Oliver flew high into the sky, carrying the strange device in his talons.
The timer on the device was ticking down.
The giant creature let out a roar as it spotted Oliver taking to the sky. Its eyes were filled with bloodlust, and it seemed intent on catching its prey.
Arthur could feel the tension in the air as everyone waited to see what would happen.
And at the same time, a sense of premonition hit the entire group preparing to spread out once that device goes off.
Oliver swooped down with lightning speed in an attempt to drop the device right in front of it.
That's when it all hit them like a tsunami, the reason for the forbearance and all.
Because right when Oliver swooped down, the creature gave out a loud shrieking scream, opening his jagged teeth mouth wide out as energy particles rapidly gathered and converged in his mouth.
Shooting out as an energy beam aimed at Oliver that was pretty too close to evade mid-air.
Even with his swift maneuver to escape the beam's trajectory, his wings were still blasted off while his figure lost flight, falling from the sky.
The group watched in horror as Oliver plummeted from the sky, the energy beam having blasted off one of his wings.
His figure reverted back to normal before he hit the ground some distance away from the creature, probably unconscious or something.
He is quite lucky he fell into one of those abandoned buildings and not in the midst of roaming creatures.
The creature didn't relent either, chasing after its prey with quickened steps.
The lower-level creatures all charged towards that direction too, seeing a potential meal had just dropped from the sky.
But just as they thought all hope was lost, a figure rose up into the air, moving at incredible speed towards Oliver's location.
This figure is none other than Selene who had used her gravitational manipulation to pit herself against gravity, using the force of gravity to propel herself forward at incredible speed.
Arthur watched everything from the side, not ready to get involved at the moment, at least till he understood what's going on here.
Selene arrived there quite fast than the creature, which isn't far behind. Oliver had passed out from the fall and presently unconscious.
She could see the creature gaining on her. It let out a loud roar, its eyes glowing with intensity. Just like it had done with Oliver, it was preparing another energy beam blast aimed at Selene trying to lift Oliver's unconscious body up.
Selene turned around and threw her hammer-like weapon, which hit the creature's head at the side.
Changing the trajectory of its blast, giving her the time to escape using her gravitational manipulation ability to facilitate their quick movement.
The blast hit the creature square in its head, sending it flying backward a bit.
Its beam destroyed the buildings and everything in its path till the creature regained its footing.
The creature was enraged, and it began to give chase once again at Selene, who had scooped up Oliver in her arms and flew off in the opposite direction.
But unlike the first time she could fly at incredible speed, Oliver's weight had reduced her motion considerably, giving the creature the ample time to catch up.
As Selene flew, she could hear the thunderous footsteps of the creature getting closer and closer.
It was clear that she couldn't outrun it with Oliver in her arms. She knew she had to do something, and fast.
In a split-second decision, Selene dove down towards the ground, landing in the middle of a ruined city, using a slight cover between her and the creature to hide away.
Hoping the creature won't find them, a wish she knew wasn't possible because these creatures had an acute sense of smell.
The creature followed her down and landed with a deafening crash. It looked around, searching for its prey. But Selene was nowhere to be found.
She had used the distraction to hide herself and Oliver in one of the ruined buildings.
It began sniffing the air and in no time picked up the scent of the two, especially that of Oliver whose arms are bleeding badly.
The creature zeroed in on the building where Selene and Oliver were hiding and began to tear at the rubble with its massive claws. Selene held her breath, trying to stay as still as possible. She could feel Oliver's body trembling in her arms as he slowly regained consciousness and was thrown into the shock of the situation.
If Selene hadn't closed his mouth quickly, he would have blurted out in fright, completely giving away their exact hideout.
Selene's heart sank. She knew all this is just a waste of time. For a certain both of them are likely not going to survive this
But she was glad she didn't abandon her teammate just to save her own life.
"Come out here scale brain," a voice called from another end, pulling the creature's attention towards this newcomer that was bold enough to disrupt its hunt.
The moment it raised its head towards the direction of the voice, it was hit with a concentrated sound wave that drove it crazy as if its head was going to split in two.
The creature howled in pain, clawing at its head as it stumbled around in confusion. The sound waves continued to assault its senses, and it could no longer tell where they were coming from.
It thrashed around, sending rocks and debris flying in all directions, shooting energy beams at any and everything it saw in the hope of hitting the source of its agony.
Two more such sound waves hit it from another direction, increasing its pain and madness.
Selene saw her chance and took it. She scooped up Oliver and fled from the building, away from the creature and the mysterious figures that had come to their aid.
As they ran, Selene heard the figure's voice again, but this time it was soft and low.
"What a pitiful state to find the great Selene," it said, "were you just giving up to die?" It taunted too.
Making Selene grit her teeth, biting her lips in anger and embarrassment.
The figure chuckled softly, seeing Selene's expression, he could feel its amusement.
The figure who is a young man with blonde hair decided to ignore Selene for the time being as he and the other four drew their weapons and engaged the creature in battle.
Every single member of this team is a fire ability user, three of them have an advanced sonic arm blaster on which they used to distract the creature while the others deal it great damage.
As if on cue, the creature let out a deafening roar, sending another blast of energy flying through the air.
It came crashing down on a nearby building, causing it to collapse in a cloud of dust and rubble.
But no matter what effort or struggle it put up, it couldn't overcome the team with advanced sonic arm blaster, and its fate, and the fate of any lower-level creature, was decided.
In a few moments later, calm returned to the area with the creature's body falling down and remaining motionless, having drawn its last breath in the hands of these newcomers. As the dust settled, the young man turned to face Selene. He smiled at her, a notion that pissed Selene off.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice gentle and soothing.
Selene nodded, still clutching Oliver close to her. "We're fine," she said, her voice slightly stern.
The man chuckled again. "Is that how you treat your savior?"
Selene felt like smashing this guy's face at the moment, but she couldn't deny the fact they had been saved by this guy and his team.
A lady from his team came over, requesting she be allowed to heal Oliver per the order of the Young man in front of Selene.
The other members of her team had rushed over, also seeing everything is finally over, leaving Arthur, who didn't bother to go over with the others.
Now that everything is finally over, he now had the time to check something he hadn't thought about all these while.
He called up his status panel and was shocked by the changes it had undergone:
User: Arthur Relzar
Race: Reaper
Nether Energy: 1,000/1,000
Nether Essence: 0.6
First, his race had changed once again to something he had no clue about.
Same for his energy and essence. Lastly, there isn't that small underlined word of evolution anymore.
While he was musing over the changes and all, the group some distance away is having quite the drama.
"Reed, we appreciate your timely help, and that's a fact we can't deny, still we don't owe you our lives. We can't do your bidding just because you helped us," Selene snapped back at the figure from earlier who was still wearing that annoying smile of his.
"Joining my team should be considered a privilege Selene. You and Nora are both weak compared to us, but I'm still making a compromise, and you are all acting up?" A bit of anger laced his voice.
"We are not weak," Selene retorted, her voice rising. "We are strong in our ways, and we don't need to join your team to prove that. You may have helped us, but that doesn't mean we owe you anything. We are free to make our choices, and we choose to be on our own."
Reed's eyes flashed with anger, but then he seemed to regain control of himself. "Very well," he said, his voice deceptively calm. "You are free to go. But know this: you will regret this decision. The world is a dangerous place for those who can't defend themselves."
Just as he was about to leave, his eyes fell on Arthur at the far back, as if a certain locked key clicked inside his head.
He recalled seeing Selene holding this guy's hands earlier before she rushed over to Oliver's side.
He and his team had been watching for a while, waiting for the right moment to show up and show off before his crush.
Bow that he thought about it, this seemingly stranger seems to be able to get her attention more.
Who the hell is he, and what relationship does he have with his Bella?