Chapter 12 : Andaman islands (2)

At night it was harder to see the ash black quadrupedal demons that roamed the jungles of Andaman islands so Anika and the group had to practice honing their senses to whiff out the auras of the hordes that attacked them. 3 hours for 2 nights they had practised to increase their speed enough to make it to level 20 by morning, it took time but it wasn't so hard for them now that they understood their enemy. around level 20 these demons where like armour feral knights attacking them in platoons.

when they reached the saddle peak at 6 when the sun was barely up they were up against the sign the said further entry is prohibited. they were excited and a little scared too because it was something they were not supposed to do, I was that rebellious rush of adrenaline.

"Here we are, let's stick together till we know how to defeat it." Said Anika shaking her arms as if putting away the anxiety. Their silence had the answer as they entered level 21.

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"They ran away? butterfly...I understand you haven't lead anyone since that raid and you don't like it either but this...this is highly irresponsible. I don't want you wasting any more time, JUST get them OUT...SAFE." said Yash bakshi. Butterfly could imagine in him another one of the wacky odd suits as he dropped the phone. He would generally not get angry on butterfly, not that he had those chances but this was bigger irrespective of how important those 3 were to lions. It would surely make butterfly guilty in her consciousness for more deaths.

"Those 3 are really gonna face my wrath."

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The three of them had found the demon but it was just sitting on a rock in the middle of trees doing nothing with its eyes closed, so they were spying on him, trying to know more if they could before waking it up. This demon was particularly big not only in stature but also in fat. it would seem like he was sleeping on the rocks exposing his Big belly. it had as grey skin and place fire like swirling aura clothing around his genitals.

"Come out now I am not a circus animal you are looking at." Said the demon as he picked his head up and stood up from the rock that had been crushed because of his weight.

One wouldn't expect it to have great mobility but on the contrary it showed great speed as it ripped through trees towards Reema. Reema had learned to increase her punch creating speed and also learned to store a little amount before hand without limiting the mobility of her hand. she punched the demon heading her way which fell back on the rock breaking it.

All three gathered as per plan and Anika was ready with her shield.

"You just made it easier for me." Said the demon as it's big belly opened creating massive suction and revealing teeth inside that churned like some factory machine churning with rotating blades.

The pull was so strong that nearby trees were uprooted by it. It took Anika all her focus to keep herself anchored with her shield. Anika surely had learned some long range fire attacks from the way Rishi controlled his water attacks but the other 2 were close range attackers but getting close was a lot more dangerous because of the pull. "I won't be able to hold or attack using my long range like this, any plan?" The demon was walking towards them which was increasing the power of pull so they had to think fast. It would seem he could not utilise his mobility while using that attack.

Rajdeep transformed his gauntlets till his shoulders "Can you create a shield enough to block his belly opening? I can land my punch flurry on his head if I am close enough and that would surely dizzy him up." Anika nodded but it would surely be harder to keep the shield up in such a pressure in close quarters.

She let of the grip and blocked the belly opening of the demon. Rajdeep punched as hard as he could, it wasn't affecting the demon at all as it's fat absorbed everything in-fact demon had started chomping attempts with its belly teeth and Anika was just about to lose it.

Reema pulled out her Katana and made cuts at the knee and ankle making the giant fall and giving Anika enough time to jump off before the shield broke, The pressure was now pulling in leaves from the top while the three took their distance and moved in different directions.

"What now?" Said Reema putting her sword back in but holding the hilt to be ready in time.

"his best attack is unidirectional, we attack from all sides avoiding his belly and there isn't much he can do against us."

"We need to be perfect, one small mistake and you will become that demon's fart" Said Rajdeep and received expressions of disgust from the two girls. Anika used her booster bubbles and started off with the attacks. even though the fat demon had the speed to walk in one direction his turning speed was not able to keep up and little by little they managed to chip damage him until Reema who had been storing her punch finished him off blowing away his torso.

"I just wanted it to be over faster," said Reema as the other two shrugged in agreement looking at blasted up body of the demon and thinking they are lucky she in on their side.

"Should we keep moving forward?" Asked Anika with a hopeful look

"This was much easier than I thought." Said Rajdeep

"I am curious about the demons further too, I mean we can always run back if we are in a pinch, right?"

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To their surprise the Hordes did not get powerful as they had expected but they were certainly a little more organised which did not make much difference and the trio cut through them like butter. the problem was they had no idea about the levels now as these were unventured lands that had no boards to tell them anything.

"So you defeated that fatso Gula. been a long time since someone came here to pay us a visit."

The voice came from a tree, There were two demons, one on the top of a tree branch who looked like a quadrupedal with claws, having a feral smile and the other one had stony looking gauntlets and vambrace till elbow and similar greaves till knees.

"I am Acedia and he is my brother Avaritia" said the armoured demon. "I guess it is our duty to avenge our fallen brother, what do you say Avaritia? it should be fun." Avaritia made growling sounds in response as Acedia smiled and waved his hand to Avaritia.

Avaritia jumped from tree to tree while Acedia made a straight run for them.

Rajdeep attacked Acedia while Reema and Anika looked out for Avaritia who was attacking in jabs and running off. For the most part it seemed like these two were not going to be much of a problem once their attack patterns became clear as unlike Gula these two did not seem to have any overpowering attacks.

Acedia's defence was the only concern because Rajdeep's punches had very little effect on him and his punches with his new gauntlets were not something to be taken too lightly. But acedia's defense was not a big problem if they were to attack from multiple sides, it was only a matter of holding Acedia back till Anika and Reema took care of Avaritia.

The problem was none of the thought out things were happening. instead it was getting harder for Rajdeep to move and the attacks of the girls were getting weaker. The three of them were noticing that so they nodded in unison and fell back to strategise.

"What is happening?" Said Rajdeep "I know my stamina but it is getting harder and harder to punch through."

"I don't understand my shield is getting weaker and Reema's attacks are also weakening. could it be something like Jia used on Reema?"

"No it's not that." Said Reema rubbing on her chin,"I have experienced that but this is more straightforward, I just can't pull up enough aura."

"Yes and my punches are not weaker nor is my Aura but it just feels like I am moving through concrete instead of air."

"I can feel it too but to a smaller extent." Said Reema "It feels like layers of surface tension, remember how when we fell from the cage into stadium our fall was made smooth, it's closer to that in design."

"Wow Reema!" Said Anika impressed by her analysis

Reema shrugged and said "You learn a few tricks as a trained fighter."

Acedia and Avaritia were catching up to them now slowly but they had nothing to fight against this at the moment, eventually Avaritia would win in the exchange against weaker attacks and Rajdeep will be incapacitated if they continued with their previous strategy.

After much thought they came to an understanding that defeating them one at at time as they hoped would not work and separating them was not an option either. Avaritia has the movement speed to escape any solo triangulation attempt and Acedia will just slow them enough to put Avaritia back in the picture, putting them in the same situation again. Anika then thought of something that might work so they got on to execute the plan.

Rajdeep Pumped himself up for his best punch as they waited to Acedia and Avaritia to come by.

"Want to try again I see." Said Acedia smiling. Rajdeep charged as Acedia got into his blocking stance. Avaritia tried attacking from side but Anika blocking him with shield.

"That won't work kid, you are not strong enough to get past my defence."

Rajdeep approached with full speed but instead of punching Acedia he went for the ground creating a shock-wave enough to throw Avaritia off into the distance. Reema then jumped off from Rajdeep's back and threw her half recharged signature punch. It was enough to break Acadia's defensive stance.

Acedia's defence was much powerful that they anticipated but he was shocked because they had somehow nullified the slowdown effect his defence depended a lot on. Rajdeep then came from the bottom and finished Acedia off with an uppercut right to his undefended face.

once Acedia out of the way Avaritia had no standing alone even with his hit and run tactics. he tried to run away whining but Anika caught up with her pressure bubble boost and cauterized him with her dual wielded swords.

"Where did you get that idea from?" Asked Reema to Anika who was returning after burning off Avaritia however she could.

"You analysing the things that happened in the past put my mind to thinking. those layers of his work as surface tension of water, something Rishi uses. we just need to send a wave through it to disrupt it for enough time, though I expected your punch to be enough but I guess I missed out there."

"But my uppercut got him. As my boxing training taught me, I can't let an open defence go to waste." Said Rajdeep.

"I feel even more confident to kick some more demon ass." said Anika with a smirk.

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Butterfly was at level 21. things took her by surprise as it would seem the demons had reset themselves much earlier than they normally would.

"Hello lady back for some fun?"

"So you are up again, seems like you all are breaking rules."

"You know it's not me who makes the rules, I think he just wants to have fun with some new blood."

"Then I should be on my way."

"You know I can't let you do that."

"You know you can't stop me either Gula."

Butterfly took her massive hunk of iron that a giant might call a sword and in one swift flash Gula was split in half. As she was walking away Gula regenerated and said, "You seem to be in a hurry, why not give company to this lonely fat guy."

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The Aura increase in their foundations from killing higher levels demons was something they could all feel and also something that kept them going. Hordes became much easier to tackle now than just some time ago was a sign their foundations were getting used to the new aura. destroying hordes became more like boring daily chores to them but the number of these small fires was increasing like someone had opened up a dam full of them. they could no longer see each other in the amount but it was still enough of a challenge for them to be wary of things, their night sensing was still as good and they knew where each of them was.

Then when things cleared out and there were only bodies laying around, Anika could see none of the two. she was sure she had felt the presence of both till the last moment so how did they disappear like that was the unanswered question.

"Finally luxuria can have some alone time with you darling." Said a female demon with a body that could be desired by anyone, here sparse and revealing black flame like clothing did nothing but added to her appeal but a grey skin would surely have to be a compromise for someone which did not seem too much seeing her rest of the assets. Anika on the other hand was much more moderate compared to the demon with her favoured T shirt with full sleeves to avoid insect bites in the forest. she had nothing to be jealous here thought as it was just a matter of choice in presentation and Anika preferred the usefulness of her outfit.

"Where is everybody?" Said Anika pull out her swords from the hilts at her hip and holding them in reverse grip.

"Oh my little flower, why are you ruining the mood. let's enjoy some solitude, just you and luxuria. Your companions will be enjoying their time with my brother Ira and sister Invidia."

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Rajdeep found himself on a small island he recognised to be just off the coast from where he was. He had no idea how he came to be here but it seemed like a good Idea to reach back to the main island and regroup as this could be some kind of Enemy trap. He tried but it seemed like he was in some kind of barrier which would not budge at all.

"Are you too much of a wuss, already trying to escape before the fight has begun?" Said Ira with a frown rotating his arms and stretching out his shoulder muscles.

"So I have to kill you to open this barrier?" Said Rajdeep as his gauntlets transformed to extend to his shoulder,"Don't overestimate your muscles."

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Reema found herself at a higher plane. she could see Anika but she was too far away to be able to hear her. There was a demon in front of Anika too so her eyes were focused there. She moved to help out Anika moving as fast as she could but the bodies of the demons they had killed slowed her pace. She was just hoping to reach there in time but then she was suddenly back to where she had started. It was like she had not moved at all.

"Luxuria likes her pleasure one on one." Said Invidia who was now standing in Reema's sight. She possessed much leaner curves compared to Luxuria which also contrasted Reema's contours "I just wish I had her opponent."

Reema spoke nothing trying to understand what just happened, did the land move back or time reversed itself. how could she be back to where she was.

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Anika was ready to attack with her swords already heated up but she was sure the demon in front of her was powerful and being reckless would be a problem, she also had no backup. wherever her friends were she had to defeat this one because after her it would be her friends who will get attacked by this if she lost and there is a possibility that they were not alone either.

"What are you looking at darling?" came a voice from her back and the Demon hit her making her go flying into a rock. 'How did she manage to get behind me, I had my eyes on her all the time, it's like she suddenly vanished.'

Anika released the pressure bubbles and attacked with full speed, she was sure she connected but Luxuria vanished right then and hit her from the side.

"It's very rude of you to ignore me love, when I am standing right here."

Anika surely would have had broken ribs if she had not applied her body wide shield this time but an attempt to cover everything is obviously less effective than a focused effort so the hit did do a substantial amount of damage despite the shields. 'What exactly is happening I made sure to follow the sensation of her aura this time. is that her speed? if so then what options do I have?'

Anika sheathed back her swords thinking she will have to feel it with her own hands to know the exact nature of things. She charged forward again with full focus on her senses.

"Oh love you sure are feisty." Said Luxuria smirking. The outcome was the same with Anika kicked about into a tree. Even with her full focus on senses she could not decipher anything except for the fact that the exact moment her hand was about to touch her she disappeared. She had to find out the method by which she was doing it because it was surely not speed, the wind barely even moved. She did have a theory but it would mean taking some damage but she hoped it wasn't true because if so she still had no idea how she would counter her.

To confirm it she charged on with full speed and moment before she was to hit luxuria she used a hidden pressure bubble in her hand to make the punch faster. outcome, same, she was kneeling with the pain from the blows but her theory was confirmed and she still had no idea what to do next.

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Rajdeep was exchanging blows with Ira. Ira was good but Rajdeep's punches were way faster and his defence was much better. He had learned from his fight with Anirudh that he cannot depend solely on strength and his boxing training was already showing results. Rajdeep was the clear victor according to the trend. He hit Ira with a powerful right hook that sent him flying on the barrier.

Ira got up clearly angry from his facial expression and charged towards Rajdeep. He was faster this time seemingly from the adrenaline rush but after a brief exchange Rajdeep sent him into the barrier back with another right hook, then a left and so on but Ira was getting faster every time as he got angrier. 'It's not just his speed but strength too, his punches are hurting me in defence too' thought Rajdeep as his uppercut sent Ira into the barrier above.

Ira fell and spit out black blood as he got up. "This is making me angry. Keep hitting me you little shit."

"What kind of power is that? more damage you take the harder you hit."

"It's the kind of power that will make you piss your pants."

Ira charged and hit Rajdeep, despite his defence Rajdeep was sent flying into the barrier with potentially broken ribs.

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Reema had no Idea what was happening. She had tried hitting her enemy but she would end up right where she had started and Invidia would be gone from her old position just to appear in a different one. Invidia was seemingly playing with her as she had not attacked even a single time till now. but it was surely going to exhaust Reema soon if she did not figure something out.

Invidia sat on one of the piles of bodies and said," Haven't you got a plump body, I wish I had such a body."

Reema charged with her Katana but ended up at the same spot again. Invidia grabbed her breast from back and said,"Look at them, you make me jealous."

Reema swung her sword back and Invidia was gone she was sitting somewhere else with her hands on the chin,"Your skills are really impressive, I want to learn them too." She got up and just as Reema blinked she was gone.

Invidia was attacking from side but Reema's body reactions were faster than her thoughts from countless hits she had taken during her training. Reema managed to counter but Invidia was gone again.

"You are an irritating one, Luxuria has it so easy, I wish I could play like her." said Invidia from Reema's back. Invidia was standing there on one leg making a mockery out of Reema, inviting her to attack. "It's just like finding a needle in a haystack, you just have to make one mistake." Invidia then showed her sharp nails growing from the fingers like claws.

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Anika had been kicked around a few times since she had figured out her opponents power. Luxuria stood in the middle of the ground laughing seeing Anika who had taken a considerable amount of damage.

"Oh my dear, It has been a pleasure I must say but you won't be able to endure much longer. why don't you give up."

"I would give up, but I would be a fool to give up now." Said Anika standing up and wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth,"When I am just about to win."

Luxuria frowned with annoyance and said,"Are you delusional my love? You can barely hit me, You have no way of winning."

Anika smirked and said "I thought so too, even when I understood the nature of your tricks but the next attack will be my last attack."

"That's quite a lot of confidence with no substance behind any of your claims."

"You know what?" Said Anika sitting on the rock near her. "I will tell you how you will lose. you have 3 powers. First creating perfect recreation of something with your aura, that way you created your splitting image and used the same thing in reverse to make yourself invisible, I figured that out when I suddenly increase the speed of my punch so you could not make your image disappear in time. Second one is aura mimicking, you used that to split the three of us, all the while making us think that we are close by. You use the same thing to mask your own aura."

Luxuria was smiling and clapping as she said "And how does this change the outcome? you can't attack what you can't sense in any way but nevertheless I applaud you for making it more pleasurable for me to kill you."

Anika then got down from the rock and made the sign of 3 with her fingers smirking,

"Don't forget about the 3rd one, A side effect you ignore largely. I would not blame you for this either because you seem to have too much confidence in your tricks. Your mimicking leaves that portion of aura out of you, it's something you use up as a price and it dissipates into the atmosphere. If I were to fill my aura up in a dome you would have noticed it a long time ago but you don't ever notice your own smell, do you?"

Anika then snapped her finger and started a wildfire consuming everything. She had created a dome shield around to store the Aura that Luxuria had left and with a pinch she did as in Krishna's words 'let the fire run wild'. Luxuria could not hide herself as she was screaming with pain and Anika used her punch to burn her to ashes from the inside.

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Rajdeep was in a pinch as Ira was getting too strong for him to be able to handle. He was taking damage but more that damage harder was the comeback. it was the barrier that was the key to his power Rajdeep had understood that. it looked like whatever damage he took inside the barrier was being added to his stats. but the problem was the capacity of the barrier to take damage that was too high and beating Ira would only mean writing his own defeat in the stone.

"I discovered this when I was using my form change but the effects it had with the gauntlet on me were something I did not like." Said Rajdeep as he started oozing red aura. "I lose control and sensation of pain but it seems like Your barrier will be the perfect cage for me till I get my control back."

"Come at me, I don't need your pity."

Rajdeep's armour extended to his chest as steam started coming out of him. the new chest plate had the look of a demon's laugh. Rajdeep's eyes were pitch black and he grinned in a more slender form. He charged at Ira like an Animal going for it's prey and showered him with punches at speeds Ira could not even see. The impacts on his brain were making him dizzy.

"Are you even...human any-more?" said Ira barely able to get these words out as he was pummelled into unconsciousness.

Ira's head was smashed into pieces but Rajdeep didn't stop until he could no longer maintain his form and returned to a normal state. He was huffing and puffing as he jumped into the sea so his shrunken cells could take their shape back which was also energy consuming because sea water is salty and re-enlarging his cells needed more water than normal diffusion could give. Energy was not the problem though, it was him letting the demon's will take over. In time maybe he would be able to take control over that form with proper training but at present he just had to take in the mental toll it had on him.

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Reema had been countering Invidia's attacks as she constantly attacked her from every side. Invidia was initially slow and meticulous that made it much harder for Reema to stop her power but as Invidia's patience wore off she started making enough splash that it became noticeable to her. Her technique was exchange. she would always stand on bodies and that was not a coincidence. the pile of bodies was the perfect cover for her power to be hidden and for her to exchange Reema along with one of the bodies in the pile making her feel like she had returned to the same place.

there was also a condition to this that she should have attacked to pierced the body of the target with her nails which she figured out by her emphasis on needing only one attack and also the fact that without it she could have exchanged her any-time with anything and finished her off easily.

Now the problem was using a counter that would actually make her win. it had been enough time that she had one of her punches recharged. Trick was to make it count before there is that one mistake and she is pierced by her nails. She knew what she had to do but failing to do so meant death and that certainly had some anxiety attached to it. It was a competition of who manages to land their attack, both of them were looking for that small hole in the needles to pass their thread through.

Invidia wanted more from her greed and Reema had a spark from this thought. She closed her eyes that had only served to deceive her. He focused solely on the rest of her senses. The one moment when Invidia cannot exchange has to be that one single moment when she is touching her. He blew air through closed mouth that pushed air into her ears and gulped down to even out the pressure. It was her stress ritual as she waited for Invidia to take the free blow she was giving her.

Invdia had already blown through her patience and this moment when Reema had her eyes closed was the best moment as even a small cut from her nails would allow her to freely exchange Reema herself.

When if ended Reema had gloriously won with a small cut on her neck but it took some time for Reema to settle her heartbeat.

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"Hello my friend my name is Nandu the ice-cream man. A friend in heat is friend indeed. which flavour would you like?" Said Nandu to Krishna who was now at a port in chennai.

"I will take vanilla." Said Krishna leaning on Nandu's trolley,"Man I just can't find a ship that would go to Andaman"

Nandu handed Krishna over the ice-cream and said "It is obvious man, why would anyone go to Andman it is not a tourist spot any more, you are 4 years late for that."

"Then how would you go to Andaman, if you wanted to?"

"There is no way man, nobody will go there might as well walk till there." Said Nandu laughing.

"What is the distance of Andaman from here?"

Nandu now looked at Krishna careful if he was not someone important which he would offend and said,"You crazy anna? asking such foolish questions."

Krishna offered him the money for ice-cream "No anna, you keep it. Find a good doctor or something, you will need it more than me."