Cycle of Ruin - Arrival: A LitRPG Series

Chapter 20

Everyone watched in stunned silence as Pride flung the dumbfounded pyromancer away from her with a quick pulse of gravity that sent the man skidding along the ground like a ragdoll. Zyla let out a soft tsk. Oddly enough, she didn't look the least bit disturbed at the death of one her party members. If anything, her eyes looked hungry.

"Why, what an adorable little threat-beast you managed to tame," she purred, her attention now fixated on Pride, who immediately went to gain several feet of altitude after her blast. She turned her head to Mute, who was standing with his hammer at the ready, facing the direction the lightning had shot out of the thicket. "Mute, crush the others. Roy, subdue the beast without killing it."

The muscular man sprinted through the underbrush like a bulldozer. He tore through the shrubbery, barreling over any plant that stood in his way. Three large electric bolts shot out of the woodwork toward him. Two of them were intercepted on his hammer, but the third slammed home against his chest. The lightning arced across the large man's body, but it only caused him to hesitate for a moment before continuing his destructive charge. Leo really hoped Sparky was going to be alright on her own.

"Your pardon, master...but if you could leave the beast to me, I'd be most appreciative," spoke out a wheezing voice as Malnor's dirt-smeared form slowly pushed himself to his feet.

A look of pure fury marred the pyromancer's face, as the grievous wound Pride had inflicted began to smolder and smoke. He wiped a trail of blood that leaked down the side of his mouth, smearing the liquid across the side of his cheek as he glared at Pride with unconstrained malice.

"Oh, very well, but I won't accept any dismemberment, understand? There's no point in collaring the boy without his pet," she said in a cheery musical tone, the wolfish smile never leaving her face.

Malnor bared his bloodstained teeth in a cruel grin of his own, "But of course, master. It won't take but a moment." He stretched out and opened up the palm of his left hand. A tri-pronged whip of living flames snaked to life in his grip, hissing as it devoured the moisture around him. It looked to be a stronger version of the same skill he had lashed out at Roy with. "Beasts are born to heel, after all."

A quick flick of his wrist caused the weapon to crack through the air in a shower of sparks, the barbed tips flying toward Pride like striking vipers, curving and retracting in the air to follow the Chari even as she narrowly avoided their first pass.

"Shall I take care of this one for you, master?" Roy asked as he stepped forward with an emotionless voice.

"Hmm no, the look of defiance in his eyes makes me want to break him in personally." She continued to strut over to him with a sway in her hips. "You should feel honored."

Honored was not the word he would use to describe his current feelings. Oddly enough, neither was fear. A slow anger burned within Leo. The woman was leaving herself wide-open and unprotected as she approached, as if nothing he could do could possibly harm her. Maybe he wasn't capable of beating her on his own, but if he could delay long enough, it would give one of the others a chance to finish with their opponents. He hadn't been the only one growing in strength these past few weeks, after all.

Due to a combination of Amira's and Zeld's tutelage, both Sparky and Pride had grown in leaps and bounds. As a threat class beast, their natural strength and talent allowed them to gain power at a speed that might just surpass his own. Even at half the level of their current opponents, Leo had faith they would come out on top.

Leo unsheathed Aveth from his waist, the familiar weight of the sword filling him with confidence as his hand tightened around its grip. His own training had brought him far from the uncontrolled swings of his first few days.