Chapter 38: Submerged Fish Hunt - 4
Chapter 38: Submerged Fish Hunt - 4
Winston walked through the darkness, his destination unknown for the most part. His legs, boosted through shinsu carried him effortlessly through the damp and watery cave. He jumped from one pillar to the other.
Jumping onto a rather broad pillar, he stopped and took out a standard red needle, and to do with that, he took out one of Endorsi's hair pins. Then, keeping the needle vertically on the ground, he prompted inside his mind. With that, he let go of the needle that stopped falling after tilting a bit to the right.
Grabbing the needle, Winston leapt again, going to the right.
As he went about his way, he could not help but question his decision again. Suddenly, he shook his head and smiled.
Whatever it might be, I'll just have to face it with a smile. He chuckled.
Eventually, he saw faint silhouettes in his spirit vision, various colours that ranged from that of glee, fear, calculating and regret. In truth, there were about three people present.
Winston raised a brow as he drew in closer. As he did so, he heard a faint chuckle reverberate in the surroundings, along with a gasp of pain.
Winston's face contorted a bit as he took in the scenery before him. There he stood, the teacher of the wave controllers with his foot planted on Anaak's throat who was writhing under him, gasping in pain and for breath. In the left side of her chest was a bloody injury, through which blood leaked out without stop, pooling under her and dripping her clothes in crimson.
Some distance from them, amid a large crater in the wall lied Endorsi with her back pressed to the rocks. She held her side with an expression of pain and discomfort and gasped for breath too. She looked on towards the spectacle unfolding before her, her eyes widened to the extreme as she yelled at the rice ball to let the green skinned lizard go.
Winston didn't quite understand the situation in it's entirety, but the scenery before him told him one thing; and so did his own intuition. The rice ball was the enemy. And he was dangerous. So very dangerous.
Sweat poured from Winston's forehead as he silently waited behind a pillar for a moment, his grip on his needle tightening. The bells that were now tied to his pants did not offer any chimes, because he didn't want to lose the surprise factor; but he knew that he was about the step into a very dangerous situation.
The might of a ranker was not to be contended with by a regular on the test floor. And although he stood in the tower as an irregular, he had yet to bloom with his full potential.
Winston hesitated for a moment. And then he sprang into action.
Whoosh!
With a piercing sound of the wind, he strode forward, covering a distance of 50 meters in the blink of an eye! The rice ball abruptly turned it's head, but then, it stopped mid motion. Winston appeared right in front of him, however, the freeze spell lost it's effect at the last moment which led to the ranker narrowly avoiding a needle that threatened to pierce right through it's head!
Winston felt some annoyance. He had purposefully refrained from using Reverse Flow Control, solely because the fluctuation of shinsu might have been noticed by the ranker and mess up his surprise attack. However, even casting only the freeze spell, the ranker had managed to break free after only 0.2 seconds!
The rice ball ranker stood some distance away now, having moved away from Anaak.
""'Winston!"'"' Both the princesses exclaimed in unison, their faces lighting up in relief and
joy.
Winston didn't answer them, only smiling at the ranker.
"A ranker attacking a regular on the test floor? If news of this gets out, won't your image be rolled into the dust?" He chuckled.
The ranker, with it's perpetual smile spoke. "Winston Heath, right? You're also quite a promising individual. If you could just turn around and leave, I wouldn't mind sparing you." The ranker shook it's head. "After all, I had some plans for you to join the Lo Po Bia family."
Winston raised an eyebrow.
"So you're from the Lo Po Bia family? Isn't that even worse for your position and image?" He asked.
"Am I to assume you won't be leaving?" The ranker said in some regret. Though, Winston noticed in his spirit vision, an unmistakable emotion. Unparalleled glee, excitement and happiness. Winston's eyes narrowed a bit.
"Hey." He called out. "Tell me one thing... You're not a sadist are you?"
The ranker stopped in his movement and mechanically turned his head. "What gave you that impression?"
"Just a hunch."
Sigh! With a sigh, the rice ball's mouth opened up a bit, and out from it crawled a gigantic snake like shinhueh.
Winston adopted a combat stance; as did Endorsi who had managed to recover some of her strength.
Though, from his spirit vision, Winston noticed her bones being badly injured, mainly the ribs.
"Can you continue with the fight?" Winston asked, turning his body slightly to look at Endorsi. The woman in question nodded with a word. Winston stole a glance at Anaak who was desperately trying to get up from the ground. Winston shook his head.
Then, he asked the critical question.
"Where's green april?" He said. He had turned off his spirit vision while observing the scene, solely because the combined aura of the two weapons were too much for him to accurately see anything else.
"I have it." Endorsi raised a green hook in her hand.
"And Black March?"
Endorsi threw something at him, prompting him to catch it.
Winston raised a brow as he caught the Black March, it's black edge shimmering even in the dark environment.
Seeing the ranker not moving and letting them finish their conversation, Winston opened his reel inventory.
He smiled and took out a pale blue needle, one with a dark blue handle. The needle had various wave patterns embossed on it, making it appear rather unique and intimidating. Faint ripples of Shinsu bounced off the needle as he took it out, tracing a bright blue phantom
behind it.
"Time to dual wield I suppose." He said and broke out with a vicious grin.
Endorsi also took a combative stance, her eyes glued to the ranker.
The rice ball ranker in front chuckled with a malevolent tone. The snake like creature that floated above him looked at them with it's baleful eyes that looked to have been summoned straight out of the abyss. The hulking creature offered such an offensive glare of evil and malevolence that it somehow chilled Winston's spine.
There was silence for a moment, before everyone moved as if a starting gun shot had been
rung.
Shaaaaa!
Winston dashed straight at the rice ball, Black March in one hand and the needle gifted by Khun, Cerulean Tide in the other.
In just a moment, both of their figures met in the air.
Clang!
The rough sound of metal rang out as Winston heard someone yell behind him.
"Green April! Ignition!"
With that, he felt a giant pressure overtake the surroundings.
Immediately, he cast shinsu strengthening to his legs and jumped out of the way, just in time for a gigantic attack to slam into the ground, taking the rice ball ranker with it.
At the exact moment, the Great behemoth that loomed silently in the air until now moved
with a frightening speed.
Hisssss!
The snake like creature hissed, dashing right towards Endorsi!
Winston's eyes narrowed as he focused his spirituality onto Black March.
Hey lady! Mind if I use you for a bit? He asked, feeling his perception slowing down as he
accelerated his thoughts with shinsu.
The response came just as quickly.
"Oh my! Saying such a thing to a fair lady? Someone might misunderstand if they overhear this you know?" The voice chuckled. "Go on. I'll lend you my power." The voice continued.
Then, without skipping a beat, Winston leaped forward towards the beast, yelling out while
doing so.
"Black March! Ignition!" He yelled. Immediately, he felt a strange power flow through him, coursing through his entire body and rejuvenating his spirit.
The needle in his right hand exploded into a whirlpool of shinsu, dark black in colour that enveloped almost the entirety of his spirit vision!
Without any delay and without any time to ponder over the power, Winston thrusted with the needle, right towards the creature's head!
Booooooom!
Crash!
Shaaaaaa!
A series of explosions rang out as Winston saw Endorsi leap back, Anaak held beneath her arm
like a sac of potatoes.
Winston landed back onto the ground and looked on into the dust, his spirit vision seeing through the dust. As of right now, his spirit vision worked better than it would have normally, solely because of the weapon he held in his hand. The Black March elevated his powers, amplifying them beyond his limits. His spirit vision, which had partially been blocked by the giant presence of the Black March and Green April now cleared up to better reveal the waves. He could read all the waves all the more better than before.
Winston broke out with a maniacal grin, looking at the two figures in the dust that were relatively unharmed... Well, at least the ranker was.
Two figured emerged, one shorter than a normal human, the other a giant snake. The rice ball
was unharmed for the most part, with the only real damage done being the dirt marring it's
surface. As for the snake...
Drip! Drip!
Hissss!
The snake hissed with a gaping hole in its head, leaking blood incessantly that pooled onto the ground. The blood was a sickly purple colour, staining the ground in a strange hue.
Winston smiled, satisfied at the power the Black March could display when ignited. "My my. That's pretty dangerous." The rice ball shook it's head. Then, it opened its mouth
and the snake was sucked back into its maw.
Winston raised a brow. "Afraid that your little pet will die?" He asked with a mocking smile.
The rice ball chuckled.
"The Black March can really display different dimensions of powers in hands of different
people... very well." The rice ball spoke. The grin on it's face seemed to get more prominent and widened. Then, a chuckle rang out in the cave.
"This is self defence, you know? You attacked me first!" The rice ball yelled, then, a strange
wave travelled through the air.
Winston immediately dashed at him, simultaneously casting freeze and Reverse Flow
Control!
The ranker froze in his act for a split second, his attack stopping in it's tracks. "Cerulean Tide! Ignition!" That's right. The needle Khun had stolen from Khun Eduan's
treasury was an ignition weapon. Not only that, it the like that once in the right hand, could
pierce even the defences of a Barracuda, or better yet, pierce the shell of a mountain turtle on the 78th floor by itself!
A blue wave travelled along the length of the needle, carrying with it an intense force that ran
through Winston's body.
Without wasting any time, Winston stabbed towards the rice ball, both his ignited weapons simultaneously merging together and working in tandem.
Booooooooooom!
A deafening explosion sounded. Endorsi and Anaak covered their ears, wincing at the earn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
destroying explosion.
The time it took for the rice ball to break out was exactly 0.67 seconds, while Winston had
already initiated his attack in 0.5!
A direct hit!
Winston dashed out from the dust cloud, landing right beside Anaak and Endorsi.
"Is it done?" Endorsi asked.
Winston turned to her with a smile.
"You're not supposed to say that." He said.
A/N: I could have ended the fight this chapter itself, but I'm too lazy to do so. So here's a 2000
word chapter.
Cheers-
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