NOVEL NEXT Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Maximum Level!
Rushing to a tree, Alchemy jumped upward to grab a branch several meters above her head before launching herself straight into the air toward the bird.
Striking the bird's wing with all of her weight before landing, Alchemy glared into the sky.
"One wasn't enough to clip your wing?" Alchemy clicked her tongue in irritation as the eagle turned its attention to her.
{Mother! Be careful!}
'Yeah, that's right. Come to me."
As if falling for her taunt, the eagle began to nosedive toward Alchemy. As it lost altitude, it spun like a corkscrew. As the two were about to meet, Alchemy pivoted her weight, turning her body before sending the damned bird into the ground with an axe kick.
"Attack it now!" She ordered, her voice reverberating through the forest.
Before the bird could process what had happened, Alchemy jumped on top of it, ripping at its wing while the Thornskirmishers flew in from above, stinging it all over.
In retaliation, the bird flapped its free wing, the force behind it sending Alchemy and her troops flying off of it.
It tried to return to the skies, but Sapphire unleashed a wave of Crystals before it could, barely pinning it for another moment.
Alchemy tried to use the chance to recover and attack but gained no such luck.
'Fast and explosive. As expected from an Assassin. You're not all that frail either, considering you took so much without even losing your flight.'
Looking at her [IDOL], Alchemy tossed her hand to the side.
Once again, Divine Power flowed through her body into one of her arms, this time entering into her piece of jewelry as if it was absorbing it.
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From the ground below, bronze-rusted chains shot up toward the sky in an attempt to catch the bird. When they began to close in, the bird quickly dodged by initiating another nose dive, aiming for Sapphire.
However, Alchemy's chains weren't far behind as she slammed her arm downward.
It wasn't sure how Sapphire managed to heal from its initial sneak attack, but this time, it would make sure the attack was fatal! Unfortunately for the cocky bird, Sapphire reacted and activated their [Harden Skin] skill.
The crystal-like exoskeleton shattered at the hit but couldn't redirect itself, causing it to fall into the same situation as its first attempt.
"Impale it!" Alchemy commanded, her chains falling heavily on the chain.
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One second was enough.
Sapphire's [Crystal Bloom] skill activated, causing a small tree made of gemstones to sprout underneath the bird. The bird rolled out of the way, barely managing to react in time; the left wing got pierced instead of its body.
At the same time, a Thornskirmisher stung it, only to be caught in the eagle's large beak and crushed in a single motion.
"NO!" Alchemy cried out.
Then the effect of [Sealed Spirit] ended, allowing the bird to try and shoot up into the sky.
"And you can still fly?! Damn it! DAMN IT!"
Jumping onto the crystal tree and further into the sky, Alchemy leaped up to grab the beast's uninjured wing, using her newly acquired physical prowess to its fullest.
Grappling onto the bird and pulling herself up like it was her mount, she forced her fist into its spine as hard as she could, causing them to fall from over 12 meters into the sky.
As they plummeted together, Alchemy was sure she heard the Thornskirmishers shouting something through the telepathic link, but she couldn't care less.
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The duo hit the ground with a loud THUD! The impact causes smoke to rise. Shortly later, a notification from the system appeared in front of everyone.
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{Mother! Please!? Where are you? Can you hear us!> Us!?} The Thornskirmishers tried getting her to reply, their cries continuing to fall on deaf ears.
Alchemy looked at the bird before the smoke had time to clear properly.
It had completely lost its ability to move, much less fly. This was more than it just being concussed or stunned. Alchemy's punch on top of the fall completely broke its spine!
"You lost the moment your sneak attack missed." She spat out blood onto the bird, which cried in pain as she crushed its skull with her shoeless foot.
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As the smoke fully cleared, both the Thornskirmishers and Sapphire rushed to Alchemy's sides while she wobbled toward them, any sense of balance she may have had was gone as the world spun and spun.
'I… lost… one.' She thought to herself, doing her best to form even the most simple sentences.
{Mother! You're okay! We were so scared! You said you wouldn't do anything so stupid again!}
'Oh… The rest of the… Thorns… How has my body not… Given out yet?'
"Ah…" She said, coughing up blood with a smile.
It felt like every bone in her body was broken, every muscle torn, every organ working overtime just to keep her alive… Until it didn't.
"I really overdid it this time." She tried to chuckle, failing miserably to do so and falling to her side.
Luckily, Sapphire caught her before her head could hit the ground.
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