"Core Release: Viper Pit!" Valerie muttered.
In an instant, Seth’s attacks shattered into rubble under the sheer wave of her aura, while Sora was flung violently into a wall, the impact ringing out with a deafening thud. Dust cascaded from the cracked stone as she grit her teeth, forcing herself back onto her feet.
The battlefield twisted into a nightmare. Psionic auras of vipers slithered into existence, their translucent bodies shimmering with venomous light. They weren’t mere illusions, each hiss carried killing intent, each strike lethal. Half of them lashed outward, constantly hunting, while the others coiled around Valerie like an impenetrable fortress, ensuring no enemy could approach without being torn apart.
"Ahhhhhh, just why are you so persistent!" Valerie yelled, her smile curling into irritation. "You can’t beat me! Even with your core releases activated, it won’t work! It’s futile!"
"Tch! This girl is just too powerful," Sora muttered, daggers tight in her grip. Her molten aura flared, but even with teleportation, the vipers lunged to intercept, snapping wherever she reappeared. "We can’t close the distance!"
"Yeah." Seth muttered through clenched teeth, frustration twisting across his face as he reloaded with swift precision. "I’m trying to figure out how we can defeat her."
The odds pressed down on them like a suffocating weight. Despite their advantage in numbers, it was as if they were the ones outmatched. Valerie’s core release filled the battlefield, overwhelming them with serpentine fury. Getting close was suicide, the pit of psionic vipers scattered through the area meant one misstep could cost them a limb, or worse, venom coursing through their veins.
Seth raised his pistols again, unleashing another calculated barrage, but Valerie’s whips cracked and twisted, deflecting each bullet as though they were nothing more than raindrops. Every destructive shot fell useless before her wall of serpents.
And yet, amid the chaos, Sora’s lips curled into a grin. Her molten aura pulsed brighter, as if mirroring the spark of resolve igniting in her mind.
A plan had just slipped into her head.
"Seth, I have a plan," Sora muttered, her molten aura flaring faintly as her eyes locked onto him.
"About time, vice captain. We’re getting cornered here." Seth replied, reloading with a sharp click. His tone was casual, but his stance was tight, he knew how dire the situation was.
"Usually, activating my Phase 2 would’ve been enough to break through," Sora continued, her daggers humming with heat as she spun them once in her grip. "But not this time. That massive pit of hers is hard to deal with. My aura daggers will only get caught up holding off the vipers. If I keep it up, this fight becomes a war of attrition, and sooner or later, one of us will burn out. But....." she smirked faintly, "I’m not alone. Do you understand what I’m saying?"
Seth clicked his tongue, immediately piecing it together. "Yeah, I get it. You’ll keep those vipers busy, tie down her fangs and I charge in, force her into a one on one, close range fight." He exhaled, shaking his head with a grim chuckle. "Easier said than done."
"Can you do it?" Sora asked, her tone steady but her eyes sharp with trust.
"I’d rather not," Seth admitted with a crooked grin, lifting one pistol, pointing it towards Valeri and tightening his grip on the other. "But do we have any other options?"
For a brief moment, the chaos around them blurred into silence. Just a sniper and a dagger wielder, sharing a reckless plan against a monster of a foe.
They both smiled, a mutual spark of confidence flashing between them, and in the next instant, The plan was set in motion.
Sora whispered as she lunged forward into the pit of vipers before them, her voice steady despite the chaos.
"Core Release, Phase 2: Garden of Daggers."
In an instant, a huge surge of crimson aura erupted from her body, flooding the battlefield with pressure. Dozens, no, hundreds of glowing red daggers burst forth, swirling into a storm around her. Each dagger tore through the air with lethal precision, colliding against the writhing psionic vipers. The impact shook the ground with shockwaves, ripples tearing through the wind as violent explosions erupted one after another. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by novèlfire.net
The battlefield became a crimson garden of blades, every strike countering Valerie’s pit of serpents.
Teleporting in rapid bursts, Sora danced among her daggers, a blur of flame and steel. Her movements were sharp and unpredictable, confusing Valerie as she weaved in and out of sight. Still, she refused to relent, her molten aura tearing through wave after wave of vipers.
"Tch! Another trick up your sleeve, huh?" Valerie muttered, irritation cutting through her smirk as her whips lashed in frustration, holding off the unrelenting assault.
But little did she know that while her focus was split, Seth was already on the move. His body shimmered faintly as his cloak of invisibility veiled him, slipping him between the slithering psionic constructs. Silent and precise, he advanced closer and closer to Valerie’s blind spot, weaving through the chaos like an assassin stalking prey under the cover of night.
His pistols glimmered faintly under the crimson light of Sora’s daggers. His breath was steady. His aim was locked.
As Seth closed the gap, his eyes sharpened and he pulled the trigger, two bullets fired at pointblank range, aimed straight for the left side of Valerie’s head.
But her instincts were monstrous. Without hesitation, her whips shot upward like striking serpents, the metal cords intercepting the bullets with a deafening clash. Sparks scattered in the air, her reaction so precise it looked almost practiced.
Still, the plan was working. Step by step, they were forcing Valerie onto the defensive, stripping away her options and constraining her movement.
Seth pressed forward without pause, his pistols unleashing a storm of green aura coated rounds as he moved in close. Valerie countered with equal ferocity, her whips lashing in rapid arcs, each crack splitting the air like thunder. The two clashed in a deadly rhythm, weaving through near misses and deflected strikes, the distance between them collapsing until they stood locked in a furious face to face duel.
Despite holding off Sora’s relentless barrage of crimson daggers while simultaneously fighting Seth, Valerie’s composure never wavered. Her expression was cool, her movements precise, her focus razor sharp. She wasn’t cracking under pressure, she was thriving in it.
She’s terrifying. Seth thought, gritting his teeth as he ducked another whip strike. Even while maintaining her core release to hold off Sora, she’s still looking for an opening, still reading me, waiting for the perfect counter. This isn’t just raw strength, this is experience.
But Seth’s eyes glinted.
But I’m not done yet.
His figure flickered. Then, with a sharp exhale, he vanished completely.
"Tch! You’re annoying!" Valerie snapped, her whips cracking as they tore through the air. "But don’t worry, I’ve already figured it out. You can only cloak yourself when you’re moving. The moment you stop to fire, you reveal yourself. That means all I have to do is wait, then strike the instant you appear."
Her words carried confidence, but her thoughts betrayed her composure.
Still, this is troublesome. He’s unpredictable, too fast. And with that girl locking down my core release on her own, I can’t freely summon my vipers to cover me. The moment I split my focus, he’ll slip through and land a killing shot.
The tempo of the battle escalated. Seth’s movements blurred, his presence vanishing and reappearing with razor precision. Valerie’s sharp instincts kept her alive, but not flawless. A bullet finally grazed her skin, tearing across her arm and drawing a thin, vivid line of blood, the first wound she had suffered since the fight began.
Her calm expression hardened into something colder.
Then Seth struck. In a flash, he appeared right in front of her, pistol aimed directly at her forehead.
"Got you."
The trigger pulled, but Valerie twisted with inhuman reflexes, the bullet slicing past her cheek. In the same breath, her whip lashed out, cracking across Seth’s body and hurling him skyward. His breath left him in a sharp grunt as he spun midair, the force rattling his bones.
But Seth wasn’t done.
Still airborne, he dropped his pistols and materialized his sniper rifle in a desperate maneuver. His core flared as he funneled everything into a single shot, the barrel glowing with compressed energy. A thunderous blast erupted as he fired, the bullet ripping through the air like a comet, shrieking with destructive force.
Valerie’s eyes widened as the massive round closed in, the sheer velocity shaking the battlefield. With both whips she barely caught it, the impact rattling her arms and forcing her to skid back across the broken floor. Sparks and shockwaves ripped outward, dust swirling in violent currents.
When the smoke cleared, Valerie stood upright, arms tense, but smiling.
Across the crater, Seth’s body slammed hard into the wall, the impact burying him deep into the rubble.
Her smirk widened. But not for long. A bullet struck her from behind, piercing straight through his left chest, causing her to drop her whips to the ground.
"Agh!" Valerie muttered.
Seth’s plan was never to land the sniper shot. The blast was a diversion, a brilliant decoy to force Valerie’s entire focus on defending against it. The true strike came from the earlier bullet he had fired, a round long forgotten, looping back like a serpent in the dark.
It slithered through the air at the perfect moment, and before Valerie could react, it punched into her left chest.
Her eyes widened. Blood dripped slowly from the wound, staining her outfit crimson. Yet, even pierced, she remained standing, unyielding, her expression frozen in defiance. But the strike had done its job. The psionic pit of vipers wavered, their forms unraveling, their menace fading as her concentration broke.
Sora seized the moment.
Her crimson aura flared violently as the Garden of Daggers spun into a storm around Valerie. She teleported like a phantom, reappearing directly in front of Valerie, her molten blades drawn back for the killing blow.
"This is the end." she whispered, her voice sharp as steel.
The daggers surged in unison, a scarlet tide closing around Valerie and stabbing her from every direction.
For the first time, the pit of vipers vanished completely.
Valerie did not raise her whips. Or more like she can’t anymore. But despite the damage, she stood still, her aura flickering faintly as the weight of defeat pressed down.
"What are your names?" she asked weakly, her voice carrying an odd mixture of curiosity and respect.
"Sora and Seth," Sora answered, blades unwavering as the crimson light swallowed Valerie’s form.
Valerie’s lips curved into a small, faint smile. Then, silently, she collapsed, her lifeless body falling to the ground.
The tension shattered.
Sora immediately turned, racing toward the rubble where Seth had been buried. Her heart clenched as she dug him out with trembling hands, only for her panic to soften when she saw him lying there, dust covered, battered, but smiling.
"Thanks," Seth muttered, his voice calm despite his wounds. "I couldn’t move. But I’m okay so you can drop that worried face and just help me up."
Sora exhaled in relief, her lips curling into a smile as she reached down to pull him free.
—---------------------
Laon stood face to face with Ren, their auras clashing before the battle even began. Golden light radiated from Laon like, while Ren’s dark violet lightning crackled and writhed like a storm barely contained. The ground beneath them trembled under the sheer weight of their presence.
The air was thick, suffocating, every breath heavy with anticipation. Yet, despite the tension, both men smiled.
For Laon, it was the thrill of facing a worthy opponent. For Ren, it was the hunger to push his limits, to see how far his strength could truly go against someone who stood as a pillar of the enemy’s might.
An unspoken acknowledgment passed between them. Words weren’t necessary. They both understood, the clash ahead wasn’t just about victory, but about testing the very essence of their power.
"Shall we begin?" Laon’s deep voice broke the silence, his golden aura surging like a rising tide.
Ren smirked, his eyes narrowing as the violet arcs danced wildly across his body as he gave a single nod.