Chapter 1213
The opaque darkness that surrounded Ylvali and the others with her in the sea. Points of light were blocked as the beast stretched. The elders of the Dry Sea Sect displayed fear of this ‘great entangler’, a concern that Ylvali did not find unjustified. The beast was likely far weaker than a distortion beast, but also far less expected. She was not prepared. Adsila certainly didn’t seem to have expected this outcome either, though the old woman seemed resolved to take her death with stoicism, even as she searched through her same bags over and over- as if trying to find some poison that would work on a creature over a kilometer across.
The Dry Sea Sect took action first. Even as it appeared the best had already blocked off easy escape routes, they acted decisively. The strongest among them- a man who was quite young- shouted orders. “We break for the sect!” Then to their guests. “Brace yourselves for a sudden drop!”
Communication was always good. Ylvali was actually quite relieved not for the words but because it implied that the creature couldn’t understand them. Most wouldn’t, but it would make things far more difficult.
Though she readied herself immediately, she hadn’t expected precisely the way they would fall. She had expected the glass submersibles they were in to be suddenly accelerated in the same manner to which she was already accustomed, but as an afterthought she supposed they wouldn’t have needed to give a warning.
There were a rapid series of explosions around them. Ylvali felt the members of the sect reaching out their energy, and then… water simply disappeared. With nothing in its place, all of the surrounding water rushed in, creating massive shockwaves. Some of those were placed ‘behind’ them, propelling them forward. Others were angled seemingly to blast away parts of the great entangler, whatever they were. Ylvali was thinking squid or octopus… or maybe something with more limbs than either. Not being able to see or really feel it didn’t help, but trying to create a picture of it purely be negation was somewhat effective.
At the very least, it released various points of light beneath them as it was either pushed away or recoiled from the explosions. However, Ylvali could see the gaps rapidly closing once more. “Starstriker!” Ylvali called out to the crew. Those with her… and those further away. “Assist me!”
It was a shame that there were several kilometers of crust between her and the ship. Technically, the vessel could strike there- but she didn’t want to find out what would happen to the planet if its crust was pierced through. The best case scenario was accidentally pouring some of the ocean onto the surface, if they somehow managed to avoid the Dry Sea Sect. Not easy, given that their ship was docked on the sect grounds.
But while Ylvali was probably ten or a hundred times more effective aboard the ship, with crewmates around her and her own Integration cultivation she wasn’t useless. She hadn’t come to an unknown place unarmed. Her laser rifle unfolded from within her sleeve, and she pointed it in the direction they were moving. “Sorry about your ship,” she said to any elders that were listening.
Ylvali did her very best to bypass the glass hull with her attack, but ultimately it still absorbed a small fraction of the outgoing laser. She tried to keep her beam steady so there would only be one breach in the hull. Fortunately, none of those aboard were likely to die from the pressure.