Bang!
Bang!
Roar!
It roared and shook the chains that bound it. Each time rattling the hearts of the three explorers. But still, they didn't walk away; they stared back at it until it became silent.
"Let's recap what happened!" Elias said. Sasha began immediately, "You are slow, very slow when you are close to it."
"Naturally. I'm not about speed. For now, of course. But I know I won't die easily. Just hope that your attack is ready next time."
After recapping, they understood that the beast had indeed fooled them with its actual range, but that wasn't the problem. It's that the beast wasn't truly distracted enough for Sasha to send her attack.
Another thing was Elias's lack of proper defense. Sasha recognized that the ball of spikes came from the book.
She also recognized the beast recoiled because it sensed Elias would use his destructive skill against it, which allowed him to escape, but it still attacked with tendrils to catch them off guard.
"Buddhist Hand, ahm, why are you here? And don't try to stop us; we are going again," Sasha said.
"Wait till the effect of Thunderstorms wanes, then tell me that!"
Elias also noticed even though she wasn't using the skill, she was a bit too composed.
Buddhist Hand then said, "I'm here to fight Calamity Beast as well as to be an Enforcer."
"Good. Then you will join us."
"Wait till it wanes. I won't give an answer until then!" he said.
Sasha frowned and sat down. Slowly, her expression and actions shifted to normal. The strong girl was replaced with an uncertain girl, but there was still fire in her.
One hour is all she needed to recover for another Piercing Ring Lightning.
"What is the plan?" Buddhist Hand asked.
"We distract it long enough for her to one-shot it," Elias said as he stood, his complexion back to normal.
"Appropriate distance?" he asked again.
"Fifty meters," she said. "It's very effective at that range. It will pierce through the beast and cause internal damage. But you see, the beast can stretch up to 150, possibly 200 meters."
She swallowed after she explained that, her hand drumming her thigh, sweat accumulating on her forehead.
"What is his name? Buddhist Hand sounds like a nickname?" Elias whispered to Sasha.
"That is his name now. They have to be Rank 2 before they qualify to own their birth name. But some with enough contributions in their actions may have it earlier," she whispered back as they both pretended the boy wasn't hearing.
"You both know you can die here, right?"
"So you are," Sasha said, and he nodded. "Elias, kill it if we are cornered!"
"Yes, boss!"
Buddhist Hand chuckled. He faced the creature, his presence changing, becoming sharp.
He took a deep breath before he stepped forward and flashed before the beast with a yellow glowing fist..
The punch carried a six-foot-wide force that slammed into the beast. It morphed, changed, its head flat like a saucer, hands molded like a bodybuilder; its body straightened and met the next punch with punch.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Sasha exclaimed. Elias had already dashed inside, readying his force.
Sasha snapped back, took a deep breath, and ran into the alley too.
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
Fist meeting fist, shockwaves rattling the ground, sending shards flying. The binding chains rattled, almost breaking and Elias struggled to get close.
"Gravity Force!" he shouted. It rippled out from him, the same power as before, passed through Buddhist Hand, and slammed into the beast.
It staggered back. The yellow glowing hand met the beast's face; Buddhist Hand dodged a retaliation from the creature's hand, and his hands blurred, appearing ten in number, each meeting the beast's body with a resounding satisfying thud.
At the fourth strike, the beast's body spiked up. Sharp knife-like spikes littered its body.
Buddhist Hand didn't stop; his yellow glowing hands met them, and they bent. The beast recoiled, expanded, hardened more. The Calamity Force Core pulsed and retaliated.
"Gravity Force!" The shout came again, slowing down the beast by a little, but the beast's punch now staggered Buddhist Hand at first and second punch before his whole body glowed and he sent like a blur.
Dodging and attacking, eyes sharp, seeing every twitch and movement of the beast, he could also see Elias slamming forward with his gravity force that was a bit weaker than when he shouted.
Sasha was in position. 'The beast will not allow her to attack. It may roar or consume even more energy to disrupt her. But we planned for that.'
He had the mind to observe around him in that situation.
Sasha's hands spread, then moved clockwise. A circle made of strings of lightning began to form.
"FORCE!" Elias's voice echoed louder than before, his whole body tensed beyond compare, eyes red, face filled with veins almost rupturing.
He pushed his basic Gravity Force, hand forward, and released. It felt like an invisible shadow; the rattling of the ground stopped due to clash shockwaves.
Buddhist Hand hesitated; that force was dangerous, but he trusted the boy not to harm him. His body glowed, his fists changing color to true yellow.
Sasha was ready to strike.
The Calamity Beast recognised the threat, its donkey hooves rose and slammed at the ground. Cracks sneaked out, strangely in slow motion but faster than everyone. Their attention was pulled toward it like magnets to iron; the whole alley, beyond it, to the opposite building, and tens of meters around shattered.
A flute sound came from below, like a lullaby, making them bend and touch. Sasha bent and touched; the circle she made vanished.
Elias bent and touched, but his force didn't stop as it had already gone ahead.
"Ahhh!" Buddhist Hand roared like a lion and broke away from the pull. His roar spread and slammed into both Elias and Sasha, snapping them back.
Shatter!
Before they stood before touching, the ground broke; sharp shards shot up, slamming into their faces.
Bubble!
Elias's barrier saved him. Sasha felt like bullets slammed into her body; her Brand Skill: Internal Thunder Storm activated to harden her.
ROAR!
The beast roared, drowning out Buddhist Hand's roar. Its hand shaped into a blade, its Calamity Force Core glowing with great intensity, and it rammed the blade at Buddhist Hand.
That was when Elias's force rammed into it at that moment, slowing it down, shattering the beast's roar, and then slammed it back long enough for Buddhist Hand to react. He stepped back to take Elias and run, but it was too late.
Thick with force, the beast was liquid and wrapped around them. It was too fast to react. This time, even the ground was soaked, preventing Elias from escaping through it.