Chapter 345: Higher World Denizens (2) (1/2)

”Ember! Irja!” Monady had no choice but to shout at us when she heard the sudden explosion behind them. Being locked on by Larnel, she and Udann couldn't move carelessly, lest they wanted to be sniped by that finger attack.

Faren was already a bit exhausted while Axter was still warily weighing in his choices. In the end, we have no choice but to protect ourselves here.

I looked down at the woman in my arms,there's a surprise on her face but it vanished almost instantly when the situation finally registered in her mind.

When she started wordlessly struggling, I let go of my hold of her and let her feet land on the ground.

”H-how did you do that?”

As she faced the opponent in front of us, a telepathic message came from her. Judging from how she almost stuttered, the way I pulled her into my arms like a magnet surprised her.

”Simple Energy Control. It only worked because you're unaware. Anyway, heads-up Irja. That woman's not simple.”

At the same time as I finished sending that reply to her mind, Rowena started moving again. That kick of hers was probably a part of her skill. Although there are no physical changes in her body, that yellowish aura surrounding her body contained most of her exuded energy.

Being this close, it allowed me to observe more quirks of this 'higher world' denizen.

Her strength was not as exaggerated as that of Larnel, however, she's still stronger than us. She's nearing 500. On our side, I'm only reaching the early 300 even with the full buff and Irja is at early 400 or mid.

I once mentioned that the tens of UPL gap can decide a battle. However, I was wrong. That assumption was only applicable to Mortal Ranks or early Rank 1 Transcendent. Perhaps, around 200 UPL. Now that I'm experiencing the battles here I observed that Rank 2 Transcendents could hold themselves against another at the same rank as long as the gap wasn't above 200.

If I further evaluate it, 200 will be an overwhelming advantage, 100 will be an advantage and below that could still be bridged by the other factors.

Going by this standard, I could only be a support for Irja. If I went head-on against her, I would be crushed. I could sneak in some attacks but unless she's in a critical condition, all that would do to her would be an ant's bite.

Last time, that guy was only nearing 400 but because I took his head-on attack, my body tried to withstand the force he generated.

Taking my thoughts from analyzing our opponent, I communicated with Irja once more, asking her about her skills and everything she could do.

If I wanted to fully support her, I needed to know everything about her.

Understanding my intention, Irja nodded. However, before that, we have to dodge again!

Upon sensing where Rowena would reappear again, I instantly sent a telepathic message to Irja instead of carrying her in my arms again.

BANG!

Another crater and another look of disappointment filled the blonde woman's face. Without wasting any moment, she once again disappeared and this time, as soon as I sensed where she would be, she's already in the process of reappearing!

And this time, her sole target was me!

My overthinking mind started working rigorously to think of a solution to avoid this crisis. I could block but I'm afraid my arms wouldn't be able to endure the force of her attack. I could dodge but I could only activate the base version of the Flash Steps and it wouldn't take me far from the point of impact.

Weighing the two options, I could only choose the latter.

Flash Steps!

BOOM!

Under Irja's eyes, I was probably seen by her being hurled out of my previous position. Before I noticed, I was already caught by her, reducing the injury that I should have gotten.

Before she could even utter words like 'Are you okay?' I held onto her arm tightly to convey that we have to dodge once again.

As if by luck, Irja understood my intention and immediately raised her broomstick. After spinning it a few times and injecting it with her Dark Energy, it became like a rotor blade which propelled us backward dodging another attack by Rowena.

Although there were also sounds of explosions and shouts not far away from us, we didn't have the capacity to check their situation, the range of my Domain exceeded the distance between us. I warned them before about it, let's just hope that they would be mindful of that.

As soon as we landed back on the ground, Irja's voice entered my mind as she started telling me every skill she could use. There's truly a lot but I'm confident that my mind could process all of it faster than those at my level.

-

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While Daisuke and Irja were being besieged by a single opponent, Monady, Udann, Faren and Axter were dodging every attack from Larnel.

Monady thought of helping the two but if she left the three with her, one or two of them would no doubt die from one of Larnel's attacks.