The Nest of Lighkerrs was crawling with their young, as Mursayade landed, many of them were simply erased. Immediately afterward, Noyuki and Zao, followed by Vira and Kuzunoha Landed. Vector came down more slowly, surveying the battlefield as a whole.
"Fan out, take as much material as you can, I want at least one pair of claws." Vira was collecting body parts as totems, she had found a much easier time cultivating if the parts were still in tact rather than a stone.
The Raw, cleaved material was much better for the use of cultivation. Anyone could get a spirit stone but there was something lost when the change would happen. Something that couldn't be replicated or condensed that vanished when death occurred. It was likely the soul itself or the flesh containing the will of that soul but for Vira it was just speculation.
Vector did his best to freeze around the area, being back in the Ultinian Heavens was making his abilities fritz out even after the breakthrough. It took time but he was able to manage, there were six exists to the area and none of them knew if the creatures would choose to flee. Even though they somewhat looked like giant razor sharp grasshoppers, they were still the predators of the area and likely territorial. Leaving was probably not something they would be willing to do, protecting the nests was an all in event.
Kuzunoha flared Whitefire in a ring around her and started to pick off the midsize Lighkerrs with her bow. It was pretty to watch but she felt a little left behind, Kuzunoha and Vira both needed to evolve or change to catch up to Vector and now, Noyuki.
Arrows sailed across the battlefield and crisscrossed the fights that were ongoing. Wu Hai watched an arrow pass between his legs and pierce an enemy from below while he was swinging down at the Lighkerr behind it with the Crusher. A great wave of broken ground split and splintered with each strike. The Crystals that were attracting the Lightning were bashed and broken, spread across the battlefield and then 'Chaos' truly began.
From all directions, like it was above, lightning began to descend. It struck everything, rocks, grasses, trees and even the Lighkerr were not immune to their strikes. The stones just provided them with a safe zone when they grew large enough, only then would they attract the surrounding lightning to a single focal point. In their absence, the storm was coming down unrestrained. Wind picked up the shards of crystal and swept them in a circle. The entire zone became alive like the inside of a generator and the force of raw electrical power was building.
Wu Hai went to one side while Noyuki went to the other. Using their bodies, the two of them did their best to absorb all the incoming lightning, though, understandably, they could not contain it entirely.
Vira slashed away at the largest group while Mursayade went directly for the Alpha. Vira launched herself into the air to get past the Lighkerrs and strike from behind. It was a bold move but a stupid one, her jump had caused the Lighkerrs to instinctively leap about while they were fighting and keeping them back became a bigger problem.
Vector had just finished sealing the exit, he yelled, "Why haven't you killed the big one yet!?" There were enough of the Lighkerr offspring in the area to keep busy for a while but the exits on the ground had been cut off by Vector's Ice Walls.
Mursayade shot forward and dove at the belly of the Alpha. She wanted pieces of it, with all four spears crammed into its underbelly, the Lighkerr Alpha have out a shriek and a golden bolt of lightning chained across the storm.
It was coming directly for the creature's back, there was no hope for it to escape having given the call. Mursayade jumped away at her fastest but it was also a bit too late. She was unable to dodge and when she stood up from the soil, her body was perfectly fine.
Mursayade was attracting the lightning to her body, she had been dusted in crystal debris. The Golden chain arched, branching out toward her and hit her hard. It made her drop to her knees and there was smoke all across her body.
It struck again.
Mursayade stabbed at the ground with her body, her eyes felt like they were about to burst from her head and there was a ringing in both of her ears. The whole world seemed to quake in her eyes but she felt no movement.
Vector looked out at the site where the Alpha had been, there was a continual throw of light, it dragged its way across the ground, throwing stone into the air and heading directly for Mursayade. The Beam of Golden lightning was following her, directed from the heavens. It followed and zagged toward the others while it passed, intent on sparing no one.
"The Alpha seems to have called some sort of tribulation, avoid it!" Kuzunoha was forced into the air and blown toward the edges, her arrows had also missed the last few strikes.
The Gravity in the area was getting lighter and the space between bolts became like plasma, burning between Zao and Noyuki.
They were gritting their teeth, bearing down on the pain and working to absorb as much of the energy as possible. When they looked down at the battlefield, there was little that they could do beside continue toward their goal of victory.
"Just say it." Vira grimaced while she flipped around avoiding the sharp blades that came toward her at every turn.
Vector had just been through an ordeal where his life was on the life. When he found out there was a path to power, he couldn't do anything except work towards that goal and through all of his struffle, he was still able to breakthrough. It made the girls a bit upset, they were unwilling to be , behind on anything.
"O ca me to party, not whine about numbers. This is a grind, keep it up and don't get hit." Wu Hai watched Vira chide Vector for a bit, he wanted to laugh but it was enough just to keep himself in the air. "don't mind us, we're just hanging out." It was a joke but Vector still laughed.
The Golden Lightning was still trailing behind Mursayade, it destroyed everything in its path. With her unarmed hand, she drove it into the chest of another Lighkerr, and used the others to kick away, severing the claws from its body while tearing its core from the body. The push was enough escape the blast once more, She put the set of claws away and tucked the core into her robes while rolling away. "Three for one sale?" Mursayade huffed like she was about to fall out, blood came from her mouth and she fell over.
There were still some of the Lighkerr trapped with them inside the storm. The buildup of electrical charge in the swirl of crystal was only being slowed by Zao and Noyuki, the struggle on their faces showed the pain they were in. Wu Hai saw the change in the pace of the battle and decided to end it, he swept all the dust in the air into storage while it passed.
"Why didn't you do that before?" The storm settled and became somewhat mild in comparison to its former fury like someone had let the gas run out.
"I didn't think about it, besides, wasn't it you that wanted to test your might?" Wu Hai looked at the trio, all of them had complex expressions of exhaustion on their faces. "Looks like its time for clean up, don't.." Wu Hai and Noyuki both cringed at the same time and Noyuki fell from the sky.
Kuzunoha saw what has happening and rushed to Wu Hai's side, Vira went to check on Noyuki. "What's going on?"
When Vira touched Noyuki, Wu Hai and Noyuki began to wrap themselves in lightning. It sent Vira and Kuzunoha flying. There was a massive down-flux of electrical energy from the heavens, it slammed into the both of them and a wave, originating from within the both of them came crashing out.
The Trees, the rocks, the body parts and spirit stones all went flying along the blast wave. They both flowed into the air and like magnets, they became locked back to back as energy flowed into them from the storm overhead.
It fed them and their advancement, shock to their nerves was like fire but fire was already a part of them both. The same could be said for lightning but Zao Wu Hai had rarely used it in battle and finding a source for lightning was easier said than done. Shiyan had its mysteries and there were even such places where lightning congregated, however there was nothing like the powers of the Golden Lightning.
As it surrounded them both, Vira frowned. "It was suppose to be my breakthrough." The cocoon was made up of chains of lightning that revolved around and between the two of them. It created a halo effect and an Aurora spread from their bodies. Crystal that was blown away or impacted into the soils began to fly up once again, drawn toward their presence.
"MOVE BACK!" Kuzunoha swept up any loose body parts she could find and flew out of the active zone.
"What's going on?" Vector hadn't seen his own transformation, he watched as Zao and Noyuki were going through a simultaneous breakthrough.
It was absolutely unknown to them what was going on, both of them were in a state of Enlightenment, paired, they shared the exact same experiences. Had both of them absorbed different amounts of energy at their previous moment, perhaps they would not have been quite so fortunate.
Vira and Mursayade watched for a bit but retired to their cabins. Everyone had a lot of treasure or energy to consume, it was a good hunt but they had wiped wiped out the Lighkerr in the area. It was unknown if the species would ever return, caves in the area suggested that they might have more living underground. It was not that much of a leap, the electricity would be discharged into the soils and carry down.
Kuzunoha shook her head, she had to advance. "I'm going to go cultivate, you should go to Mursayade as well. We can't be allowed to fall behind." Kuzunoha spun and spread her wings. Misozi had her backdoor opened and she was ready to load up. "Sorry Misozi, we're sticking around for a while."
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍
An Emergency Council was being held on Earth. The transition into Shiyan's orbit had been a blow that was hard to take for some of the true believers of Earth's latent religions. Bombings had occurred, they had demands.
The First demand each and every time was to meet face to face with the Emperor. Zao Wu Hai had been gone for almost thirty-seven years but it was a matter of security that his whereabouts be kept a secret to those who are not in a position to need to know.
Every week, they blew up another building and the target was always random. It had been nearly two years since the bombings had begun and despite a constant clearing operation, the Espers were unable to track down all of those involved.
In Japan, the citizens had gone through a rough period after the first few bombings. Riots and bombings soon made their way to Japanese soil and news of the Teleportation Steele was already impossible to hide after their brief visit. The Ying Demon Family had responded, an entire contingent of their people, along with Ying Qingchi and Ying Ho led the way.
Qingchi had Gefést and Munju's 'Dragon Share' spare no expense or resource to get her a body she could use. It was a fire elemental body, much like her mothers. When she arrived, there was a great turbulence in the remaining communication channels that existed around the world.
Broadcasts from the projection devices helped announce her arrival, the bombings had already continued for a while when she arrived.
The Terrorist group called themselves 'Hrmm.' It was cryptic at first but once they spoke their rhetoric, it was clear that their cause was a xenophobic one. 'Human Rights Matter Most' had been very outspoken at first but due to a repeated beat down and capture of their people, their voices stopped and the demands began.
Japan was fitted with shields to stop aerial attacks but sabotage was always a possibility. Thankfully, the Ying Demon Region had a lot of support in its backing. More than two hundred buildings had been destroyed since the start of the attacks, two years of terror had left the public with a hard choice. They were being bombed by their own people, because those people thought the Empire was evil or against their God.
To Qingchi, their reasoning made sense, it was diluted, delusional and wrong but still made sense from their prospective.
The world had been kidnapped, stolen from its perch among the stars and planted somewhere else, HRMM wanted to challenge their right to do so but had no means to relay their disapproval. The Emperor had said quite literally that all of them were pets, hamsters trapped behind an invisible shield.
HRMM was a think tank that circulated speculations renouncing Espers, the aliens from Shiyan and all of those who supported their arrival or 'occupation' of Earth. Carving China from the planet, destroying it was a step they couldn't accept. Most of the initial forces that joined with HRMM were the Mercenaries and Soldiers from China's former Military that had been away from the mainland, they had been left as homeless Ronin.