Chapter 10: Werewolf Armament (1)

Instinctively, her eyes rolled to search for escape routes.

Well, it had been her routine already, how could she forget that? After being thrown in the air, bashed on to something sturdy and if a bit unlucky, break a bone or two, then what would be her next move if not for escaping then?

It could be fending an attack or something likely.

'Oh, seriously? Fend an attack? From a ghost? What am I an exorcist?'

But, her eyes under enormous agony had immediately filled with surprise when crispy yet gentle basil leaf-like smell plucked her nostrils out.

It actually came from the diamond-like and jade-colored crystals rooted beside her.

"You're quite an ingredient eh?"

But as she looked at it for more seconds… her face suddenly filled with surprise.

"...are these fluorite quartz? Don't tell me... this... a thermoluminescence! I have never expected this would occur in this cave. Well, whatever... I have no use mining you out this time."

Flailing her legs to lift herself up, she immediately threw her gaze from the storming mantis over her way, however...

Her eyes widened when not even on her widest imagination could take, that was several souls had already blazed out from the soulyard, roaring for a rare meal!

'This isn't fair. You could've let me assemble my team first.'

Still dazed on her feet, her eyelids slightly lowered when it caught a strange glitches on the air afar from her side hurled with an almost hissing and rattling sounds, as though wind surges hovering towards her at a fast speed!

It almost sounds like a jar monster.

"Its sigbin!!"

Shhhk!

Slash!!!

Haven't been able to caught up, she just quickly docked her head towards the ground when sigbin flickered right in front of her eyes and forcefully whipped its claws.

But...

Tingggg!!

Before it could even scratch her head, greenish radiance suddenly burst out from the crystals followed by ear-piercing sonic blasts.

The minute beast had not given the chance to evade, until it was tremendously trounced back, and exploded towards its rushing horde.

Dozens were knocked and half were thrashed back in the Soulyard.

Fortunately, the entrance could not take such strong blow and immediately collapsed within seconds, completely shutting off all the others soul beasts.

After which, the striking brilliance of the crystals slowly flushed out until it regained its former glow.

Ziro who was starstruck by what just happened, could only gape her mouth, swallow a mouthful of saliva, and stare on the odd crystals beside her as though her face wanted to tell.

'Thank goodness, I did not touch this freaking crystal!'

******

Even though it took huge damage, mantis did not show any sign of stopping, it rather increased its speed towards the prince altogether with its outraged hyper voice.

Ziro held her ground this time.

Tensing her calves and raising both of her clenched hands in a defensive stance, her eyes immediately fell on the crystals as though she might wanna use it.

'...well, its all for nothing. Even if I will use my entire strength to run, I probably won't make it less than a minute. In any case, I could just hope these flourites would save me again. And from the looks of it, it may be some sort of defensive magic crystal in this world, somewhat structurally similar to chlorophanes. And if I'm right, those souls must be ultra-condensed ultraviolet energies hence they couldn't get too close with the crystals or else…'

"A thermoluminescence with a magic detonating brilliance will be triggered."

The corner of her lips immediately curved up. She immediately scratched her head and made a quirky cackle.

"What the hell? I can't believe, a time like this would come. Never thought I would really believe in such preposterous sorceries. If only Homer could hear me, he might die laughing too hard."

She stepped one of her feet back and slightly bent her knee.

Her face turned a little bit anxious when her eyes could only watch the mantis ragingly stormed towards her, and wait for the crystal to save her.

'A useless one!'

Words suddenly floated on her head. Well, she could not help it. She already suffered beyond death! If not just for her second revival, she would not hesitate to think this offered life would be her extended punishment from heavens.

Holding on to her catastrophic fate, she clenched her teeth and murmured.

"Here it comes."

She immediately held her breath and cradled on to the ground.

Mantis did not hold its strength back as it outstandingly raised it forelimb and make a repulsive slash towards the young 'lad'.

Tingggg!!

The winds immediately hurled at every direction and were followed by tremendous blast of sound wave.

Dust scurried up on air leaving only a murky surrounding in front of Ziro, covering every inch of her vision.

"It works!"

Ziros butch eyes immediately widened with relief even though she was still unsure if that killed the mantis.

Swish!!

Unfortunately, far from a distant left, mantis swiftly glided out from the dust clouds. Its movement became even faster.

Soaring just inches above the ground, it immediately broke its haste and spread its wings to burst several winds towards the prince.

Ziros eyes widely opened. With no other thing on her mind, she took a short leap away from the crystal, from where the fibers of winds came gritting.

Piercing cracks splashed multiple pebbles around.

"Clever. These crystals cant defend themselves from long distance non-ultraviolet attacks. I never think of that."

Her uncovered chest relentlessly heaved up and down as she gazed several jade stones grazed and chipped.

"...if so. then how about this?"

Ziro immediately straightened her body, snapped her hair up and took a huge breath.

"Hey you!! Little wasabi barber! Is that what you called an attack?! It felt like a tickle! Youd probably be good at making children laugh. Psh! Don't give me that old blabbering mouth you got there! Why don't you use your freakin' razor?! You scared? Scared by this little fella out here? Woah. I've never expected you to be scaredy-bug. Must've piss on your pants! Oh, I forgot, you had actually no pants on."

And a loud dark laugh came as it was noticed by the hovering beast.

A quick all-round turn was made by the irritated arthropod 'till it clasped both of its razor limbs and rapidly flew towards its vulnerable prey.

"That's it! Come and get me!"

Ziro brushed her feet up on the ground and leaped back beside the crystal. Her right knee immediately hugged the ground as she made enough clearance for the crystals blow.

Lulled by a firm sense of victory, she pressed her lips together and witnessed the gap between her and the mantis decreased at immeasurable speed.

However...

"...! It it stopped?!"

Mantis suddenly stopped mid-range and halted its pursue.

By surprise, it briskly raised its claws and delivered several full slashes on air, which, was followed by dancing whirlwinds!

"G...Aah!"

Ziro haven't been able to react, was swept up by the storm and was squeezed by the tailwinds. Blade-like winds invisibly blasted past her skin until crimson fluid slowly began spewing.

Slash and slash.

Short cuts exploded on her eyebrows, then on her cheeks. One after another.

Ziro's copper hair was already swirling up towards the ceiling with her uncovered trunk being stretched mid-air as though chains bound her body side by side.

From a clenched of her teeth, she suddenly tensed her entire body, and ragingly closed her fist.

At one swift, she tremblingly pulled her arms on her side and tried to break out from the swirl.

But no good. As she tried, her arms were immediately restrained, stretched back on its place by the momentum.

"Argh! M-my arms a-are breaking... aah!"

The winds tremendously howled!

A minute or more could really break her arm from her shoulder.

Even her eyes could not even take a single peek with such strong surges.

Her chest began to struggle squeezing for some air with her nose constantly plunged by air pressures.

She was just like a mannequin helplessly stringed up on air, with no right to breath, or move by herself.

However...

~Hang in there sweet gal!~

Ziros figure flinched when a dark voice of a man clanged in her head.

'Wait. What? Sweet gal?'

Bzzzingg!!!!

In no time, a hyper scarlet beam suddenly retracted from the other side of the cave followed by an electric sparks that crawled on the ground.

In order to evade, the mantis had not rather hesitated giving up its meal caught in its tremendous whirls.

With milli-flaps of its wings, it flew back at a sonic speed.

But, it was not as easy as it was when three more retracted beams came running after it. Despite of mantis evasive gliding maneuvers, it did not finish its escape unharmed as one of the light beams purged through its jade wings, losing its flight at tremendous kinetic force.

As a result, it ferociously toppled and bashed on to several coned rocks and eventually crashed on to recovering horde from afar.

Krrrrkkkaaa!!!

Only a distant anguish roar ran towards Ziro who was limply laying its back on the ground, hardly regaining her blurred vision back.

'What was that just now?'

Struggling to lift herself up, Ziro gazed on blurred image slowly emerged from where the beams came.

"Wah... Thank goodness! I made it in - … Ah you're a guy?"

As the indistinct figure slowly revealed its form, Ziro could only watch him gaped his mouth out of frustration.

From this moment, Ziro realized that this man mistook her for a girl. Well, fortunately, she was, but physically she isn't.

'Well, sorry to disappointed you.'

He was a blond guy like in late twenties in slate woven moro armor (1), with his sheathed sword firmly held by his hand and aimlessly rested on his left shoulder.

His azure eyes perfectly matched his untrimmed bleached eyebrows which together, vibrantly radiate a tickling exuberance.

Clearly, the thick fiber of his suit didnt even have the chance to cover his buffed pectoral muscles, and that of the veins that ran along from his hands towards the hard-rock biceps, squeezed by a black woven band.

Ziro kept her lips clamped together unable to reply, as she had no idea how this guy ended up inside the cave.

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(1) It is an armor made of scale like fiber with an undergarment of knitted fibers of bronze.