Chapter 212: Fourth Rank Aberrant Beast
Chapter 212: Chapter 212: Fourth Rank Aberrant Beast
The bat swarm didn’t halt their assault after snagging a few human blood bags; instead, they dive-bombed with even greater frenzy. Watching the sky darken with silhouettes, the soldiers and Superpower Users in the area felt a chill creep into their hearts. The grim realization set in—they were probably going to die here.
Just then, the air around them suddenly felt entirely drained of moisture. Hundreds of Water Blades materialized out of nowhere, blasting into the sky like anti-aircraft artillery! The hum of the blades slicing through the air pounded against everyone’s eardrums. THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! Hundreds of bats overhead were wiped out in an instant, raining down in a heavy cascade of blood and bodies.
The crowd on the ground stood dumbfounded, completely oblivious to what had just happened.
Nancy Sullivan immediately looked up at Luna Dawson on the vehicle’s roof. Luna gave a slight nod before resuming her sweeping fire with the Gatling gun. Taking advantage of the clearing Luna had carved out of the bat swarm, Lucas Miller dashed over to Cola and bent down, scooping up the dying, scrawny dog.
"Is that Cola? Captain Miller, where’s its owner?"
Nancy’s voice rang out as Tina darted over to Lucas. She sniffed Cola, glanced under the empty military truck, and let out two sharp howls at the sky—as if celebrating Morgan Dean’s demise.
Lucas moved to place the severely bleeding Cola into the passenger seat of the military truck. "He’s gone. But this dog looks like it can still be saved."
Nancy approached. She looked at Cola in Lucas’s arms, then met his resolute gaze with a raised eyebrow. "Planning to take him in?"
Lucas nodded, his tone firm. "Yeah. He might be timid, but he’s loyal."
The survivors inside the truck witnessed the exchange. "Holy shit!" one of them marveled. "The dog got itself a government job! That’s a hundred times better than following that coward."
Another chimed in, "This soldier is a real one. Karma’s a bitch, and its owner got exactly what he deserved!"
Lucas cringed at the title. "Please... don’t call me that..."
Nancy chuckled at the sight of the man and the dog. She turned to Tina. "Give them a hand. Don’t let any bats get close to this spot."
Tina sprang into action, morphing into a black blur that weaved through the swarm. With her speed superpower pushed to the limit, any low-level bats that dared to approach were instantly slaughtered.
Atop the RV, Luna was completely oblivious to Sharon Sloan’s venomous glare. She was solely focused on laying down sweeping fire with her Gatling gun. Bullets poured out like a torrential downpour, sending another cluster of bats crashing down. With precise control, she swept all their Crystal Cores into her spatial dimension.
Kevin Keane guarded the rear of the RV. His purple lightning intertwined with Pinky’s electrical arcs, electrocuting any High-level bats that drew near. His gaze frequently flicked back to Luna, keeping a close eye on her safety.
Suddenly, Luna’s expression grew solemn. "Everyone, brace yourselves!" she shouted. "Two Fourth Rank Aberrant Bats incoming!"
Lynn Shelby took a deep breath and tightened her grip on her ice-element longsword. A fanatical gleam returned to her eyes. "Who cares what they are! If they come, we kill them! The more Crystal Cores, the better!"
"Aaron! Miles!" Kevin yelled. "Here’s your chance! The two of you team up and use one of them for target practice!"
Evan Olson and Wayne Dawson exchanged a glance before calling for Rollo. They grouped together, readying themselves to face the Fourth Rank Aberrant Bats.
The Sunset Squad formed a defensive perimeter around the RV, slaughtering the lesser bats without straying too far. This tight formation ensured that if anyone found themselves in danger, the others could instantly provide backup.
Drawn by the rich aura of superpowers, the Fourth Rank bats hurtled straight toward them, their sights locked onto the RV. This spot boasted the densest pile of bat corpses, radiating an irresistibly sweet and potent superpower energy.
One took the lead, dive-bombing with a massive four-meter wingspan that blotted out the sun. The second, however, vanished into thin air, entirely masking its presence.
Tracking them from a distance, Luna noted that only one was diving. The other had actually turned invisible! Amused by the challenge, she immediately stowed her Gatling gun back into her dimension.
A smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Uncle Kevin! Brother Evan! You guys handle this one! I’m going to take the invisible one and test out my newly upgraded superpower!"
"Be careful!" Kevin couldn’t help but call out.
"Don’t worry!" Luna replied briskly. With a flick of her finger toward the woods, fine threads of Spirit energy instantly fanned out, enveloping the entire area like radar. "Alright, little baby. Once you’re done playing hide-and-seek, come out and die!"
Caught in her web of Spirit threads, the Fourth Rank bat’s energy fluctuations had nowhere to hide.
"Two Fourth Ranks?! We’re dead. We’re totally dead!"
The surrounding survivors turned ashen, and even the soldiers began to panic. The combat prowess of a Fourth Rank Aberrant Beast was on an entirely different level from the lesser bats they had just fought.
Just as panic threatened to take hold, the air within a hundred-meter radius abruptly turned bone-dry. The sweat on the soldiers’ faces vanished instantly, leaving their skin feeling uncomfortably tight.
A split second later, a spiraling staircase of water materialized beneath Luna’s feet. The crystal-clear liquid condensed out of thin air, stretching from the RV’s roof high into the sky, resembling a glowing path to the clouds.
"Holy shit! What kind of god-tier superpower is that?"
Shane Shaw stood frozen, his eyes wide as he stared at the watery staircase.
Nancy leaned on her Miao saber in awe. "Luna’s totally hacked her Water Ability, hasn’t she? She’s literally walking on air!"
Tina paused her slaughter and let out two low growls at the watery steps, clearly bewildered.
"No one steal my kill!"
Luna’s light laughter drifted down as she sprinted up the watery staircase. With a casual wave of her right hand, hundreds of thumb-sized Water Bombs materialized. Spinning at high speeds, they shot out toward the surrounding bats, instantly obliterating an entire wave.
SPLAT, SPLAT, SPLAT! Every bat in her path had its head violently pierced. Even more terrifying, any bat that dared enter a twenty-meter radius around her—whether diving or hovering—had its head spontaneously explode without warning. The corpses tumbled down in a rustling cascade, forming a curtain of black rain.
"Th-that’s insane! She’s indiscriminately wiping out everything within twenty meters?!"
The survivors inside the truck pressed their faces against the windows, exclaiming in hushed, awestruck voices.
Peering through her binoculars, Sharon Sloan’s hands trembled with fury. She turned to William Walsh. "William! I have to get my hands on that Enhancing Liquid!"
She was a Water Ability user too. Whatever Luna could do, she could do!
Seeing its companion being ganged up on by the humans below, and realizing it had been locked onto by Luna, the invisible Fourth Rank bat flew into a rage. From the edge of the woods, it unleashed a deafening roar, sending a piercing sonic wave sweeping across the battlefield.
The nearby soldiers and survivors immediately collapsed, clutching their heads in agony. Blood trickled from their ears and noses as their bodies convulsed with pain.
"So that’s where it is!"
Through their agonized groans, everyone finally understood why Luna had charged straight toward the woods.
With a twitch of her fingertips, Luna’s Spirit threads rapidly condensed into two translucent earmuffs that snapped over her ears, instantly blocking out the sonic attack.
Her watery staircase extended simultaneously as she shot toward the woods like a loose arrow. Dozens of Water Bombs, encased in shimmering bubbles, materialized in her hands. Without a moment’s hesitation, she hurled them straight at the invisible beast’s location.
"SCREEEEE!"
Forced out of stealth, the bat flared its massive wings, revealing a body covered in pitch-black scales. As a Fourth Rank Aberrant Beast, its scales were as hard as reinforced alloy; ordinary gunfire wouldn’t even leave a scratch.