NOVEL NEXT Chapter 187: Thunder Drake
The wind howled.
Four monstrosities stepped from the smoke, glyphs pulsing in violent sync, like drums of war.
Vex launched first, shadows flaring from her paws.
[<Ghost Steps!>]
She blurred, reappearing behind the nearest beast, claws already mid-slash—
[<Phantom Slash!>]
The blow landed, slicing across the creature's flank in a burst of black mist.
But it didn't stagger.
Didn't flinch.
Didn't even bleed.
Its tail whipped out with unnatural speed.
CRACK!
A bladed segment slammed into Vex's side mid-leap.
She yelped, body spiraling through the air before smashing into a pillar.
Boom!
Kai gritted his teeth.
"Damn it! VEX!"
One of the other creatures lunged, but he was already moving.
[<Ghost Steps!>]
He ducked under the claw, boots skidding across rubble.
Twin daggers flashed.
He spun, striking with all his weight.
[<Phantom Slash!>]
Clang!
The daggers clanged against the beast's obsidian hide. Barely a scratch.
Then—
The monster's claw swiped sideways with terrifying precision.
WHACK!
Blood exploded from Kai's shoulder as he was ragdolled across the stone, slamming into the crumbling temple wall.
He tried to stand. But his knee buckled. Vision spun. His arm hung limp.
Grr!
Vex snarled, her sleek black form limping toward him, fangs bared.
But two of the beasts turned on her at once.
One lunged from the front, the other from behind.
She vanished.
[<Stealth!>]
A blur.
Then she reappeared mid-air above the second beast, a shadow orb already forming.
[<Shadow Ball!>]
She launched it at point-blank range.
And it hit the target.
Boom!
Smoke and black mist swirled, but the creature charged through it, unfazed.
A claw raked through the air and caught her mid-movement.
She shrieked.
Blood flew around and crashed beside Kai.
Now only Stromeon remained.
Thunder crackled in the air around him. His blue eyes burned with defiance.
He stood between the fallen and the nightmares.
The four creatures turned.
All eyes now on him.
GAAAR!
Stromeon roared, a defiant, thunderous cry.
[<Thunder Roar!>]
The air shook. The ground trembled.
Electricity snapped and cracked along his fur, arcs leaping to the broken stones beneath.
One of the beasts charged, Claws raised.
Stromeon met it head-on.
[<Groundbreaker Slam!>]
BOOOOM!
The impact sent shockwaves outward, lifting dust and debris in a tidal wave of force. One of the beasts was flung back.
Another lunged from the side—
[<Thunderclap!>]
CRACK!
A sphere of lightning detonated from his body, stunning the creature mid-leap and sending it twitching through the air.
The others pounced simultaneously, their tails glowing, ready to slice.
Stromeon charged through them like a storm unleashed.
Steel-like claws raked his flanks.
Blood sprayed.
But he refused to fall.
One beast twitched. Another was rising again.
The third snarled. The fourth circled around.
Stromeon bared his fangs, electricity dancing around him like a living storm.
And then—
The air changed.
It grew heavier. Denser.
Grrrr!
Stromeon growled, low and guttural.
A pulse of lightning cracked across the ruins—
Then—
BOOOOM!
A blinding flash of azure and gold burst from his body, like a sun igniting from within.
His form expanded—
Muscles thickening, tail lengthening, bones cracking and reforming.
His legs stretched, claws lengthened.
Twin curved horns erupted from his skull, sparking wildly as they surged with raw voltage.
Electricity coiled around him like serpents.
The ruined temple hummed beneath his claws.
The four creatures paused.
They felt it too.
The shift.
The danger.
The predator.
But Stromeon didn't give them a chance to react.
He lunged forward.
His massive claws tore through the air as he launched toward the creature still writhing on the ground.
Before it could rise.
CHOMP!
He sank his jaws into its skull, lightning exploding from his maw.
And with a bone-splitting rip, he tore the creature's head clean off.
Black ichor sprayed.
The body twitched, then gone limp.
He raised the head high, still sparking with blue lightning.
And.
Crushed it into pieces.
Then he threw the remnants down with a thunderous snarl.
Then he turned to the others.
GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWRRRRRR!
The roar tore through the chamber like a shockwave.
Dust and debris lifted. Cracks splintered across walls.
The very stone wept under the pressure.
One of the beasts backed away instinctively.
Another hissed, uncertain.
But the fourth charged.
Stromeon met it with a vicious grin carved across his scaled jaw.
They clashed.
Lightning and shadow.
One creature slashed—
Stromeon ducked under and slammed a horn upward.
CRACK!
The impact sent the monster into the air.
Before it could land—
[<Thunder Lancer!>]
BOOM!
He whipped his tail like a lightning javelin, piercing through the beast's midsection, sending it splattering into rubble.
But there were two more.
They came at once.
Claws raked his sides.
Teeth tried to sink into his neck.One got behind, wrapped its tail around his hind leg, trying to pin him down.
Stromeon howled, electricity bursting outward like a storm mine.
ZAP!
The grappling creature shrieked as lightning tore into it, flinging it across the chamber.
But the last beast was on his back now.
Its claws digging in, shadow energy swirling in its maw, preparing a fatal blow.
Stromeon grunted, his muscles coiling.
And then he rolled hard.
He slammed his back into the pillar behind him, crushing the beast between stone and his hard scales.
CRACK!
It dropped, stunned.
He stood over it, breathing hard, sparks leaking from every scale.
Lightning wrapped around his horns. His eyes glowed with molten fury.
Meanwhile, Kai lay frozen, breath caught in his throat.
Dust still danced through the ruins like ghosts.
Crackling bolts snapped from shattered stone, the air thick with the scent of scorched earth and blood.
Kai's eyes widened, shimmering.
His heart pounded, not with fear, but with awe.
Then—
[<Congratulations, your Thunder Drakelet has successfully evolved into Thunder Drake.>]
A blue panel popped before Kai's vision.
[Status]
{Basic Information}
Name: Kai
Race: Human
Age: 17
Class: Beast Tamer
Sub-Class: Rogue
Rank: Mid-Advanced Core
Affinity: Dark, Poison, Null (Temp locked)
{Attributes}
Strength: D+
Agility: A+
Endurance: D+
Charm: B+
Intelligence: B-
Mana Capacity: B
Soul Essence Capacity: B
{Skills}
Active: Ghost Steps, Phantom Slash, Stealth, Beast Synchronization, Falcon's Sight, Warding Veil, Beast Merging, Null Lash (Temp locked)
Passive: Mana Regeneration.
{Tamed Beasts}
-Dual-Heart Kitsune—Luna (Evolution stage) Mystic
Rank: Peak-Intermediate Core
Skills: Fireball, Ice spear, Icicle barrage, Illusionary Viel, Foxfire
-Phantom Lynx—Vex Rare
Rank: Mid-Advanced Core
Skills: Phantom slash, Ghost Steps, Stealth, Shadow Ball
-Windsight Falcon—Vael Uncommon
Rank: Early-Advanced Core
Skills: Sonic Dive, Falcon's Sight, Echo Ball
-Thunder Drake—(Stromeon) Exotic
Rank: Early-Elite Core
Skills: Thunder Roar, Groundbreaker Slam, Thunderclap, Static Field, Thunder Lancer, Tempest Surge
[<Thunder Lancer – A focused, high-impact tail strike imbued with lightning. Capable of piercing heavy defenses.>]
[<Tempest Surge – Unleashes a radial explosion of electricity around the user, stunning and heavily damaging all enemies in range.>]
Kai let out a quiet, breathless chuckle, even as sweat dripped from his brow.
"Heh… you monster…" he whispered, proud. "Look at you."
Stromeon didn't look back.
He charged.
The final creature, already reeling from the shock of the last, snarled and lunged to meet him.
But this was no longer a fight.
This was an execution.
The beast swung a jagged claw.
Stromeon ducked and drove his shoulder into its chest.
BOOM!
And sent it skidding across the floor.
Before it could even rise, he was already above it.
His tail lit up, brighter than ever before, coiling with layers of concentrated lightning.
[<Thunder Lancer!>]
CRACK!
His tail came down like the hammer of a god, shattering the creature's ribs and planting it deep into the broken ground.
It tried to scream.
But it never got the chance.
Its body convulsed once.
Twice.
Then stopped.
Smoke curled from its mouth, its charred limbs twitching before finally falling still.