章 11: A Moving Calamity
Grrr!
The Celas glared at Rhizen, slowly inching forward as the corruption within its body continued to build up, becoming potent enough to melt through the Celestial Armours of the Society Members and turn them into an Aberrant almost instantly.
Those at Stage 7 and above were able to last a few seconds against it.
Only Rhizen could withstand it for extended durations. This was because the Mutated Beast forming his Celestial Armour had six horns, the highest among the lot. The Celestial Armour was one of the hardest among his abilities to upgrade.
The rest of the Society Members, even those at Stage 7 and 8 only had the Celestial Armour of the three-horned variant.
Roar!
The Celas suddenly roared as the muscles on its body bulged in response, condensing a terrifying amount of corruption between its horns. It stabilised its body, swerving its head as instead of Rhizen, it aimed at the safety zone.
"This turd!" Rhizen glared in anger, understanding that it wished to force him into defending against the attack. After all, the dome wouldn't withstand this attack. So, if he were to evade the attack, his entire team would be wiped out.
"Fine! Have it your way!" He grunted, riling up his Nacre as he activated an ability.
Apocalyptic Arts—Static Force (V)!
Static Force worked by absorbing all the kinetic energy within the range of this ability before erecting a transparent platform. After that, the moment anything moving comes into contact with it, it would discharge all the absorbed kinetic energy, resulting in enough force to shatter most forms of matter.
And depending on the amount of kinetic energy it absorbed, its emissive power varied.
It was what he used to destroy the bird-type Aberrant from before. But, Static Force had many disadvantages, despite its sheer power.
It was the fact that anyone could trigger it, including the caster. Secondly, it could not be moved after a spot had been fixed. There were other disadvantages too. But its power outweighed the disadvantages. After all, if used well, it resulted in the strongest attack.
The more chaotic the place, the stronger its power.
Rhizen didn't use it as a defensive barrier though, targeting the lower jaw of the Celas, creating a tiny, transparent platform there.
He suddenly condensed a scorpion tail, activating two Apocalyptic Arts one after another, unleashing a hail of spikes onto one side of the Celas' face.
Apocalyptic Arts—Death Stinger (VIII)!
Apocalyptic Arts—Spike Frenzy (VIII)!
The scorpion tail aimed and shot out spikes like a machine gun. Condensed into each spike was potent venom that was capable of melting through all organic matter, resulting in a puddle of blood.
The spikes all slammed into the side of the Celas' face, singeing it in pain, causing it to jerk its head in reflex.
Roar!
The Celas roared in pain as its head slammed into the transparent barrier, resulting in all the stored kinetic energy blasting off into its lower jaw, twisting his neck upwards from the force.
From the time he unleashed the Static Force to when it discharged all the energy, only a second had passed. And hence, the Celas—that was gearing up for a massive attack—hadn't noticed the Aberrants standing behind it turning still for a moment.
Right as the energy condensed between its horns was about to be fired, the force from the transparent tile impacted it, sending its head facing upwards, resulting in the beam it fired veering off course, barely scraping by the edge of the safety zone's barrier.
Crackle!
The impacted region's barrier vaporised, creating a hole through which the corruption gushed in. The Tower of Purification rapidly whirred in response, mending the damage while absorbing the corruption, retaining the purity of the safe zone.
"Aaah!"
"Retreat towards the tower!" The Society Members shouted as they unleashed a variety of abilities to combat the corruption that streamed into the safety zone, stalling it while the Tower of Purification did its job.
In the meantime, the Horned Humans rushed towards the Tower of Purification, huddling in the buildings close by. The strength of the corruption surpassed what they could handle. So, if they were to come into contact with it, they would turn into an Aberrant instantly.
Hence, they retreated to safety.
Grrr!
The Celas stared at Rhizen, focusing on him as it let out a guttural sound, slowly causing its muscles to relax before tightening them up instantly, erupting with a frightening force, rushing at him.
Bang!
A transparent film formed before its toes, ejecting enough force to disrupt its balance, causing it to collapse to the ground and slide for tens of metres due to the momentum.
Another transparent film appeared before its face, making contact before it stopped sliding, the resultant force sending its head up, straining its neck.
Rhizen rushed at it, suddenly going on all fours as he transformed into a cat, causing his agility to spike as his figure flashed across the route. Its only difference from a regular cat was its two-metre-long body and a scorpion tail that was poised up.
The stinger faced the Celas, unleashing a hail of spikes, each brimming with deadly venom that began to corrode the flesh. But, the Celas had a tough physique, not to mention an armour that covered its body like a beetle, making it hard to deal any significant damage.
So, Rhizen had no other choice but to gradually stack up the damage. But in contrast, one solid hit from it would render him incapacitated.
Meowrrr!
The cat evaded a swipe from the Celas, using its superior agility to jump onto its back before plunging the stinger into the armour, causing the area to begin melting immediately.
Tsssch!
The cat groaned in pain as it leapt from its back, for its paws showed signs of corroding from the contact.
The back muscles of the Celas wriggled as a fleshly tentacle rushed out of the melted armour, intending to impact the cat that was in the air.
In this position, it didn't have any other means to evade. But in the fraction of a second, the cat transformed into a housefly, swerving around the fleshly tentacle before transforming into a cat once again, using the scorpion tail to riddle the Celas with more injuries.
His usual abilities weren't enough to win against this foe. And hence, Rhizen changed tactics, unleashing attacks that complemented the Bad Luck that he would be unleashing later in the fight.
Among the various forms of Luck that he could wield, Bad Luck was the weakest. But, since he obtained permission to only use it, Rhizen was worried about the state of his world.
'But, there's not much I can achieve from here.' He thought, condensing a pair of wings as the feathers shot out, revolving around the cat as a means to distract the Celas from aiming perfectly.
Using them as the cover, the cat constantly dodged the attacks while the Celas' attacks mostly fell onto the feathers.
Grrr!
The Celas observed that Rhizen was pretty tricky to deal with, suddenly spiking with corruption as the muscles on its body convulsed, ejected out as they transformed into flying creatures.
These creatures were similar to a housefly in appearance but had gaping maws, flying at terrifying speeds as they opened their maws and unleashed a beam of corruption.
Meorrr!
The cat screeched in reflex, barely evading the beams as the number of attacks on it constantly increased in number. It condensed the pair of wings once again, using the feathers as a means of defence while continuing to riddle the Celas with injuries.
Kuuooong!
Suddenly, when the housefly-like creatures swarmed toward the cat, Rhizen transformed into one of his Mutated Beasts—the All-Devouring Whale!
The Whale opened its mouth, unleashing a terrifying suction force that resulted in all the housefly-like creatures being sucked into it, rapidly digested to be turned into Nacre, replenishing his reserves.
The Celas seemed to have been waiting for this opportunity as it brimmed with a lot of power, ejecting a spiked tail that pierced through the Whale, shattering the Celestial Armour protecting it.
Rhizen coughed at the injury, feeling a burning sensation as the corruption invaded his body, rushing towards his Origin Space in order to taint his Nacre.
He wasn't going to take it lying down as the Whale suddenly shat out a murky mass, one that curved in the air, carried by the Homing Feathers as it landed on the Celas' face, causing it to scream in response and thrash on the ground.
Tens of thousands of Homing Feathers slammed into the tail, exploding nonstop before they severed it, allowing the Whale to free itself and take off to the air.
The part of the tail stuck in its body slowly seeped into it before the muscles regenerated. The tail was rapidly dissolved and converted into Nacre, same for all the corruption it brought forth.
Without a constant stream of corruption invading him, Rhizen was able to turn the cut-off portions into his supplement.
But, it seemed the Celas too was capable of the same as it opened its mouth and unleashed a terrifying suction force, swallowing all the Homing Feathers, melting them using its corruption that grew in strength by tainting the Nacre and digesting it.
The poop on its face was then eradicated by a myriad of attacks as the Celas finally freed itself. But right at this time, the whale transformed into a human lacking any facial features, resembling a puppet.
But, it spanned a height of hundred metres, a giant with tremendous body weight, one that slammed into it from above, creating a crater upon the stomp, burying it deep within the ground.
'Tch! It's too tough.' Rhizen cursed mentally as the giant lost balance, sent flying when the Celas ejected a burst of energy.
Roar!
It wasn't injured much by the stomp, shaking its body to free itself before rushing towards the safe zone, intending to destroy it first to emotionally impact Rhizen.
The soundwaves unleashed by its roar slammed into the safe zone's barrier, cracking it rapidly.
"Noo!" Felix shouted in alarm, huddled with his family in a protective embrace, shedding tears as he glared at the incoming opponent.
Followed by a burst in sprinting speed, its stomps thundered the ground as the Celas leapt towards the safe zone, slamming into the barrier.
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