Ticking Time 2
"Kill me? You couldn't even put a dent on me thirteen years ago, and you think you can get rid of me?" The Anino summoned a giant dark fireball and hurled it at Lyrica and the others. "Don't make me laugh!"
Buwoooohh!!
Before it reached the five of them, the woman with snow-white hair wrapped one of her arms on Lyrica as they all jumped out of the black fireball's way. The two watched the fireball explode and left a big crater next to the edge of the plateau.
"The one who's going to die..."
The two turned their eyes to the Anino. Lyrica's sight widened as she witnessed one of its claws grow in size, almost like a humongous beast's.
"...Is you!"
The Anino proceeded to swing its claws at the two. But then...
Clang!!
"I told you..."
The ear-piercing sound of sharp claws grinding metal shook Lyrica. A man with a bulky physique appeared in between her and the woman with snow-white hair and the Anino.
"...I won't let you harm anyone again!"
Pierce! Pierce!
"Agck!"
Beams of light were shot from down below and went through the Anino's body, causing a sharp pain to the entity.
The entity and Lyrica looked down and realized that it came from the man with a ponytail.
"I still have more in my pocket for you."
As the man spouted those words, he proceeded to crack another bead of light, and came another magic bow and arrow made of light.
"You bast*rd...!" The Anino snarled at the bowman.
"You're wide open!"
Pow!
Having failed to realize the red-haired fellow's presence, the Anino was struck by an axe kick and was sent back to the surface. Not letting the chance to get away, the red-haired man came straight down at the Anino in an attempt to land a hard punch.
Smash!
However, the Anino managed to avoid the attack by purposely making a hole in where its gut was supposed to be.
"Die!"
The red-haired man quickly distanced himself before the Anino's beam of black fire would strike him.
"Hey, hey, you're getting a little agitated. It feels kinda conflicting considering how calm and collected you were back then." He stopped at where the woman and Lyrica landed. "It's almost as if you're telling us that we can actually defeat you this time."
The Anino reverted to its usual form as it stared at the red-haired man.
"You haven't changed since back then, that annoying grin on your face still makes me want to vomit." Said the Anino as it regained its composure. "That aside, it seems Linah's sacrifice to seal me didn't leave that much impact on you at all."
Psssshh!! Psssh!!
Beams of light were shot from the woman's staff to the Anino. But it ended up just going through the entity.
"Don't you dare utter my sister's name with your filthy mouth-less face!" She said rather coldly as she released Lyrica from her wrapped arm.
Lyrica stood up, slouching.
"Ah, right." The Anino turned its attention to the woman with a staff. "I thank you, Blue Rose, for purposely letting me escape in hopes of avenging your dead sister. Your mistakes and regrets are my pleasure and joy!"
The Anino sniggered as it added. "To reward you for your foolishness, I shall allow you to meet with your sister by sending you to the afterlife."
"Keh...!" The woman gritted her teeth as the Anino's words are slowly making her lose patience.
"That's enough!"
Lyrica's sudden shout surprised everyone. And as they all looked at her in complete silence, she uttered:
"I don't care who you all are, and I don't give even a single f*ck about your grudges either! But the people in this kingdom only have a few minutes to live unless someone does something about that damn thing! If you all come here just to talk about what happened in the past, then get the hell out of my way!"
While saying this, trails of mana essence entering her body became visible to everyone's eyes. Before she minimized her character window, she glanced at her MP which was rapidly increasing.
"That girl is..."
"She's using Mana Burst!"
Listener: Lyrica Ley Rael
Lv. 30
HP: 77%
MP: (61) 80
dB Limit: 80
[Statistics]
Strength: 40 (-50%)
Durability: 35
Agility: 40 (+24) (+32%)
Stamina: 21
Senses: 10
Available Points: 10
[Playlist]
Playable Music:
- Jazz Harmony (Lv. Max)
- Heavy Metal (Lv. 2)
- Heavy Metal: Iron Maiden (Lv. 2)
- Heavy Metal: Hallowed Be Thy Name
- Fierock (Lv. 2)
- Flintrock
- Hip Hop (Lv. 2)
- Wind Drum
Background Music:
- Elements of Music (Lv. Max)
-
-
Original Music:
- Willow Flame
> Acquired EXP: 20,399
> Required EXP: 33,450
[Currently Playing]
> Hip Hop (1:57)
[Cool Down]
> Fierock (0:30)
'I can still stand and move. Strength isn't what I need right now but speed.'
Lyrica once again used 200 decibels on Heavy Metal before it transformed into Hallowed Be Thy Name, surprising the four who just realized she could use light magic. Not only that...
"Ha!"
Sprint!
"S-She's fast."
They were surprised, especially the red-haired fellow to see that she had the speed to approach the Anino in a matter of seconds. Lyrica immediately tried to land Hallowed Be Thy Name the moment she got in range. However...
Bwam!
"Wha?"
Lyrica's left fist simply went through a hole the Anino opened from its body.
"It seems you're forgetting that I'm no longer inside that useless Hari's body."
"Tch!"
The girl retracted her arm in an attempt to have her fist touch the Anino's body.
"You fool, I won't let your light touch me again!"
"What?!"
The Anino moved around Lyrica's arm like smoke floating freely into the air after a fire.
"Hate Impulse!"
The girl was blasted away right after the entity released a violent surge of energy around it.
"Ack!"
Before her back could crash to the surface of the plateau, the red-haired fellow came in to catch her using his body and his only arm.
Thud!
"Urk!"
"Are you okay?"
Lyrica wordlessly stepped away from the man before falling to her knees, her Hallowed Be Thy Name vanished afterward.
"How troublesome..."
"I guess not." The man spoke as he stood not far behind the girl.
Buwooohhhh!!
The two looked forward as they both heard something approaching them. Only to find out it was a big wave of black fire. In that instant, the fellow who once blocked the Anino's claw from before, came and stood in front of them.
"Leave it to me!" The man stretched his legs wide as he took a horse stance. Right after that, his body started gleaming with the light coming from his barrier. "Tibay!"
The man and the black fire collided before an explosion would send Lyrica back to the red-haired fellow one more time.
"He's...!" Lyrica uttered out of worry.
"Don't worry," Said the man who caught her. "The Anino is not as strong as it was back when we first fought it. On top of that, we also got stronger, too. He can handle it."
As the smoke diminished, it revealed the aftermath showing the bulky fellow with a bald head unscathed along with its barrier.
"Hng!" The man exhaled as steam exited his nostrils.
"Considering you can use light magic, you must have somehow landed a nice attack at the Anino. That's one of the reasons why it's a lot weaker now."
"I couldn't tell if it's weaker or not but..." She looked into her left arm in disappointment to herself. "... I was so close to killing it, but I messed up. But more than that, why couldn't I hit that thing?"
"You're wrong." The man replied. "It's not because you couldn't touch the Anino. It's just that it's putting a lot of effort into dodging your attacks more than ours because it knows you're the only one that can truly deal the killing blow at it."
Right at that moment, the red-haired man and the big fellow looked at each other.
"We'll keep the Anino company!"
The man with one arm nodded in response to the bald fellow.
"Tibay!"
Despite his physique, he charged at the Anino with considerable agility, even while Tibay is active.
"Out of my way, ugly bull!"
The Anino enlarged its malignant claws as it also charged forward.
"Haa!!"
"Raagh!"
Like a sharp blade and an unbreakable shield, the two clashed.
CLANG!!
Their collision blew out dirt all around them. Seemingly equal in strength, the two were forced to jump back from one another.
Gleam!
In that second, the Anino caught wind of a rain of light arrows coming down from the sky. It then reshaped its body to avoid every single one of them.
"You damn pest!" It said toward the bowman who cracked another light bead, creating another bow and arrow. "Die!"
The Anino shot a fireball from its mouth, to which the bald fellow immediately responded and intercepted the fireball.
"While it seems easy to reshape its body to avoid attacks, doing so is also hurting itself."
"Opening a hole in its body is like opening a deep wound to us. And it hurts, so it can't always avoid attacks that way unless it felt necessary."
The woman with a staff interjected as she stood next to Lyrica.
"I apologize for what happened earlier. My emotions got the better of me."
"Rather than apologizing to me, you should say your apology to the people of this kingdom."
The woman was stunned by the girl's words.
"I heard what it said earlier. So you let that thing escape and now it's threatening to kill every single one of the people of Kruule. You better explain to the people what you've done."
The woman looked down with a crestfallen expression on her face.
"You're right. Once this is all over, I will do what you said. But for now, let us focus on getting rid of this entity."
"I will agree with your last line, but to do that, I'm gonna need an opening to land my magic ability." Trails mana essence appeared around Lyrica as they enter her body one more time. "I didn't think using Mana Burst would take quite a toll on my body. Forget the time limit the Anino gave us, I don't think I can last much longer."
"If creating an opening is what you need, then leave it to us!" The man pointed his thumb to himself, the usual grin on his face disappeared as his expression turned in resolute. "No more goofing around."
The man stretched and exercised his arm around as he took a step forward. His body, for a split second, flickered with red and green light. And somehow, Lyrica could feel that the man didn't just have his strength jump to an extent as she felt an immense pressure coming from the man himself.
"Time to get serious."