Book 7, Chapter 112-2 - Drawn Away (1/2)

Book 7, Chapter 112-2 - Drawn Away

Chaos was not intelligent, but that hardly meant it wasn’t a threat. It was Sumeru’s preeminent biological weapon with the power to eliminate an entire planet, leap dozens of kilometers, never tire and heal any injury.

It was a world-ender.

Adopting a physical form, the beast had improved combat abilities. It fought according to the skills of its enemies, with many tools to undermine their strengths. Furthermore, its body changes with the environment so that no terrain was a disadvantage. Chaos was an almost perfect killing machine.

If Cloudhawk didn’t stop it, Southern Capital was doomed.

However fighting into the capital would not be easy, even for this beast. The city was protected by five layers of defense. Under direction from the gods Chaos had only broken through the first. Several more still remained.

Cloudhawk gathered his people and teleported to the boundary. Chaos was fast, they only had fifteen minutes or so to prepare.

“I can’t believe this thing’s so tough!”

“This old man has never seen anything so terrible in all my life.”

Every one of Cloudhawk’s team was injured in some fashion. Phoenix was especially maimed after her clash with Chaos, nursing broken bones and lacerated organs. Luckily her relic was designed exactly for this and was keeping her alive. However, at least for the time being, she couldn’t join the fight. Even with the body of the War God, Legion only barely managed to protect himself from the monster. Everyone was suffering some harm from the exchange, but the ones Cloudhawk had brought with him were not common warriors. In a couple minutes they were stable and ready for round two.

“Now is no time to complain. If anyone has a lock on the thing tell me where it is.”

“Allow me.” A Master Demonhunter from Highmorn stepped forward. “I am Toroa Wiater [1]. My specialty is in tracking. Since I have fought this creature I will be able to know its location, no matter the distance.”

Cloudhawk knew a little about Toroa. Anyone who reached the rank of Master Demonhunter had an area of expertise. He was average in a fight, but peerless when it came to hunting down a target.

“Well Master Toroa, it’s up to you.”

“Say no more.”

Toroa produced a small mirror. When released from his grip it floated up and hovered above the Master’s head. A strong light reflected off its surface and fired off in the direction of their foe. They could see it fixate on some unseen thing in the distance and move with it.

“There,” Toroa confirmed.

Now that they knew where it was, Cloudhawk calculated what was in the monster’s range. It was enough information for him to activate the Eye of Time and see where Chaos would strike.

“Chaos is too strong for us to try and just beat down. We have to use home turf to our advantage. Block it with the boundary enchantments and use the psionic towers to give yourselves a boost. We have to stop it here, we can’t let it get any farther in.”

Cloudhawk picked where they would make their stand. A hundred airships were dispatched to the area as backup. Hovering a thousand feet overhead, they were reasonably protected from danger.

They weren’t just there to participate in the fight or offer support. Against a monster like Chaos most of their weapons were useless anyway. Throwing them directly into the fray would cause meaningless casualties.

Instead, every ship was equipped with a psionic tower. Belial’s inventions amplified mental ability, making Cloudhawk and his allies much more effective on the battlefield. They also lowered the rate of mental exhaustion. Enough of them could turn the tide of battle.

Chaos was brutal and extremely dangerous, however, and prone to explode. They couldn’t get mired in a long fight. The monster had to be dealt with as quickly as possible.

Cloudhawk helped his companies recover from their injuries. “Well Elder, what’s the plan?”