Chaos in Vyolmir (2)

Crash!

Jae slammed into the wall with such force that cracks spiderwebbed across its surface. The impact left her dazed, her body aching from the skeleton's devastating kick.

The crimson-colored skeleton stood motionless, its rapier-like arm lowered, as if waiting for Jae's next move.

With a sharp exhale, Jae forced herself to her feet, her body trembling from the pain. Gritting her teeth, she suddenly shrank—her form shifting into a small, green lizard that darted toward the skeleton.

The undead warrior reacted instantly, swinging its rapier downward in a precise, lethal strike aimed to impale her.

Fwoosh!

In an instant, Jae shifted again—her small frame morphing into that of a massive grizzly bear. With a thunderous roar, she swiped her right claw, slamming the skeleton with enough force to send it crashing into a bookshelf.

The creature wasted no time. It scrambled back to its feet, dashing toward Jae with its rapier poised for a direct stab to her chest.

Jae reacted just as fast.

Fwoosh!

She transformed once more—this time into a rat—narrowly slipping between the incoming strike. Then, with expert timing, she leaped into the air, shifting again mid-motion.

By the time she landed, she was no longer a rat. Now, a massive saber-toothed tiger, she sank her long, curved fangs deep into the skeleton's shoulder, using her powerful jaws to maul it viciously.

Splurt!

Jae gasped as the rapier-like arm pierced deep into her stomach. Pain exploded through her stomach, but before she could react, its free hans clamped onto her shoulder with a vice-like grip.

Crack!

Her bones fractured under the pressure, and in the next instant, she was hurled across the room like a ragdoll, crashing hard against the stone floor.

Gritting her teeth, she barely held back a scream as she slowly shifted back into her human form. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, her entire body trembling from the searing pain.

But she wasn't done.

With sheer willpower, she forced herself to transform once more—her body expanding, fur sprouting as she shifted into a massive grizzly bear.

While letting out a deafening roar, she slammed both of her enormous paws down onto the skeleton, crushing it into a pile of scattered bones.

Jae staggered, coughing up blood from her stomach wound. Pain flared through her cracked shoulder, her vision blurring slightly as she struggled to stay on her feet.

"Damn..." she panted, exhaustion weighing her down as she slowly morphed back to her human form.

Whoosh!

Jae barely had time to react as a blade shot toward her. Instinctively, she raised her left hand to catch it—only for the arm to plunge deep into her palm.

A sharp hiss of pain escaped her lips.

The skeleton had reformed, its hollow eye sockets locked onto her with eerie stillness.

Jae gritted her teeth, fury flashing in her eyes. Without hesitation, she clenched her right fist and started slamming it into the skeleton's face. Again. And again. And again.

With each brutal punch, cracks splintered across its skull, but the damn thing wouldn't break.

Meanwhile, she gritted through the pain, yanking her impaled left hand off the blade—

Splurt!

"Ahh! Damn, bonehead!" Jae snarled as the skeleton's rapier arm stabbed into her left side.

It pulled back, ready to pierce her again, but she wasn't going to let that happen.

Despite her exhaustion, she lifted—her body shrinking in an instant as she transformed into a rat, narrowly dodging the attack and scurrying behind the undead being.

Then, without moment's delay, she morphed back. This time, her hands weren't human. They were grizzly bear paws streaked with the bold stripes of a tiger.

With a growl, she lunged—wrapping her massive arms around the skeleton's neck, squeezing with every ounce of strength she had left.

The skeleton thrashed, trying to slash at her, but she held firm.

Crack!

A savage grin split her face as she crushed the bones further—

Burst!

The skeleton's neck shattered, its skull rolling onto the floor.

Jae didn't hesitate. She lunged forward, her left foot morphing into an elephant's massive stomp, and crushed the skull beneath it with a sickening crunch.

Her breath came heavy, her body screaming from the injuries, but she still turned toward the twitching body of the skeleton—still standing, still moving.

Her fingers curled into fists as her grin widened, filled with feral glee.

"Time to finish this off..." she murmured, cracking her knuckles.

Jae dashed forward, her massive elephantine foot slamming into the skeleton's ribcage with enough force to send cracks splintering across its bones.

Before it could recover, she snatched both its arms in a tight grip—

And ripped them clean off.

Whoosh!

Swish!

Without missing a beat, she spun the detached limbs like nunchucks, the skeletal fingers of its right arm and rapier left arm whistled sharply in the air as she struck the skeleton with its own arms.

Smack!

Crack!

"Stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself." she grinned widely, "Oh, right—you can't."

With one final swing, she brought both limbs down with bone-shattering force, breaking apart its ribcage and splintering the arms into useless fragments.

Yet, even as its body crumbled, the skeleton began to reform once more.

Jae's smirk vanished. She inhaled deeply—her chest expanding as heat surged up her throat.

Then—

Fwooooosh!

A torrent of flames erupted from her mouth, engulfing the undead creature. It shrieked in silent agony as its bones turned black, crumbling into nothing but ash.

Jae exhaled sharply, panting as she wiped the sweat from her brow. Then, with a tired smirk, she flipped off the pile of ashes.

"In the words of Yuni... go fuck yourself."

Jae collapsed to the ground, her chest rising and falling heavily as exhaustion weighed down on her limbs. The sharp, stinging sensation of her wounds slowly knitting themselves back together only added to her fatigue.

Turning her head toward the splintered bookshelf, her eyes narrowed as she noticed something—

A faint outline of a hidden door behind the wreckage.

Her body protested as she forced herself back up, blood still dripping from her injuries. With a determined huff, she readied her claws, prepared to tear through the bookshelf and uncover whatever secrets lay beyond.

—

Meanwhile, in the other room, Theo leaned back in the leather chair behind the desk, flipping through a dusty, leather-bound book titled: "Volantis and The History of the Realm"

He had found it buried beneath the stacks of old documents inside the desk's drawer.

"Moltopia? Isn't that Aralia's home kingdom?" he mused, his brows furrowing as he skimmed the pages.

Moltopia: The War Kingdom

A kingdom ruled by rat-humanoids, known across the lands for its warriors and their barbaric nature. For centuries, Moltopia has been led by warrior queens, their rule absolute, their strength unrivaled.

It is said that the women are 2.5 times stronger than their male counterparts, making them superior fighters in battle.

Because of this, Volantis' kings often sought alliances with the queens of Moltopia, meeting with them in secret.

These meetings were not just for diplomacy but for training, as the queens of Moltopia were among the few who knew the possible location of Volantis.

However, this knowledge was locked away under a sacred pact made with Volantis' first king Augustus.

For anyone seeking Volantis, there was only one way to earn the Queen's trust:

Survive the so-called Arena of Hell.

A brutal, legendary trial where warriors faced nightmarish beasts and maybe even the Queen herself. Not a single contestant, not even a native of Moltopia, has ever conquered the trial.

Theo's fingers paused at the final sentence, his eyes scanning over it once more.

"The Arena of Hell, huh?" he muttered under his breath.

He turned the page, only to find the book shifting topics—Kroma's conquest over various kingdoms thoroughout history.

Letting out a sigh, he snapped the book shut and stuffed it into his coat.

"Finally, some useful information."

"I wonder how Jae is do—?!"

Theo's words cut off abruptly as a suffocating wave of raw, unrelenting power crashed over him. His breath hitched, his chest tightening as a violent cough tore from his throat.

His knees nearly buckled.

"Wasn't that... Volhcard's?!" he muttered under his breath, his grip instinctively tightened around his blunderbuss' handle.

—

Elsewhere in the building, Yuni, Aralia, and Sticky battled tirelessly against a horde of undead, Yuni and Aralia's weapons as well as Sticky's tentacle blades flashed as they tore through the skeletal monstrosities.

But then—

That same overwhelming aura washed over them.

The moment it did, the skeletons froze mid-attack, their bones trembling—before collapsing into piles of ashes.

Yuni, still catching her breath, coughed and gritted her teeth.

"What the hell is happening with that damn dwarf?!" she snarled.

—

Meanwhile, deep within the building, Volhcard stood amongst the bodies of slaughtered wyverns—their elemental corpses scattered across the grand ballroom-like chamber.

His expression was ice-cold, his gaze burning with fury. Blood dripped from his fingers as he released the broken neck of a juvenile thunder wyvern, its massive 30 foot frame collapsing lifelessly to the ground.

Across the room, Idol observed in tense silence, his singular eye flickering with calculation as he scanned Volhcard's vitals.

A chilling unease slowly formed within his circuits and cogs.

"What is this feeling...?" the machine muttered under his breath.

But before they could dwell on it further, Volhcard's voice rang out—low, controlled, but seething with barely restrained rage.

"Idol let's move."

The sheer force behind his words made the air shudder. With every step Volhcard took, his aura surged outward, crushing insects and making even his allies struggle to breathe.