Chapter 986: Crimson Lightning
Leonel suddenly sensed a strong surge. He could immediately tell that this aura was doing its best to s.n.a.t.c.h up the Force that he had taken away. But, the sudden change suddenly made a line toward where this suction was coming from clear and obvious.
Without hesitation, Leonel shot into the distance. Before anyone could react to what he was doing, he had already shot over the horizon and disappeared into the storm.
"CAPTAIN!" Joel called out to try to get Leonel to come back, but it was already too late. A frown immediately marred his brows. "Dammit."
Karolus stopped in the air as well. Beneath his feet, s.p.a.ce fractured and cracked, causing the colossal squid beneath him to shatter as though it was made of gla.s.s. His lethality wasn"t to be questioned. Maybe if it wasn"t for the fact he couldn"t use long ranged attacks as freely as Leonel could, he wouldn"t have fallen so far behind in their compet.i.tion. But, even he couldn"t help but frown about Leonel"s actions.
There wasn"t a single soul here who didn"t think that Leonel was being far too reckless. There was a reason the basin was formed the way it was and why the cruisers and defenses were positioned as such. Leaving this place was akin to a death sentence.
Without the basin to funnel creatures, those oceanic beasts no longer had to deal with crowding. However, that was just the tip of the iceberg. The most dangerous location was the choke point where the basin began. It was there that these creatures would realize that the ocean wasn"t so wide and endless any longer and they began to be funneled.
The result of these was a large acc.u.mulation of powerful oceanic beasts stuck outside waiting for their turn to charge in. To those creatures, the appearance of Leonel would be like a flame to a moth.
There was a reason the creatures started small and slowly got bigger and bigger as the battle went on. This was because it was easiest for these small creatures to squeeze through, leaving the true behemoths stuck on the outside.
Leonel was playing with his life. To these creatures, even jumping several kilometers into the air wasn"t a problem in the slightest. And, many of them were talents that would have various abilities that would allow them to fly not much unlike Leonel himself and Karolus. He was really dancing on death"s blade.
"… He must have sensed it… I sensed it too but I wasn"t able to lock on quickly enough. It seems his senses are more powerful than mine…"
Karolus frowned not because Leonel had bettered him, but rather because even he wasn"t confident in delving into a sea of creatures like that, at least not until he reached the Fifth Dimension and the restrictions on his ability loosened.
He gripped his fists. "I need to enter soon."
His father had told him that Earth would likely face another war very soon. In fact, their enemies might very well be bearing down already. He couldn"t afford to be slow.
…
Leonel continued to shoot forward. He had, in fact, heard Joel"s call. But, everyone was still underestimating him, quite frankly. With his senses, he could blanket hundreds of kilometers with his Internal Sight. Let alone having to be warned, he could see the danger up ahead live and in person. There was no surprise waiting for him.
But, if he could kill this creature, he would effectively solve all of Earth"s problems in one sweep. He too could tell that there was likely war looming over the horizon. They couldn"t afford to split their attention like they were currently.
On the one hand, this was a good way of training up warriors. But on the other, if this went on too long, especially without those fighting on the coast being able to absorb the Force the Invalids released, it would be a detriment rather than a positive.
Leonel"s Refractive Gold s.h.i.+elds continued to rotate as he flew. Large octopus arms and flying sword fish competed to swat him out of the skies and skewer him, but he dodged them with a deft ease, shooting out a single golden beam to kill them all.
At first, these flashes of gold were all that told those he had left behind that he was still alive. But, very soon, he had grown too far away for even those blinding lights to reach them. The rain and the darkness was too much to see through.
As Leonel tore a path through the skies, allowing the Silver Tablet to swallow up the Force he earned, the creatures only seemed to grow more powerful. The first Quasi Fifth Dimensional creature appeared and its aura seemed to tower over the others.
The shark sat menacingly in the waters, the surrounding ten meters around it completely empty of other creatures. It had deep crimson eyes and was actually the first non-Invalid Leonel had run across.
Sparks of what looked like blood drenched lightning coursed around its fin. Every so often, a spark would light the black waters around it, resulting in a sizzling fog that quickly vanished into the air.
Leonel had planned on just shooting over this creature but when he saw this odd, corrosive lightning, his interest was piqued. He wondered if Gil could evolve his lightning if he used this shark"s Beast Crystal. Though Gil was a speedster, due to the fact it was Element based, he gained lightning affinity along with it.
Right now, Gil only used normal natural Lightning Force. But, this blood red lightning seemed to be at least top 100 among Lightning Elemental Forces in Leonel"s estimation.
"Plus, I need to gather up some high quality meat for everyone to eat. I can"t skip over these creatures…"
Making a decision, Leonel rose a hand. But, he was shocked to find that the instant he did, the menacing glare of the shark vanished as it turned tail and ran.