บท 31: Chapter 31 : Blue-Gemmed Cockatrice

It didn't take long for the scout to calm the attention of the team again. Despite their efforts, the Blue-gemmed Cockatrice had managed to locate them. It was still a few kilometres away, heading in their direction, but to monsters of its size and speed, the distance could be covered in a few dozen seconds.

"We can only afford thirty seconds on this with a max of forty five seconds. Any longer, and chances are high, we'd get spotted by a much stronger creature." Crimson Fang said with a slight frown. Even for him, a Blue-gemmed cockatrice was a hassle unless he utilized his vestige.

The region they were in now was a vast expanse of land that constituted a savanna. Because there weren't many trees to act as obstructions, a battle on a large scale would easily draw attention. Typically, battles with strong, desolate beasts always drew attention.

"What's its power level?" Crimson Fang asked.

Unless one was skilled at it, it was difficult to ascertain the power level of a hyuman face-to-face. The same was even more true for desolate beasts, as their refining system was different from hyumans. As such, equipment for that was made and vehicles like the sare were usually equipped with such technology.

Juán, who manned the cockpit alongside the scout, began to press a few buttons, following which a reading was displayed on a holographic screen before him.

"Peak fourth level." Juán replied at that moment.

"So it's a young one." Crimson Fang nodded as he recalled something.

Usually, the Blue-gemmed Cockatrice were at the fifth level, with the only exception being the immature ones. A Blue-gemmed Cockatrice was one in its adolescent stage, almost at adulthood. It wasn't a problem for the team to handle when compared to an adult version, but the circumstances were still strange. Even in the worst-case scenario, such as starvation, an adolescent Blue-gemmed Cockatrice wouldn't leave the Astranian Forest.

"Anna, Leno, with me." instructed the lady with the blue eyes, the second vice captain of the Autumn's Gate guild.

Leno was the last official member of the team, and just like the scout, he was at the third level of the Apertures Opening stage. Nonetheless, he had a Grade 3 vestige on him. Every official member of the team had at least one Grade 3 vestige, although they were of differing strengths.

With the combination of the female vice captain, who Lucas found out to be named Lisa, Anna and Leno, a fourth level Blue-gemmed Cockatrice should be no problem. Crimson Fang didn't have an issue with the lineup and so gave his silent permission to it.

The trio approached the exit of the sare, and tapped on a badge located on their chest. The badge suddenly expanded and released a material that covered them like armour. The process was alluring to a craftsman like Lucas, no matter how many times he saw it.

The armour had a few strange lines carved on it, and there was a noticeable pattern on their back and chest regions. It was a black mist [1] in colour and had a lot of handy features added to it.

This was a high tech armour unlike anything Lucas had ever seen before. It utilised nanotechnology, which made it portable and efficient. Despite its small size in its dormant state, the material of the armour dense and durable. The weakest edition among the team members could tank a full on hit from a fourth level Apertures Opening stage practitioner and not leave a scratch. Only top freelancers could afford it, as this equipment was expensive as hell. It was no underestimation to say that it cost a dozen years of an average family of four's spending.

"Activating artificial gravity." Juán said as he pressed a few buttons from the cockpit.

In the very next second, Lucas felt a force latch on to him strongly. This force was similar to gravity but much stronger than what he had ever felt before.

"Go." Juán's voice sounded as the exit door opened up.

Whoosh.

Due to the difference in pressure, a vacuum was made, and the oxygen in the sare was quickly sucked outside. Lucas felt a pulling force from the exit, but thanks to the artificial gravity in place, he remained fixed in the spot. Nonetheless, he was quickly losing his oxygen supply and turning pale.

This situation didn't last long, as Lisa and the other two had already jumped off the shuttle and the door was closed back. Oxygen was then pumped in from the reserve tanks, and within just a few seconds, everything was back to normal. The sare also dropped its speed and began to hover not too far away from the departed trio.

On the outside, Lisa, Anna, and Leno were currently skydiving. Suddenly, the stellar matrices on their armour abruptly glowed a dim blue light, and they began to hover in mid air.

A few seconds later, a large azure monster showed up on the horizon. It had two thick legs with claws attached to them. Its wings were like those of a dragon, and its body was like that of a serpent. But one of the most odd features of this monster was its head, which shaped like a rooster's. However, with the size of this monster, its head was much larger than that of a regular rooster and looked vicious. Another odd feature were the pair of fangs hidden behind its beak, making it look both hideous and scary.

On its head was a crown made completely out of a blue gem that looked almost like a sapphire. This was the origin of the cockatrice's name as well as its most valuable part.

"Caw!"

The cockatrice spotted the trio from afar and let out a warning sound, attempting to intimidate the latter into giving up.

Lisa ignored it and said to the duo, "Anna, you and Leno try to take it down as soon as possible. I'll provide cover and prevent it from escaping."

Even though it wasn't recognized for its speed, a Blue-gemmed Cockatrice still wasn't a simple bird. From the start, the trio couldn't fly on their own and depended on their gear to do so, which meant that their top speed was limited to what the armour could reach. This was different and also quite slower than the cockatrice, who depended on its own skill to fly. Since they intended on taking it down quickly to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, they had to prevent the monster from escaping.

Some desolate beasts were very petty and vengeful, so unless one intended to avoid them from the start, it was best to finish them off rather than give the monsters an opportunity to strike back later.

A few seconds later, the cockatrice was now only one hundred metres away. At that moment, Lisa gave the command.

"Now!"