In the sky, the blood-red blade sliced through the air as it descended downwards like a blade of execution. A flurry of dust and smoke flew behind.
Ashlyn opened her eyes as one of the seven runic seals broke off. Blue streams of light covered her black suit while her emerald eyes radiated blue currents of energy.
Some distance away from her, Amir and others had their hearts filled with dread. They believed the mission was easy for they only have to face lizards and collect the herbs.
But now, out of nowhere, without any warning, a foreign power was attacking them. They neither knew the identity of the attacker or the reason.
Amir, Joel, and Nellie experienced piercing pain in their very soul as the blade swept forward. They were not the target, and yet their blood veins started ripping apart. Blood gurgled out of their bodies like streams of water.
Ashlyn gripped the discs in her hands and leaped hundreds of meters in the air just as the blade was about to slice her, missing the attack by hair’s breadth.
The might of the blade was terrifying as it landed on the ground. A hundred feet wide ravine appeared from the slash, splitting the ground into almost two.
The blood-red blade remained intact, its corners emanating heart-wrenching wails like ghosts.
In the air, Ashlyn threw the discs towards the blade. The discs slid vertically down, emanating a dreadful force.
A screeching sound followed blue sparks as the discs flew downwards. Blue ripples coursed ahead as the discs rushed at the blade.
BANG
Terrifying energy waves swept outwards as the discs struck at the hundred-meter-long blade. Two powerful forces collided in the air, one emanating a blood-chilling power while the another releasing a soul-cutting power.
Under the shocked eyes of everyone in the area, the discs penetrated through the blade. Compared to the length & width of the blade, the discs were negligible in dimensions.
Yet as the discs pierced through the blade, the energy from the blue ripples coursed through the blade, slicing it into two.
From the broken pieces of the blade, blood dripped out like a fountain, transforming the ground into crimson.
"She destroyed that blade?" Nellie was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.
He didn’t think Ashyln was this powerful to slice a blade whose very presence made their blood flow turn chaotic.
"Seems so," Amir muttered, shocked and also slightly worried.
He has accepted Ashyln in the group as a temporary member for collaboration, but having a member far powerful than the team was dangerous. He set a reminder for himself to plan a way to tackle her along with Kiba.
"We survived!" Joel didn’t care the least bit about Ashyln’s power. He was happy to live after facing such a terrifying ability.
"Don’t celebrate yet," Ashyln’s cold voice cut through the chatter. She landed back on the ground, her eyes filled with coldness as she observed the broken blade.
"Impossible," Joel was terrified.
The blood-red blade was incorporeal now and its broken portion joined together like threads of blood. In no time, the blade was fixed, though its aura was weaker than before.
Ashlyn raised her hands and the discs flew back towards her.
Meanwhile, in the cave.
The adult lizards took advantage of the disturbance to return inside. They didn’t know what was happening but they were happy. They wanted to defeat the invaders who were inside.
At the end of the cave.
Ruby and others were still stuck on the garden, unable to make a single movement. In front of them, there were frail pieces of blood and gore. It was hard to believe this was what remained of Monroe’s corpse.
Behind.
Kiba’s eyes were filled with confusion and chaos as he continued to emanate the horrifying force in the air.
He raised his hand in a slicing motion but then he stopped in between. Outside, the blade was slashing towards Ashyln but stopped, following Kiba’s motion.
Ashlyn was startled. She didn’t think much and used the opportunity to destroy the blade again.
"Ugh, stop messing with my mind," Kiba clutched his head with both his hands. "You think I don’t understand what you want to achieve by making me protect the reptiles?"
The ’you’ in his address was directed to his own powers. He didn’t know about the existence of the gray particle in his mind.
"I already made it clear...No one gets to decide whether I would kill or protect. That’s a decision mine to make, and mine alone."
The gray particle was bewildered by Kiba’s response. It was sure a killing spree would follow as Kiba would try to protect the lizards.
So how could he overpower his urge despite the chemical reactions in the brain?!
The golden lightning, on the other hand, used the shock state of the gray particle to its own advantage. It transformed into a cocoon and enveloped the gray particle, sealing its power to influence Kiba.
The gray particle seethed in fury, trying to break the golden cocoon.
In the real world, Kiba took a deep breath. His face was soaked with sweat as his urge to protect the beasts faded.
Only he knew how hard it was to kill an urge.
Urges are seductive and they seem like the heart’s desires. The more one wishes to not follow the urge, the stronger the urge becomes.
This was especially true if an urge was powered by emotions.
What Kiba did was remind himself of his own desires. He knew what he wanted.
Claudia has made sure of this the last time he lost control.
He was also more than aware he would never accept Agatha’s unconscious belief of kindness and karma as his own.
When the urge to protect the lizards took over him, he used every bit of his mental will to not given in, though in the process he killed Monroe. Not like he truly cared about Monroe or any other members of the team.
"That monk, I should have tortured him more," Kiba grumbled as he retraced the pressure in the cave.
If there was one person he really wanted to kill countless times, then it was Akshobhya. He blamed Akshobhya for his current situation.
After all, he only started having such situations after Akshobhya used psychic attacks on him.
"No wonder I felt life and death crisis back then," Kiba thought as he sat on the floor.
Months ago, just minutes before Akshobhya attacked him, he has sensed an intense crisis.
While defeating Akshobhya was hard and he has to go outside Earth’s orbit to transfer his powers to Akshobhya through a satellite, he didn’t feel it was life and death crisis.
Yes, his body was in a terrible state and he could barely even move after he defeated Akshobhya, but he was sure that was not what his innate ability warned him about.
Later on, he and Claudia have a long discussion over this but they didn’t reach any fruitful conclusion.
Now, after facing this sudden urge, he understood what exactly his senses were warning him.
The crisis was never about Akshobhya but the damage his mental attack has created through the psychic invasion.
What Kiba didn’t know was that he was only partly right in his assessment. Akshobhya has only given an opportunity to the gray particle to free itself from Cosmic Spark.
The real reason the gray particle could free itself in the first place was Kiba himself.
To be precise, it was the events which he experienced in his life before he got Cosmic Spark.
The events which were filled with pain, anger, hatred, and despair. These events from his slum life were of distant past, but they forever lived in him as memories.
While Kiba was different from Zed in both personality and the life he leads, Zed was still the base for what he was as Kiba.
If not for his life as a slum dweller, he wouldn’t be what he was now. This was what the gray particle used to free itself and then influence him.
"This situation shouldn’t repeat for a long time," Kiba thought as he wiped the sweat from his face.
He was sure his powers wouldn’t be able to influence him now through this unique way of using positive emotions. As for negative emotions, there were the precautions taken by Claudia.
"I just want to enjoy my life...why the hell can’t I just have fun without any complications?" Kiba bitterly mused before shaking his head to clear his thoughts.
He now decided to focus his attention on his real mission instead of wasting time.
"I can’t find the cure for nanites for few weeks but I can collect the herbs I need in the meantime," Kiba thought as he raised his head and looked ahead.
Some distance away, Mina and others finally breathed in relief as the pressure faded. They no longer cared about Rock Essence Herb and dashed out of the garden.
"We have to leave before that force arrives again," Alexia shouted as she saw Kiba. "We have no time to waste."
"That force must be left by the ancestor beast so hurry up before it revives again," Mina said as she offered support to Kiba.
"Oh," Kiba was amused.
They were giving the ancestor of lizards the credit for his actions.
"More lizards are coming," Alexia said as she sensed the presence of adult lizards.
"Damn," Ruby complained of hardship.
She noticed even Kiba was soaking with sweat so she was sure this was a severe crisis. The others were also exhausted after facing the pressure from before.
Just then, around ten adult lizards came in sight. They opened their mouths and looked at the humans with fury.
"We are going to die," Alexia’s eyes were filled with tears.
As the newly arrived lizards moved towards them, the young lizards and two adult lizards rushed out of their hiding spot.
"Grrr..." The two adult lizard communicated something to the other adult lizards.
The newly arrived lizard’s eyes were filled with fear as they listened to their fellow members. They then thought about what transpired outwards, and they were terrified.
The lizards no longer rushed towards the humans, or to be precise, towards the golden-haired man.
"What’s going on?" Ruby was bewildered.
"Now is not the time to contemplate," Mina spoke out loudly.
"Ah...yes," Ruby nodded.
Soon, they rushed out of the cave, using every bit of strength in their bodies.
----------
An hour later.
The entire team including Amir and others were a mile away from the cave. They shared the details of what transpired today.
"We have bad luck," Amir concluded.
"Yeah," Kiba agreed as he rested his back against a tree. Inwardly, he thought otherwise: "Your luck is rather good. If it was bad, you would be my first victim and not Monroe."
As they discussed, Ashlyn was resting some distance away. She was alone, sitting in a grassy field.
Her face was slightly pale with blood dripping down from her lips.
Kiba observed her from distance with a faint smile on his face. As he recalled how she was the first person to ever neutralise his blood blade ability, he couldn’t help but marvel.
"She is different," Kiba mused with a smirk.
The thoughts of getting in her pants were no longer active in his mind. He genuinely wanted to know her better...