Chapter 15: chapter 15
When Steve and his subordinates turned toward the voice, they saw a muscular tall man accompanied by some other psykers following behind him.
"Who are you?" Steve questioned immediately because he didn't recognize any of these men that were approaching them. Despite being grateful that they saved them, Steve wasn't certain if they were friends or enemies. Therefore, he and his teammates kept their guards up.
"I'm vice-commander Noah of the special elite hunting squad transferred to California." Noah showed his badge to Steve as he introduced himself.
After confirming Noah's identity, Steve and his subordinates instantly saluted him because he was a high-ranking officer compared to them.
"I'm captain Steve of the Psykers Association team A hunting squad." Steve said in a professional demeanor.
"Are you guys okay?" Noah asked in a concerned tone after observing the tattered condition of both Steve and his men.
"Yes sir and we are willing to follow any orders." Steve sharply responded as he didn't want to show any sign of slacking off before a superior officer.
"Relax, you all have already been through hell. My only regret is that we didn't arrive early enough to prevent some casualties." Noah glanced at the dead bodies of the Steve teammates that died in battle.
"It's alright sir, they all died honorably but this was due to my incompetence." Steve's expression dampened as he admitted his faults.
"I have nothing to say about that. You will surely receive disciplinary punishment from our superiors when we return to the headquarters. So take a rest now because you'll be very busy soon."
"I understand sir," Steve said before he slightly bowed and politely refused the offer. "But I'm sorry sir, I can't do that when there are still many beasts to kill. It won't be proper if I let your team alone to do all the work to clean up a mess I caused?"
"Hahahaha.....I see that you're a very prideful man Captain Steve." Noah bursted into a fit of laughter.
"My apologies sir, I honestly didn't mean to....."
Noah raised his hand to stop Steve from saying anything further.
Steve wanted to give an explanation because he thought he had offended Noah with his refusal to comply with his order.
"It's alright, I was only joking and I understand what you meant. You don't need to hide it from me because your auras show that both you and your teammates are exhausted already. However, since you don't want to be idle, you can join my squad to clean up the beast's corpse and core crystals." Noah suggested after considering the situation.
"Yes sir," Steve saluted again. "Sir, what about the rest of the beasts that are still alive?" He asked out of curiosity.
"The vice-guild master will take care of those insects. Besides, you don't want to get in the way when she is in a cranky mood." Noah chuckled as he responded.
There were rumors about the Special Hunting Squad recently created by the New York Psyker Association branch.
It was stated that the squad consisted of psykers that could rival some private guild's hunting team. The leader of this squad was nicknamed "Monster" because of her ruthlessness against beasts during battle.
Several months after the squad's creation, the government's influence soared to a level of authority that other guilds had in the outlands.
Steve was awareofr thesefactst but he still couldn't resist feeling anxious about Noah's decision not to aid the vice-guild master in battling the rest of the beasts.
"Are you sure the captain would be fine on her own?" Steve asked in disbelief.
"Don't worry, those insignificant insects are the ones in danger. Moreover, she wanted to stretch a little bit, so let's just give her space and pick up these valuable crystals." Noah responded nonchalantly as he smiled while watching the mantises being slaughtered.
However, his smile instantly vanished after hearing a loud and defeaning shriek that shooked the entire area.
A mantis that was three times the size of the other mantis suddenly appeared. Its aura was extremely strong and choked all the psykers except Noah and some of the psykers standing behind him.
"This....This is...This...isn't that a King Mantis and an A-rank beast?" Steve pointed to the beast while stuttering.
Steve was flabbergasted because beasts above B-rank were considered a calamity because they were extremely ferocious and rare.
The most dangerous beast he had ever seen was just a B-rank wolf which he killed with the support of his squad.
"Sir, what are you orders? We have to act fast before the situation gets disastrous."
"Calm down, everything is under control. In fact this is actually good, she will get to have some fun."
Once again, Steve was confused by Noah's decision and calmness in the face of such a drastic situation.
Meanwhile, the giant king mantis had its menancing gaze fixed on the commander's figure floating in the air a few distances away.
"So you finally decided to come out of your hiding spot, coward? I was actually thinking it would take me to kill a few more of your kind before I could draw you out." The commander's feminine voice echoed.
The king mantis roared in rage and flew towards the commander at full speed.
"That's it, you crazy bastard, come at me" the commander muttered.
Her hands lit up with flames and she launched a massive fire blast at the incoming mantis charging towards her.
The King Mantis couldn't avoid the attack. There was a thunderous sound as the beast crashed to the ground after the blast impact.
"This is actually getting very boring. Is that all you've got?" The commander continued to mock the king mantis that was still stunned by her attack.
The King Mantis shrieked loudly. It was a monster with high intelligence so it could tell it was being looked down upon.It furiously charged at its opponent again and evaded several first blasts.
The commander swiftly propelled herself upward to avoid the swinging claws aiming to slash her from the sides and launched several ice spears at the mantis as a counterattack.
The mantis reacted quickly and shattered the ice spears while also launching itself to attack his prey mid-air by swinging his claws at her. However, it was blocked by an ice shield that the commander cast in order to defend herself.
The King Mantis repeatedly swung his claw but could not land a single hit on its target until it exhausted itself.
While evading the mantis claw, the commander instantly took advantage of its slower attack and instantly frozen its wings rendering the beast unable to fly.
Boooooooooom!!
Another deafening rumble echoed as the mantle heavily landed on the ground causing a huge crack.
"You're not impressing me at all" The commander yelled as she pursed the falling beast with an ice sword in her hands.
The mantis tried to make another attempt to swing his claws, but they were severed away from its body causing it to roar in agony.
"Pathetic," the commander cursed in a teasing tone. "You might have ruled this region for years with this measly strength. However, it is useless against someone like me."
"You must have thought that you were significant because of your massive size but the truth is that you will always be an insect."
The commander said as she glared at the mantis while floating above it. Her expression was so terrifying that it made her look like a grim reaper.
The commander's eyes lit up blue and her body was surrounded by lightening sparks. "Today, I'll remind you and the rest of your kind that you have the lowest rank on the food chain."
The king mantis' eyes opened widely in shock as it watched its impending death approaching it, but it could not move because the commander's bloodlust was totally suffocating.
It was always the predator in this region. However, today the mantis was experiencing what it felt like to be a prey as it lay on the ground helplessly.
She launched several lightning bolts that struck every other mantis that the other psykers were battling.
Every single one of them was instantly destroyed. The only people surprised by the attack were Steve and his men. While Noah and the team he led were totally ignorant about it.
As for the king mantis she gathered a huge ball of lightning energy before launching it at the mantis. The impact caused a massive explosion that killed the beast instantly.
Everyone's had their eyes set on the lady that was floating towards them with different facial expressions and when she finally landed before them those that were seeing her for the first time were in total disbelief at the who they were looking at.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
AUTHOR NOTE
Hello guys,
I really appreciate you lovely people reading my book and I hope you enjoyed it. Please do try out my other book too and I'm sure that you'll love it.
In addition, your support is crucial to this book's success. So please vote with your Power Stones and Golden Tickets. Your comments and reviews are greatly appreciated too.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone