Chapter 65: There is No Ground in the Sky

She didn’t know why someone that powerful had remained behind the enemy lines while another High General fought her, and until she understood the reason, spending everything she had against the opponent in front of her would be reckless.

The Griffin attacked the station again.

Elinox’s hand tightened around her weapon.

She could intervene.

But doing so meant splitting more of her attention away from the High General in front of her while someone stronger was still waiting somewhere behind him.

Her voice entered Zishan’s mind. ’The Griffin has a Captain riding her.’

’Yeah, I noticed.’

’Do not try anything stupid.’

Zishan was already running toward the station when Elinox called his name again.

’What?’

’Why are you running toward it?’ she asked.

Zishan frowned as he continued forward. ’Because the enemy’s clearly destroying the station!’

Elinox remained silent for a moment and decided not to argue with him. Until she could deal with the threat in front of her, or one of the high-ranking officers below became free enough to intervene, she would have to leave the Griffin and that enemy captain to Zishan.

’Wait for us. Just try to hold them back a little longer.’

Zishan just nodded his head and continued to run.

The battlefield no longer offered him much worth chasing compared with the problem tearing through the station behind him. He changed direction completely and activated Thunderwake.

Lightning Mana flooded his nerves and muscles.

His next step drove him forward hard enough that the ground cracked beneath his boot, while a thin electrical wake remained behind him. Zishan pushed the Skill farther, letting the acceleration build through his legs before activating Rift Steps.

The distance ahead folded into a short violent burst.

He crossed several meters at once, landed, drove Thunderwake through his body again, and followed it with another Rift Step while the momentum from his previous burst was still carrying him forward.

The combination was far smoother than he had expected, and the sudden burst of speed almost caught him off guard.

’Shit... that’s fast.’

[The Host is advised to remember physical strain.]

’I know!’

His calves already felt like they were being punished for his enthusiasm, but that wasn’t enough to stop him.

He crossed the battlefield toward the station while keeping one eye on the Griffin circling above it.

Fighting her in the air was out of the question.

Wind Affinity didn’t magically give him the ability to fly, and none of his Skills could solve that problem. Rift Steps could move him over short distances, but using it repeatedly without solid footing beneath him sounded like an excellent way to discover how falling from the sky felt.

Thunderwake was even worse.

The Skill relied heavily on acceleration through his body and movement across something he could push against.

There was technically no ground in the sky. ’So going up there is fucking stupid.’

[An accurate assessment.]

He ignored the System and kept thinking.

Wildfire Requiem wasn’t the answer. There were only two meaningful targets above him, and using an area-of-effect Skill against a Griffin circling over their own station would create far more problems than it solved.

Ember Malediction could work against the Captain if Zishan could place it accurately.

Stormwing Rend could reach them.

His thoughts slowed.

’Stormwing Rend.’

The first Skill he had ever received specifically because of this Griffin.

He remembered standing outside the medical station at Level 10 and watching her release a crescent of compressed Wind Mana from her wings. Perfected Glimpse had taught him how she did it, and Zishan had thrown the same Skill back at her moments later.

Back then, one good hit had forced her backward.

He was Level 75 now.

Zishan’s eyes narrowed as another thought joined the first.

The Captain was maintaining a Taming connection.

He had dealt with one of those before.

Larper’s Ridgefang Hounds had belonged to someone else too, right up until Beast King’s Authority started tearing his control away from them.

Zishan did not need to overpower the Captain completely.

He only needed to interfere.

If he forced the man to pour more Mana into maintaining the Griffin’s connection, Ember Malediction could punish that circulation. If the bond weakened even for a few seconds, Zishan could send Stormwing Rend directly across one of the Griffin’s wings while she was adjusting to the disruption.

His steps slowed as the entire idea assembled itself inside his head. ’Wait.’

A smile began forming.

’I don’t have to fight them in the sky.’

The Griffin screamed above the station.

Zishan raised his head. ’I just have to make them come down.’

He adjusted his course, searching for the best position beneath the Griffin’s next pass, when a wall of Mana crashed into the ground in front of him and forced him to stop. Dust swept across his boots as someone stepped through it, and Zishan’s smile disappeared the moment he recognized the uniform.

The enemy Major who had tried to reach him earlier had broken away from the fighting and crossed enough of the battlefield to intercept him before he reached the station.

Blood ran down one side of the man’s face from his earlier confrontation, while the weapon in his hand carried enough Mana to make Zishan’s skin tighten.

The Major stared at him. "You burned my soldiers."

Zishan’s expression tightened. Behind the man, the Highland Griffin swept across the western station again while the Captain on her back gathered more Mana for another attack.

Zishan exhaled slowly. ’Of course. I couldn’t just reach the station without somebody getting in the way.’

[DING!]

A green panel opened across his vision.

[EMERGENCY QUEST]

[Break the Aerial Assault]

[Primary Objective: Ground the Highland Griffin.]

[Secondary Objective: Defeat or disable the enemy Beast Tamer.]

[Additional Threat Detected: Enemy Major.]

[Survive.]

Zishan stared at the final line before another section appeared beneath it.

[QUEST REWARDS]

Zishan’s eyes widened as he read through the rewards.

Then, the notification he had been waiting for appeared.

[PRECEDENCE AVAILABLE]

[Claim Rewards Before Completion?]

[YES / NO]

Zishan looked from the Major standing in front of him to the Highland Griffin circling above the station.

His attention returned to the rewards. ’Now, we’re fucking talking.’