"Come!", Xing Cai tightened her stance as she tucked the shield, effectively covering most of her body as she floated in the air.
The Drakel Champion rushed towards Xing Cai at an unbelievable speed. Xing Cai, however, just remained still, not moving at all from her defensive stance.
The Drakel champion slammed its feet against Xing Cai's shield, this caused a loud explosion to reverberate in the air. Even Viel and Xianying, who were about 2 kilometers away could hear it. Xing Cai was pushed back a dozen of meters before stopping.
Even with the shield absorbing most of the impact, Xing Cai's arms were still a little numb from the Drakel Champion's attack. Her arm shook for a second before calming down. Xing Cai's expression though, has not changed a single bit. She was still carefully staring at the enemy in front of her.
Once again, the drakel champion rushed towards her, still hitting the shield head-on, but this time, it brandished its claws, maybe hoping to split the shield apart. This caused a high-pitched screeching sound which almost made the dust in the air vibrate. The sparks it made was enough to be seen from far away.
Xing Cai was once again pushed back.
"She…she's getting overwhelmed! W-we should retreat!", Xianying was about to radio Xing Cai to tell her to retreat, but Viel tiptoed and reached for her hand to stop her.
"Just watch. She will be fine", Viel said with a very confident tone. Xianying, on the other hand, was not convinced. But what can she do? The hand that she's holding the radio with was being held by Viel. She could not even budge it for an inch.
Xianying watched on as she see Xing Cai being pushed back by the drakel champion. All she could do was block the onslaught of attacks that the golden drakel were releasing.
"B-but, Lord Viel…"
Viel shook his head, "She will be fine. Afterall, she was the one who taught me…"
"Oh no Lord Viel, Master Xing Cai is!"
The drakel champion feinted one of its attacks as it quickly flew to her side, most likely trying to attack her from behind.
However, as it was almost behind Xing Cai, it was suddenly pushed back as a loud explosion resounded in the air.
"She was the one who taught me to always wait for an opening", Viel continued.
"W-what just happened!?", Xianying was confused. It was only a few moments earlier when she thought that Xing Cai was being overwhelmed by the golden drakel. But now, the drakel was suddenly blown away without her knowing why. There were slight cracks showing itself on the drakel's torso.
Xianying gulped in shock. A golden drakel's carapace was impenetrable via normal means. That is why their anti-drakel guns focused focused more on emitting heat rather than impact, effectively melting the drakel's insides.
The happenings were too fast for someone like Xianying to see, even while using her binoculars, but Viel saw everything.
Before the drakel champion can completely attack Xing Cai from behind, Xing Cai rotated her whole body, using it as a leverage as she smashed the edge of her shield in full force towards the flying drakel.
"See? I told you.", Viel put up a smug expression as he released Xianying's hand.
Xianying nodded. She was now convinced that Xing Cai has a chance of winning against the Drakel Champion. Good for her, but Xianying was still trapped inside this mysterious dome, along with hundreds of thousands of drakels that want to kill her.
But for some reason though, the drakels really were not attacking the two of them. They just remained in the air, quietly flying and observing them.
Xianying looked at Viel, who was still holding her gun. It seemed that whatever attack Viel did with her gun, it scared the drakels enough to refrain them from attacking. Speaking of her gun…
"C-can you give me my gun back, Lord Viel?", Xianying said as she felt the chills on her body.
"O-oh, of course."
Viel handed the gun back to Xianying. Xianying hurriedly placed the gun on her chest, summoning her black armor once again.
She looked at the horde of drakels, it seems that even without Viel holding the gun, they were still wary of him.
The situation with Xing Cai and the Drakel Champion was the same. The golden drakel was now wary of Xing Cai as it looked at its broken carapace.
The drakel champion released a loud clicking noise as it flew higher in the air at an amazing speed.
Xing Cai did not let the Drakel Champion out of her sight. She stared at it as it flew to the sky. Xianying, show was watching from afar, was confused.
Why did she let the golden drakel have the high ground? Shouldn't she have followed it when it flew above her?
"Eh? Aren't they both in the air? Does it matter who is above or who is below?", Viel, who heard her whispering, commented on the side.
"It-", Xianying was unable to retort, as she heard a loud sound coming from the direction of the battle.
She saw as the drakel champion rotated itself as it rushed towards Xing Cai, as if a drill that's determined to pierce through Xing Cai's shield.
Once again, sparks flew out from Xing Cai's shield and the drakel's claws making contact. The sparks were almost blinding, but Xing Cai's eyes were still wide open.
The Drakel Champion seemed like it had no intention on stopping, as it has been almost a few seconds and it was still rotating, trying to drill through Xing Cai's shield. Xing Cai's arms were about to go numb, she tried to pierce the rotating drakel with her blade, but it easily got deflected by the drakel's hard carapace.
After a while, the shield started to get hot. Xing Cai could no longer hold the shield as she shouted.
"You're starting to piss me off!", she bellowed as she let go of the shield, and at the same time, she kicked the lower part of the shield, flipping it in the air. This caused the rotating drakel to lose it balance.
"Hhmm… this fight is making me dizzy. Is this how fights in the air usually go?", Viel said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"N…no, normal people like me usually can't fly, Lord Viel."
"O-ooh look, Miss Xianying! Now it's sister Xing Cai that's spinning!"
Xing Cai grabbed the still spinning shield in the air and used its force to fuel her attack. She rotated 5 more times before slamming the edge of her shield to the uncomposed drakel champion. A loud crack resounded as a portion of Xing Cai's shield dug through the drakel's carapace.
The drakel champion shrieked as it felt pain for the first time. However, this was a mistake. Xing Cai took this chance to hit the still embedded shield with her blade, allowing it to dig deeper into the drakel's flesh.
The drakel champion shrieked even louder. But this time, it did not forget to retreat and remove the shield in its torso.
This time, Xing Cai chased the wounded drakel in the air, but it seems it was adamant on not letting Xing Cai catch her.
"Tch.", Xing Cai stopped her chase. In turn, the drakel champion also stopped flying away. Any chasing on Xing Cai's part will only be a waste of time and effort as the drakel was definitely faster than her in the air. "Just wait until we get to the ground. You won't even last a second"
Xing Cai said as she gathered her breathe. She once again switched back to her stance, waiting for the drakel's attack.
The drakel champion, however, seemed to no longer have any intention of attacking as it stared at the large gap on its torso. Its gel-like blood oozing out of it. The two remained like this for a minute.
The silence was broken when a series of claps resounded from a few distance away from them.
"W-wow! That was pretty cool, Sister Xing Cai! You're the coolest!", even though Viel has met Xing Cai for a couple of months now, this was the first time he was actually seeing Xing Cai fight with her weapon. When they sparred together, it was only with their fists, so seeing Xing Cai's accuracy in fighting easily amazed him.
[Lu Yi expresses disagreement.]
"Hehe. Don't worry, Miss Lu Yi. You're also pretty cool"
[Lu Yi expresses agreement]
The Drakel Champion looked towards the direction of the voice. It finally noticed the two bystanders that were watching from afar.
As soon as it became interested with the individuals, it also did not fail to notice Xing Cai's sudden alertness. It seems that her opponent knew these two individuals, it thought.
And without hesitation, it flapped its wings with force and rushed towards Viel and Xianying.
"O-oh no!", Xianying immediately fired her gun towards the approaching golden drakel. However, it was as if the drakel champion did not even feel the force of the gun as its rushed was unhindered.
"N-no!", seeing as her attacks were futile. Her first instinct was to cover Viel and crouch down, completely shielding him from the approaching drakel champion.
She gritted her teeth as she waited for the drakel's attack. She just hoped that her armor was enough to stop the drakel's claws from piercing through her, so as to not hit the little child she was hugging. It did not matter whether or not Viel was stronger than her. Her instinct as a soldier kicked in before she could even think of such things.
Her whole body shook as she readied herself for the pain. However, there was nothing. She arbitrary tapped her whole body to check if there were any wholes in it, but nothing. Her whole body was intact.
She then checked at Viel to see if he was okay, but she almost backed away when she saw Viel's face.
She noticed it before, but Viel's pupils really were pitched black. She didn't really take interest on it before, as Viel's happy demeanor somewhat made it inconspicuous. But now, it was all she could see. Viel's cold stare amplified it. The jolly boy she was accustomed to was nowhere to be found.
After regaining her composure, she then turned her head towards the drakel champion.
"E—eek!"
Xianying once again jumped back in surprise as the drakel champion was almost a few meters away from them. She was about to fire her gun but then she noticed that the drakel champion was not moving from its spot, it was just flapping its wings.
The drakel champion was stopped in its tracks. Instinct. Once again instinct took over.
Every fiber in its body was telling it to stop. That approaching any farther would lead to its death. It shivered as it looked towards the little human that was staring at it. What it presumed to be a weak babe turned out to be a giant maw. Waiting for it to approach so it can eat it whole.
And then, the little babe smiled.
Flee.
This was the only thing that was on the drakel champion's mind. It quickly regained itself and turned its whole body to fly away.
However, it could not do so, as as soon as it turned around, Xing Cai was already waiting for it.
Xing Cai slammed her shield downwards, plummeting the drakel champion towards the ground. The drakel champion shrieked as it hit heavily hit the ground in full force.
As if clinging to life, it reached out its hand towards the direction of the nest, but the only thing that welcomed it was the edge of Xing Cai's shield as she dived straight from the air and through its arm, complete severing it from its body.
The drakel champion once again shrieked in pain as it tried to wriggle away.
Xing Cai stepped on the golden drakel'ss stomach so it could not crawl away. She then grabbed the drakel's severed arm and stick its claws towards the drakel's cracked carapace. The drakel champion continued to shriek in pain.
"I told you, you won't even last a minute on the ground", Xing Cai said as she slammed her shield down like a hammer, completely allowing the drakel's own claws to pierce through it.
And finally, the drakel champion let out its final shriek.
Released from the pains of battle.