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C115 - Ice

The group spent some time removing the slimy liquid from their hands before updating their superiors about their victory and receive an update of the crisis. Khan limited himself to check the state of his left shoe during the process, but he felt forced to throw it away when he understood that it would never dry up in time for the next battle.

Khan tried to keep his other shoe, but his balance felt off with only one of them, so he ended up throwing away that too. He remained in his barefoot, but Nitis' uneven ground didn't cause any discomfort.

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"Monsters are still appearing everywhere on the planet," Doku explained once Khan rejoined the group of Niqols, "But the pace is slowing down. It seems that the crisis is coming to an end."

"I'm still in the dark," Khan announced while showing how the map on his phone had yet to update. "I'll stick with you until the crisis is over."

"Perfect!" Doku exclaimed as a faint smile appeared on his face. "Your help has been priceless in the last battles. We are lucky to have you with us."

Doku politely bowed, and Khan didn't hesitate to do the same. The other Niqols went through different reactions at that scene. Liiza remained emotionless, Bula, Azni, and a few aliens nodded in respect, and the others diverted their gazes.

It was clear that some of the Niqols had yet to accept Khan completely, and most of their hesitation came from the evident difference in power between them and the human.

Khan could have bad matchups against certain opponents, but his ability, resolve, and determination portrayed a scary image of the Global Army. The hesitant Niqols couldn't help but believe that they were granting benefits to a species that contained monsters.

Still, those aliens didn't treat Khan poorly. Their doubts and fears couldn't stop them from acknowledging the human who was going out of his way to help them. They couldn't disrespect someone who had decided to risk his life to help their planet twice already.

Liiza joined the hunting team once everyone rested for a bit. The surrounding areas still had multiple monsters left since both species were prioritizing lands close to the city or other settlements. Only a few groups had flown so far, so the mission ended up proceeding slowly.

The various hunting groups in the distant areas killed monsters quickly due to their often unstable mutations. Yet, the travels from one target to another could take up to half an hour. That inevitably slowed down the mission due to the limited number of troops in the distant areas.

Khan's team didn't let the idea of spending the entire night hunting monsters scare them. Doku turned out to be a firm leader that never forgot to prioritize the well-being of his underlings by giving them breaks and alternating those tasked with the actual offensive.

The group flew from land to land to face every monster inside their hunting area. The Niqols and Khan ended up meeting a rabbit-like creature capable of bending the ground to its will and a sheep-like animal that could make their concentrations waver with its cries. They had to kill a huge snake that spat poisonous purple bullets and a strange horned beast that resembled a lion and could give metallic properties to its skin.

All the monsters had different abilities that required approaches meant to exploit their various flaws, but Khan always ended up playing an important role in each battle.

The rabbit-like creature was too fast for the Niqols, so he almost had to hunt it on his own. The aliens supported him by encircling the area and ensuring that its influence in the ground never made them lose its tracks, but they didn't actively join the battle.

The sheep-like animal could only charge at its opponents, but its cries were annoying to handle. Only those with a firm mind could manage to perform their techniques against that monster, and Khan's mental barrier turned out to be perfect for the situation.

The snake ended up being a troublesome opponent because it could exploit the many trees in its lair to hide and launch surprise attacks that featured poison. Khan and the Niqols struggled to follow its movements even if their sensitivity to mana was above average, so Doku opted to make someone act as bait again. Khan simply was the perfect candidate due to his incredible speed.

The horned beast had the same issues as the toad. Its skin was virtually impenetrable, so the Niqols' techniques became the core part of the battle tactic. Still, the aliens needed someone capable of attracting the monster's attention, and Khan didn't mind facing multiple charges until the hunt was over.

Those four hunts kept Khan's group busy for seven hours due to the multiple travels, battles, and necessary breaks. The Niqols didn't even have provisions with them since they didn't expect the crisis to last so long, so Khan's fasting inevitably stretched.

Khan could easily endure his hunger, and it seemed that some of the Niqols were like him. The hunting group split as some of its members struggled to express their true power after the many battles. It didn't take much before only Khan, Liiza, Doku, and Bula could still fight properly.

Azni also seemed to have enough stamina left, but the injury on her back suffered against the fiery bird-like monster forced her body to reach its limits sooner than expected.

Luckily, the crisis appeared almost over after the sixth hunt. Doku's superiors would recall everyone after they took care of the last monster that still lived in the distant areas.

The news filled Doku's team with life and made its members muster their remaining strength to complete their mission. The Niqols and Khan even felt excited to know that they had accumulated consistent battle merits after spending an entire night hunting monsters. However, their hopes crumbled after they faced their last opponent.

A sharp pain spread from the center of Khan's chest when he reopened his eyes. The noises of the battlefield reached his ears again, but the screams of the Niqols soon overwhelmed them.

A massive bull raged among the trees in front of him. The creature had a smooth black skin that carried metallic properties. It was a bit more than two meters tall and three meters long, and thick muscles filled the entirety of its body.

Two curved horns came out of its head, and blinding bluish light never stopped filling their sharp tips. That glow seemed able to create intense shockwaves as soon as something came near it. Khan had only needed to be at less than three centimeters from that radiance to suffer a massive blow that made his entire body go numb before flinging him away.

The hunting team had approached the last monster carefully. Doku had even used his cubical device to group up with the other Niqols in the area. Four different squads had joined their forces and had converged toward the bull to put an end to those seemingly endless hunts, but the situation had turned for the worse in mere seconds.

The new group featured thirty Niqols and Khan as the only human. They had divided themselves into different teams to surround the bull running through a small forest, but the creature had noticed their arrival and had charged toward the closest opponents.

The charge had made six Niqols fly in every direction. Some of them had only slammed on the nearby trees after coming close to the horns, while others had found themselves with broken bones after enduring a frontal clash with the muscular monster.

Khan had immediately opted to resume his role as bait after confirming the monster's power, but he didn't expect the creature's range to be so strange. He was faster than the bull, but the glow radiated by its horns had flung him away when his chest went too close to them.

The battle immediately became messy. Khan noticed how the Niqols were attacking the bull from every side, but dark figures always ended up flying away whenever the aliens went too close to its horns. The attacks that landed on its body didn't seem to slow down its movements either. The monster appeared completely stable and resilient. It even felt more powerful than the lightning creature fought in the past.

Khan straightened his position and tried to study the situation, but a flying figure attracted the entirety of his attention. Liiza was falling at full speed toward a tree nearby, and she clearly had no control over her movements.

Khan would have normally ignored that scene for the sake of his secret relationship, but everything in his vision slowed down when he saw that Liiza's landing spot featured a long pointy root.

Thoughts stopped flowing inside Khan's mind at that point. He didn't even realize that the mana in his body fueled a sprint and made him instantly appear in front of the pointy root.

Liiza woke up when she fell on his chest. Khan raised only one arm to support her back, and she quickly found her balance while using his limb as a handhold. Confusion filled her expression when she turned to inspect her boyfriend, but the sharp root behind him appeared in her vision at that point.

Liiza's cold expression almost fell apart. Fear tried to take control of her mind. That root had a high chance to stab her chest or head if she had continued to fall. Khan had prevented the worst possible outcome, but that didn't change the nature of the situation. The bull could kill them easily.

A red bruise had even appeared at the center of Khan's chest. The bull didn't touch him, but the light radiated by its horns had been enough to cause that injury. The mark spread over the azure scar and slightly changed its color, but it was nothing more than a superficial wound.

Liiza noticed that she had a similar bruise on her left shoulder. A new wave of fear swept her mind when she recalled how the bull had only needed to swing its horns near that spot to make her fly away. In her mind, the creature became approachable.

"We need to keep it still," Liiza eventually said while leaving Khan's arm and focusing on the bull.

"How?" Khan coldly asked.

Khan's eyes had remained on Liiza for only an instant. He had moved his focus back on the bull as soon as he noticed that she was okay, but the scene that unfolded in his vision was grim.

The Niqols were trying to surround the bull and overwhelm it with their numbers, but those efforts appeared pointless. The monster endured every attack easily, but only a few of its opponents managed to get back on their feet after taking one of its blows.

The bulls' kicks could shatter bones, its charge was unstoppable, and its horns were deadly. Every piece of its body was a weapon that could defeat its opponents in a single blow. It only took a few exchanges for the large group to turn into a small team that featured less than ten members.

"Can-," Liiza said before lowering her head to make sure to hide her hesitation before continuing. "Can you keep it busy for a bit? I know how to stop it."

Khan couldn't stop himself from moving his eyes on Liiza. He couldn't see her face since she was facing the battlefield, but he could imagine it inside his mind. She clearly hated herself for asking Khan to perform such a dangerous role after Doku had ordered him to do the same for the other hunts. However, she felt unable to rely on the others in that situation.

"No problem," Khan announced and stepped forward while suppressing the need to ruffle Liiza's hair. "I just didn't know its actual range before. It can't touch me now."

"Be careful," Liiza whispered in a voice too faint that only Khan could hear before raising her head and showing a cold face.

Meanwhile, Khan performed slow steps as he approached the bull. The monster was busy taking care of the few remaining Niqols around it. Blood and dark figures flew after each exchange, but nothing managed to break Khan's concentration.

The bull soon defeated all the opponents in its surroundings. A few Niqols on the trees nearby were struggling to stand up, but the monster decided to focus on Khan when it noticed him.

The monster's hooves scratched the terrain a few times while it prepared its charge, but its body suddenly bent forward as it lost control of one of its legs.

The bull turned and saw that Khan had slammed his shin on its front left leg and had forced it to leave the ground. The monster quickly grew angry and tried to bend forward to make its opponent enter its horns' rage, but pain suddenly spread from its mouth.

The creature bellowed after it endured the blow, but a kick landed on its face as soon as it tried to find its opponent. Khan continued to make his offensive converge on the bull's mouth since it helped him keep away the horns, but the monster soon jumped and stood its rear legs to remove its opponent's favorite target.

Khan quickly switched targets and shot toward the rear legs to deliver a powerful kick. However, those limbs barely moved since the entirety of the bull's weight was on them.

The bull twisted its body and tried to fall while pointing its horns toward Khan, but the latter easily escaped their trajectory. He moved under the creature and reappeared in front of the exposed side of its head.

Khan didn't lie before. He was faster than the bull. The creature had taken him by surprise before only because he didn't expect its horns to have ranged abilities.

Yet, touching him appeared impossible now. Khan sprinted around the bull's body and delivered kicks whenever he found an opening. The only issue with that tactic was that his attacks didn't inflict any damage.

"Jump back!" Liiza's shout suddenly reached Khan's ears while he was busy fighting the bull.

Khan didn't hesitate to follow Liiza's orders, and his eyes widened when he saw ice accumulating under the monster. The creature's legs froze in an instant before the transparent material spread through the entirety of its body.

The ice expanded until it created a massive rectangular chunk that enveloped the bull completely. Only the creature's head remained outside of the frozen prison, but its horns had stopped glowing after Liiza's spell covered them.

"Feel free to kick it as much as you like now," Liiza said in a weak voice before sitting on the ground.

Her hands had been on the terrain just a second ago, and a trail of ice still spread from that spot and connected it to the frozen prison. Khan's eyebrows arched when he realized how quickly Liiza had completed her spell, but he didn't forget to turn back toward the powerless bull.

The monster still bellowed, but it was powerless now. Khan couldn't help but reveal a cold smile when he saw that Nitis had finally given him a well-deserved training dummy.

To be continued