章 55: • Claws, Chaos And Linne's Lamentable Lack Of Powers
The glyph had described the Lysarthian Devourer as the Night Beast.
And it was a fair description. The creature boasted of a sleek and streamlined body covered in scales that shimmered with a dark iridescence. It had a long, sinuous neck and atop it was a head bedecked with rows of trenchant teeth and glowing, predatory eyes.
The jaws, lined with serrate ridges capable of tearing through even Gorgolithian scaled flesh. Massive claws protruded from its muscly limbs, on each of them were deadly talons that glinted menacingly in the crimson sunlight.
And then that tail. It was long, it was strong and it was frightening, ending in a barbed tip.
There was no denying that this beast was created to be a predator.
- ☯ -
"No sudden movements," Spheris cautioned as the beast slowly revealed its entire form.
Cerene did not listen. Stepping forward, she conjured a potent wave of water, manipulating it to a powerful blast that struck the reptile beast just as it was about to pounce.
The impact sent the beast reeling backward, crashing onto the rugged terrain.
"I said no sudden movements!" Spheris chided.
"And since when did you start calling the shots?" Cerene shot back, summoning more water out of her flagon as she waited for the beast to rise. Then she struck it with two more blasts, but those only roused the monster.
He frowned. Why was she acting mad all of a sudden? "You're not still angry about last night, are you?"
She side-eyed him. "This has nothing to do with last night. You're correct about the Devourers being fast, but standing still won't defeat it. It's intelligent smart and very perceptive. If you're still or slow, it gives it enough time to read your behavior and attack accordingly."
The beast slowly regained its footing, shaking away the water from its scales.
"The only way we stand a chance at defeating it is if we are fast enough to prevent it from reading our movements."
Spheris frowned, feeling like an idiot. But in his defense, when he had studied the section on Beasts of The Abyss, he hadn't seen that information about Devourers. All it had told him was that they were ridiculously fast creatures.
Did the glyph release information based on the Bearer's level? If that was the case, then it was extremely unfair!
"Uhm, pals. It's up again!" Linne muttered, hiding safely behind the two Bearers. Talon, knowing what it was meant to do, soared into the sky, keeping a reasonable distance.
The Devourer shook its head, and growled eerily as it refocused its anger at the teenagers. Spheris immediately conjured [Shaded Surge], knowing that the [Blasts] weren't going to help in this occasion.
However, to their surprise, the beast did something... strange. A blackish viscous energy visibly pumped through its scaled body and then gradually materialized to a precise replica of the Devourer standing beside it.
Spheris grimaced.
It did this four more times and the next thing the trio knew, they were facing five Lysarthian Devourers.
"Oh," Cerene spoke. "I forgot to say, Devourers can create clones of themselves as well."
- ☯ -
The five black creatures lurched forward with new malice, changing positions in a sporadic pattern as they attacked. It became impossible to tell which was the real Devourer amidst the fray.
They continued to advance, snapping their jaws in beastly rage.
"The clones are easier to kill." Cerene disclosed. "A strong enough blast will cause them to dissipate."
"That's not necessary," Spheris replied. "It's the fourth one."
She looked at the fourth Devourer as they now neared closer. "How do you know?"
Clenching his fist around his knife, Spheris reconjured the dark energy and it instantly pulsed around his hand, covering the weapon as well. "Its shadow is the only one that's alive."
He activated [Whispering Sprint] and in a noiseless flash, ran towards the real Devourer. He jumped up high and landed with the knife, striking it into the beast's large head.
But looking down, Spheris's eyes widened in shock. The digger knife had only managed to go pass the blackish scales, and it refused to go deeper. Whatever was beneath those scales was even stronger.
The Devourer glared up at him, and then clocked him with a powerful strike of its claw. Spheris spun in the air multiple times but landed agilely as his feet skidded across the harsh ground, forcing him to a stop.
But he barely had time to recuperate. Immediately, one of the beast clones lunged at him.
Obeying his [Intuition] in time, Spheris sidestepped the clone, then back flipped as another dived at him as well.
He let out a breath of realization. It seemed he was starting to get accustomed to the [Umbric Intuition]. It was easier to discern approaching danger, and with his quick reflexes, he could deftly maneuver attacks without being harmed.
'Must be because I am now Adept.' He said in his thoughts. 'I can feel my power at times getting stronger, my body getting lighter, my senses... getting sharper.'
"Spheris!" The sound of his name tore into his thoughts with urgency. Spheris turned around to see the Devourer closing in on Linne, while Cerene was sprawled unconscious on the floor.
What the hell had happened?
In a flash, he [Whispered] to the beast and struck it with a Shaded Fist. But the punch was only strong enough to push it a few feet away from the Abyssian.
"Is Cerene okay?" he asked her.
"She took down two clones but the Devourer echoed her to the rocks."
Spheris turned to her with a stunned expression on his face. "It did what?"
Suddenly, the Devourer's mouth tore open and a loud sound wave of echoes poured through, coming at Spheris.
He quickly grabbed Linne and dove out of the way as the echoes tore through the air and continued deeper into the expanse of the lands behind them.
"That was what hit Cerene?" Spheris asked as Linne quickly rose to her feet, scurrying for cover. He turned to where the Bearer lay to check if she was alright.
A silent breath of relief left him. Cerene was slowly stirring awake, but suddenly, his [Intuition] flared.
He did well to dodge the initial blow, but the second clone's claw strike hit him square on the jaw and then he was speared to hell by the primary Devourer.
Spheris rolled to the floor painfully, his muscles aching as he struggled to his feet.
'The glyph was beyond right. These creatures are fast! So fast that my [Umbric Intuition] can't even warn me of their movements in time, and my reflexes are a complete joke compared to their speed.'
He remembered Merisset's training. The excessively fast holograms. He remembered how angry he had gotten.
'No one is as fast as that! No one!' That was what he had cried in his thoughts.
Facing the Devourer now, he realized how wrong he had been.
When he got up to his feet again to give it another try, the Devourer and its clones read his movements like a book.
Before he had the chance to [Whisper], the beast had already appeared before him, swiping him with its onerous scaled tail.
Spheris found himself flying once again, the pain of the whack burning in his back. But as he was still suffering the impact of the strike, the first clone struck his midsection with a headbutt and then the other slammed into his back with the same move.
Writhing in agony, Spheris collapsed to the ground and sprawled all over the floor, his digger knife lying down some distance away from him.
The Devourer roared angrily and its clones followed while Spheris watched, laying down in pain.
He let out a groan. 'This beast... what does it want? It's not trying to kill me. I would be dead already if it did. It's almost like it doesn't want to kill me. It wants to fight, it wants a challenge.'
The beast growled as it closed in on Spheris.
'Look at it.' He thought, still lying down in pain. 'It's taunting me. It seems insulted by the challenge I've given it so far. Bastard beast!'
It drew nearer.
'I'm curious about one thing though. Devourers only prey at night, is that not true? So why are you out here in open day? Are you lost? Or are you just smart enough to hunt for prey when they think you are away?'
A blast of water struck the Devourer, causing it to stop on its tracks. In irritation, it pivoted as another blast of water hit its scaled body.
It was Cerene. She was finally on her feet, methodically advancing towards Spheris and the beast. She continuously struck water blasts from her flagon at it, which only led to its further annoyance.
"Cerene, duck!" Linne, who had smartly hid behind a rock, yelled.
A soundwave of echoes shot out of the beast's mouth, and even though she managed to dodge the blast, Cerene was swiftly assailed by the two clones and an additional one manufactured by the Devourer in that instant.
In time, she had her hands full with the three Devourer clones.
Satisfied with this, the main Devourer returned its focus to Spheris who was now struggling to get to his feet. It seemed he had chosen his opponent, or his prey, whatever it was that Spheris was to him at that moment.
"Argh!" He groaned, clutching his stomach as he finally regained his footing. Then, with great pain he slowly began to conjure [Shaded Surge].
The beast of course saw this coming and quickly sped to the Bearer.
But Spheris, in that fleeting moment, did something unexpected. He maneuvered a maneuver. A well-timed and perfectly executed plan that he had formulated while he was laying on the ground.
Rather than [Shaded Surge], he activated [Whispering Sprint] and briskly averted the Devourer's attack, appearing in his back with a fist crackling with dark energy.
'It doesn't matter why you're here. I'm going to kill you either way!'
Summoning as much of his Essence as he could, he struck the beast with a mighty blow.
The impact sent the Devourer hurtling backward, and Spheris followed up with two successive bolts of [Shaded Surge], each striking with thunderous force. He observed as the creature crashed to the ground with a resounding thud!
Spheris looked over at Cerene's direction. "Do you need help?"
At that moment, she water blasted one of the clones into dissipation. "Do you?" she replied.
He nodded approvingly. "I can handle this one."
Purposefully, he retrieved his digger knife from the ground, and strode resolutely toward the dazed Devourer while it struggled to find its feet after that unexpected maneuver.
"Alright then. You can monitor my movement all you want, as long as I get to trick you with it." The dark energy instantly pulsed around his fists and enveloped the knife as well.
"You see, my body can tell you one thing while my mind plans to do another. They're not always in harmony."
The beast finally started to find some footing. It emitted a fierce roar, a flash in his eyes showing its avidity. At last, a worthy adversary.
"Hmm. You seem excited." Slowly, the dark energy cloaked Spheris's entire form, his eyes now completely void of color. "Not many are excited for their own death. However..."
He halted, extending his hand forward. "...Approach."
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