Ia Noona (2)
Grrrrowl...! The Black Mane was furious. It was because the charge he'd executed at the fastest speed and with the greatest power yet had been blocked by a fragile creature that could be blown away with a mere snort. For him, born as a ruler and tyrant, the fact was nothing short of humiliatingly absurd. Had he not been an alpha—if he'd lived like the other magic beasts, abandoning intellect for pure instinct—he never would have obsessed over such a meaningless prey: hard to catch, and worthless for nutrition even if devoured. But he was an alpha. Born to adapt and evolve, growing stronger than any of his kin to transcend the limits of his species, he could not tolerate any wound to his pride. A king's pride must never be broken, after all.
Grrowl...! The Black Mane was accumulating power and speed through the elasticity of his mana plate, just as he'd done moments ago from high above where all lay beneath his feet. The full might he could unleash was capped at that previous charge, but he was a thinking, adapting, evolving being. When his sure-kill strike had come to naught just now, he'd gleaned intel on Paster's Rabbit Hole. The key: it required contact to activate, somehow. If contact was needed to teleport the target, then simply deny contact. The Black Mane recalled a massive magic beast from his youth—one armored in razor-sharp spines that wounded foes merely by defending itself.
Crunch... Cruuunch...! The instant the image solidified in his mind, the Black Mane's body began evolving in accordance with it. His coarse, thick black mane transformed, each strand morphing into a pointed, razor-sharp black spine. The skin beneath hardened like steel plating. It was as if he'd donned armor densely studded with thorns—a form that stole his fluid mobility but gifted him an untouchable suit of armor in exchange.
Thung! Thung! Thung! Thung! Thung! His weakened leap from the added weight posed no issue; he'd long mastered mana plate elasticity. Now he could accelerate with mere tension even from a standstill. With every last hair hardened into spines, he rocketed toward the irritating Paster on the ground.
BOOM!!!! Launched like a slingshot via elasticity, his sheer mass, weight, rigidity, and lethality made it far too excessive for such a term. Yet even this overkill charge fell short of venting the alpha's rage. To sate it, he'd have to shred the pride-wounding weakling until no trace remained.
Whiiiiiish!!! Wind roaring against his spine-fur, the Black Mane powerfully scraped his vocal cords.
GRRROOOOAAAARRR!!!! The ruler's roar, laced with mana, pulverized fragile objects nearby. Cleaving through a mist of shattered glass shards, he bared his fangs at the insolent creature.
"......Take a short break, Paster."
But spotting Paster unconscious with crimson blood staining his lips—and Ia Ris gently laying him down, her dead-fish eyes fixed on him—the Black Mane reflexively aborted his killing blow.
Grnng?!!
CLANG!!!
With a startled yelp, he conjured a mana plate in his path. Supreme in elasticity and strength, it barely repelled his black bulk; his neck bones screamed in protest.
KWAAANG!!! Hurtling away, he smashed into the outer wall of a nearby skyscraper. Hypo City's towers boasted the world's top safety standards, so the wall cracked but held—merely amplifying his impact.
Grr... Gruuuh... Amid the body-wide electric shocks, he shook his head to cling to consciousness, then peeked from the wall to glare at the white-furred female who'd dared halt him.
"......"
Ia Ris met the eyes of the 3-meter-tall, 8-meter-long black spiny-armored Black Mane in utter silence.
Grrowl... Her piercing glare stirred unprecedented unease in the Black Mane, yet irritation at this puny weakling daring to lock eyes with a born king drowned it out.
Ruuuumble...! Their clashing presences made the ground and buildings quake.
Relentlessly radiating aura while stoking his battle lust, the Black Mane never stopped observing Ia Ris. No sharp tools. Bare hands. Small. Frail. Even her kin with their big, pointy, sharp things couldn't scratch me. Her pressure dwarfs anything I've faced... but that's it. Bare hands can't pierce my spines.
He deemed her no match. His instincts screamed no one could best his thorn-clad form unarmed.
Grrowl...! Rightly so—few awakeners could punch through an A-rank alpha Black Mane's hardened coat barehanded. Least of all a physical reinforcement type like Ia Ris, who fought by mana-boosting her body. And she bore the handicap of guarding the immobile Paster plus some riffraff. Aware of that, he'd judged this reflexive-stopper worth engaging. The duel was lopsided from the start—victory predetermined.
GRRROOOOAAAAR!!! The intelligent wolf kicked off the wall and leaped—not at Ia Ris, but into empty air. Precisely, a conjured mana plate. His signature elastic acceleration now, yet she merely watched. She couldn't abandon her charges nearby. Perceiving even that, he methodically revved for his ultimate rush.
Thung! Thung! Thung! Thung! Thung! Thung! Thung!
Eyeing the blurring black behemoth, Ia Ris clenched her fist wordlessly.
THU-KWAAAAANG!!!!
GRRROOOOAAAANG!!!
At max velocity, the Black Mane hurtled toward her.
2. My insides were a total mess. He looked fine on the outside, so I figured it'd be okay. I shouldn't have. The only edge I have over other S-ranks is healing Paster myself. If I can't even do that on time, then what's the point? What "superiority" am I claiming?
Ia Ris couldn't contain the rage boiling in her chest. From the moment Paster vomited blood and collapsed, reason had fled her. Yet her face remained coldly impassive.
What the hell am I doing? Why didn't I focus more when he said it hurt? I saw his fine face and stupidly relaxed. Led straight to him puking blood and dropping. I could've stopped it. Avoided the danger altogether.
Her fist clenched harder. Nails gouged her palm, blood welled—but her signature healing swiftly mended it. Only for nails to dig anew, turning her palm a bloody pulp in the cycle. Even as they shredded her flesh, her expression stayed blank.
This doesn't hurt at all. Real pain is Paster's. His pain is my pain. Must've hurt like hell. Insides churned, that much blood... In that agony, he still welcomed me with a bright smile, called me noona. Held my hand, blushed shyly at my touch. For me. To thank me for rushing over at midnight.
Delusion bloated his suffering in her mind. In truth, Paster's recoil from red and blue sparks had shaken him internally, but he'd blacked out vomiting before pain registered. Yet true to her "mad bitch" moniker, Ia Ris solo-ran the despair spiral, spiraling into wild fantasies.
Before collapsing, he definitely... said he trusted me. Paster said he trusts me. Yeah, I'm the only one he can trust. Like last time? "The only one I can rely on is Ia noona." Right—I'm Paster's sole trustworthy person. So what did I do? Betrayed his faith in my healing.
Paster had voiced trust in Ia Ris, but nothing so absolute.
"Sorry, Paster. I forgot for a sec. Just... seeing you like this at midnight felt too good... No, no excuses. I won't betray your trust anymore. Trust me just once more at the end. Okay?"
Muttering to unfocused eyes, she radiated madness enough to make any sane person scream "crazy bitch." But no witnesses—save the dozens-of-tons wolf-beast plummeting vertically from above.
GRRROOOOAAAANG!!!!
Ia Ris snapped back, facing the massive spiny black wolf. Bare fist meant shredded knuckles for sure, but that barely registered. Her priority: hustle Paster home, tuck him in bed, nurse him devotedly. The spiny mutt was just an obstacle.
"Get lost."
With that eviction, white-mana-clad Ia Ris hammered the wolf's maw at full power.
Crack. Cruuunch. Snap. Grriiind!
From the muzzle, facial bones powdered; vitals shielded by bone turned to paste. Simultaneously, spines impaled her fist. A gaping hole, yet her face unchanged. Her hand? Irrelevant if it pulped the brain for the kill.
KWAAAAANG!!!!
Launched by the punch, the black wolf demolished an entire skyscraper—revealed as a headless Black Mane.
Ruuuumble... KWAAANG!!!!
Ia Ris spared not a glance for the slain beast or rubble, caressing Paster's cheek with her instantly restored hand.
"Paster, it's all over. Let's go to noona's place. You trust noona, right?"
Unheard in unconsciousness, Paster merely frowned and shuddered.