Chapter 68: Natural Talent?

Zishan felt his own Mana push farther into the Griffin’s Taming connection than before. He still had nowhere near enough control to steal her, but the resistance was no longer completely shutting him out.

The Captain looked down at him sharply.

Zishan met his gaze and smiled.

The man’s face had reached a level of frustration that Zishan usually only saw from people who had spent too much time talking to him.

"You are a Soldier!"

Zishan frowned. "I know!"

"Then what the hell are you?!"

Zishan almost answered before realizing that he had no reasonable explanation for that. After a few seconds, he looked back at the Captain. "Natural talent?"

The man’s expression became so unpleasant that Zishan decided the answer had probably made things worse.

The Griffin descended again.

This time, the Captain stopped trying to bombard him from above and directed his mount straight toward the ground, probably intending to use the creature’s physical strength before Zishan could interfere with the Taming connection any further.

The Griffin began descending toward him, but Gravitic Anchor did not stop pressing downward just because she was no longer fighting it. Zishan increased the Mana feeding the Skill, and what had started as a controlled dive began accelerating faster than the Captain intended.

By the time he realized what Zishan was doing, more Mana was already pouring through their connection as he ordered the Griffin to spread her wings before they reached the ground.

She obeyed, forcing her wings open against the pressure, but Gravity continued dragging her lower.

Wind exploded beneath both wings as she fought to stop the descent, tearing loose debris from the ground and throwing several broken pieces of wood across the station. She managed to avoid crashing, but her claws passed close enough to the ground that one struck the top of a damaged barricade and ripped half of it away.

Several Olmost soldiers scattered from beneath the Griffin, but Zishan had already moved out of her path. By the time she forced herself back into the air, the Captain was twisting around in the saddle to find him.

Zishan stood farther behind them with one hand still raised, maintaining Gravitic Anchor while the Captain stared at him with increasingly obvious frustration.

’Yeah. You’re really starting to hate me.’

Zishan then noticed how much Mana was now moving through the Taming connection. The Captain was pouring far more into the Griffin than before just to keep her stable against Gravity while maintaining control over her movements.

It made his recently gained Ember Malediction Skill more interesting.

Zishan started gathering Fire Mana while watching for an opening to place Ember Malediction directly on the Captain.

The Captain saw the Fire Mana and seemed to reach the end of whatever patience he had left. "Kill him!"

The Griffin screamed and turned toward Zishan again.

’Okay. Definitely hates me.’

Far across the battlefield, Elinox Holmes felt the distant presence move for the first time.

Her opponent attacked during the brief change in her attention, forcing her to redirect the incoming Mana with Gravity before shifting away on Wind. Their battle had continued long enough for both sides of the western field to be covered in deep fractures, craters, and sections of ground that had been compressed beneath repeated gravitational pressure.

Elinox had spent most of that time controlling how much Mana she used.

The High General in front of her was strong enough that defeating him carelessly would cost more than she wanted to spend, especially when another presence had remained behind the enemy formation from the beginning of the battle. She had sensed enough from that direction to know the person waiting there possessed more Mana than she did.

Now, that person was moving.

Elinox could no longer justify letting the current fight continue.

Every exchange consumed Mana she might need several minutes from now, and if the person waiting behind the army intended to let this High General exhaust her before entering the battlefield, then extending the fight would only make their plan easier.

The enemy High General attacked again.

His weapon carried a dense concentration of Mana as he crossed the ruined ground, and Elinox recognized the approach from several earlier exchanges. He changed the angle before reaching her, likely expecting the Gravity she had used against the same movement before.

Elinox allowed him to adjust while Water Mana spread around her as a thin mist and Light entered it, distorting her position enough that his weapon passed through the space where he expected her shoulder to be.

Wind carried her several steps to his side before Gravity pressed against his weapon arm, and when his muscles resisted the first increase, Lightning gathered along her sword.

He managed to turn in time for their weapons to collide, breaking another section of ground beneath them, but Elinox had no intention of continuing the exchange.

The Water Mana still suspended around him condensed against his arm and shoulder as Light flashed through it, disrupting his vision while Gravity shifted to his lower body and ruined his footing. Before he could pull himself free, Wind compressed along the edge of Elinox’s sword and Lightning gathered behind it as she drove the attack through the opening, throwing him across the field.

He struck the ground hard enough to carve a trench through the soil, but Elinox was already following before his body stopped moving. Gravity pressed across the area where he landed, forcing him deeper into the damaged ground as he attempted to gather Mana for another Skill.

His resistance lasted several seconds.

The pressure increased.

One of his knees struck the ground when he tried to rise, and the Mana forming around his body scattered when Lightning crossed the Water still clinging to his armor.

Elinox lowered her sword toward him.

The High General looked up while breathing heavily, his weapon lying several meters away after the last collision. "You could have done that earlier."

Elinox maintained the gravitational pressure until the enemy High General could no longer force himself back up.

"I had another fight to prepare for."

His expression changed at the implication, but Elinox had already turned away before he could ask what she meant.

The presence behind the enemy army had stopped hiding itself.

Mana spread across that distant section of the battlefield with enough pressure that several nearby soldiers moved away without being ordered. The formation opened gradually as someone walked through it, and Elinox narrowed her eyes toward the woman approaching from behind the enemy lines.

She wore the insignia of another High General of the Kingdom of Degenerates.

Her Level was 1,730.