Action Plan

The storm calmed down.

Shanya, pinned to the tree, struggled and ached in pain. The spear dug deep into her chest, firm enough to discourage her from escaping. She could hardly respire, feeling the blood gradually bathe from her wound.

Notonious held his axe in his hands, treading before Shanya in composure. In the midst of heavy breathing, Shanya saw Notonious' enormous Centaurus body obstruct her view, keeping her immobilized.

"You teamed up with the wrong group, kitten. I admit, you're a dazzling warrior who knocked me to my knees. But it doesn't matter much what occurred beforehand. We're here now, face-to-face, individually, waiting for your demise. I should remind you. Most of the wild cats are extinct."

Shanya's expression didn't change. She remained nervous, unable to flee. Instead, drops of sweat trickled down her face, driving her to lose most of the hope she had built up.

She waited for Notonious to deliver the final swing and believed she had no choice but to surrender. But cats aren't forever tamed. She braced, observing Notonious' motions of swinging the poleaxe sideway.

She utilized her gauntlet and clashed with the poleaxe. Blood squirted as an echoey sound of two metals colliding rang about. It sounded heavy, and the upper handle of the poleaxe halved, spinning into the air, through the tree branches and latched onto the wood like a lobbed hatch.

Speechless and astonished, Notonious witnessed Shanya's gauntlet withstand his swing and guard her from receiving a lethal wound. Unfortunately, the gauntlet didn't last long and cracked into pieces, raining on the grass like debris. It exposed Shanya's bleeding arm but remained attached to her torso.

"Guess what, horsey? It's time for a nap! Gloves off!"

Shanya's eyes became lion-shaped, turning crocodile green, shrinking her pupils and shading into black. She gritted with her sharpened teeth, pulling the spear from her chest and dropping it beside her.

She pulled her arm rearward, hauling it forward at incredible speed, and slammed her knuckles into Notonious' face. She followed up with various punches, smashing her fists into him and staggering him from moving.

She lowered her arm next to her hip and delivered an uppercut into Notonious' jaw, shattering his teeth in the process. She exhibited no signs of stopping and planned not to give Notonious another chance to act.

"You're dead meat!" grunting in disgust, Shanya kindled her left arm and unleashed her withering flames. With one potent and precise swoop, her fist rammed Notonious' face, causing him to exude from his mouth. The flames enveloped him, catching his fur on fire. It withered it, getting hurled into the air and the hideout's walls.

Before long, he collapsed and ended up becoming furless.

Shanya inhaled and exhaled, covering her chest wound while grinning. "Well, how about that..." She chuckled and straightened. "This 'kitten' ain't extinct yet. Don't think I'll forgive you for destroyin' my gauntlet. If I ever see you again, I'm bendin' your spine, Notonious."

She dropped onto her rear and tried to recover. "Damn, Imma seriously need somethin' to treat these wounds. Not to mention that..." She glanced in the distance, seeing Yerachmiel unhurriedly moving toward the celestial tree.

In the trees, clouded by the leaves, a coated individual stood and experienced Shanya's victory. He seemed to have short silver hair and darker skin, with a strange tattoo glowing on his face underneath the hood.

Chiaki ran before the others, not removing her gaze on the Yerachmiel. Kou and Aurora followed her. They seemed to trust Chiaki's judgment. "It's got some strong armor. Neither of us can break through it, Kou. Not even if you use full force and break your limbs to launch an attack."

Kou seemed to understand as he couldn't find a point to attack and damage Yerachmiel's armor. His head was the only hittable part, but it was much smaller compared to the rest of the body and at the top.

"And I don't expect him to let us just climb him. What about Tarot's cloud? If one of us rode it, we could reach the top. I'm sure his cloud's fast enough to evade Yerachmiel's swings. It's the most mobile item we have."

Kou gave more ideas, but none seemed suitable. Chiaki believed Yerachmiel's swings would be too much for Tarot's cloud to resist. It could mess with its management and could cause them to fall to their death.

They would require to reach a higher level than Yerachmiel's head and pray he wouldn't see them. However, none of the trees around the Sanctum Islands were tall enough.

The only tree that could work out for them was the celestial tree. But they would need to reach it before Yerachmiel and climb to a high enough level to leap on Yerachmiel's head.

They would also need to bank on him not spotting them in the procedure. While they could be fast enough to reach the tree, they wouldn't be swift enough to arrive at a specific point.

"Then what can we do? What does he want to do with the celestial tree anyway?"

Timothy and Kyora squatted on one of the celestial tree's vines, more than 80 meters off the ground. Timothy held on to a smaller vine to keep balance while Kyora tampered with her staff.

"What are you trying to do?" Kyora seemed to adjust its power, hoping to find the correct level at which she could create bubbles. "The plan's simple... But I need something to put out the fire before it spreads too fast and burns the entire tree now that the rain had stopped."

She read the book she placed on her thigh, risking it falling toward the bottom. "If the information wasn't false... Yerachmiel's skin seemed to have been extra weak to extreme heat. And if you remember, the only reachable skin on Yerachmiel is his head. You can't form a large enough fire to envelop Yerachmiel's neck fully..."

"On top of that, it wouldn't have enough force to knock him to the ground. First, you'll tear apart the rearward corner of the vines and yank it off the tree, leaving the rest of it attached to the trunk. You'll have to set it on fire and maneuver through the air. While you do that, I'll climb another five meters to reach a higher point..."

"Once the vine's still burning, you'll encase it around Yerachmiel's neck and squeeze it, persuading him to fall rearward. If you succeed, I can utilize my climate staff to dampen the air and create rain. But I'll need Phalris' help to assist me in forming a big enough weather cloud."

Timothy flinched momentarily, scratching the back of his head. "Uh, Phalris' help. She's not with me at the moment... I... uh left her behind at the airship."

Kyora's body jolted as her ears pricked in surprise. Her eyes squinted, causing her to stutter. "What?! Why didn't you tell me this sooner?!" Timothy shrugged his shoulders, trying to act innocently. "You didn't ask."

Because of stress and irritation, Kyora started fiddling with her staff quicker and rougher. She formed a small bubble of water that grew in size. She stood up and became serious.

"I was going to ask Phalris to create the bubbles for me, but that's out of the question. I guess I'll have to do it myself. Let's hope we'll have enough time..."

"I'll need you to electrify my staff before you hurdle. I'll also need you to exert heat to suck up the moisture from the bubbles. I hope that's doable. Just make sure you're far enough before I strike."

Kyora's explanation bewildered Timothy, who didn't comprehend her plan. Despite all, he agreed and prepared to participate in Kyora's plan of action.

To be continued...