a woman. However, blade after blade shoot from the woman’s silhouette, continuously stabbing into the man’s body.
Only Teresa’s full lips remain intact on her disfigured face and curves up lightly. Of course she has a reason to feel proud – her control of her darkness state now is far better than the young girl who lacked experience all those years ago.
However, her smile only blossomed on her face for a few moments before they freeze into a stiff curve. She stares at the man whose body is pierced by blades press towards her menacingly as if he is uninjured and unfeeling. The blades cut through his chest, shoulders, thighs and jut out from his back. The sound of metal blades rubbing against bodes unsettles her.
The man reaches out his lean and strong hand and Teresa’s vision blurs. She feels a sharp ripping pain on her right chest. As if made of thin blades, the man’s hand sinks quickly and effortlessly into her chest. Blood erupts in Teresa’s throat as she clearly feels the man’s fingers search with ease in her body before finally clenching tight on her collar bones and pulling.
Carnage sprays between the white heavens and earth.
Nether stares firmly at the strange girl before him, oh no, two strange girls.
The two of them stopped all movements after stating their hunger. One of them is currently holding Nether’s gaze – her large eyes are murky and lost, there is no focus in her vision and it looms over Nether like a thick and sticky web.
The disgust and dank horror in the pit of Nether’s stomach becomes more volatile, but he cannot stop himself from staring at them. He cannot move his gaze away at all, it is as if he is faced with a black hole and is rooted there. He lifts a hand and a dagger of ice explodes from the found. With a flick of his wrist, it fires at the young girl. However, she does nothing to avoid the attack; even her eyeb.a.l.l.s do not tremble as the blade pierces into her nose bridge with a crack. The cracking of bones echoes across the silent landscape.