CHAPTER 267: RUINED THE DATE [4]

The wind howled around them as they broke through the storm of claws and fangs.

Ether storms churned above the rupture and arcs of unstable light crackled like lightning trapped in an endless loop.

Clarisse led the charge, her crimson petals scattering like a herald of death.

Each swing of her sword tore through a dozen aberrants at once and their bodies cleaved before they even realized she was there.

Her movements were precise and yet carried an overwhelming weight that made the monsters hesitate just a fraction too long.

Right behind her, Brandon moved like a shadow to her flame.

He weaved through the gaps she left, killing the aberrants.

Astrid, of course, was casually tucked behind him with one hand resting lightly on the back of his coat, letting him cut the path forward.

The chaos of the battlefield didn’t seem to reach her and she casually hummed under her breath, skipping over corpses without a care in the world.

But her gaze was far from idle.

Her eyes flicked around, narrowing at the sight of the ether currents twisting unnaturally.

The rupture’s energy wasn’t flowing the way it should and it was pulsing irregularly, almost like it was... breathing.

’Hm... this place feels very odd compared to other ruptures.’

Her gaze narrowed further ’In the first place, how did a rupture appear here? This is not a rupture-prone zone...’

Her lips curved into the faint smile ’Unless... someone artificially created it. But how is it possible?’

She tilted her head slightly, letting her mind wander even as Brandon ripped through another wave of C-ranks.

Clarisse, several meters ahead, sliced down B-rank aberrants easily.

The three of them moved in unison without even speaking, Clarisse tearing the bulk apart, Brandon sweeping the flanks, and Astrid tucked neatly in the pocket of safety they carved.

Looking at Brandon fighting, Astrid muttered "Boyfriend, do you know the difference between a normal rupture and nestled rupture?"

Eh? Brandon was so focused on the battle that he didn’t even hear her "What?"

Astrid continued speaking "A normal rupture has a set of spawning monsters and after killing the monsters, the rupture disappears."

"It’s like the rupture you were trapped in when you awakened."

"But in a nestled rupture, the monster will spawn endlessly as long as the core is intact, pretty interesting, right?"

She looked around at the dark place with twisting clouds atop her "But this place surely feels very strange."

Astrid’s lips pressed into a thin line.

The energy here didn’t just fluctuate, it pulsed in patterns.

Ruptures were chaotic by nature, raw ether bleeding into unstable space. This rupture... was ordered. Someone or something was deliberately channeling the flow.

Glancing at Clarisse, she muttered "Go straight, Clarisse, there is the core."

---

They finally reached the end of the jagged ridge.

The path opened into a wide, circular basin with a crater carved deep into the rupture’s unstable ground.

At its center, the core pulsed. It looked like a massive black-and-crimson crystal with jagged facets throbbing in sync with the storm overhead.

Every pulse sent ripples of warped ether through the air, distorting their vision.

Around the core, space cracked and mended in rapid succession.

Out of those cracks a tide of aberrants crawled and slithered, C-ranks darting forward in swarms and the B-ranks pushing past them like predators among lesser beasts.

But towering above them all, directly between the three intruders and the core, was the guardian.

It was huge.

Four meters tall with jagged black armor grown from its own flesh, elongated arms ending in talons that dripped with burning ether, a head split by a vertical maw lined with glistening teeth, and eyes like twin flames.

Clarisse’s gaze hardened "...S-rank."

She turned her head slightly toward Brandon without taking her eyes off the monster "Handle the B-ranks and C-ranks. Keep Astrid safe. Do not come near this thing."

Brandon gave a single nod, shifting his stance as the smaller aberrants closed in "Got it."

Astrid, tucked behind him, glanced at Clarisse and smiled faintly.

Clarisse vanished and in the next instant, she was in midair, petals swirling violently around her as her sword came down in a vertical arc.

The S-rank raised one massive claw to block.

Her blade struck it and a shockwave of compressed ether blasted outward, tearing through the nearest C-ranks like paper.

The guardian’s arm shuddered under the force and deep grooves carved into its armored hide, but it didn’t break.

"GRAAARGHHHHHH!" It roared and the ground beneath Clarisse’s feet cracked as the monster’s other claw swept toward her in a wide, brutal arc.

Her petals exploded outward, forming a spiraling shield that absorbed the blow, and she twisted with the momentum, sliding along the monster’s arm, her blade leaving a blazing crimson trail as she slashed upward, aiming for its neck.

The aberrant reared back, and the space in front of it bent.

A pulse of dark ether erupted from its chest like a cannon.

Clarisse planted her feet midair as ether condensed beneath her like invisible steps and spun her blade.

The petals swarmed, layering into a disc of whirling crimson that split the blast in two and the energy roared past her harmlessly.

She countered immediately "Petal Storm."

Hundreds of razor-edged petals erupted, weaving into spirals and lances that slammed into the guardian from every angle.

The air filled with the sound of shredding flesh and cracking armor.

"AARRGGHHH!" The monster bellowed, swiping wildly, but Clarisse moved like water, sliding between strikes, cutting tendons, gouging at its joints, and never letting it catch her.

Every movement was like a dance, petals blooming and vanishing in her path.

Still, the S-rank was relentless.

It smashed its fists into the ground, sending up pillars of jagged black stone.

Ether tendrils whipped out, trying to capture her.

Clarisse’s eyes narrowed "Bloom."

In an instant, every petal she had scattered lit up with a red glow and then exploded in unison.

The shockwave rattled the entire basin, hurling lesser aberrants into the walls and leaving the S-rank reeling.

She landed lightly, petals curling lazily around her like an afterthought "You’re tough. Good."

Clarisse stepped forward, lowering her sword slightly... and smiled.