Draconic King of Shadows-Chapter 61: Eyes In the Dark

All the hundreds of Moles glowed, and their energy rose, converging into multiple beams that shot towards the group a second later.

Matilda’s transformation extended slightly, and tiny black scales grew over the sides of her face as her eyes turned a darker shade of green.

Her toenails tore through her boots as she crouched faster than a normal human could, and like an agile beast, she charged ahead, dodging through the storm of attacks and swiping at Moles, taking their lives like she was picking candy.

Lyra pressed a button on her palms, and a shield of pure energy wrapped around her in a bubble, before she proceeded to start firing energy from her hands which transformed into cannons.

Kenzo on the other hand lit up like a torch, and his stance changed. His aura switched to a more calm but volatile form, and then it happened.

He began parrying like crazy, deflecting beams of energy like it was too easy.

His movements made it seem as if the Moles were trying their best to shoot at his sword while he waved it around, and he wasn’t the one actually trying to deflect them.

With each block or parry from him, he took two steps forward, inching closer to the Moles gradually. His relaxed gaze betrayed the intensity of the situation, and it seemed like he was going to outright stop and walk away if things weren’t cranked up.

Damion stared at the approaching attacks, and without further ado, pulled out his O-Katana and tried to mimic Kenzo.

Though he could have just used Shadow Walk to move away and strike from a different angle, he wouldn’t do so unless he was in grave danger. Right now, however, he wanted to learn as much as possible.

He took a stance, but it seemed wonky, he gripped his sword with two hands, and as the first beam reached him, he slashed downwards... Then cursed.

Damion’s chest was smashed by the beam of energy, and he skidded across the ground, coming to a grinding halt a few steps behind.

A sudden weight assaulted his chest, and his movements slowed, his efficiency dropping.

"The sword is so sharp it split the attack too cleanly," Damion muttered. "I should have angled the sword for better deflection of the attack."

"Let’s try that again," he said, a smile forming on his face.

He took a step forward and torqued his torso, and with little effort, he swung his sword sideways, where another attack came from.

The beam was split, but he was still hit nonetheless.

’Again!’ Damion roared internally.

Another attack, another failure. Damion swung his sword and failed, he swung again and failed. And with each hit of the energy attacks, his weight was increasing, that being the effect of the attacks.

The beams didn’t have much piercing power, but their effect made up for that flaw. They could stack up the weight increasing effect of their attacks, and when their target was too heavy to move itself anymore, they quickly finished the job.

Damion’s mind didn’t go towards this. His whole attention was on perfecting that one move, that move that for some reason he just couldn’t get.

He didn’t give up even after multiple tries, even after he felt like a mountain weighed down on his back, even after his fatigue hit him in torrentuous waves, he didn’t stop, until the last Mole was blown apart by Lyra.

He slowly lowered his arms, his eyes glazing over as he stared ahead seemingly at nothing.

"Is everyone alright?" He asked, his aura calming down after a few seconds. He didn’t let his failure get to him, but instead tried to replay the last scenes in his head.

He pondered on his mistakes and took note of some flaws he needed to change. The group settled down, planning their next moves together while they threw Damion cursory glances from time to time.

It seemed like his actions had caught their attention, and they wondered what was going through his head.

In a minute they were done and ready to move.

"Luckily, that weight increasing effect wears off quickly," Lyra said from the side, her Exoskeleton doing some quick repairs. "If it was just one person, they wouldn’t have survived this easily."

No one replied to her, but they secretly nodded to her words. They weren’t invincible. Even Kenzo who seemed to have control over his situation was forced to tank some attacks which came from his blind spots.

Lyra also regretted using her shield instead of just dodging. After the fight, she felt like she was wearing armor fit for gods. Her Exoskeleton was so heavy she could barely move, but thanks to her ability to manipulate anything she had an intimate and in-depth understanding of, she could control her Exoskeleton like the weight was never there.

They rested for only a minute, giving themselves a chance to test their luck and check for cores in the Moles.

They weren’t so lucky as to find any, except the one Matilda had found in the first Mole she killed, so they set out, choosing to search for the Steel-Plated Grey Rhino.

They were taught about Beasts and their Cores in the academy. They were told that if small beasts, like these Moles for example, fought in groups, then there was a high chance that only a few possessed a core.

Why? Because they were linked and shared the same energy reserves. So instead of just one powerful beast, the energy was diffused through the bodies of all the beasts.

As the group moved, already back to their peaks, a pair of glowing violet eyes opened up in a tree above, and a weird alien-like sound spread out, causing hundreds of more eyes to open, each a different color.

The first violet eye moved out of the darkness into the moonlight, revealing a spherical shaped creature with violet eyes. It narrowed its eyes at the group, or to be more precise, at Damion, then it spoke in the same alien-like language.

"Zhra’gha! Ktxh itrch,,, skrcsht ktch,"

The creature’s words were laced with an otherworldly tone, making it clear that it wasn’t a beast, nor was it of earthly origins. Its gaze remained fixed on Damion, as if wanting to pierce through him. Then it spoke again, this time, in human language.

"After all these years, we finally found you... Lord Vorgath!"