NOVEL NEXT Chapter 149: Hildred's Tactics
At the Northern part of the Primordial world, where Hildred and his Astro forces are. The gravity Astro force formed convergence formation to the left side and to the right the Aqua Astro force formed their own convergence formation, at the front, Hildred standing posed, having his back facing the space between the two forces then at the rear, Rex positioned himself facing Hildred , then ahead of this group are Dunstan to the left, Beorn to the right and at the center, few inches behind them is Lumina the three charging forward at a low pace.
An hour earlier, before the execution of the formation plan.
"So we have no choice but to take on this beasts, defeating them." Dunstan laced from Hildred's left side, his voice carrying the blunt weight of inevitability.
"Not really defeating them, but drag time while facing them." Hildred responded, his tone low, calm, yet cold enough to prickle the ears of those who heard it.
"Drag..... time." Lumina said, confusion writing itself across her face like an ink-stained scroll, her right fingers nervously rubbing the back of her left hand.
"I see," Beorn's voice cut in, deep and steady like a hammer striking an anvil. "So we need to drag time enough for the effect of the pill to wear off."
"Yeah, but whether we can hold our ground till then is up to our luck. Still, if we succeed, it will become a great turn of event for us." Hildred said, his words drifting like heavy stones dropped into still waters.
"I got the fact that we are going to drag on time towards the pill effect limits but what assured us that we won't be attacked no more or the beast will got weakened from the recoil of the pill effect." Rex inquired, his voice sharp, fast, slicing through the silence like an arrow.
"That no more a hypnosis." Dunstan's voice wrapped the moment in steel. He paused, then gently placed his right open hand on Rex's left shoulder, a gesture half grounding, half commanding. "Do you remember the scouting where we meet the Devouts? The reason why those beasts we avoided did not charge forward was because of the side effects of the pills. I remember sensing the remnant dark energy escaping their bodies into the surroundings."
Dunstan paused, his gaze tilting towards Hildred. "Hummm, but is there any kind of plan toward that?" His eyes, sharp as daggers, searched Hildred's silence.
But Hildred remained wordless for a few seconds, his right index and thumb gripping his chin, lost in thought, as though dragging wisdom from the abyss.
"There is," he finally said, voice even, almost reluctant. "But a bit complex and can't guarantee if it will lead us to success."
"Anyway, is not that we have a choice or time to be picky." Dunstan said, slamming his right fist and left fist together across his chest, the sound like a battle drum summoning courage.
"Since either ways leads to tough outcome, let us in about the plan, we are ready to follow." Lumina added, her words carrying both trembling resolve and quiet fire.
"Okay, since everyone has made up their mind, let me explain the tactics, so let me have your attentions." Hildred began, his voice firm, pulling all eyes toward him as if gravity itself had bent to his command.
"Dunstan, and you." Hildred paused, his gaze flicking. "Beorn," the Beorn replied.
"Okay, Dunstan and Beorn." Hildred continued, steady as stone. "Both of you are the only close combatants available, so both of you will confront the raging beasts while Lumina supports you from a reasonable distance with her bow. And the two Astro forces will amplify both Dunstan and Beorn respectively. I will be the distance eyes while Rex will be our Deterrent. With this, we should be able to slow down burning our strength towards the main goal."
Hildred concluded, his words sinking into the group like anchors, heavy, unyielding, yet giving them something solid to hold onto before the storm.
The two convergence formations ignited, Gravity and Aqua Astro forces glowing like twin suns of golden and blue brilliance, their radiance swelling until the air itself trembled. Hildred's brows furrowed, his forehead folding into sharp creases as he gazed into the distance, each breath drawn deep and heavy, as though he carried the weight of the battlefield upon his chest. Ahead, smoke began to curl and writhe around Dunstan and Beorn, coiling like serpents before vanishing into a sudden ignition, golden and blue energy erupting and wrapping their bodies in blazing armor.
[Celestial Convergence Formation synchronized successfully] X2
Before them, two system panels shimmered into existence, and in their glow, their expressions hardened into unwavering resolve. Beorn stepped forward, stretching his sword outward, his voice cutting through the storm:
"Celestial Convergence: Aqua Compression Blade."
At once, the water-energy swelled like a living tide, the blade expanding into a massive, gleaming construct of compressed liquid steel. Its surface shimmered like moonlight over a restless sea, while from its core, faint golden energy lines pulsed outward, spider-webbing across its length. These delicate threads stretched like the veins of a leaf, until the entire blade gleamed with a thin golden skin that hummed, not with peace, but with restrained catastrophe.
"Roooorrrr….. Roooorrrr!"
The beasts' roars rose like a storm tearing at the heavens, their voices grinding into the ears, grating and merciless. Their fury tipped into madness, the air itself vibrating with their berserk stage.
Voooom! FUUUUU!
The Primordial beasts launched volley after volley of attacks from their horns, each beam hollowing the sky as though carving tunnels into reality, shrieking with speed and fury. Wind followed each strike, howling like phantom war drums.
Dunstan's fists clenched until his knuckles cracked, deep golden energy flaring and wrapping his arms, slow at first, then surging with increasing momentum, like molten rivers turning to floods. Beorn lifted his sword high above his head, its massive form wreathed in both water and light, while Dunstan swung his fists back, coiling for a devastating strike.
The ground shook as beams landed beside them,some crashing only inches behind them, others bursting just ahead. Each impact exploded into plumes of dust, the shockwaves tearing across the battlefield in violent gusts. The very air was shredded into fists of wind, pounding their bodies, threatening to sweep them from their stance.
But though their balance faltered, their will did not. Dunstan and Beorn struggled through the storm of dust and fury, like warriors forcing their way through the jaws of an oncoming hurricane.
Then, there came a forged light, blazing into existence like a colossal glowing glass pipe, its brilliance splitting the void as it charged toward Beorn's direction. "Celestial Convergence: Aqua Compression Blade!" The very air quivered at the invocation. The massive sword of energy wrapped around his blade pulsed brighter, no, it roared awake, as if some ancient will within the light had stirred. The oncoming, solidified brilliance drew near, a torrent of radiance less than two meters away, when Beorn, calm yet unyielding, brought down his raised sword.
The clash was like diamond shearing through glass. The light fractured, splitting in two as though bowing before his blade, the divided halves tearing past him with a shriek before shattering into ruin behind his back.
But no respite came. Another attack, this one angled at thirty-nine degrees from the first, began hollowing through the air toward him. Swift as thunder, Beorn lifted his sword, swinging it to his right, then pivoting the blade vertically. Moisture condensed with frightening speed, crystallizing into a massive spear of water that gleamed like a shard of heaven's sapphire. It devoured the distance in an instant, its point hungry for his chest.
BAAM! His blade met the attack mid-flight, bursting it apart into a storm of white vapor. The shockwave rattled the void itself, vibrating as though the cosmos had inhaled sharply at the violence of the clash.
Dunstan, meanwhile, pressed forward, his footing digging trenches into the ground as gravitational energy surged and shimmered across his body like living armor. Vaaam! In an eye-blink he was gone, his figure blurring as he dashed left, right, up, zigzagging with a speed that grazed the edge of supersonic. He weaved between cascading beams of destruction, each one booming past him like thunderbolts hurled by furious gods.
"Graviton Ascendant Strike: Starfall Blitz!" His voice was a war-drum that split the battlefield. He hurled himself toward the beast with meteoric force, his very momentum crushing the resistance of space. Mid-flight, he condensed the gravitational torrents born of his speed, funneling them into his fists until they throbbed with the weight of a dying star. Leaping high, he drove his strike into the beast's right flank.
BAAAM! The impact was apocalyptic. The ground cratered into a yawning scar, shockwaves flattening everything for miles. The beast's front and right legs buckled, snapping under the force as its massive frame listed sideways. It crashed with earth-shaking fury, its head twisting grotesquely to the right.
The attack it had been charging in its horn detonated in vain,cthe beam misfired, its trajectory torn off-course by the beast's fall. The searing blast ripped through the void, carving the skies before slamming into another Primordial beast on its right, then chaining into yet another lurking behind it, as if fate had orchestrated their downfall.
Beorn was already there, closing the gap. His blade gleamed in his right hand, the sword's radiance dragging his form forward like a comet through the carnage. Around him, a storm of untargeted attacks rained wildly, spears forge from from the surrounding thermal energy, blades forged from cold moisture, whips of energy screaming past, some so close they grazed the air an inch away from him as he bend his upper body not to be crushed by the force around each of this massive attacks. He pressed forward, each swing of his sword cutting through chaos, carving a path between life and annihilation.
And when the distance closed to breath and heartbeat, Beorn drove his energy-laden blade into the earth itself.
BOOM! From the strike, a colossal wall of sand erupted, thick and unyielding, manifesting like an earthen rampart conjured by the Primordial. It roared upward, halting the beasts' advance, veiling Beorn and the battlefield in a storm that blurred the line between survival and obliteration.