CHAPTER 47: CHAPTER 47: THE BEAST WITHIN

SUNDERFALL

The wind caressed the soil and wiggled the trees. In a distance, a lone figure clandestine by shadows appeared walking slowly.

Their destination? The mansion on the hill.

Each step Lian’er took frosted the ground, chilling even the entire atmosphere, the trees became rigid from being subjects to the cold climate.

This change in the atmosphere was felt by the guards at the main gate and they looked in the distance bracing themselves; their master had informed them, to never allow anyone inside even if it costs them their lives and to attack at first sight.

Lian’er took a breather and the frosting winds dispersed around her rushing to the gate. Her opening attack had began but the guards weren’t slouchs, they immediately responded to her action in kind, covering their bodies with Neuro-Qi nullifying the freeze that was approaching them.

She smirked and weaved into the ice, temporarily vanishing within it and she appeared behind the first guard, her hand swift and precise cutting off the guard’s head cleanly. Blood splattered on the snow and on the second guard who stood shocked from the speed in which Lian’er closed the gap.

She spun on her heel and delivered a crushing blow to the second guard, making his chest cave in from the force of her kick and sending him blasting through the gates and into the courtyard.

Lian’er’s ears twitched and she adjusted her head to the side just as a sword shot past her neck, cutting her hair in the process. The sword glitched a bit and it vanished, in its place was a man wearing white.

Lerviticus got to his feet and grinned. "We finally found you."

Lian’er looked at the man and her eyes, which had held indifference the entire time she had been fighting changed; unbridled fury manifested but she bit her tongue not to talk.

Lerviticus chuckled seeing the murderous gaze laughed. "Your brother should see the passionate look in your eyes."

Lian’er growled. "Watch your tongue."

Lerviticus shrugged. "Or what?"

He shifted his head to the side as an ice blade shot past him, nicking his neck and drawing blood.

Lerviticus placed his hand on his neck and wiped off the blood on his neck, he took a lick and his eyes dazed over.

A wave of powerful Neuro-Qi exploded from Lerviticus and he started chuckling like a mad man. Calming himself down, he glared at Lian’er and disappeared from sight faster than light could catch as his shadow was present.

Lian’er raised her hands to block the punch from Lerviticus which sent her flying into the trees.

She balanced herself and came to a skidding halt.

The trees rattled and she gazed around, the shadows were moving swiftly and rapidly.

A blast of Neuro-Qi shot from the covers of the tree; Lian’er dodged only for another blast to approach from her blindspot.

The blast exploded catching Lian’er and burning the back of her tunic. She jumped out of the cover of smoke and was hit on the side by a kick that sent her flying into the trees.

Her body snapped the barks of the trees and she came to a stop—she coughed blood and got to her feet, her eyes glowed blue and she stomped the ground creating a graveyard of thorns of ice.

The thorns pierced through the trees and scraped Lerviticus on the arm, freezing his arm in the process.

Lerviticus took a step back gaining a good distance between him and Lian’er. "Now!"

The sky turned crimson, the presence of moon morphed and the sun eclipsed it—the trees dissolved into the ground and in their place? Stakes with multiple disfigured people plastered on them, their cries drowning into Lian’er’s ears making her kneel, clutching her head.

Lerviticus let out another chuckle as his partner landed besides him. "To think that, Qingye and the rest could fail to kill you is just bizarre. You aren’t as strong as they made you out to be."

Lian’er gritted her teeth. dammit, he got me. she cussed as she looked at the duo standing before her. She wobbled to her feet, her ears dripping blood from the sound.

"How!" Lerviticusʼ face warped; disbelief evident on his face. "How are you still standing? This domain should be able to kill you just from being in here!!"

Lian’er spat blood and gave him a bloody grin. "why are you surprised... You should be confident in your claim." her tattoo glowed and the ink covered her body releasing an abundance of Neuro-Qi within her body.

Lian’er straightened herself and the shadows wiggled per her command; the domain she was trapped within turned pitch black as the shadows covered it whole.

Lerviticus snapped his fingers and light illuminated from his hand giving them vision within the world of shadows.

What occurred next, happened swiftly. Lertivicusʼ hand dropped from his arm and blood sprayed everywhere, a shriek left his lips. His partner reacted and clapped her hands creating massive fireballs which shot into all corners of the domain she had set.

Lian’er dodged the fireballs, wincing as they singed her arms. Her eyes roamed around copying the mechanism of the ability that created the domain. She smirked to herself and vanished into the shadows again.

She moved swiftly, and reappeared behind the duo. Die she thought to herself as the shadows became sharp and pierced through the chest of the female, piercing through her heart and killing her.

Lian’er repositioned herself as the domain the female set disappeared returning them to the real world. She stood balanced in the air, clandestine by the moonlight.

"You are weak." she stared down at Lerviticus.

Lerviticus gritted his teeth. It was not supposed to turn this way, they were supposed to kill her and then go after her brother, but she had exceeded their expectations.

"I am not done yet." Lerviticus spat as he eyed the body of his companion.

Lian’er’s face twisted as she looked at the man who was devouring the body of his comrade. "You are sickening." she commented as she brought the shadows up and sent them to pierce Lerviticus.

The Neuro-Qi flowing within Lerviticus ten folded and an aura covered him repelling the shadows. A growl escaped Lerviticusʼ mouth and steam escaped from his maw as his body increased in height and width.

Lerviticus let out a might roar pushing away the trees from the ground, sending them flying and he jumped destroying the ground beneath him.

Lerviticus kicked Lian’er sending her crashing into the ground and before she could get her footing, he rammed his knee into her stomach crushing her organs and sent her flying into the mansion behind them.

Lian’er coughed as she got up from rubble and her eyes widened when she saw the massive blast of Neuro-Qi that came from Lerviticus that was affecting the space around them.

She raised the shadows just in time as the Neuro-Qi hit the barrier she had made creating a massive explosion that flung her back.

She raised her head to see a massive clawed fist come at her neck and she sidestepped to the side letting Lerviticus sail past her. She raised her elbow and struck the extended hand breaking the hand of Lerviticus into two. Lian’er followed by striking the massive man in the face sending him crashing into the ground.

She swung her hand sending the blood flying and settled into a fighting stance, ice and shadows dancing around her. "Come on big boy, you can do better." she gave him a bloody grin and spat blood on the ground along with a tooth.

Lerviticus got to his feet and let out another growl—at this point, his conscience as a human had long slipped and only a feral monster remained. He opened his maw and Neuro-Qi gathered in the air becoming thick and heavy, smoke started to originate from the mansion as the guards around them collapsed and their souls sucked into the beast.

The souls were used to funnel the massive gathering of Neuro-Qi that was fired in the direction of Lian’er.

Seeing the massive blast approach her, Lian’er knew she could not avoid it in time and she did the next best thing. A layer of shadows gathered beside her and folded into a barrier which shifted to the side as the beam struck it, she redirected the beam to the side and watched as it erased the mountains in the distance before exploding violently, sending massive winds in their direction.

She let out a whistle, such firepower would be lethal if she became sloppy, she needed to end the fight before anything happens.

She closed her eyes and the implant on her stomach cracked generating electricity throughout her nervous system and converted it to Neuro-Qi, on top of her head manifested a crown of aura which amplified her ice and shadows and other skills.

She snapped her eyes open and a wave of massive ice descended from the heavens washing down everything with a kilometer distance, killing all life form in the proximity by burying them in absolute Zero freeze.

She huffed and the crown shattered. "it’s ove—" Her speech was cut shot as a claw tore through her skin, cutting through bones cleanly and appeared on the other side of her shoulder.

"Not yet"