CHAPTER 67
Bang, Bang, Bang—!
A barrage of coordinated attacks shot through the air, speeding towards the Aberrant, who stared at the group of students with a profoundly amused expression on its face.
With a dark smirk, the monster lifted its massive limbs and crossed them across its face, causing the projectiles to bounce harmlessly off the reinforced surface of its rocky forearms.
"Pathetic…"
The creature lowered its guard, only for Kai to suddenly appear before its chest with his hands lashing through the air in a blur of motion.
Bursting forth from his knuckles were massive crystal columns that smashed into the Aberrant's jaw with crushing force, sending the five-metre monstrosity staggering back several steps.
Its head was thrown violently to the side from the raw kinetic impact of the crystal pillars.
The creature gritted its teeth in a snarling display of fury as it angrily swiped at the air, its lethal claws aiming to tear Kai in two.
But the boy's VMS gear activated with a sharp hiss, enabling him to fly backwards and dodge the slashing claws by the skin of his teeth.
Trisha leaped off the ground next, launching into the air with a deadly, cold presence radiating from her.
From the corner of its eyes, the Aberrant spotted her ascending figure and quickly slashed outward with its secondary set of claws.
The talons streaked through the air from the side, targeted directly at the ice-cold girl.
Kicking the air beneath her with forceful precision, she launched even higher into the sky, dodging the claw that swiped harmlessly below her boots.
Then, she curled her body backwards in mid-air before nosediving back down at the creature with predatory intent.
From her fingertips, razor-sharp ice shards began shooting out at a rapid, frantic speed.
The Aberrant quickly crossed its hands in front of its face again, blocking the frozen projectiles and causing them to bounce off its hide like bullets ricocheting off a masterfully crafted katana.
Swinging its hands out in a violent arc, a concentrated gust of wind blasted out from its palms with full force.
"Shit." Trisha cursed under her breath as she swung her hands downwards.
Her gear activated instantly, launching her backwards in a desperate attempt to dodge the concussive wind.
Meanwhile, Kai was seen vaulting forward—staying significantly lower compared to those currently in the air.
He weaved expertly between the Aberrant's tree-trunk legs, appearing directly behind the monstrosity, and he wasted no time in launching a cluster of jagged crystalline spikes at its exposed neck.
As if it possessed eyes in the back of its head, the Aberrant's hand shot toward its nape, blocking the spikes from hitting the flesh.
Fwoooosh—!
Two massive fireballs burst out from Berg's palms, rocketing towards the creature like a pair of twin comets.
The creature was a fraction of a second slow in reacting this time, and the fireballs smashed directly into its face, scorching the skin off a bit and sending it reeling backwards in mild, irritated pain.
Steadying its footing just in time to see five other Aspirants sending a wave of earth spikes its way, the monster sneered angrily.
And then, with its hands raised, the Aberrant began swiping through the air at blazing speed, breaking off the earthen projectiles and swatting them to the ground as if they were nothing more than bothersome flies.
But still, the spikes kept coming at full speed.
They were unrelenting.
Using this brief window of opportunity, Kai, Trisha, and Berg weaved in between the earth users after vaulting off the ground.
Their hands were blazing with their respective elemental abilities, and then, in a rare moment of unison, they unleashed their power toward the Aberrant.
Seeing the coordinated attacks from the corner of its peripheral vision, the Aberrant swiftly pivoted.
One hand was raised and placed protectively across its neck while it curled its body forward, allowing the combined strikes to smash into its rocky back without so much as causing a single scratch on its hide.
"Damn." Kai clicked his tongue in frustration as he landed back down on the gravel along with the others.
At the same time, even more emboldened Aspirants launched into the air, sending various abilities flying, yet they remained unable to leave a mark on the creature's defenses.
Seeing that the varied abilities were failing to truly hurt it, the Aberrant grew even more confident; it turned to face the crowd fully, arrogantly allowing the weaker attacks to scratch harmlessly against its front.
Blue blood could be seen trickling down his body in thin, viscous streams, but still, a wide, predatory grin remained plastered on his face.
"Wait, wait! Stop!" Kai shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice straining to be heard over the cacophony of battle.
But the Aspirants weren't listening; fueled by adrenaline and a false sense of security, they kept sending a relentless barrage of attacks.
Having enough, the Aspirants landed back on the ground for a fleeting heartbeat.
The next second, they took off again with renewed ferocity.
This time, they were ready to go up close and personal.
And close they went.
The Aberrant's massive claws lashed through the air at the humans, but swerving around with their VMS gears, the students were able to narrowly avoid the fatal attacks while simultaneously sending earth spikes towards the creature's midsection.
Each jagged spike tore a fresh scratch on the Aberrant's body, causing more of that strange blue blood to trickle down.
Still, the creature was grinning widely at the fact it was being injured, almost as if it found the pain to be a delightful novelty.
Trisha, having finally had enough of standing around on the sidelines, began rushing forward at full speed.
Her boots clicked rhythmically against the hard ground with each powerful dash until she was close enough to vault off the soil forcefully.
Her gear activated with a sharp hiss, helping her glide through the air like a winter hawk.
Noticing her approach, the Aberrant quickly grabbed a nearby Aspirant at blazing speed.
In one smooth, horrifying motion, he hurled the screaming human directly at Trisha.
The body broke the sound barrier as it rocketed towards her like a living projectile.
But with cold, graceful movement, she sidestepped from the path of the falling Aspirant before launching back towards the creature at immense speed.
'How can she be so uncaring? I thought she would at least try to save the boy, but she simply let him die…' Trailing off, the Aberrant tilted his head only to see that Kai had reacted instantly.
The tall youth had caught the injured Aspirant mid-air, saving him from certain death.
'... Blasted humans…' the monster's thoughts trailed off as Trisha materialized in front of him at great speed.
"Curse you!" He roared into the air as his massive fist shot forth from the side.
Trisha's cold side-eye caught sight of the fist heading her way.
She wasted no time in leaping a bit higher, utilizing the air-burst from her boots, and then landed firmly on the monster's outstretched hand.
A pair of translucent ice daggers swiftly appeared in her grip as she began running across the length of the limb, weaving in between multiple frantic slashes.
Kai was stunned for a moment as the girl's blue hair fluttered in the air calmly, contrasting with the violence of the scene.
'It… it's like she has no concept of fear.'
The Aberrant's second hand came crashing down from above, aiming to slap her off his arm like a bothersome insect.
Pushing off with her gear, she slid beneath the heavy strike, causing the creature to slap his own arm with a resounding thud instead.
Then she launched off—getting directly in the Aberrant's face and preparing to slash away at his eyes—when her skin suddenly prickled with warning.
The Aberrant's hand shot towards her body at breakneck speed, catching her completely unaware.
'Damnit! Too fast…' she cursed inwardly, her pupils dilating as the massive palm blazed her way until…
Bang—!
A deafening bang rang out with terrifying intensity as a new figure zipped into the air at blistering speed.
In the blink of an eye, he caught Trisha firmly by the waist.
Then, with a cold and unflinching gaze, he spun his body around and smashed his feet right into the palm of the Aberrant which had been rocketing towards the girl earlier.
The kinetic energy of the collision created a perfect launchpad for him, causing him to cut through the air backwards with his prize in his arms.
"Wh-?"
"Ray!" Kai shouted from below, immediately recognizing the shimmering silver hair of the figure who had just saved Trisha from being crushed.