Chapter 86: Stop Hitting Me, I'm Going to Die if You Hit Me Again
Mualani's words pierced through the suffocating darkness like a brilliant sunbeam, scattering the gloom and hesitation that Comonqui's vile mockery had planted in Kachina's chest. The crushing guilt she harbored toward Mallko, her unwavering faith in Mavuika, the overwhelming gratitude for the companions who had charged into danger for her sake, and Mualani's absolute, unreserved support—all of it collided within her. It ignited into a roaring, resolute inferno unlike anything the young warrior had ever experienced.
"Mm!" Kachina nodded, the motion sharp and heavy. The final lingering shadows of doubt vanished from her wide eyes, replaced instantly by the unyielding steel of a true Natlan warrior.
She drew in a long, grounding breath. Her small hands clamped down on the shaft of her polearm with white-knuckled force. Leveling the heavy tip directly at Comonqui, she spoke. Her voice was low, yet it rang out with crystal clarity over the crackling Abyss energy.
"Mualani is right," Kachina declared. "Maybe my strength alone isn't enough right now. But my drive to protect Natlan and my friends? It's second to none!"
She dug her heels into the scorched earth. "Comonqui, you are going to pay the price for insulting Mr. Mallko. For insulting the Pyro Archon...!" She bared her teeth in a fierce scowl. "I really, really want to beat you up!"
Mualani stepped up right beside her, a confident, predatory grin spreading across her face. "Bring it on! An enemy of this caliber? The two of us together are more than enough to wash him out!" She summoned her Hydro energy, water swirling around her ankles. "Let's show this guy that Natlan's will is unbreakable!"
"Hmph! A futile struggle!" Comonqui sneered.
The dark, suffocating aura of the Abyss surged violently around his towering frame. The corrupted energy condensed, igniting into a barrage of searing, dark-fire orbs that shrieked through the air straight toward the two girls.
"Go!" Mualani shouted.
In a flash of brilliant blue, her Hydro vision flared. The summoned water instantly took the shape of her trusty Sharky Surfboard. She leaped onto it, the board accelerating to breakneck speeds as she nimbly carved a path through the battlefield, weaving gracefully between the fiercely detonating fireballs.
Kachina, meanwhile, summoned her Turbo Twister. She vaulted onto the massive drill, riding it to initiate devastating Geo elemental charges that tore up the terrain. When the momentum peaked, she leaped off, sending the drill crashing into the ground like a golden meteor. Every strike was perfectly timed, coordinating flawlessly with the bursting torrents of Mualani's high-speed Hydro assaults.
Their unspoken cooperation was incredible. Despite the overwhelming presence of the Abyss Lector, the two young warriors forced the powerful monster into a grinding stalemate. Considering both girls had already burned through a massive amount of stamina just surviving the Night Kingdom thus far, their current display of power was nothing short of spectacular. At this pace, grinding Comonqui down to dust was only a matter of time.
The Traveler, however, was not watching the main clash. Her golden eyes were locked dead onto the second, strangely silent Abyss Lector hovering in the shadows behind Comonqui.
'This guy actually showed up here again?' Thoughts raced through her mind as she analyzed the familiar red-robed figure.
Enjou seemed to sense the Traveler's piercing glare. The glowing core of his mask flickered slightly. Yet, he made absolutely no move to attack, nor did he offer his usual dramatic monologues. Instead, he subtly shifted his weight and turned his shoulder, practically trying to shrink into the background to lower his presence.
The Traveler made her decision in a split second.
"Wise!" she called out, her voice low and urgent. "You stay right here. Support Mualani and Kachina, and be ready to pull them out if things go south! I will handle the other one!"
A flicker of doubt crossed Wise's usually calm features, but he knew better than to question the seasoned adventurer's battle instincts. He gave a sharp nod. "Understood! Watch your back!"
Searing flames ignited around his hands, casting a harsh glow over his focused expression. He planted his feet, his analytical gaze sweeping over Kachina's chaotic battlefield, fully prepared to unleash hell the second either of the girls needed backup.
The Traveler did not waste another breath. Her figure blurred into a streak of teal light. Propelled by a violent burst of Anemo energy, she crossed the dozens of meters separating them in the blink of an eye. The dull blade of her Prototype Rancour suddenly crackled with vicious, purple Electro energy, arcing through the air as she aimed a lethal horizontal slash directly at the Abyss Lector's masked face.
She was not holding back; this strike was meant to maim.
Enjou jolted, clearly startled by the sudden explosive aggression. He threw his hands up, hastily conjuring a blazing, dark-fire Abyss shield just in time.
Clang!
The collision rang out like a cracked bell. Violent lightning exploded against the fiery barrier, sending violent tremors rippling across the shield's surface.
The Traveler's momentum was an unstoppable force of nature. She did not give him a single second to breathe. Slashing wind blades, jagged Geo spikes erupting from the earth, and blinding flashes of Electro lightning chained together in a devastating, alternating combo. The elemental tide battered Enjou relentlessly. The Abyss Lector was forced to backpedal frantically, his robes singed and his posture entirely disheveled as he stumbled over the rocky terrain, muttering panicked, garbled sounds under his breath.
Every strike was calculated. The Traveler deliberately angled her attacks, herding the desperately defending Lector away from the others. The two of them clashed and moved, rapidly distancing themselves from the main battlefield until the rocky outcroppings of the mountain labyrinth swallowed them whole, hiding them from view.
For a creature of the Abyss, Enjou was comically unaccustomed to being on the receiving end of a physical beatdown. He threw his arms over his head, his shield shattering into sparks.
"Stop! Stop!" he shrieked, his voice cracking. "I am going to die if you hit me again!"
Glancing back to confirm they were completely out of Wise's line of sight, the Traveler abruptly halted her relentless assault. However, she did not lower her weapon. The glowing tip of the Prototype Rancour remained leveled directly at Enjou's throat, her golden eyes narrowed into deadly slits.
"Stop? Fine," she hissed, her voice trembling with suppressed fury. "But you had better give me a very satisfactory explanation right now, Enjou. Mallko... that respectable warrior. Where is his soul?!"
Enjou instantly slumped, letting out a massively exaggerated sigh of relief. He patted the center of his chest where a heart would be, his fiery aura dimming to a non-threatening flicker.
"Oh dear, Traveler, your way of greeting old friends is just a bit too enthusiastic!" he complained, shaking his head. "If you kept hitting me like that, these old bones of mine really would have fallen apart!"
The Traveler's glare only darkened, the Electro energy on her blade sparking dangerously. Taking the hint, Enjou immediately dropped the act, his posture stiffening into something resembling seriousness.
"Mallko? You mean that Natlan warrior's soul? Do not worry, do not worry!" He waved his hands placatingly. "Seeing as he was very likely connected to your little group, I did not dare let him dissipate!"
He dusted off his singed robes. "At the time, that absolute brute, Comonqui, wanted to just crush the remnant soul like a piece of trash." Enjou's voice dripped with the distinct, haughty disdain of a refined scholar forced to deal with a meathead. "I managed to confiscate it from him under the highly academic pretext of studying the soul structure of ancient Natlan warriors."
"Hmm... I will admit, the process was a bit complicated. I was forced to stand there and listen to him boast for half the day about his twisted, meat-headed Abyss-supremacy theories..." Enjou shuddered dramatically. "But the result is what matters, isn't it!"
He spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "However, I must warn you. That warrior's soul power was completely exhausted. It is an absolute miracle that it managed to maintain its form without scattering to the winds. As for its current state... well, see for yourself."
Enjou slowly extended his right hand. A moment later, an incredibly faint, vaguely outlined halo of light materialized above his palm. Suspended within the fragile sphere, the blurry, translucent visage of Mallko could just barely be discerned. The ancient warrior's eyes were tightly shut. His spiritual aura was terrifyingly weak, flickering like a candle in a hurricane. It looked as though he could dissolve into the surrounding darkness of the Night Kingdom at any given second, his consciousness lost forever.
Seeing the fragile remnant of the brave warrior, the burning anger in the Traveler's eyes finally began to cool.
She lowered her sword. Channeling her Geo energy with utmost precision, she constructed a small, perfectly stable crystalline shield. She gently guided the wisp of the remnant soul into the construct, wrapping and securing it safely away from the corrosive atmosphere of the realm.
"Good for you," she muttered, her voice losing its lethal edge. "At least you are sensible."
Though her tone had softened, her physical vigilance did not drop a single fraction. She kept her weight centered, ready to strike. "Now tell me. How exactly did you end up in Natlan? And why are you skulking around the Night Kingdom of all places?"
Enjou reached up and scratched the back of his masked head, a distinctly human gesture of awkwardness. "Well... I am on a mission. A very official mission, you see. Orders from the higher-ups are terribly hard to elaborate on without getting myself executed."
He waved the topic away vaguely, quickly pivoting the conversation. When he spoke next, his tone carried a surprising touch of genuine emotion.
"As for coming down here specifically... partly, it is a strict mission requirement. But the other part..." He chuckled, a dry, raspy sound. "Hehe, that was purely personal interest. I sensed the unmistakable aura of an old acquaintance moving through this dead, silent wasteland. I simply could not resist coming over to say hello! After all, it is incredibly rare to run into a familiar face in a godforsaken place like this!"
He paused, his posture snapping into extreme, rigid seriousness. He even raised three fingers in a solemn scout's pledge. "And I swear to you! Chasing after that little girl, Kachina, had absolutely nothing to do with me! You know me, Traveler! I am Enjou, a peace-loving, research-oriented civilian! Mindless fighting and killing are simply not my style! That was entirely Comonqui and the radical meatheads backing him!"
The Traveler watched in dry amusement as the Abyss Lector desperately tried to talk his way out of a beating. While it was always a coin toss trying to discern truth from lies with him, his explanation regarding Mallko's soul and his absolute disgust for Comonqui's crude methods felt entirely in character. It was credible enough.
With a flick of her wrist, she dismissed the Prototype Rancour, the blade dissolving into golden light. "Your personal interest had better not interfere with our plans, Enjou."
"Of course, of course!" Enjou nodded vigorously, taking several large steps backward. "You just keep doing your protagonist thing, and I... I will go conduct my research elsewhere! See you later, Traveler! And please, next time we meet, try not to hit me right out of the gate!"
With a swirl of dark flames and a dramatic flourish of his robes, the eccentric Abyss Lector vanished into the shadows of the mountain labyrinth.
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