Seeing Vyaghra in this state, I had a vague idea about what had happened to Nymeria and Jambavan.
I quickly positioned myself into a sprinter's stance and pushed the ground backward.
"Blink"
Followed by a tail of golden lightning, I snatched Vyaghra from Gumiho's grasp, and we crashed to the ground, skidding dozens of feet.
"Hey, are you with me?" I asked, shaking his body.
He repeatedly hit the side of his head; his eyes flicked between pink and golden, and after a couple of seconds, they returned to normal.
"Don't worry about me, focus on the battle," he said, staring at where Gumiho stood.
Her body dissolved into purple smoke and vanished.
I asked, flabbergasted, as we both got up from the ground, "Is she using a stealth technique now?"
"No, it's not stealth. That was an illusion. She has spread her Soulforce across the entire field and is now using hallucinations to play with our minds," Vyaghra warned. "No matter what, don't look into her eyes."
Before we could discuss any further, two clouds of purple smoke appeared on both our sides and turned into Gumiho. Vyaghra and I stood, facing each of them, our backs touching each other.
Petals coiled around their bodies from toe to head like a serpent, reacting to the slightest movement of their hands.
"Umm Vyaghra, if this is an illusion, these petals aren't gonna blast like before, right?"
"They are made from her Soulforce. Touch them and you would know the answer."
Vyaghra said before sprinting towards the one ahead of him.
Gumiho in front of me waved her hands, launching hundreds of plum blossoms at me.
It was unnecessary to face them head-on when I possessed this incredible ability.
I raised my foot forward, and as the petals were about to touch my skin,
"Blink"
I vanished, leaving behind an afterimage, and reappeared directly in front of her face.
I thrust my sword forward. Golden lightning raced through Vajra's blade and accumulated at its tip.
"Lightning Bolt"
The sword pierced through her chest, her entire body glowed violently, and then turned into dust.
"Behind your back," Vyaghra shouted while fighting with another clone.
I immediately turned. The petals I had dodged hurtled at me like a spear.
I held my sword in one hand and shouted,
"Lightning Bolt"
I conjured a lightning sphere in my free hand and smacked it with the flat side of the sword like a baseball bat, hurling it into the incoming petals.
Fire engulfed them as it hit, burning half of them down.
"Tchh, I need to learn a wide-area attack skill."
As the remaining ones reached me, I dodged again using 'Blink'.
But I hadn't realized Jambavan and Nymeria were right behind me—and now the petals meant for me were streaking straight toward them.
Before the plums reached them, I instantly shouted,
"Blink"
and reappeared in front of the flowers. I didn't have the time to cast any skill—the petals were just inches away from me.
I gritted my teeth and let all the blossoms strike my body to shield my friends.
The petals glowed in a violent purple and blasted with a deafening sound, creating a mountain of smoke.
Each exploding petal melted my skin, burned my blood, and shattered my bones.
The robe I was wearing turned into tattered cloth, barely hanging from my body.
The skin on my forearms dropped to the ground like wax, exposing the bones inside.
"This—huff...huff— fucking hurts," I growled, still standing, gripping my sword.
The smell of my burning skin was making me dizzy.
Even the slightest brush of air on my exposed bones felt like a thousand bee stings.
The smoke slowly subsided, clearing the surroundings.
However, I didn't have a moment of rest. There was already another cluster of petals descending from the sky.
I didn't move away. If I did, Nymeria and Jambavan would be in danger.
I had no choice but to embrace this attack as well.
I raised my sword with both hands, electric pulses beginning to flicker across the blade,
"Lightning Sl—"
I was about to unleash my skill, but suddenly Vyaghra came out of nowhere and pulled me away from the petals.
"What the hell are you doing! The petals are now gonna strike Nymeria and Jambavan," I snapped, shrugging his hands off.
"Calm down and look," he replied, pointing at the falling petals.
The blossoms passed by, touching Nymeria and Jambavan, yet none of them exploded.
"These petals only explode when they are touched by a foreign object. Those two are under hallucinations, so they have the scent of the Queen's Soulforce," Vyaghra explained.
"So I suffered... all of that for nothing," I muttered in frustration.
"The Queen cannot move her body as long as this illusion field remains," Vyaghra told me. "Protect me for twenty breaths' worth of time, and I will find her location."
"Can you do that in your condition?"
"Don't underestimate me. I have suffered worse than this. Do your thing and leave your body to me."
Vyaghra raised his hands close to his chest and made a cross sign, holding daggers in both hands. He closed his eyes and stood still.
This was the same posture he made when I saw him in his memories for the first time.
As Vyaghra went into trance, I shifted my focus to the anaconda of petals blazing toward me. I shouted as it reached closer,
"You want a piece of me? I have something better for your ass."
A brand-new technique I had learned without the help of Vivi. I got the inspiration after witnessing Vyaghra's skill in his memories.
I raised my arms and swung the sword in a rapid succession of two diagonal slashes.
Lightning Slash
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Two crackling arcs of intense golden lightning emerged from the motion of Vajra and struck the hundreds of plum blossoms, incinerating every last one of them.
"Congratulations!! You have learned a new skill: Lightning Slash Version: Cross Impact.
Lightning Slash Version: Cross Impact
Description: A variant of Lightning Slash, firing two intersecting lightning arcs that deal massive damage at the crossing point."