Chapter 51 : Kat and Jerome Against the Mysterious Elf Two people clad in black armor as dark as the deep night sky were swiftly sprinting through the dense forest, when suddenly, they both halted their step and glanced in the same direction ; a large tree about fifty meters behind them. "Kat, she has been following us for half an hour. We have to do something about her before we meet with the Leader." "I know. Code 2 is still in effect, so we should get rid of the nuisance before we reach the camp." These two were Katarina and Jerome, on their way to join Jun in the natives' camp. After receiving Gladia's message, they both hurried into the forest to join their leader, but an unknown female elf has been following. "So you guys noticed me since the beginning, uh ?" As Katarina expected, the elf hiding behind the tree showed herself when she realized that she couldn't conceal her presence from them. "Identify yourself." "Why would a mere 'nuisance' introduce herself ? You guys should be the one explaining what you are doing here. As far as I know, this forest isn't open to everyone and I've never seen you before." Both rifters were startled. Not only could they understand her perfectly despite Gladia not having fully translated the natives' language yet, but she also heard what they said from very far. Even more surprising, she understood everything they said even though they talked in the Galactic tongue. "I would also love to know why I can smell my childhood friend's scent on you, or why you are running so fast in the direction of my clansmen. You better answer my questions properly after I beat you up." The young elf openly menaced them ; she cracked her bandaged knuckles while slowly approaching. She was at least three heads shorter than Jerome, the most intimidating rifter of Jun's squad, and yet every step she took was as threatening as a huge beast advancing toward its prey. The two rifters felt a magnanimous power hidden inside her frail elf body. 'Jerome, be on guard. I feel my passive force field being deflected by her presence alone. I don't know how she does it, but she seems naturally resistant to my abilty...this never happened before even when we faced the Scylla. This young lady is more powerful than she appears.' 'I think the same, we should not underestimate her. Before landing, the Leader warned us about the strange energy present in this world, and the possibility of the natives living there being able to use the same kind of spells as the Scyllas'...' The deep bond forged over the years between the Void Rifters of Jun's squad allowed them to mentally communicate with each other up to a few hundred meters. When conversing through their thoughts, they could share a lot of information extremely quickly. They were not as fast as Jun and Gladia who could internally discuss for long minutes when not even a second passed in the real world, but it was still incredible. 'Engage in Alpha formation.' 'Use of lethal means ?' 'If necessary, but don't forget to use Singularity energy sparingly. Proceed at my signal.' 'Roger.' Jerome activated his two-handed Dark Blade and advanced toward the young elf, while Katarina released her active force field and stood behind him. Her field was so concentrated that when this anti-biological aura descended upon the area, every living beings close to her instantly died from a neuralgic seizure. The insects stopped moving, the little rodents died of a neuralgic seizure, and all the lifeless bodies of the birds that were perched on the branches of adjacent trees fell to the ground. Even the plants and flowers withered at a visible rate. "Your power... Why can't I sense any ounce of mana from you ?" The elf was dumbfounded by this scene. Even though she was confident in her ability and the teachings of her master, she never met someone like Katarina, who can bring death around herself without even using mana. "sigh... It seems like this won't be as simple as I thought..." 'Jerome, now !' When the elf got close enough, Katarina gave the signal and Jerome instantly leaped forward. He swung his long【Dark Sword】at the elf multiple times with the intent to cut her limbs without killing her, but she dodged all the blows easily and even counter-attacked. "【Blazing Fist】!!" She threw a punch at Jerome's face and the runes engraved on the shaved part of her head glowed in red before hitting him. In an instant, her wrist got covered in orange flames so hot they could melt iron. Jerome couldn't block the incoming blow, as he didn't expect her to be so fast. Instead, he tried to protect himself with his left arm while he was slashing again with his【Dark Sword】in his right hand. He succeeded in blocking the powerful punch surrounded by flames that aimed for his head at full speed, but the impact pushed him a few steps back. The intense heat from the residual flames burnt his left arm, but fortunately, his【Dark Armor】protected him from suffering any serious injury. Despite the elf's attack knocking him back, he still got the time to slash at her arm with his【Dark Sword】. Unfortunately for him, it didn't cause any damage and only left a scratch behind. Jerome was surprised he received such a big blow while his own attack was ineffective, yet he didn't back down and he once again moved forward to get in melee range. He tried to be quick enough to not let her the time to react. After carefully observing the elf's movements, it seemed she was not going to dodge or parry his blade this time. She was staring at him with her eyes blazing in a captivating vermilion red while holding her breath. The moment he was about to slash at her once again, Kat's warning inside his mind interrupted him. 'Dodge on the side quick !!' He didn't think twice and just followed her command. He stopped his movement halfway and muttered all his strength on his legs to roll on the side...and this just saved his life. "【Fire Breath】!" He felt an intense heat radiate from the girl's mouth when she opened it, before a cone of ardent fire brushed past him and passed just a few centimeters away from his left shoulder. The place he stood at just a second ago has been completely carbonized by a torrent of fire. This scene was surreal ; a young elf spitting a deluge of ardent fire from her mouth like a dragon. If they didn't see it with their own eyes, the rifters wouldn't have believed this was possible. The elf was irritated to see this tall guy being so agile, and despite being so close to her, he could still evade her【Fire Breath】in time. He had incredible reflexes for someone his stature. If she couldn't hit him with a spell at such a close range, she won't be able to hit him at all. Relying on her fists would be a better tactic to take care of him. Jerome, in her perspective, was the muscular guy guarding the 'seemingly weak' woman behind him. Thus, she decided to eliminate him first so she could ask questions to the less menacing woman after he's gone. Her ability to cause death around her without using mana was astounding, but it also meant that she was some sort of mage. Dealing with a mage was nothing to be afraid of for the only disciple of the Great Tarasque, she just had to get closer before the woman activate her death spell. The young elf had no idea that this 'weak woman' was actually the most dangerous of the two rifters. When she took a step toward Jerome who was patiently waiting for her to move, she inadvertently entered Katarina's active force field. Her body suddenly froze and she couldn't move anymore ; it was as if her limbs were now weighing more than a ton each. "What the ?!... Argh!..." She felt an ominous aura rising from the female rifter, and the more she tried to resist it, the more the pain inside her brain intensified. 'Fuck...what is this magic ?...' Her tempered body had become naturally resistant to any form of negative influence, such as Katarina's disruptive ability, thanks to her Master's severe training inside the scorching core of the Hydra Mountain... Yet, she was still far from immune to it. The sheer pressure produced by Katarina's force field could disintegrate the cells of any living being in its range, it was a miracle the elf could stay alive for so long. A visible dome of fifty meters radius with Kat at its center formed and everything organic inside was rapidly disintegrating. The force field was exerting so much power that its effects were visible with a naked eye ; the atoms composing the air were getting dislocated and everything inside the dome appeared blurred from the exterior. 'Jerome, quick ! I can't keep it up for too long.' 'ugh...Yes...' Even Jerome was subject to its effects. All the squad members were immune to Kat's force field thanks to their black matter constantly evolving to resist it, but every time Kat improved her ability, they needed some time to adapt themselves again. Jerome slowly advanced with difficulty toward the elf, who was now partially kneeling, grasping her head with both hands to make the suffering stop. She never felt such intense pain in her entire life... She tried her best to not lose her mind under this unbearable pressure, but she was on the verge of exceeding the pain threshold of any intelligent being. "keuk!...Make...This...Stop..." When Jerome reached her, he didn't swing his blade but instead locked his arms around her neck and tried to choke her from behind. Despite getting suppressed by Kat's force field, the elf was still struggling with all her remaining strength to break free from Jerome's muscular arms locking her head. "Arghhhh!...Bleurgbh!..." A stream of tears and snot flowed from her eyes and nose, and hot blood flowed from her pointy ears. The pain she was experiencing was out of this world, and despite having been taught by a mythical creature inside the Hydra Mount...she was still powerless against these two. The most frustrating was that no matter how hard she tried, she could not conjure flames inside this dome, nor could she outpower Jerome because he was not as affected by the force field as she was. It was as if mana itself was no longer present in the area since Katarina released her skill at its full power, which should not be possible. Even the best anti-mage devices and magic-nullifying artifacts still leave behind faint traces of mana. But here... this dome was void of any mana particles. It felt like a limitless abyss... The elf regretted underestimating these two beings. If she knew beforehand how dangerous they were, she would have attacked them from a distance by using a【Fire Ball】or her powerful【Lava Stream】. By now, she was still resisting only by pure will force...it was a contest of who would run out of energy first between Katarina and the elf. Unfortunately for her, will force alone is not enough to face the might of a High Lethality Vector such as Katarina. After struggling for long minutes, she finally succumbed to the force field's pressure and fell unconscious under Jerome's arm choke. "What is this planet...pant...for a young lady to be this strong...pant..." Jerome was running out of breath and fell to the ground the moment the elf lost consciousness. If even he had trouble resisting this insane pressure, he didn't know how such a frail native has been able to stay conscious for so long. "...the Leader warned us, Jerome. This strange energy present in this world can be manipulated in the same way the Scyllas did with Singularity energy...It is probably what she called 'mana'." "Wait, if this is true then... doesn't that mean that there is a high chance that people stronger than Scyllas are living on this planet ?" "...I hope not." "..." "Anyway, pick her up and let's move. I'm sure Gladia would be glad to study such a powerful native. We don't have time to rest, we need to hurry." "Yes." Jerome picked up the unconscious elf and carried her on his back, before following Kat into the forest. They both departed, leaving behind them a desolate area where plants wouldn't grow for a least a few years... ___ During the rest of the trip, Kat didn't say a single word. She was in a very bad mood. She still had trouble controlling her newly regained human side, and the only way she found to deal with the negative emotions that plagued her mind was to simply ignore them for now. She decided to trap these thoughts in a corner of her mind until she could tell Jun about it and ask him how to deal with this situation. She has never been as frustrated as she was right now. They have just been given their first mission since they landed, and they almost failed miserably because of a single native. What would have happened if this young girl was not alone ? Katarina believed the problem was not the unusual strength of this elf, but rather, her own weakness. Even if she didn't show it, she was ashamed the Scyllas controlled her mind so easily while Jun, Douglas, and even Alice were able to resist them and fought hard to escape Kar'goth. Her betrayal even forced her Leader to put Jerome and her inside a cryo pod for many years, while the rest of the squad was risking their lives to fight the Scyllas in the Singularity. These regrets accumulated over time, and almost failing the first mission her Leader gave them in a very long time only fueled her desire to further improve herself. "Jerome...we need to catch up to the rest of the squad and get stronger quickly. I fear the Leader might not need us anymore if we keep falling behind them..." "You should not let bad thoughts invade your mind, Kat. I'm sure the Leader would never abandon any of us." "It's just... don't you feel weird since we woke up from the cryo pods ? When we were on Kar'goth, my mind was always clear and I only cared about the orders I received. But now... I feel so many different things that I can't even concentrate on what is important anymore." "On Kar'goth, we were just the pawns of the Scyllas. The Leader freed us so we should rejoice that we can now feel these emotions, Kat. These are what make us human." "How are we supposed to deal with this flow of emotions rampaging inside us when it hinders our mission so much ? I know we were used by the Scyllas, and yet I would give everything to get my mind clear of these parasitic feelings like before." Jerome felt sorry for his friend. He knew that Kat was too hard on herself. While she had trouble managing her human side, Jerome was already at peace with his inner desires. They both have different personalities ; even when they were under the Scyllas' mind control, they still acted differently than simple robots. The Scyllas could brainwash the Void Rifters however they wanted, even they were not able to completely erase all traces of their previous personality to make them totally insensitive. Despite having been indoctrinated and deprived of their human side, during their time on Kar'goth Jerome always cared for his teammates more than himself, Alice has always been more curious and energetic than others, Douglas was always the pragmatic and logical guy of the group, and even Kat had her own little gimmicks without being aware of them. She always tried her best for everyone's well-being, and she would not have hesitated a single second to sacrifice herself if it was needed to protect the squad. She was born a natural leader, and remained one. It wouldn't be surprising if she had a job with a lot of responsibility on Earth. Although Katarina was cold-blooded and rational, Jerome was naturally gentle and caring for others. Jerome managed his inner turmoil considerably better than Kat since he just embraced it as a part of himself, whilst Kat was still uncertain if these human feelings were beneficial to her or not. "You shouldn't worry too much about it, Kat. Look at the Leader, he kept his emotions intact since the first day he woke up in the mother-ship, and yet he became the strongest of us. Without him, we would have died so many times I can't even count. Isn't this a proof that being more 'human' than 'rifter' isn't harmful ?" "..." "Just accept who you are, only then would you be in peace with yourself." "..." Jerome's caring words appeased the tumult in Katarina's heart, and without noticing the time passing, they finally arrived at the natives' camp where their Leader was waiting for them.