Chapter 122 - 122- Lightning Step (Part 2)
Chin-Hwa's vision shifted up as he noticed a silhouette had appeared behind the monster and pulled the sword out of its chest, making blood gush out of the injury.
"P-Presitdent?" He murmured her name in surprise. He had to look at her twice to understand how she was standing in front of him at that moment.
Twenty minutes ago, she was completely unconscious with extremely bad injuries. Never did he think that he would see her on her feet this quickly. But, he clearly underestimated Hyun-Jae and her willpower.
'Wait, she's still heavily injured…' He blinked when he noticed the burn marks on her back before he sucked in a deep breath. Even when she could barely walk, she still decided to go back to the fight the moment she woke up.
For some reason, that felt very familiar to Chin-Hwa. Perhaps because it was something he would expect from Hyun-Jae with how tenacious she was. She was always someone who would prioritize her responsibilities over her health.
He would never forget the countless days he had to beg her to stop and rest after she spent days working non-stop.
A small, nostalgic smile flashed on his face before he stood up.
"Thank you… For saving me…" He said awkwardly.
Hyun-Jae gave him one last glance to make sure he wasn't injured heavily anywhere before she nodded her head and turned around. "We need to push them back a little before they break through. Can you still fight?"
Chin-Hwa's smile vanished as he quickly returned to his serious expression. "Of course."
Wiping the sweat from his face, Chin-Hwa brandished his sword as he turned around again. "I will fight till I can't stand on my feet again."
Hyun-Jae turned around before she channeled her Aetheris. "Good." She replied mysteriously as she suddenly vanished like a ghost.
Her speed was so shocking that it made Chin-Hwa look back. His eyes fell on his childhood friend who was now a few dozen meters away as she appeared like a ghost, slicing monsters before they could even realize that she was there. Then, she disappeared again and appeared next to another monster, severing their head swiftly.
Her movement was so explosive and overwhelming that Chin-Hwa was barely able to keep up with her with his eyes. It was as if he was watching a blurry image of someone moving.
She flashed everywhere, cutting anything in her way effortlessly. Sizzles of lightning coursed through her body, making her appear as if she was exuding a bright light wherever she appeared.
'So fast!' He exclaimed in his head.
From what he remembered, Hyun-Jae's speed was certainly amazing, but it never reached this level.
'Wait, is she...?' That's when Chin-Hwa noticed it.
The lightning bolts that coursed through her body were precisely concentrated in her legs while the rest of the body didn't have any of that. He also noticed that whenever she moved, she would flash forward, leaving behind her a burn mark on the ground as if a lightning bolt hit that area.
'She's using her Lightning Manipulation to increase her agility!' The answer came to him really quickly after that.
It was indeed the case. Hyun-Jae's explosive speed that pushed her even beyond Talon's agility was due to her main skill, 'Lightning Manipulation'. This wasn't a coincidence by any means or something that she just discovered at that moment. It has been something she worked on every single day ever since she received this skill.
[Lightning Manipulation (Level 4): Using this ability, you can manipulate and create lightning however you want. The level of control depends on how much Aetheris is used and the level of the skill.
Flaw: Overusing the ability could leave internal damage or severe burns.]
She had read the description many times over this period of time as she analyzed it word by word. That's when she realized, she could very much use this ability not only to deal heavy damage but to also improve her overall strength.
Since lightning was pure energy, if she somehow could actually make that energy move through her body, she could technically do it. From that point on, Hyun-Jae started working relentlessly on making that a reality.
The first two weeks were brutal by every means. She failed countless times and would end up burning herself. She didn't realize how hard this task was going to be. To make energy as chaotic and as damaging as lightning to swiftly move through her body and improve her agility and reaction speed turned out to be a colossal task.
But, she didn't give up and continued practicing every single day for hours as much as she could. Days slowly passed and she started seeing results soon enough.
It didn't take long for her to learn that channeling the lightning through her legs made it way easier to achieve way higher speeds. However, even then, the risk of damaging her own body using such a technique wasn't out of the equation yet. The burns from using it were not light by any means.
In fact, they were so severe that Hyun-Jae would end up unable to walk in more than one instance.
That was why, she tried to avoid using this ability as much as possible unless the situation was too dire not to use it. Which was unfortunately the situation they were in at that moment.
'I need to end this before I overexert and burn my feet off!' Hyun-Jae mused as she sliced down two monsters in quick succession before she vanished again.
Even in her condition, she kept her calm and moved elegantly, catching all her enemies by surprise. In a matter of a few moments, she killed a few dozen enemies or so on her own. It took a huge toll on her body to move this much and she knew that her recovery speed would slow down greatly after this battle.
But, if she wanted to survive and protect everything that meant something to her, she had to put herself on the line.
'Just like how he put his life on the line for me!'
*Swish* *Swish*
At the frontlines where the clashes happened, the shield-wielding survivors quickly noticed that the pressure they had to resist was growing weaker and weaker. Monsters were falling to their death at an extremely rapid pace.
"What is happening?!"
"I couldn't see shit! One monster just fell dead in front of me!"
"Me too!"
They started realizing that there was something killing these creatures and vanishing at top speed.
"Don't stop, we have a chance to push them back!" Chin-Hwa yelled as he dashed forward and dived into the enemy lines again.
"He's right!"
"I can finally move! Let's go!!!"
"Come at me, fuckers!!!"
The situation started turning around and the tides of the battle changed. All because of Hyun-Jae. Her presence alone made the overall power of the survivors' army way higher.
The dwindling spirit of the army ignited powerfully again as they pushed their enemies back with all the strength they could muster.
At the same time, the pulses of the gate reached a new height, and the cracks across the globe grew in size. The sheer strength of these earthquakes shifted the tectonic plates in many areas of the world, creating new valleys, mountains, and hills.
Rivers formed and destroyed, entire cities were rendered flat and others remained fairly unscathed. In a matter of minutes, the world as they knew it started changing beyond recognition.
However, for better or worse, the survivors were able to stick together even under such circumstances. The cracks spread through their lines and yet didn't push that much apart.
'There are still too many monsters.'
After killing more than a hundred monsters, Hyun-Jae realized that even with their situation getting better, there was no end to the number of monsters exiting the forest. Her energy was running out extremely fast and she had no idea if she could even fight any longer.
Her back injuries came back biting her hard. Each move she made was extremely painful and terrifying. The pressure on her only grew when she realized that if she didn't somehow kill a massive number of these monsters in one single swipe, she was going to be in grave danger.
'How can I reduce their numbers?'
To kill potentially hundreds of monsters with one single attack. It was perhaps the first time someone even thought of such a ridiculous idea.
But, unless Hyun-Jae achieved such an idea… Everyone was dead. Or at least, that was what she thought.
***
"I-I think it's safe…"
Meanwhile, far deeper into the forest, the doors of the research center opened slightly as three humans peeked outside hesitantly, checking if there was anyone outside.
But, all they could see was a destroyed world that took them by shock. Never in their wildest dreams did they expect something like this to happen in the past few weeks they were locked inside that building.
"What… In the hell… Happened…" One of them murmured in shock.
"The entire world is gone…" Another replied with a pale expression.
"So, it was true… I had this suspicion the entire time… But, I never thought… It could be this bad…"
None of the trio knew how to feel at that moment. Should they be devastated that their world as they knew it was gone? Or should they be happy they're finally out of this prison after weeks of hell?
But, even more important than that, what were they supposed to do now that they're out?
Monsters lurked everywhere and they were as clueless as kids in a vast, dangerous world that was changing right in front of their eyes.
"F-First of all, let's leave this area… I don't feel safe still standing here…"
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea…"
"Let's go."
The three scientists then started descending the stairs quickly. Only to halt again as they noticed something approaching them in the distance.
"S-Someone is coming!"
The trio watched anxiously as a silhouette emerged from the forest, walking very slowly. They couldn't recognize who it was at first due to the wretched appearance of this person. They were completely covered in blood from head to toe with numerous injuries riddling their body. They had their hand on their stomach as they took one step at a time.
Then, this person halted as they looked up at the scientists coldly. Just a mere glimpse at this person's eyes sent a chill down their spines.
"You…" A very hoarse yet feminine voice spoke to them.
***
A//N: I know I ask too much and it might become annoying, but still, I'm a shameless author. If you like the story, don't forget to support it with Golden Tickets and Power Stones. It means a lot to me ??