"A lycanthrope type, huh…"
The bipedal void creature stood over three meters tall, gazing at the intruders with gleaming red eyes and soft screeches that revealed its dark and razor-sharp teeth.
It was trapped in this damned location for who knew how long and had come to terms with it. Seeing two intruders in its home made the void creature feral.
This space the creature called home would have appeared dark to a normal person's eyes. However, as powerful hunters with awakened senses, this place was more impressive than it sounded.
The vast amounts of different magical energies mixed in with void energy made the space appear like a blend of many colours with red, blue and yellow being the most abundant.
"You two are on your own." Alex suddenly said. "I made myself invisible, so the creature has no idea I'm here."
"You don't say…" Ross snicked as he floated away from Julia. "Julia, you should go the other way so we cut it off from the sides."
The Knight princess did as she was told and moved slowly in the other direction. The void creature kept its feral eyes on the intruders, its dark aura growing by the second.
Though Ross and Julia were no longer affected by void energy, the aura emitted by the creature still weighed heavily on their shoulders, causing their movements to feel slightly sluggish.
'Such a heavy presence…' Ross thought with a deep frown. 'That's a Class S for you…'
SCREECH…!
Suddenly, the void creature let out an ear-splitting screech that rippled across the space. The waves slammed into Ross and Julia like a raging storm, pushing them back and forcing the two to shield their faces.
"Incoming…!"
Ross yelled as he withdrew his greatsword and positioned the flat side vertically towards himself and the incoming attack.
A split second later, a deadly red beam — the size of a barrel — slammed into the sword with a deafening boom, blasting the redhead back for several million kilometres.
"Ugh…!"
Ross groaned under the weight of the attack, feeling his bones creak every so often. The strike didn't stay on him for too long as it cut through the void and towards Julia.
The Knight princess was luckier than Ross as she had enough time to prepare for the attack. Julia backed away while condensing several gigantic ice walls in her path with a thickness of more than 60 meters.
As soon she condensed her fifth wall, the beaming strike tore through the first wall with the ease of a bullet tearing through cardboard — it was no match.
"Shit!"
Julia cursed with wide eyes as the last wall she condensed cracked and gave in to the beam. The beam tore through it like it did the others and blazed towards her.
Fortunately for her, she began shifting out of the way before the beam reached her. Even then, the remnant power from the beam left her armour blazing hot.
"You can't afford to hold back with that creature."
Alex's voice resounded in their ears. They knew he was right as that attack had taken them by surprise even though they kept an eye on the creature.
Just when they were deciding to attack, the void creature opened its muzzle, gathering a dense fiery red beam before firing it at Ross and Julia.
All that happened in a flash.
Alex's warning didn't even come to an end when the creature made its second move. It took off and went straight for Julia, its gleaming dark claws simmering with dark essence.
"Tch!"
Julia wasn't about to be outdone. She ignited more than half her mana, boosting her physical strength, speed and reflexes beyond her current limits, and bolted for the creature.
The void creature snarled in a way that made it sound like a sneer. With its right claw, it took a swipe at Julia once it was close enough.
Space trembled along with the surrounding energies as three distinct spatial claw attacks blazed through the void and towards Julia.
In response, the Knight princess swung her sword in an attempt the parry the spatial attacks. Unfortunately for her, the power of her swing was not strong enough.
"Ah!"
Julia screamed as the force of the swipe pushed her back. She didn't even have time to recompose herself when the creature appeared at her side, taking another swipe at her.
"Over here, wolfy!"
Ross appeared in a sea of blue flames, swiftly manoeuvring around Julia and into the creature's path. Had he not taken his manastorm form, putting in more power than Julia did, he might not have made it in time.
None of them were counting on Alex for help. This was their fight — they were here for the experience and chance to ascend to a higher realm. They could not depend on external help.
Ross performed a sweeping arc strike with both hands, his flaming sword cutting through the surrounding energies and towards the creature's claw.
BOOM…!
Their clash resulted in a thunderous explosion that sent Ross and Julia flying across space with groans. The void creature was barely flung backwards, recovering faster than its preys.
Without delay, the void creature spun around as it gathered another concentrated beam of red energy and fired it at the two hunters.
"Watch out!"
Ross reacted quickly, pushing Julia out of the way as the beam zoomed past them. The redhead gritted his teeth, igniting more of his mana to push past his speed limits.
Before Ross could stabilize himself after escaping the beam attack, he noticed the void creature streak towards him — almost instantaneously.
'Fast!'
Left with no choice, the redhead had to ignite all his mana, noticing how his mana began depleting at a much faster rate. But Ross wasn't in a situation to worry about that now.
With another swing of its claw, the creature aimed to maim the redhead from the left waist to the right shoulder.
As the claw made its way to the waist, a sudden and intense wave of cold energy washed over the void creature, instantly freezing the creature solid.
It bought Ross more than enough time to get out of the way — or so should have been the result of that ice wave.
Ross was already in the motion of backing off and bringing his sword up in an attempt to block the space-quivering strike when the cold energy hit the creature.
BOOM!
The ice block shattered just moments after it solidified, leaving Julia and Ross flabbergasted. The redhead's eyes widened in horror as he watched the claw continue its trajectory towards his waist.
"You may have strength that puts you in the S-Class category, but there's still a realm difference." Alex's voice echoed once more. "It will take twice as much energy as a normal Class S to defeat the creature.
"You better stop holding back."