From behind them they see the village elder walking towards them. He slowly takes each step. A heavy pressure exudes from his body as he throws away the cane and straightens his back. Elder Karei's body snaps and groans as he undergoes a transformation the closer he gets to the party. Soon, he's 7 feet tall with a heavily toned body. Though he still has silver hair, it's long and luxurious.
"Now for a snack. It's been so long since I've had Traveler energy." He smiles, displaying rows of fangs. He cracks his neck and knuckles to warm up.
[Defend the gate for five minutes from Elder Karei, the Chief Aberrant!]
"I'm surprised you are able to stand," Karei muses as his murky gray energy fully unfolds upon them. However, that's all they can do. It takes enormous effort for those who were previously sitting to rise and adjust their weapons. It is as if gravity has doubled while they are wading into a swamp. He scans over them like he did once before. "Oh! Such a high sense of Resonance and yet none of you are even Iron tier? I'm almost sorry I have to kill you but I need to open the gate."
Everyone is confused at what he says and from the message prompt. There had been nothing in this chamber besides the Sacred Beasts? Before they can even attempt to open their mouths, he vanishes from their sight. Both Aelix and Asuka are hurled through the air before crashing against the back wall and disappearing from view.
Karei's figure reappears directly in front Pakeeja and before anyone can react, he grabs their face before a pulse of gray light explodes from his palm. Pakeeja screams in agony before they're also thrown away. Not even looking, he catches Hanit's several arrows with his left and a larger darker ball shot from Izel's musket. He sneers about to laugh but both items explode in a burst of water and flame. A deep fog envelopes the entire area as the pressure lessens a small amount.
"Circle around Lavender and Melody! Now." Tara realizes that he's going after the Novelists first. She dashes forward, still able to track him with her aural sense. If she had to give him a level he was as strong as her teacher Beiling, if not stronger. She swings both her daggers with all her might under this dense pressure, her entire body and weapons glowing white with aural energy as she uses her strongest skills.
A hand thrusts from the fog at her neck with a blinding speed. Tara gasps for breath as she expects his fingers to wrap around her throat.
Instead, the hand is stopped several inches from her. A battle ready Wolyung and Oorun have an iron grip on his wrist and arm respectively, standing on opposite sides with their weapons pointed at his throat.
"We suggest you back down, creature." Wolyung's usually calm voice rumbles with rage. Her normally cyan hair is sapphire with icy turquoise eyes.
"Don't tell him that sister, otherwise I won't have a reason to kill him." Oorun snarls, her hair a brilliant orange with glaring red eyes. All this time Tara hadn't called on them because she felt she was strong enough. Them appearing on their own clearly shows Tara how serious this is.
"You cultivated two Thane level Spirits? Just who are you children...?" Karei questions, taken aback as he can see them. Even though he's caught, his hand still decides to charge the mysterious gray energy at Tara. Oorun releases her grip to spin and wrap her body around Tara from the blow as Wolyung strikes. In the instant they do, he uses whatever movement technique he knows to vanish once again.
Wolyung follows after him the moment he's gone and they begin a clash. Oorun unwraps herself to check on Tara who's unharmed.
"Go to your friends and smash this on the ground. We'll do what we can, so try to recover as much as possible." It is a black and white marble. Oorun doesn't say anything more before joining the fight. Tara moves to her friends who followed her orders encircling Izel and Hanit. Even her eyes when using Pinpoint can't follow the trading of blows, only bursts of energy here and there.
"What's going on?" Izel asks, annoyed at being unable to get a clear shot with her scope now that the Chief Aberrant is moving so fast. Tara decides to stay silent before smashing the pill shaped item. A ripple of black and white Essence occurs causing the pressure on them to evaporate.
"Hanit, your Divine Blessing can help us recover right?" Tara asks worriedly. Though she knows her guardians don't have a physical form, it concerns her that they might be hurt. Hanit hasn't taken her eyes off where Asuka disappeared and doesn't even as she nods.
"Divine Blessing: Healing Depths." Hanit whispers as nocks her bow, her eyes glinting a cobalt blue. Aquamarine divine runes wrap around her body as her clothes begin to flutter from an unseen wind. She releases an arrow made of pure Essence as it's fired towards Asuka. It shatters mid flight and splinters off into needles of light that shoot off towards everyone in their party.
Immediately everyone finds their Vitality, Spirit, and Soul Realm half filled! For them, with the Twin Sphere energy as well, they can be considered fully recovered! All of their Skills are also completely refreshed. Both their physical and mental fatigue is entirely cleared away--no, it felt like both of them had improved somewhat! As if in a daze Tara's shown a peek of the next hall of the ancient memories despite not being anywhere close to Vein Plating.
"NO!" Elder Karei roars, his entire body engulfed with gray energy as he sends Wolyung and Oorun tumbling away. Despite not having physical bodies they are looking weary and wounded from the fight. "Enough distractions! Die!"
He immediately teleports in front of Tara who, even though she's at full strength, is not fast enough to react. Her friends can't launch their Skills at this proximity. Oorun and Wolyung immediately disappear at the sight of him grabbing her face to try and protect Tara but it's too late. A feeling of cold flame licks her mind, her heart--
And her soul. This mistake will cost him his life.
Elder Karei was once the fierce general of his people. Known for his ability to steal all types of energy regardless of the being or element. He could then use that to grow his own power. In doing so innumerable times he gained the ability to read his prey's energy signals to a high degree. It was why he understood easily how these children could withstand his mental pressure slightly and why he went for the Novelists first.
Though as soon as he comes in contact with Tara's soul, the energy he spreads throughout her body instead gathers at an untold pace towards her soul port. His entire consciousness is pulled against his will as if a star were meeting black hole.
His towering form is now standing on a hundred stairway ruin with nothing but a starry sky as the backdrop. Before him is a much smaller, barely 5 feet, woman with indigo skin and swirling white voids in place of eyes. A sinister smile graced her lips.
"You damn aberrations can't simply leave things be. This one is MINE."
Karei's physical body lets out an ear shattering scream as he rapidly distances himself from Tara. Fear is etched in his features as he stops in the center of the chamber, hands blazing with dark gray energy with a heavier pressure exerting than before. As Tara falls to her knees, her friends encircle her with ferocious and protective looks.
"Get away from her, you fools! Don't you know what she's--" Before he can finish his tirade, pain erupts from his stomach. A bright pink bardiche of lightning is sticking through him. He growls as he goes to snatch it but a cry of rage causes him to look up.
Asuka is dropping from above with her katana engulfed in black flame and flissa covered with white stone! Her right side has pulsing blood red runes along her body with what appears to be a snapped horn extending from her center forehead. Her canines are fearsomely sharper now as she yells. "Force Layer! Two Sword Style: Lava Cross."
He blocks with crossed arms but the blades cut off his hands and slices down from shoulder to waist. His appendages regenerate in an instant and the wound closes the moment she jumps backwards, but then finds himself pinned with three more pink spears. He glances back to see Aelix, her triangle pupils now crystal like while large deer-like antlers have sprouted from her head. Her skin is pearl white and her hair is now the same shade of pink as the lightning spears.
"Demon spawn?!"
"You broke my charm, you asshole!" Aelix hisses, holding up her wrist to display a broken bracelet while flipping him off. She then draws her thumb across her neck while pointing behind him.
His attention swivels back to find Pakeeja in front of him like a silent wind as their chakrams draw a cobalt line across his neck. A tornado blisters around him cackling with lightning from the embedded spears.
"It's over." Pakeeja announces coldly, her weapons returning back into bracelets. Before he has any chance of recovering, 24 of the party's most powerful attacks disintegrate his body.
[Elder Karei Defeated! Time Withstood: 3 Minutes and 48 Seconds!]
No one relaxes for a moment but after two minutes pass, the teens all fall out from the adrenaline rush.
Asuka scoops up a drowsy Hanit, sliding on her knee to catch her fiance's head in her lap. Whatever that secondary form was is gone now except for a blood red mark underneath her right eye. Flame Ribbon rushes to Tara's side placing her hands on Tara's shoulders and looking her in the eye.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Flame Ribbon's eyes trembled with worry. Tara smiles softly at that and nods before pressing her forehead against her girlfriend's. Wolyung and Oorun are pretty hurt so they are resting deeply within her psychic and physical port.
"Phew. Hanit, I'm glad we saved your Blessing!" Pakeeja grins, even smaller than before now that they used their Blessing. It miraculously got a refresh from Hanit's own Blessing. Hanit simply raises a thumbs up before closing her eyes. There's a cough that draws everyone's attention to Aelix. She's nervously rubbing her arm as she approaches her friends. They had all of course heard his shout at her appearance.
"So one of my parents in my Story is supposedly a demon. Didn't realize that the old man would recognize my ancestry." Asuka clicks her tongue to diffuse the atmosphere.
"Now why do you think we'd care about that? We're friends now, stuff like that doesn't matter." Tara says as everyone looks at Aelix with cheerful and amicable expressions. The tension in Aelix's shoulders and the butterflies in her stomach fade.
"Then allow me to reintroduce myself to my comrades. I am Aelix Blackhart, Squire to the Tumultuous Lightning Brigade and Crown Princess of the Demon Empire on world Varis. I hope we can get along." He curtsies, his head bowed to hide her blush at announcing her title and position. Her friends immediately start gushing over the reveal and asking her questions while they rested.
The teens all sit down in a circle, passing around drinks and food to recover their Stamina and Focus just a beat quicker. Pakeeja places the loot in the middle for all to see. The four Skill Books and two rings from the Sacred Beasts as well as the final two pieces of the Dark General and Shadow Tactician. The Chief Aberrant dropped a Skill Book for each class, two sealed Emblems, several Enhancement Stones, and an Upgrade Crystal.