Chapter 533: I will save Aeshma, no one can stop me ! [5]
Klein’s blade sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, aiming straight for Aeshma’s nape. The entity, anticipating the movement, twisted with supernatural flexibility; she dodged the thrust by a fraction of a millimeter, so that the katana only grazed a few locks of her dark hair. The weapon’s edge tore through the ash-laden atmosphere. Aeshma, far from being unbalanced by this attack, immediately pivoted on her heel to face her opponents. Her left hand described a wide circular motion, releasing a gravitational wave of such density that the ground, within a five-meter radius, sank under the pressure. The stone slabs shattered into fine dust, leaving behind only a smoking crater.
Under the effect of this crushing force, Kris’s knees flexed dangerously. He planted his spear in the rock, now softened by the intense heat, and let out a guttural roar that tore at his throat. A shell of compressed air, almost solid, rose around him, just resistant enough to keep him standing despite the gravitational wave. For his part, Klein concentrated a discharge of energy under his feet, and the repulsion that followed catapulted him eight meters high. Pivoting in the air, his katana described a perfect arc, and he released a blade of white energy that split space. It crossed Aeshma’s gravitational field, slowed by the resistance, but still fast enough to deeply slash the Antichrist’s forearm. A trickle of blood spurted. Aeshma gave a start; her eyes, like two glowing embers in their sockets of shadow, then flared with pure rage.
In a sudden gesture, Aeshma raised her hand, palm open, and a column of black flames burst from the ground directly beneath Kris. Caught by surprise, he could only partially dodge this eruption; the ensuing explosion hurled him violently backward, his body striking the ground with a dull thud. Despite the impact, he rose instantly, jaws clenched, ignoring the burns that streaked his torso. Around him, rocky spikes instinctively emerged from the ground to absorb part of the shock, a testament to his visceral bond with the earth.
Kris was not one to stop for pain. He planted his feet in the unstable ground and spun his spear between his hands. A circular explosion of fire followed, sweeping the battlefield in a fifteen-meter radius; the small stones liquefied under the heat, and the crater’s surface covered itself with a layer of blackened glass. Aeshma, struck full force, raised her arms to protect her face, but the violence of the impact made her retreat several steps; her heels traced deep furrows in the vitrified ground, and she staggered for a moment under the force of the shock. A growl of frustration then escaped her throat.
Klein did not waste a second. The world slowed around him into a fluid slow motion. He perceived every micro-movement of Aeshma: the tension in her right shoulder, the flexing of her left knee, the clenching of her fingers. He dove at her, his katana vibrating with silver energy. A residual aura detached from his blade, striking from an angle the entity’s defenses had not anticipated. The first thrust pierced her left flank, the second lacerated her right thigh, the third, a feint, deflected her arm as she tried to counter.
Acid blood spurted, staining Klein’s torso. The burn on his skin was sharp, but he paid it no attention and continued his assault.
Aeshma, wounded, struck the ground with her fist. A gravitational shockwave lifted a mass of rocks that shot in every direction. Kris, caught in the path of three of them, made stalagmites spring from the ground. The stone blocks crashed against the rocky spikes, pulverizing them into a rain of gravel. The impact was so violent that Kris was thrown backward, his spear slipping from his hands. He crashed to the ground, the breath knocked out of him, but his fingers dug into the vitrified rock, refusing to let go.
Klein saw Kris fall. His grip on the hilt of his katana tightened. His jaw clenched. The calm he imposed on his emotions shattered. He was caught between two fires: on one side, he wanted to rejoin the other girls, on the other, he wanted to free Aeshma from the Antichrist’s hold. He steadied his ragged breathing. A terrible silence settled, disturbed only by the whistling of his katana as he charged.
He violently drew Aeshma toward him. The force of the pull was such that the entity, surprised, lost her balance, her feet leaving the ground. Klein channeled a massive discharge of aura into his leg and drove a circular kick into her skull. The impact was a dull, sickening sound, a crack that echoed across the battlefield. Aeshma’s neck twisted at an unnatural angle. She was hurled against a heap of collapsed stones, embedding herself in a crash of rock and dust.
A heavy silence fell. Kris rose with difficulty, ribs broken, but his eyes shone with a gleam of hope. Klein, katana still raised, stared at the pile of stones where Aeshma had disappeared.
Then a sharp crack rang out. Aeshma rose slowly, her head tilted strangely. Another crack signaled the resetting of her vertebrae. Her eyes burned with pure rage, her mouth opened in a demonic rictus. The wounds Klein and Kris had inflicted on her bled abundantly, but the entity seemed to draw strength from that very pain. Her smile widened, revealing sharp teeth.
"Admirable," she breathed, her voice resonating like a demonic echo. "You amuse me..."
She raised her arms. A wave of heat of unprecedented magnitude swept forth. The ground melted into a sea of boiling lava, geysers of dark fire rising from all sides. Kris, immobilized by his wounds, saw the wave approaching. He summoned what mana he had left, a weakened barrier that held, wavered, but did not yield.
Klein, in a desperate gesture, placed himself in front of him. A dense, silver layer of aura covered his skin, but the dark flames ate at it, dissolving it layer by layer. He clenched his teeth, eyes bloodshot, refusing to yield. His stance remained solid, his blade still ready, despite the agony.
Kris rose, staggering, and picked up his spear. The dragon tattoo on his shoulder and arm blazed with a scarlet glow so intense that it cast dancing shadows over the entire area. His ash-white hair stood on end, electrified. He opened his mouth and a primal roar escaped from his damaged lungs.
He charged through the flames, spear extended before him, pushing his muscles beyond their limits. His steps made the ground vibrate, each stride pulverizing the vitrified rock. Aeshma tried to stop him with a gravitational wave, but Kris’s raw power crossed the pressure field, his bones cracking under the strain without giving way.
The spear, wrapped in fire energy, sliced through the air with a whistle, straight toward Aeshma’s torso. The entity, eyes wide, raised an arm to parry, but the speed and power of the blow were extraordinary. The impact produced a sonic shock that shattered the surrounding stones. Aeshma was thrown backward, her feet tracing a deep furrow in the scorched ground.
A thin red line appeared on Aeshma’s forearm, cut clean as a surgical incision. Then the blood beaded, before flowing in a thin trickle down her pale skin. Aeshma contemplated her wound with an incredulity that gave way to a strange gleam. She slowly raised her eyes to Kris, and her lips stretched into an unhealthy, almost admiring smile that revealed her canines. "You dare touch me," she articulated in a barely audible voice, a tainted whisper that carried anger.
She raised her hand in a sharp gesture. Immediately, the air around Kris transformed into a solid, merciless mass, an invisible prison that compressed his lungs with growing force. Kris stopped short, his knees flexed under the pressure, and a trickle of blood ran from his parted lips. The dragon tattoo coiled around his arm began to pulse in fits, glowing like a rekindled ember. His veins stood out on his neck, while a hoarse, tearing rattle escaped from his contracted throat.
Yet, instead of collapsing under the intangible grip, Kris firmly planted his spear in the ground to cling to it and maintain his balance. He then drew, in a supreme effort, from the deepest part of his energy core. A chaotic, burning, purely instinctive force poured into his limbs like a released torrent. Under the dominion of this surge, he advanced one step, then another, despite the pain that twisted his muscles. The pressure field that enclosed him began to crack under his feet: luminous fissures, like a spider’s web, streaked the space around him.
Klein watched the scene unfold, his jaw clenched. Kris advanced, shattering the invisible prison of air, luminous cracks spreading around him like a promise of liberation. But Klein knew it wouldn’t be enough. Aeshma, despite her injuries, remained a devastating force, and his anger only fueled her power.
He plunged his katana into the vitrified ground before him. A silence fell, broken only by Kris’s ragged breathing and the crackling of black flames licking the crater’s edges. Klein closed his eyes. He let his aura fade, withdrawing it into his body.