“Opportunists,” Tara spat. “They’re following in our wake, letting us fight off the Ash Beasts so they don’t have to.”
Vir smirked as they started running again. “So you’re saying they’re doing exactly what we did to them earlier?”
“Fair point,” Tara replied. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it. I say we take them all out. Better now than later. They’ll keep hampering us, which means we’ll have to watch our behinds the whole way.”
“While I agree they need to be dealt with, stopping to attack them… well, it’s not very efficient, is it?”
Tara’s expression went ice-cold. “Oh? Then what would you suggest, master tactician?”
Vir thought it over as the trio broke through the forest, encountering another vast field of Ash surrounded by the thick forest. Their current direction took them directly to a towering mountain range, whose peaks—visible over the trees ahead—were ravaged by lightning.
He reached for his back, and grinned. “Let’s see how they deal with this…”
Vir activated his Artifact Chakra, which hummed with deadly power. He threw it, and the blades deployed, cycling rapidly.
Were those to touch his competitors, they’d be dead in moments—at least, if they didn’t have some form of prana defense to block it.
Which would, of course, disqualify Vir and land him in deep trouble. He had no desire to kill anyone, regardless.
The Artifact sailed for the nearest tree, bisecting its trunk as if it weren’t even there.
The tree hung for a moment, then crashed heavily behind them.
It was followed by another, and another.
In Vir’s wake was a tsunami of falling trunks and wreckage.
Hazards their pursuers had to dodge, lest they be crushed underneath.
“Brutal,” Tara said, giving Vir a look of deep respect. “I love it. And you held out on me. Never said you had an Artifact of the Gods. You have to show me when we’re back.”
Vir was getting used to the idea that all demon warriors were battle junkies. Somehow, it bothered him less with each passing day.
A screech sounded from overhead, and through the forest canopy, Vir saw a half dozen black blurs.
“What was that!” Tara shouted.
Vir had seen and fought enough of those creatures to know exactly what they were.
“Shrikes! Take cover!”
Vir threw himself to the ground, and Tara flattened her serpentine body, lowering her torso. Shan was already on the ground, his instincts warning him well before Vir did.
It was perhaps an unnecessary precaution, but Vir had seen those beasts dive-bomb creatures in even the thickest jungle.
In the distance, Vir heard their pursuers catching up. His mind lingered on the threat of the Iksana who’d attacked them earlier, making his decision easy.
Something had to be done about those beasts, and he had to be the one to do it.
“Continue to the forest entrance. Shan will accompany you,” Vir said, looking up at the canopy.
“What are you going to do?”
“Deal with them,” Vir replied, before crouching and High Jumping up to the forest canopy.
He left a gaping Tara in his wake.
“Damn. He’s good.”
Vir jabbed his katar into a trunk before jumping again, clearing the canopy.
He checked—neither his Life Chakra nor Prana Vision sensed anyone around. And then he Leaped.
This was not a limited, shortened Leap, but his full power ability. It sent him soaring high into the sky.
It was not a maneuver that would have succeeded had he not had hundreds—even thousands—of practice attempts.
As it was, he had. And so, he landed perfectly on the trailing Shrike’s back, plunging his katar into its neck as he threw his Artifact Chakram at another Shrike.
The decision to use the chakram had been a calculated one. Up here, in the open, eyes would be tracking him. They’d witness its true power, unlike in the forest.
Normally, Vir would’ve wanted to hide such an ability, but if he played his cards right, it might prove an immense advantage. While its power waned substantially outside the Ash… his competitors wouldn’t know that.
Vir kicked off the Shrike before the now-dead creature fell out of the sky, grabbing his chakram as it returned, having cleanly severed the neck of another Shrike.
It was when he landed on the next bird that Vir realized something was wrong. Or more accurately, different.
The Shrike would ordinarily kick up a ruckus when one of their own was killed, but they’d stay in formation.
They always stayed in formation.
Before Vir could throw his chakram again, the Shrike Vir was on separated from the rest and dove, nearly sending Vir flying off. It was only by simultaneously sucking every drop of its prana and Blinking off that Vir managed to grab the tail of the next bird. The same thing happened here, where instead of thrashing, the bird split off.
Vir didn’t bother killing it. He Leaped… all the way to the leading Shrike.
It was then that he saw the red demon riding atop it.
His hands gripped the creature’s neck, but he didn’t appear to be attacking. His stance was almost… peaceful.
Vir immediately understood.
This demon was Aindri, and he was using his Bloodline Arts to influence these Ash Beasts.
Vir’s estimation of that Clan shot up in an instant. If they could control this level of Ash Beast, they were a threat to be reckoned with. Especially here, in this realm.
Vir didn’t bother attacking any other Shrikes. He threw his chakram straight at the lead Shrike, even as his current one veered away.
That was alright. As far as he could tell, his Chakrams had no limits on their range, so long as they had prana to fuel them. And here, there was no shortage of that.
The Aindri’s Shrike weaved and dodged, but it was no match for the relentless chakram.
After the chakram’s first successful strike, the Aindri had thrown the beast into a dive.
Vir jumped off his current Shrike, killing it in the process, and let himself free fall.
It was a good move on the Aindri’s part. Getting lower reduced damage from a crash, and it also helped him avoid the chakram.
For all of about two seconds.
The Artifact of the Gods slashed, ripped, and tore through the beast, making pass after pass, circling it like an angry hornet.
By the time the Aindri jumped off, the Shrike was nothing more than a bleeding carcass that slammed into the ash, kicking up an enormous plume of soot.
The chakram returned to Vir’s hand. Not only had it ended the Shrike, it’d also destroyed the Aindri’s tablet, as Vir intended. Here in the Ash, the weapon understood Vir’s intent, so long as it was simple.
Kill the beast. Destroy the tablet. Leave the demon alive.
Vir only wished it retained the same level of intelligence outside the Ash, but he took what he got.
Vir landed just outside the forest, using both the softness of the ash and Light Step to absorb his fall.
When he dusted off and looked around, he found two dozen sets of eyes, all trained on him. They were arranged in a semi-circular formation, as if they were waiting.
An ambush. For any who exited the forest.
Like Vir. Like Tara, who’d just burst through with Shan.
And like the dozen-odd demons who’d followed them.
With enemies behind, and enemies in front, Vir was surrounded.
“What do we do?” Tara said, scanning their enemies like a feral cat.
Vir did the same, twirling his Artifact menacingly around his finger as he scanned the crowd. He regarded them not with fear or panic, but with supreme, overwhelming confidence.
It was the confidence of one who knew he had an unassailable trump card. A weapon that instilled absolute terror in the minds of his enemies.