Chapter 159: Possible Encounter?


    ?


    As the dust settled from the battle, Anya stood and surveyed the area. The white tigery defeated at her feet, and the remaining monsters had been dispatched. Her team was still excited and ready to go from their victory.


    "Alright, everyone, round up!" Anya called out, her voice echoing all around.


    "We''ve secured this sector, but we need to move forward to the next one. Grimm, Ma, I need you two to secure the perimeter here. Use your talents to create walls to ensure no more monsters can break through."


    Grimm nodded. "Got it, guild master. I''ll start on the stone walls."


    Ma hovered above, her metal constructs spinning around her. "Understood, guild master. I''ll handle the metal reinforcements."


    As Grimm began to manipte the earth, raising massive stone walls, Ma directed her metal constructs to connect them through the stone, creating a barrier. The rest of the team gathered around Anya, ready for their next orders.


    "Once Grimm and Ma are done, we move out immediately."


    "Stay sharp and stay together. We push hard, we push fast. We can''t afford any dys or mistakes since we''re heading for number one."


    She grinned, showing her set of sharp teeth. "Our next target is a sector said to possess smanders and wyverns. But before that, Thorin, make sure no stragglers are left behind. Nyra, take the lead and scout ahead."


    "Ivy, make sure you follow closely."


    "And as usual..."


    "I''ll be ahead, do try not to slow me down."


    Thorin punched his palm. "Understood, guild master! We won''t let you down! The other guilds won''t know what hit them!"


    Halzor smirked, cracking his knuckles. "I''m ready for more. Let''s keep this momentum going."


    "I''ll begin scouting now," Nyra said, immediately leaping forward to begin scouting. Grimm and Ma worked quickly, forming an imprable wall around the perimeter. Once the task wasplete, they joined the rest of the team and moved forward.


    ...


    Meanwhile...


    Alister soared through the sky, nked by his loyal dragons, Cinder, Darven, and Terra. The air crackled as they flew, the wind rushing past them. Suddenly, Alister''s eyes caught sight of a space teeming with smanders and wyverns below. A grin spread across his face, recognizing the perfect opportunity to test his forces'' might.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Ready yourselves," Alistermanded, his voice resolute. "This is where we prove our strength."


    Without pausing, he ordered his wyverns to dive into the fray. The wyverns let out fierce roars as they descended, their powerful wings beating against the air. Alister nced at his dragons.


    "Cinder, Darven, Terra, support the wyverns. Show them what we''re capable of."


    "Understood," Cinder roared in response, her massive form cutting through the sky. Darven and Terra followed suit.


    Alister''s voice then echoed in Terra''s thoughts, ''Also, Terra, be sure to keep an eye out for any approaching guilds.''


    ''You all belong to me, so it will be odd if you are all sighted out here while I was below fighting monsters by myself... Do you understand?''


    ''Understood, my lord,'' Terra responded.


    "Good." Alister said, his smile revealing his fangs. Feeling the adrenaline surge through him, he leaped off Cinder''s head, descending rapidly toward the ground.


    BOOM!


    With a resounding boom, hended among the smanders, causing a shockwave that made the earth tremble. The smanders turned their attention to him, hissing and snarling. Alister stood tall, his eyes shining brightly.


    "It seems my body has really gotten stronger," he mused aloud, a confident smile on his lips. "A fall that high without the suit would have definitely shattered every bone in my legs. But I''mpletely fine... Which is good."


    Alister suddenly flexed his fingers, his gauntlets, which had previously be part of his scales, slowly materializing around his hands.


    One smander lunged at him, jaws snapping. Alister sidestepped with ease. He then spun,nding a powerful kick to the smander''s side, sending it crashing into another approaching beast. The impact caused sparks to fly from the friction of his boot against the creature''s rough scales.


    As more smanders surrounded him, Alister became a blur as he moved. He ducked under a swiping tail, his ws extended, and raked them across the beast''s side. Blood sprayed from the deep gashes, painting the ground in crimson stters.


    A smander to his left spat a stream of fire, but Alister leaped into the air, twisting mid- flight to avoid the mes. Hended gracefully, immediately rolling forward and springing up to deliver a powerful uppercut to another smander''s jaw. The force of the punch sent a spray of blood and teeth into the air, the creature copsing with a weak roar.


    "Oh, I have yet to try out my bloodline ability... I believe it was called... Void Rend." In that instant, a golden crest marking red to life on both of Alister''s arms. For some reason, he didn''t need to ask the system; he instinctively knew how to use this power.


    He focused on a distant smander, its eyes locked onto him. Concentrating his energy into his ws, he felt his mana, begining to build up. With a swift swipe of his hand, the space around his ws seemed to warp and tear, a small rift forming.


    The rift shot forward like a dark tendril, slicing through the air. Despite the distance, the targeted smander convulsed as the invisible sh struck it. A deep gash appeared on its body, blood pouring from the wound as it copsed, defeated.


    A grin spread across Alister''s face. "So this is the power of Void Rend," he murmured, his voice barely audible over the chaos of his wyverns and dragons attacking all around him. Alister felt a strange urge to let out augh, but just as he was about to do so, he suddenly remembered the memories he recalled earlier. "It seems my habits in there are starting to get to me... But then again... Who was I... I never got to know my name or see my face, and how am I younger now?"


    Before he could think further, another smander charged at him, but Alister was ready. He sidestepped the attack, with a sudden burst of speed, the earth buckling beneath his feet as he moved in a blur. His ws glowed with golden mana as he activated Void Rend again, swiping at the space in front of him.


    The rift formed and shot forward, striking the smander and leaving a trail of blood in its wake as the beast fell.


    Alister continued to use Void Rend, each swipe of his ws creating rifts that struck down the monsters from a distance. The smanders fell one by one, unable to withstand his attacks.


    As another fell, Alister stood in the carnage, his breathing steady, his eyes still glowing with


    his mana. Blood littered the ground, mixed with monster entrails. Just then, his eyes drifted to the innards of a fallen smander, and he felt a strange urge.


    [Ding!! Draconic Hunger activated!]