Lord Of Beasts

While Kaela had been fighting a battle that shook the very foundation of the gate, elsewhere, Darius was flying.

Or at least, it looked like he was.

In reality, he was bouncing, launching, and redirecting himself through the air using Liora’s constructs, each movement chained together with an explosive precision that lived up to his name as the Explosive Spear.

"Left!" Liora called out, her voice sharp and focused.

A platform of hardened light formed beneath Darius’s feet mid-air just as he descended, and the moment his boots touched it, it shattered outward from the force of his step, propelling him forward like a bullet.

He twisted his body, spear drawn back, and thrust forward with everything he had.

The giant A Rank Black Wasp darted to the side.

It moved like a streak of darkness, its speed unnatural, its presence suffocating. Its massive stinger carved through the space where Darius had been a fraction of a second later, the air itself hissing as if it had been sliced apart.

"Too slow," Darius muttered through gritted teeth.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

His body was already failing him.

The injury he had thought healed was flaring up again, sharp pain stabbing through his chest with every movement, every breath, every exertion of force.

Still, he did not stop, nor could he afford to.

"Again!" he shouted.

Liora did not hesitate.

Three platforms appeared in rapid succession, each one angled differently, creating a pathway through the air. Darius bounced from one to the next, each step accelerating him further, his momentum building into something monstrous.

He roared as he thrust his spear forward once more, this time aiming directly for the wasp’s core.

The impact never came.

The Black Wasp vanished, moving so fast that even his enhanced senses barely caught it.

A blur of motion, followed by a sharp, piercing sound.

"Darius!"

Liora’s voice snapped him out of it.

A barrier slammed into place just in time, the wasp’s stinger crashing into it.

Crack!

It fractured instantly, spiderweb cracks spreading across its surface before it decayed instantly, becoming black mist.

The barrier hardly blocked it; the force still carried through.

Darius was sent flying backwards, his body tumbling through the air before he slammed onto another hastily formed platform.

He coughed.

Blood splattered onto the surface beneath him.

"We’re not even scratching it," he said, his voice low.

Liora remained silent for a moment.

Her eyes never left the beast, always ready to produce another construct to protect her B Rank companion or herself.

They were at a standstill.

Liora was very skilled and was managing to keep both herself and Darius away from the Black Wasp’s lethal stinger, but they also hadn’t been able to damage it. And that was frightening because they had yet to see most of what the A Rank Beast was capable of.

’We can’t win.’

The Barrier Bastion was realistic

From the outside, it looked like Darius was leading the fight, constantly attacking, constantly pressuring the Black Wasp. But in truth, Liora was carrying everything: defence, repositioning, and every moment of survival.

Without her, Darius would have died within seconds.

And yet, even with all of that, they were only wasting their energy and had yet to land a significant strike. Even if the A Rank Beast stood there, Darius would struggle to inflict serious damage, and she would fare even worse.

The beast hovered there now, its wings vibrating at a frequency that made the air tremble, its body angled slightly as if observing them, studying its prey. Wasps, unlike beetles and other flies, hunted other insects, and this one was intrigued by the creatures who had abilities unlike anything it had seen before.

It was unnerving to say the least, but it helped Liora to come up with a solution.

"Why are we even fighting this thing?" she questioned aloud.

She had tried to rise to the occasion and live up to being an A Rank and prove that she belonged among such powerful Titled.

But this wasn’t her kind of fight, or how she won.

’I’m not the Riot Valkyrie or the Blood Demon; I’m me,’ she reminded herself.

Her eyes sharpened, making up her mind.

"Darius," she called out.

He looked at her, confused.

"Get over here. Now."

There was no hesitation in her tone and no room for argument or questions.

He moved.

Barely dodging another high-speed strike from the wasp, he launched himself toward her, landing hard beside her as she began focusing deeply.

Her mana surged.

But she didn’t form constructs for attack or defence.

Instead, the space ahead of them shimmered as two figures suddenly appeared out of thin air on the floating island across from them. They were identical to Darius and Liora, and were dancing around to draw the attention of the beast.

At the same time, a translucent dome formed around them, bending light, distorting presence, erasing them from the battlefield entirely. It was very similar to the barrier she had formed around the stadium in which the UFC had taken place.

’An Aegis Architect has no limit but their own mind,’ she repeated internally.

It was a mantra that helped hone her control of her ability, and it seemed as though her plan was working.

The Black Wasp reacted instantly.

It shot forward.

Its speed reached a terrifying level as it aimed directly for the island, with their reflection taunting it. But this time, out of both confusion and anger, it attacked more seriously, spinning like a tornado and striking directly with its stinger.

BOOOM!

The stinger pierced straight through like a hot knife through butter, and it was so powerful that the entire island shattered.

Everything was obliterated in a single attack.

Darius stared in awe.

"So that thing wasn’t even trying before?"

If it had used that level of power from the start, they definitely wouldn’t have lasted as long as they had. But unlike what Liora was hoping, it wasn’t convinced that it had won after taking out the reflections she had created.

’I should’ve known.’

The wasp hovered for a moment, its wings buzzing louder now as it scanned the area. It was searching desperately with its compound eyes, which had exceptional motion tracking, and was how it was so perceptive.

Inside the concealment barrier, both Liora and Darius held their breath.

Even though no sound could escape, even though they were hidden, the tension was still suffocating.

Naturally so.

All it would take was for the beast to attack the original island they were on, and it was over for them, despite them being hidden.

Seconds passed.

Then more.

And finally, the Black Wasp seemingly lost interest and buzzed away.

As soon as it did, Darius collapsed onto the ground, sucking in a deep breath of air.

"We should have just done that from the start," he groaned.

Liora let out a quiet laugh.

Relief flooded through her, though it was quickly replaced by exhaustion.

"That... wasn’t cheap," she admitted.

Her mana reserves had taken a massive hit.

And for what?

All they had managed to do was pathetically hide from the beast without even so much as hurting it.

But at least they were alive, and there was no point dwelling on it.

She sat down immediately, closing her eyes as she began recovering what she could, with Darius doing the same.

For now, they were safe.

But the same couldn’t be said for the others...