Shanya stood on the grass with her arms and legs outspread like a quadrupedal and wild cat. Her fire tail swayed behind her as the flames around her limbs grew in size, singeing without reluctance.
She growled like a cat and zoomed forward, speeding over the terrain without turning back, agile and flexible.
Notonious braced and clutched the poleaxe's handle. He pressed and wrapped his palms around it tightly and raised it over his head, ready to slam it down.
"What an aggressive little kitten!" he slammed without restraint, assuming he would split Shanya's body in half. However, she lunged, evading the poleaxe as her kindled body flitted behind him.
He couldn't land the strike and dropped his guard, allowing Shanya to slash with her burning claw and burst out a series of fiery slashes formed from her sharp nails.
Notonious's back got caught in fire, cutting deep into his back and burning with enough heat to inscribe marks on his skin. It cost him concentration, opening another opportunity for Shanya to slash with her other claw and shred his skin.
Notonious needed to bear the pain and summon enough strength to swing his poleaxe around, hoping to slash Shanya. She used her nimble limbs to leap in the air and reversed over Notonious' head, slicing with her claw to lacerate his head.
It caused him to percolate as she controlled her movement and landed on the floor, glissading backward.
Shanya functioned like a wild cat, reminding Olishia of Ferris, who perished beforehand. Shanya snarled and tightened her muscles, exerting more and more fire.
She pounced forward and passed on the run in footwork. She brisked forth, lunging from various directions and attacking with fiery attacks as if she slashed a sword numerous times in a few seconds.
She wounded his hooves and ankles, forcing Notonious to tumble to his knees.
A fire wave zipped behind him like a flash through which Shanya emerged and descended to Notonious' back, drilling her claws into his back, impairing him more.
She maneuvered around him and streamed to the front, slapdash, standing on her feet and smiling. The flame trails continued searing from her arms, legs, and rear and gradually reduced its temperature, becoming smaller.
"Remember how you called me a kitten? Well, look at you now, horsey. You're seeping in several spots of your body. You're barely hanging on. I don't think a natural kitten could present such severe injuries."
Shanya closed her lioness eyes and scratched the back of her ear, keeping a typical and unfazed expression. She was confident she won. However, Notonious didn't show symptoms of surrendering and snatched the spear Olishia threw.
He tugged his arm back and tossed it forward at breakneck speed. It whistled through the air, dragging the wind with it. Shanya couldn't notice it since the itchiness prevented her from utilizing her senses.
The second she unfolded her eyes, the spear pierced her in the middle of her chest. It wounded her severely, and blood spouted from that deep wound.
Her eyes trembled in pain as the spear pinned her against the tree's trunk and immobilized her, putting out the flames that smoothly wafted from her body.
Notonious picked up his poleaxe and stood up, irritated and furious. "I'm sure you can survive that wound. Cats do have nine lives, after all. Am I wrong?"
Shanya struggled to breathe, trying to remove the spear stuck in her chest. She couldn't. It was too tight, and the wound forced her to ache badly.
"Time to loot those 366 million bolts you owe me for harming my people and invading my island. It'll be more than enough to fix the damages you've done."
And then it happened.
In the distance, far from Shanya, the wind currents began to form an enormous tornado. It grew into the clouds, darkening the skies as if the night arose.
The raindrops and hail started changing directions, getting blown sideways, and the sudden eruption of the typhoons began to destroy trees, ripping them apart like wooden sticks.
The clouds spiraled, forming an enormous vortex in the sky through which thunder and lightning struck, which hit the ground, setting them ablaze and splintering the solid earth.
A golden light rayed in the middle of the podium in the dead zone, and the towers surrounding it began to shiver after releasing energy waves through the lands above.
Chiaki, beneath the maelstrom, covered her ears as the loud, ear-damaging sound squealed throughout the islands, attracting everyone's attention.
The wind slammed its weight against Chiaki, pushing her rearward as she couldn't bear its might.
These winds were intense, virtually gagging Chiaki, drowning her in the windstorm, and she wasn't alone.
Kou and Aurora observed the unnatural storm near the podium and understood it was nothing like an ordinary typhoon.
It was unnatural and didn't come from the unstable air, but something worse — something divine, a being that lived decades ago, an ancient creature — born from the skies.
Ralphie and the others ran from the thunders that followed them and couldn't stop, or one could get hurt.
But they comprehended the reason for these unorthodox storms.
Tarot gazed at his crewmates, "Guys, I know I'm not the most reliable on the crew, but I need to head in that direction..." He explained, "Before meeting up with you in the city, Chiaki bolted toward the podium, hoping she could stop Hywel from summoning Yerachmiel."
Others listened and waited to see what he had in mind, "I can use my cloud to fly there and assist Chiaki. I know she's tough, but she needs help."
They continued running from the thunders hoping to find a shelter or someone to help them.
Ralphie agreed as Kyora peered in the distance to the celestial tree's top. "Wait, Tarot, let me ride too. I know your cloud can carry two people." Yumiko requested, bewildering Tarot, who became grave and agreed.
"The more, the merrier," He stated and inserted fingers into his mouth and whistled as the cloud sped from the skies and swiftly flew beside them.
Tarot and Yumiko hopped on board and prepared to catch up with Chiaki.
"Be careful, you guys!" Kyora called, ensuring their safety. They agreed. Tarot and Yumiko ascended and flew toward the podium full speed ahead.
It was time for Yerachmiel to awaken and create chaos on the Sanctum Islands.
Everyone was in for a treat.
To be continued...