Chapter 5. The Fifteen Strongest (5)

The monster floating in the sky released a wave of powerful energy that stopped all the stones flying at it. The cloud of dust cleared. Now the team clearly saw his monster.

He looked like a man with two long horns that protruded from his forehead and went in smooth curves to the back of his head, thereby forming a semblance of a hairstyle. His veins were distended and emitted a purple glow. The nails on the monster's hands resembled the claws of a wild beast, and 4 fangs protruded from his mouth.

On the right side of the monster's face was a dark tattoo resembling the number 3.

[Wind Path: Ascension]

With a swing of his spear, Toby created an air whirlwind that launched Adalard into the air.

[Path of FIre: Aspiration]

Micro-explosions appeared under Adalard's feet, throwing him back towards the enemy.

The monster fixed its gaze on the enemy flying towards it. He opened his palm and was about to use his energy to attack Adalard, but at that moment he was bombarded with bullets charged with water energy.

Because of this, the monster's hand twitched, and the accumulated energy shot out in a powerful stream next to Adalard, missing him.

[Earth's Path: Cannon Shot]

Taking advantage of the moment, Samira, who was standing on the ground, stamped her foot. Her impact crushed the earth into dozens of relatively large pieces. Samira straightened her left hand, and pieces of earth began to gather around her palm, forming something like a ball.

Samira then hit a piece of earth with her right hand. The projectile flew straight at the monster. The monster again released a powerful wave of energy, which stopped not only the bullets, but also a piece of earth flying at it.

Adalard was also thrown back by this wave. He was rapidly falling down.

[Path of Fire: Cleave]

Adalard swung his greatsword powerfully, releasing a stream of fire underneath him. The fire, reaching the ground, raised a wave of warm air, which slowed down the fall of the warrior.

[Earth's Path: Creation]

Samira touched the Earth and created a low rock where Adalard fell.

At this time, Patrick ran to the place where the monster was hovering in the air.

[Path of Fire: Demonic Pierce]

Three pillars of fire burst out from Patrick's trident and rushed towards the enemy. But the monster with incredible speed appeared right in front of Patrick, avoiding his blow.

- You will die first.

Every word the monster said was accompanied by a hissing sound. A sinister smile appeared on his face.

- Predictable.

Patrick answered the monster with a cheeky smile.

[Wind Path: Simplified Whirlwind Dance]

At that moment, Sairan appeared behind the monster and struck the enemy with a cross-strike. Along the trajectory of the blow, small air spheres formed, which attracted the monster towards itself and inflicted weak cuts on it.

[Path of the Wind: Whisper]

Sairan disappeared into the air as quickly as he had appeared from it earlier.

- He's poisoned, don't hold back your powers anymore.

Siran's voice came through the headphones.

- I understood this without you!

[Path of Fire: Myriad Demonic Pierces]

Patrick filled the trident with fire energy and began to attack the monster. In a second he made dozens of blows that formed pillars of flame.

The flames released by Patrick's blows did not dissipate in a random direction, but were drawn towards the air spheres created by Sairan, which intensified the heat of the flames. The cuts created by the spheres now deal damage not only with air energy, but also with fire energy.

*Kha-ah!*

The monster could no longer hold back his screams of pain. Being under a hail of countless blows, he did not even have time to recover.

[Path of Fire: Belial's Strike]

Patrick's fire energy changed and became darker in color. He delivered a direct blow to the enemy's solar plexus. The trident was able to pierce right through the monster's chest.

After this there was an explosion. The monster was thrown back by the impulse of the explosion and flew towards Samira. A stream of purple blood gushed from his mouth.

[Earth's Path: Creation]

Samira created several stone blocks, placed one after another.

*Bam-bam-bam*

Having broken the last block with its body, the monster fell to the ground and turned over several times. Sharp parts of all the blocks that came his way remained in his body.

The through wound on the monster's body left by Patrick began to heal. At that moment, Toby appeared above him.

Until this moment, he remained on the sidelines and collected energy. Now his spear was charged with a very dense stream of energy.

[Wind Path: Pierce]

All the energy gathered at the tip of Toby's spear and was released in a powerful column of wind, which made the hole in the monster's chest even larger. The blow hit the place where the heart should have been.

Adalard appeared in front of the monster's head, and with a powerful swing he hit the lying and exhausted monster right in the neck. When the blade entered the enemy's flesh, an explosion of energy occurred. It was much more powerful than all the previous ones.

The monster stood up calmly. All his wounds were healing at an unimaginable speed.

The monster now had four horns on its head. Two more eyes appeared on the face, and the tattoo disappeared, as if absorbed into the body. The monster's legs were covered with purple fur, and its feet turned into hooves.

- Did he use transformation without a verbal trigger?

Mason couldn't believe what he saw, like everyone else. More precisely, they refused to believe in it.

What distinguished the Numbered Ones from other monsters was a special technique: [Transformation]. It significantly increased their strength and regeneration speed.

This is an extremely complex technique, so it was previously believed that in order to use it, you need a verbal trigger, which allows you to subconsciously and instantly reproduce refined movements to control energy in space.

Therefore, the main strategy in the battle with the Numbered Ones was to not give them time to pronounce the verbal trigger. But now, facing the strongest warriors of mankind, stood a being that had gone beyond this limit.

The Number Ones could always use transformation at any time in battle, but thanks to the verbal trigger, warriors could understand when that moment would come. This allowed them to take countermeasures and prevent the technique from being completed.

This was believed to be the Numbered Ones main weakness. But what happened a couple of moments ago proved that this was not so.

While everyone was in a stupor, the monster took advantage of the moment and instantly approached Adalard. He pulled out his left hand and, using it as a club, hit the warrior's head. The impact sent Adalard flying a long distance.

- Well, are you scared now? But I am only the third in strength among our master's servants.

The monster's face twisted into a perverted smile.

Chapter end