“Newpalf, Gale Strike!”

Over by a deep crater where Crokan had erected the Stone Prison to safeguard the unconscious Pigatroll and the unconscious vulture who had the ribbons, Gnihzur was using his wings’ power to crack it open. After a few more blasts the Stone Prison finally shattered.

Gnihzur went inside and quickly retrieved the ribbons from the vulture’s corpse. “I found them!”

Seeing Gnihzur with the ribbons made Kwaserah slightly uneasy. “Gnihzur are you sure about this? If we’re caught collecting these ribbons then we will become the main target of everyone here.”

“Yeah, I know that but if we disable the one who created this spatial dimension it should disappear then we can make our escape from here.”

“Oh, is that what both of you are planning?” A few crows under Rankede’s brigade who were lurking nearby overheard their conversation.

“Surround them!”

Kwaserah and Gnihzur who were in the Stone Prison crater found themselves sandwiched in the midst of 3 adverse individuals whose names were as follows, Kairo, Nylon and Naguk.

Kairo seemed to be the leader of the group for he was the closest to their target and the mouthiest. He wore a pair of white gloves around his arms which extended to his elbow joints. He had a particularly scary belt strapped around his waist in the form of multiple stylish arms.

Nylon possessed a baby face, the same could be said about his stubby physique which accentuated his childlikeness. He carried a thick bundle of purple yarn on his back. Although he was cute and adorable, his disposition was one of ruthlessness. He hated when others doted on him due to his particular cute constitution, especially the females, he hated their loving guts.

Naguk was a direct descendant of the Andrahaz Family’s main branch. Just like his twin sister Nagoo he also possessed a pair of awakened Aechos Vision which was far superior to Rankede’s Spectus Vision. However, he acted as one of Rankede’s subordinates due to his love interest in his younger sister, Torfia.

“Gaze!” Scanning the 3 feathery obstacles that suddenly cordoned their escape, Gnihzur said in a perturbed manner, “Dammit, we’re surrounded by adversaries. I didn’t notice their presence until now.”

Staring fiercely at Gnihzur, Kairo demanded him to, “Hand over the ribbons and we’ll make your death a quick and clean one.”

“Tsk…” Gnihzur gave his brief attention to his teammate. “Kwaserah, how much longer?” He wanted to know the duration of her Krowqui regeneration.

“One minute and forty seconds.” She replied.

“I see.” Gnihzur brought Kwaserah closer in his embrace. Afterwards, he showed the captured ribbons to his 3 adversaries. “You want these ribbons? Then come and get them!” Gnihzur kicked his wings in gear, flying out of the crater at burst speed.

“Get him!” Kairo and the others started chasing after them around the limited dimension.

“They’re quickly catching up.” Kwaserah warned Gnihzur.

“If I can’t outfly them then I’ll use… Newpalf, Gale Strike!” He started shooting out multiple slicing wind blades at his 3 pursuers, however, they easily dodged them all.

“Damn they’re persistent. I’ll have to burrow underground to buy us more time. Kwaserah close your eyes.”

“Ok.”

“Newpalf, Gale Driller!” Shortly after Kwaserah closed her eyes, Gnihzur transformed his wings into a spectacular drill and began burrowing into the ground in a twisting fashion of speed. This move of his startled his pursuers.

“What the…? They went underground?” The baby, Nylon was baffled.

Kairo suggested, “Let’s flush them out! Naguk use your Aechos to find out exactly where they are hiding.”

“Consider it done.” Naguk started manipulating the blue frequency lines moving inside his eyes. Tapping into the hidden vibratory designs of his targeted environment, Naguk was swiftly analysing the sporadic atomic waves; also zooming through the earth’s rigid structure which to him seemed more as transparent as gas. It took him only a brief moment of search to locate his moving target.

“I’ve found them! They’re over there moving south 30-metres below ground level.”

“Alright, you sneaky suckers let’s see how long you can last without moisture.” Kairo flew down to where Naguk had instructed. He took the gloves from his arms, revealing their dark corrosive appearance. Moments later, he pressed his corrosive hands firmly against the ground and started releasing a toxic surge of energy.

“Krowqui, Moisture Absorption!”

As the time ticked by, water started leaking out of the rocks as well as many micro-organisms that were present underground; even the oxygen was being depleted. Kairo aimed to suffocate his targets, hoping it would flush them out from underground.

“Gnihzur I’m fully recovered now.” Kwaserah seemed to have regained the full use of her Krowqui. This utterance of hers prevented Gnihzur from digging any deeper underground.

“That’s great Kwaserah. Now let’s get out of… Air…?” Gnihzur suddenly touched his throat in shock which caused Kwaserah to be alarmed.

“Gnihzur, what’s wrong…?” The moment she asked this question, Kwaserah began feeling the effects of excessive lack of moisture in the environment. “I can’t breathe.”

They both found it difficult to inhale pure air. Additionally, they were sweating like crazy. The moistures from their feathers were getting absorbed by Kairo’s deadly technique.

Kwaserah forced herself to ask, “Gnihzur why is this happening?”

“It must… it must be the enemy’s ability. We are quickly being deprived of all of our bodily fluids. Ugh!”

Out of both of them, Gnihzur was the one being mostly affected because he had not the protection of any Protective Krowqui.

“It’s working.” Maintaining his meticulous surveillance from above, Naguk witnessed Gnihzur’s body shrivelling at a rapid pace. “You’re doing great Kairo. Keep it up. Just a little bit further and they will be done for.”

Looking on, Nylon observed, “Kairo’s ability is really terrifying. It sucks the moisture from the surrounding air and targeted matter force. I wouldn’t want to be his enemy.”

“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!” Below ground, Gnihzur was almost dried out completely. He came closer and closer to resembling a moistless husk!

“Gnihzur hold onto me. I’ll get you to safety.” Kwaserah had to be careful as she embraced Gnihzur so as to not break his shrivelled limbs that were now likened to a twig. Having him safely in her grasp she began rousing her white Krowqui Circles around her right hand’s fingertips.

“White Lotus Triple Palm Strike!” Kwaserah tapped the earth above her 3 times. A white beam was being released upward that didn’t escape the meticulous gaze of Naguk’s Aechos.

“Hmm, this is…?” Noticing what was about to hit them, Naguk hurriedly warned the others as he started flying away. “Kairo and Nylon get away from there now!”

Naguk and Nylon were the first to flee to a safe distance. Kairo couldn’t flee immediately due to the restriction of his corrosive technique which required careful deactivation. The vertical white light burst through the earth directly before him. Seconds later, it detonated with a brilliant white lotus explosion that consumed Kairo completely.

“NOOOO! Kairo!” Naguk screamed in shock when he witnessed his comrade getting blasted at point-blank range.

“Hm, what is that over there?” Rankede coupled with some other fledgling from the other side of the battlefield became aware of the noticeable white lotus explosion that was still kicking up a major storm. Its residue even destroyed a portion of Crokan’s Earth Dome.

“The hell…?” Crokan was startled to discover his rocky fortress crumbling to pieces all of a sudden. This allowed his opponent to act.

“Now is my chance!” Zepar rushed Crokan directly. “Bloody Scythe Dissection!”

“Kyaaah!” Crokan received several slashes to his midriff. He instantly collapsed on the ground spewing insane amounts of blood.

“Crokan!” Ulkio was made aware of his brother’s demise by his loud screams. He hurriedly flew to where he was, abandoning his fight against Jizel.

“Stay still bro. I’ll patch you up… huh?” Ulkio noticed Jizel executing a fierce kick toward his head.

“No, you don’t!” Crokan use the last of his Krowqui to create a spur of dust which hampered the speed of Jizel’s kick. This allowed Ulkio to evade to a safe distance with his brother.

“Tsk!” Jizel was pissed that she missed the chance to sever Ulkio’s head from his body. She and Zepar came together to observe Crokan being held in a semi-standing position by Ulkio.

“You managed to dodge at that distance? I’m impressed.”

“Huh?”

Kairo’s corpse fell directly between them. Jizel and Zepar were both shocked to see this. “Kairo was defeated? Who could have been capable of putting him in this sorry-ass state?”

“That explosion earlier must have been the cause.” Suggested Jizel as she looked over in the fading white lotus blast direction.

Soon as the smokescreen was cleared, the root of the conspicuous white lotus explosion became visible to all the onlookers. Kwaserah was hovering with a shrivelled Gnihzur in her arms. This wasn’t the most surprising factor, oh no. What caught everyone’s attention were the valuable ribbons dangling from Gnihzur’s dried up corpse.

“My ribbons! When did they…?” Crokan directed his alerted gaze towards the crater where he had hidden the vulture’s corpse in his Stone Prison. “They’re gone!”

“Those are mine!” The most ruthless of them all also took notice of it. Rankede told his minions, “Everyone attack those 2! They stole my ribbons!”

Rankede and Pyro were the first pair to dash ahead, followed by Giamond and Tammoy. Wruu also ignored the monstrous worm entity that was coming after him and shot ahead. Sex9 caught up with him briefly.

On the other side of the arena, Jizel and Zepar flew away.

“Wait you…! Cough! Cough!” Trying to talk, Crokan spat out a mouthful of blood.

Ulkio said to him, “Bro you’re injured. You should get some rest and let me handle this.”

Crokan would have none of it. “Out of my way! I don’t have time to be injured. Now let’s go!” Crokan and Ulkio began flying toward Kwaserah’s location.

“I’ll make her pay for what she did to Kairo!” Naguk and Nylon rushed her also.

All of the greedy students were closing in a Kwaserah’s proximity in a circular formation. Gnihzur saw it all and told her, “Kwaserah this doesn’t look so good for us. You were right about leaving the ribbons.”

“Yeah, I know.” Kwaserah steadied her wings, watching as the surrounding gang began executing their attacks in unison.

“Aechos Lock On!” Naguk locked onto Kwaserah with his visual prowess while conjuring a spinning wind blade that would be sure to hit its target with the assistance of his Aechos Vision.

Simultaneously, Nylon released the purple ball of yarn from his back. “Thread Gate Open!” Multiple threads began stitching into his stubby constitution rapidly. In only a matter of seconds, his entire body was reconstructed into a monstrous smooth-skinned humanoid baby that possessed myriads of arcane markings across its body.

“Krowqui, Bacteria!” Jizel created a large Krowqui Circle that was shooting out liquid orbs being propelled by their unique flagella.

“Bloody Scythe Dissection!” Zepar held nothing back in his horrific slash release.

“Spatial Shifting!” Rankede used his Spectus Vision to temporarily shift Kwaserah’s equilibrium. Furthermore, he lashed out with powerful blasts from his Air Palms.

“Krowqui, Parasitic Womb!” Pyro spat out multiple monstrous flesh-eating worms that he had on a visible leash.

“Spatial Coquette!” Wruu trapped Kwaserah and Gnihzur within a transparent barrier that allowed attacks to pass through but not outside. Afterwards, Sex9 started tossing numerous Light Grenades inside.

“Krowqui Buffalo Aura!” Giamond released his signature attack followed by Tammoy’s Death Spiral ability.

“Krowqui Booster!” Ulkio charged up Crokan’s depleted energies; giving him the strength he needed to create his Golem Arms!

“Huh…?” Kwaserah became frustrated by the numerous attacks that were shortly executed with her and Gnihzur being the main targets. Only a matter of seconds remained before the fated collision.

“Tsk, this is one big cluster pluck. Evasion is impossible and I can’t fend off all of their combined attacks while protecting Gnihzur. There is only one thing left that I can do…” Kwaserah pondered for a millisecond. “Mother I’m sorry but I…”

The multiple executed attacks which surrounded Kwaserah exploded on impact. The explosions they created were so destructive that they caused everyone nearby to be blasted away. When the shockwaves subsided, they regained their balance, moreover, directed their sight to the centre of the anomaly.

“That bitch is dead for sure.”

“Wait, what is that I see behind the smoke.”

“A strange hovering silhouette?”

“But that is impossible. Noting is supposed to survive that blast. Even a high ranking Amazon-Warrior wouldn’t be able to escape unscathed. Are you sure that silhouette isn’t but our reflections?”

“That assumption is quite foolish.” Said Rankede sounding condescending. “They are no radiant celestial body within my Spatial Imaging. That is why it is so dark in here.”

“Then what are we looking at?”

“Allow me to clear the smoky obstacle.” Saying this, Naguk used his Aechos to swipe away the fuming smokescreen surrounding the bizarre silhouette’s location. “What is she?”

Everyone was now staring fixedly at Kwaserah who was hovering unscathed by their combined assault. What drove them to the precipice of astonishment was her new transformed state. No longer did she resemble a crow fledgling but rather an evolved butterfly of variegated colours. Her 2 pairs of lush broad wings poised at her back were flapping with calm strokes of hubris. With every sway, they exuded a variety of glowing dust particles that illuminated the environment.

Kwaserah still had the shrivelled Gnihzur in her embrace. Looking down at him with teary eyes, a sparkly droplet fell onto his face. This particular droplet wasn’t so simple. Seconds after coming into contact with her unnatural tears, Gnihzur’s dried constitution started regaining moisture as well as lustre.

“Her teardrops are regenerating him?” Rankede was shocked by what he was witnessing. He decided to act while Kwaserah’s focus was busy tuned into Gnihzur’s recovery. “I don’t care about her transformation, those ribbons are still mine!”

Rankede was about to dash ahead when Kwaserah noticed him and released a powerful surge of Krowqui that completely blasted him away along with his Spatial Imagining Barrier.

“Huh?” Everyone was startled by this unexpected occurrence, including the Guild Masters who had their eyes fixated on the broadcasting screens.

“That child’s peculiar transformation… She belongs to that renowned family.”