Race to Summoning

A few seconds before Timothy returned to Ivione's airship, rainy weather formed in the skies. It wasn't a natural thunderstorm. It was the divine summoning of Yerachmiel.

In due time, the one enemy everyone intended to prevent it resurrecting would soon rouse and provide power to Hywel.

"Yasuda, I'm beyond amazed to see you confront me. However, the deed to summon Yerachmiel already started. In 10 minutes, the divine angel will awaken. No matter how hard you try to stop me, even if you defeat me, Yerachmiel will rise. You don't have time. So how about you sit back and observe the show?"

Chiaki believed she made it in time, but it seemed Hywel already began the summoning ritual beforehand. There was nothing she could do to stop him. If the summoning began and that limited time passed, it would kick up distress across the Sanctum Islands.

She got caught up in another problem. She could hope and defeat Hywel before the time limit, but after she could succeed, another enemy would advance.

There wasn't a viable solution to prevent it from happening. Chiaki, knowing she didn't accomplish her mission, felt frustrated and irritated. She saw herself as arrogant and thought about giving up.

But she knew others were counting on her to figure something out. She couldn't ignore the mission and declared she would fight until the end, even if that meant clashing against Hywel and Yerachmiel.

"Not good. Not good at all. I have 9 minutes left. I don't know if I should conserve my energy or attack. I've got to make a decision soon, or everything we prepared for could get out of our control."

Hywel grinned and directed his palms to the ground. Vines formed from his hands and spiked into the dirt, growing through the underground and stopping beneath Chiaki, who didn't notice.

Caught in her thoughts, Chiaki missed Hywel's secretive smirk and abruptly detected a weak quake beneath her soles.

Thorned vines burst from the earth and boosted in the air. Chiaki used her arms to guard her face but suffered severe grazes across her right arm, compelling her to roll to the side and clasp the wounds she bled from.

"Ah, madam Yasuda. Perhaps it would be wise to be observant about your surroundings. You never know when someone or something intends to attack you from the air.

She lowered her chin and peeked from beneath her forehead, vexed at herself for losing focus and dropping her concentration. Another row of thorned vines tried to pierce her, but she was prepared and dodged most by weaving around and ducking below them.

Once a whip of vines encircled Chiaki, they squeezed her body tight, stemming her from breathing. Some of the thorns impaled into her skin and caused her to lose blood. "Come to me," Hywel tugged back the vines he manipulated and hauled Chiaki's body toward his own.

Chiaki couldn't escape the wounds she suffered. If she moved, the holes in her body would speed up the process of bleeding out.

Nevertheless, she knew she had to move to proceed. After getting tugged near enough to rotate her body, Chiaki untangled her foot from the vines, lengthened it high above her head, and slammed her heel down into Hywel's cranium, slamming him into the ground.

The vines let her go, allowing her to escape and move to a safe distance. She tumbled onto her knee the minute she got freed. She tightened her arms around her abdomen and chest, stopping the blood pouring out of her wounds.

She was in unbearable pain, enough for her body to tremble. Luckily the wounds on her body weren't too severe since the thorns appeared of natural size, but it was enough to make her suffer.

Hywel sprung to his feet and held his aching head. He was distressed and agitated, grieving the pain he suffered because of Chiaki's single blow.

Something intrigued Chiaki. She understood something. In their first battle, Chiaki bumbled to land a critical blow on Hywel due to his elemental immunity, but she quickly realized that he had an awakened ability.

"I see it now. Your ability..." Hywel exchanged eyes, listening to her. "It doesn't fall under the elemental category. It's a mere dynamic ability you awakened, which lets you control the mass of your body. Before I strike, you practically liquify your body to bypass any damage, and that's why it doesn't matter if I use a forbidden technique or I don't."

Because Chiaki realized the truth about his abilities, Hywel stood up and grinned courageously. He was almost happy she managed to learn his secret.

He applauded her and laughed. "Aren't you smart? I suppose there's no point in hiding it anymore. My ability *does* include elemental manipulation, but I developed it far enough to make it seem it was from that same classification. It suits me quite well, and its dynamism is helpful in tricking my opponents..."

"...But guess what, Yasuda. You only have 7 minutes left..."

-

Kou and Aurora rushed outside and entered the dead zone. After their success in defeating the diamond man, they followed Chiaki's footprints and slowly neared her whereabouts.

Aurora recovered from the crystalized ankle after Kou dealt the final blow.

They earned enough time to rest and quickly return to battle, hoping to find one of their crewmates and help them. "You're pretty freaking awesome for a kid, Kou. You know that?"

She noticed him proud of himself. She giggled, knowing he was blushing from the praises, and scratched the back of his head. "Aw, no need to be so polite, Aurora. I just did what had to be done. But, y'know. If you wanna compliment me some more, go ahead."

His happiness quickly ended as he knocked his instep against a dead tree and balled over it, slamming his face into the dirt and wheat.

Aurora hopped over that same tree and squatted beside him. "You might want to look where you're going, Kou." She smiled, tapping his back, and witnessed Kou being grumpy.

But once they laughed, the two spotted a structure before them. It had a podium and vines. Something didn't seem right. Why would there be alive vines if the entire area fell under wither and died, losing its colors?

To be continued...