Chapter 25: A strange ability.
"No." She finally said with some hints of conviction.
The word sounded minute at first, a whisper buried beneath the chaos, but it grew louder, burning through her veins like fire the more she felt like she couldn't just stand by and let things unfold so terribly before her.
She recalled how she was so frustrated by the way everyone had been treating her, acting as if she was too weak to anything in the face of danger, a fragile glass in a world of unending chaos.
If she just stood by now and did nothing, wouldn't that just prove that they were all right?.
"No, I won't let it end like this."
Lian forced herself to her feet, her legs unsteady but determined. The weight of her spear felt less like a burden now and more like a tool to liberate herself with. She drew in a deep breath, forcing her fear into the recesses of her mind.
"I can't let it die like this" she thought, her eyes locking onto the savage beast that clinged stubbornly to her mount."There's no way I'd let you eat her!."
Her father's voice echoed in her memory: "Lian, you must always remember this. A rider and their steed are one. You must fight for one another and protect each other, no matter the odds."
The doubt that had paralyzed her moments ago was gone, replaced by a fierce resolve. If she was to fail, it wouldn't be because she did nothing but did something to prove that she wasn't as weak and fragile as everyone thought her to be.
" I'll make sure you regret ever coming here if it's the last thing I do!." Planting her feet firmly in the sand, Lian raised her spear and let out a yell, a sound born of desperation and determination. She charged toward the beast, her eyes blazing with a mixture of fear and fury.
"There's no way I'll let you take her away from me." Lian said without any hint of fear in her now fierce gaze. Her leg's rushed into a sprint as she approached the beast with her spear in hand.
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" I think I've waited enough...." Seeing Lian stand up to such a beast without any regard to her safety while he was here cowering in the dark was the last straw Lin Mu could endure.
«[No!, Wait you idiot!]» The system tried stopping him but failed terribly in the blink of an eye!.
Lin shot forward, a blur of motion across the dunes. The alien shark noticed him the instant he began rushing forward, but it was unwilling to let go of it's prey.
Thanks to Lians mounts protective scaled limbs, it found it hard to completely sink it's fangs into its teeth, leaving it frustrated. It didn't seem to put Lian in it's eye's since he could faintly sense that she was too weak to be a threat towards it, as for Lin Mu, when it senses that Lin Mu was stuck at the 5th stage of Body refining it decided to take a risk and ignore him since he was unarmed and alone. Right now, all the beast cared about was crippling and abducting Lians mount before it was too late.
To the beast's surprise, the same creature it choose to ignore, pushed his muscles to the limit and with a powerful leap, Lin Mu landed on its back, without hesitation he began throwing hard punches at the beasts exoskeleton covering, his fists causing the sound of clashing metals to ring with each hit.
The creature expected Lin Mu's blows to be weak, yet to it's utter shock, each blow sent a jolt if pain from it's exoskeleton, it let out an ear piercing shriek when visible cracks began emerging on the point Lin Mu continued to thrash.
The creature thrashed violently to throw off Lin Mu, releasing the injured mount.
Lin Mu was forced to stop throwing punches as he clung to its ridged back, his muscles straining as he fought to maintain his grip.
" Kreiiiikkkk" The creature let out a series of shrieks, to it's horror, the point Lin Mu had been thrashing was covered in several cracks with obvious signs of detioration. It twisted its centipede like body in pain before glaring at Lin Mu with it's enraged eyes.
" Crap!" Lin Mu cursed before leaping far back on its body narrowly dodging a fierce bite from the beast as it's jaws came snapping down.
"Lian!" Mei shouted from atop her still-panicked mount, her voice trembling with urgency.
"I'm fine!" Lian who had long since stopped her charge in alarm at the beasts sudden crazed behavior, yelled back.
She held her spear in hand, her eyes incredulous as she took in the sight of Lin Mu struggling to remain atop the Crazed beast.
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Lin Mu dodged another snap of the creature's jaws, his mind racing. He couldn't kill this thing outright, not with his limited amount of power anyways, moreover, he needed to buy time for the settlements guards to arrive and save the two girls.
He honestly didn't know why the beast was so enraged after taking just a few punches from him, nor did he know why his punches were doing more damage than necessary.
He hadn't experienced this before since all the beasts he hunted were taken down with minimum effort and quick decisive strikes, The only reason he was able to learn if this was simply because the beast was proving to difficult to kill in a short amount of time.
He felt wary of this strange effect of his that seemed to be enraging the beast by the second, but on the bright side, the beasts rage seemed to be working to his advantage since it had completely forgotten about the two sisters and their mounts, and was now completely focused on him instead.
"Come on, you ugly thing!" he muttered under his breath, slamming another punch into its side. The beast roared i
n pain, a guttural, otherworldly sound that vibrated through the sand.