Blizzard, part 2/6: Tide

Blinding flashes of blue and purple light erupted through the snowstorm as hailstorms of plasma bolts and particle beams cut through the white veil. Steam billowed up where the superhot projectiles met the frigid air and snow.

The blue eyes in the distance blinked out momentarily as azure explosions rocked the snow-covered terrain, replacing monstrous growls with the sounds of detonations.

"Die, monsters!" The boy suddenly sprang into action, a massive, glowing white sword appearing in his hands. It sliced through the air with a high-pitched sway in a useless wide arc—clearly intended to make an impression.

"Sit and wait!" Tia's voice was a sharp rebuke. Without even turning her head, she flicked her ungloved hand. A burst of telekinetic force made the ice ring and slammed the boy back down like a mere insect.

'I will not fail this mission just because he wants to show off before his harem.'

More pairs of azure eyes emerged from the storm, now greater in number, their forms still obscured by the blinding snowfall. Tia fired another barrage, her guns humming and crackling in the icy air.

The blue eyes continued to close in, pushing through the barrages of exploding projectiles, now so close that she could hear the scratching of their claws against the icy ground over the cacophony of her own weapons.

'They are relentless, so they are true monsters.' Tia almost panicked as a portion of the guns dimmed and fell quiet, their capacitors running out of power and needing at least a few seconds to recharge.

The azure eyes circled and ran around her position, the old ones extinguishing under the flashes of her guns while the new ones flared to life further away.

A few more guns dimmed down, the barrages of plasma thinning down, and the glowing orbs of the eyes advanced once more.

"Focus. Fire." Her thoughts fractured into multiple threads, overclocking her senses. The floating guns reoriented, powered by her kinetic web. She felt the monsters move, their outlines pressing insistently into her awareness.

Her mind went over the line as she guided and aimed each floating gun, aiming them using her web as a guiding tool.

She pushed her mind to its limits, directing each gun accurately. Plasma bolts erupted, ripping through the obscuring snow and disintegrating the approaching monstrosities. For a moment, she held them back.

'Should I grab him and try to break through?' The last sliver of her consciousness that wasn't commandeering her weapons frantically calculated options, strategies, and escape routes.

However, for now, she coldly dismissed the option as she still had a leave-away: 'Even if they get through my guns, I still have my magic and powers.'

More azure eyes closed in, climbing over the dimming blue eyes of dead monsters that were slowly vanishing in the blizzard. Sweat dripped down her face in the icy air.

'No—it's not even cold anymore.' She felt the heat rising from constant plasma discharges, her boots sloshing in a meltwater puddle.

The guns floating around her were sputtering now, their capacitors struggling to recharge in time. A sinking realization hit her—she was being overwhelmed. Even her multitasking mind was stretched to its limit by commanding her arsenal and sensing through her kinetic web.

Her body stiffened instantly. A pair of glowing eyes sprinted through the thinned-out cover of her guns and burst through the snow curtain, revealing their owner—a snarling monstrosity.

Shaped like a wolf, its body was an armor of black ice, jagged and razor-sharp, gleaming under the glow of exploding plasma.

Its glowing azure eyes pierced through her, contrasting chillingly with its cold, icy form.

The creature lunged at the speed of a racing car, and Tia barely had time to react.

Adrenaline surged through Tia's veins as she directed her power into her glove, amplifying it before directing it further through her enchanted ring and amplifying it even further.

Runes ignited. Her palm blasted forward toward the incoming wolf, releasing a razor-sharp wave of kinetic force that obliterated the snow in its path and fractured the ground. The deafening boom echoed across the frigid landscape.

The wave collided with the monster mid-leap, smashing its icy armor into lethal shrapnel. Enhanced by her gear and augmented abilities, the amplified force carried the properties of piercing and sharpness. It tore through the creature like a hot knife through butter, reducing it to a spray of bone, flesh, and blood.

The shattered armor, the pieces of flesh, the bone fragments, and the droplets of blood launched backward like shotgun pellets, pelting the monsters hidden in the blizzard and extinguishing their eyes.

Tia stared, her eyes alight with a mix of shock and exhilaration—it was the first time she tested her new power, empowered by her new gear, evolution, and god particles, on a living being.

"Holy hell," she muttered, her eyes fixed on the spreading stain of red that tainted the pristine snow before her. "This is brutal."

She knew her past power well, and she was sure that using the same amount of energy, it would at most throw the monster back and break its armor and bones.

<Basic Telekinesis VI (112%)> --> <Basic Telekinesis VI (115%)>