V leapt off her shoulder as the creature came through the portal. Thousands of shards jutted from its body in every direction, and a cruel smile split its face.
That smile sent a chill down Jade’s spine. "V, be careful. I don’t know about him," she cautioned, her voice laced with unease.
Rosa shouted from a distance, "Just focus on killing him quickly! The report clearly indicated he was weak."
Jade answered with sarcasm before she could stop herself. "Yeah, because the reports have never been wrong, right?"
As V unleashed hundreds of ice cycles at the creature, which remained unmoving even as the portal closed behind it, it kept smiling menacingly at the group. The projectiles seemed to strike all across the creature’s body without any visible effect.
After a brief moment, V confronted the being, "You’re the Predominal Searcher, aren’t you?"
Catching up to V, Jade held her dagger defensively across her chest. "What do you mean? What is this creature?" Curiosity and concern pushed through her voice.
The creature’s jaw shifted slightly, its voice laced with disdain. "What a pathetic state you are in, Vul... With only fifty human worlds remaining, I came to check on how they are still alive, and one of our own is helping them.
So, how exactly are they managing to ward us off?"
As he finished his sentence, Rosa materialized behind him, her hands clapping together as a hexagon pattern of a fiery web began to materialize around the creature, encapsulating him completely.
Jade, who had been listening intently to the creature’s words, dashed forward, throwing her cross at the creature as her eyes flared white with determination.
Analyzing the creature, Jade found nothing; no indicators, no pathways on what he would do... nothing. Gritting her teeth, she dove in, attempting to slam her dagger into the creature. As the blade collided with its body, it snapped instantly.
The fire webs slammed into the creature, penetrating his sharded body before disappearing momentarily.
"What are you, random ants, even trying to do?" the creature spoke out, its voice filled with mockery and scorn
The creature raised its hand, and Jade’s vision was flooded with an overwhelming number of indicators, depicting dozens of ways she could be incinerated by Rosa’s attack.
Amidst the chaos of her premonitions, she glimpsed a flash of movement--a backstep and jump that allowed her to evade the impending assault.
Sweat dripped from her forehead as she hastily retreated, the creature lifting its hand to unleash Rosa’s attack back at her.
With a desperate leap, she managed to jump over the webbed attack, feeling the heat singe her arms slightly before she crashed into the dirt, gasping, "What the hell? So, you’re some type of copycat, is that it?"
The creature, dismissing Jade’s words, proclaimed, "This place is boring me. I’ll just find the source of these humans’ powers on my own. They probably found one of their crystals. Ugh, so much work."
The creature vanished.
The ground shook, and a loud bang echoed as something slammed into the barrier Jade had erected.
A blinding light enveloped everyone, momentarily obscuring their vision and casting an intense glare across the battlefield.
Jade cursed under her breath, covering her eyes as the blinding light quickly faded. Opening her eyes, she found the creature towering over her, its shard-like hands gripping her cheeks and lifting her off the ground.
To her surprise, its grip was weak, almost feeble, and she realized she could potentially pry the hands apart with a bit more effort.
"Stop struggling, food... Tell me what the hell is surrounding us right now before I skin you alive like the food you are," it stated, its hollow eyes attempting to pierce into Jade with a sinister glare.
Jade smirked, unfazed, as her eyes flared white, a clear indicator dinging in her mind and flashing over its face: {Weakness Detected}.
"Sorry, even if I had no option, like I’d tell you how to get out of here," Jade retorted, defiance gleaming in her eyes as she grasped the side of the creature’s face.
Jade dug her fingers into the shards across its body and wrenched a small piece from its flesh. The creature shrieked and swiped at her, leaving a gash across her cheek.
Jade tumbled through the dirt and came up on one knee, blood running from the hand that still gripped the shard.
When she glanced back at the creature, no indicators appeared.
The flood of warnings had vanished.
It sped toward her again, aiming to slam its clawed hand down, but V shoved her out of harm’s path.
V then shouted at the creature, the so-called Searcher, "Killing us won’t make this barrier fall if that’s what you think would happen!"
Turning to Jade, V continued, "Jade, no matter how strong your eyes are, we aren’t killing him. He’s not even trying right now, even if you managed that hit on him."
Rosa moved up alongside it and launched a punch. The creature sidestepped and countered with a swipe.
Rosa, showcasing her reflexes, caught the strike, her resolve unwavering.
"If you want to steal my fire, I’ll just punch you in the face, you--" Her taunt broke off as she fell to one knee, blood dripping from her nose while her grip on the creature’s arm loosened.
The creature chuckled slightly, an unsettling sound in the tense atmosphere. "Sorry, I get excited when hotheads get me worked up," it mocked, its amusement at the situation evident.
Then, turning its attention to V, it continued, "Vul, if what you say about killing you all right now won’t bring this barrier down, then I guess I have no reason to be here right now.
Maybe I need to let the Lord handle this and spread the infection... hmmm." Jade understood one thing from the way he said it: the fight had been a warning. A worse disaster was still waiting.
Her hand tightened around the shard.
Whatever infection meant, the word belonged beside portal, King, and Erebos.
Future problems.
Arriving early.