Chapter : 387
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Chapter : 387
"It is totally inappropriate!" Elma whispered back furiously. She glared at Sayma's nice blue dress. "She bought him street food earlier. Now she is buying him fancy tea. She knows he loves free food. She is manipulating his stomach to win his heart. We need to stop this right now."
Ira stared straight ahead. She dropped the broken pieces of the twig onto the dirt. She grabbed a new twig. Snap.
"Statistically speaking," Ira stated in her flat, robotic voice. "Sayma is utilizing proximity tactics with absolute perfection. It is highly unfair. My internal annoyance levels have reached maximum capacity. We should intervene immediately."
"We cannot intervene!" Naomi argued softly. She rubbed her face in pure frustration. "If we jump out of these bushes, we look like totally crazy stalkers! We have to stay hidden! We cannot blow our cover!"
Elma let out a muffled groan of pure misery. "But he looks so happy! He never smiles at me like that! He only smiles at me when I bring him chocolate cake! I want to throw a rock at the table!"
The three girls continued to bicker in harsh, quiet whispers. They were totally flustered. Their competitive hearts twisted painfully inside their chests.
Ken grabbed another potato chip. He popped it into his mouth. He did not know three highly lethal warriors were spying on him. He just wanted to enjoy the peaceful afternoon.
Suddenly, the ground shook violently.
The vibration traveled through the cobblestone street. It rattled the metal tables at the outdoor café. Sayma’s porcelain teacup clattered loudly against its saucer. The peaceful, quiet atmosphere of the Inner City shattered in a single second.
A deafening, terrifying crash echoed from the sky.
People on the sidewalk stopped walking. They looked up. A massive, looming shadow blocked out the bright afternoon sun. Something gigantic was falling straight down from the clouds.
"What is that?" Sayma gasped. She stood up quickly. She pushed her glasses up. Her polite smile vanished entirely.
BOOM!
The object slammed directly into the center of the bustling street. The impact was absolutely devastating. The solid white cobblestones cracked and exploded outward in a massive crater. A huge cloud of gray dust and debris flew into the air.
Citizens screamed at the top of their lungs. They dropped their shopping bags. They scrambled away in pure, unfiltered panic. They ran for their lives.
The dust slowly began to clear away. A horrific, towering monstrosity stood in the center of the crater.
It was a colossal biological nightmare. The beast was easily fifteen feet tall. It looked like an experiment gone completely wrong. Its skin was a sickly, dark gray color. Disgusting, glowing green veins pulsed wildly across its massive, bulging muscles. It had four long, twisted arms. Each hand ended in jagged, razor-sharp claws. Large, bone-like spikes jutted out from its spine.
The monster opened its massive jaws. Rows of sharp, bloody teeth gleamed in the sunlight. It let out a distorted, demonic roar. The sound was so loud it hurt everyone's ears.
"ASHURA!" the beast bellowed. It shouted its own name like a war cry.
The elite girls hiding in the bushes instantly snapped into action. Their jealousy completely evaporated. They were warriors first. They saw a deadly threat, and they moved immediately.
Naomi burst out of the bushes. She did not hesitate for a microsecond. She drew her twin silver daggers. Her green eyes flashed with intense, protective fire.
"Get away from the civilians!" Naomi shouted loudly. She dashed forward. Green wind magic swirled rapidly around her combat boots. She wanted to draw the monster's attention.
Elma jumped out right behind her. The blonde warrior pulled her silver swords. She looked at the giant, ugly monster. She felt a brief moment of fear, but she refused to back down. She wanted to protect the innocent people. She wanted to protect Ken.
Ira leaped out of the dirt. Her face remained a totally flat, emotionless mask. She raised her pale hands. The moisture in the air instantly gathered around her fingers. She formed two long, high-pressure water whips. She lashed out, snapping the whips against the pavement with a loud crack.
The giant beast, Ashura, did not care about the three girls. It did not care about the fleeing commoners. It did not care about the loud screams.
Its glowing red eyes scanned the street with a singular, hyper-focused goal. It turned its massive, ugly head. It looked directly at the outdoor café. It locked its eyes entirely onto Ken Eliot.
Ken stopped chewing his potato chip. He blinked his sleepy dark eyes. He stared back at the giant monster.
"Why is it looking at me?" Ken complained out loud. He slouched his shoulders even further. He kept his hands on his bag of chips. "I did not do anything. I am just eating a snack. Does it want a chip? Because I am not sharing. I paid for these."
Ashura roared again. It raised its four massive arms. It charged straight toward the café table. It moved with terrifying, destructive speed. It smashed a streetlamp out of its way. It completely ignored the girls trying to attack its flanks.
Sayma realized the danger immediately. She saw the beast targeting Ken. She did not panic. Her highly analytical mind worked perfectly.
"Absolute Hexagon!" Sayma called out firmly.
She threw both of her hands forward. A bright, glowing golden honeycomb barrier snapped into place. It formed a perfect, solid dome right over Ken's chair and the metal table.
Ken sat safely inside the golden light. He decided to put on his usual, totally fake slacker performance. He dropped his bag of chips onto the table. He hugged his knees tightly to his chest. He widened his eyes as far as they could go. He put on a totally exaggerated, incredibly comical expression of pure terror.
"Oh no!" Ken yelled loudly. His voice cracked on purpose. "A giant, ugly bug monster! This is so scary! Please protect me! Protect my potato chips! I bruise like a delicate peach!"
But inside his mind, Ken felt completely different.
The goofy, panicked attitude was a total lie. Internally, Ken felt a massive spike of pure, cold annoyance. His dark eyes sharpened for just a fraction of a second. He analyzed the monster's behavior instantly.
"This is incredibly irritating," Ken thought to himself. He remained curled in a ball. "This ugly thing is not hunting a random commoner. It bypassed the girls completely. It locked onto me specifically. That means it somehow managed to recognize my hidden, god-like magical signature. It knows I am Lancelot."
Ken realized the situation was highly problematic. If he let this continue, the beast would destroy the entire street trying to reach him. It would put his friends in immense danger. Naomi, Elma, Sayma, and Ira were strong, but they were exhausted from the recent battles. This monster was a colossal, man-made biological weapon. It was too much for them to handle alone right now.
Ashura reached the café. It raised two of its massive fists. It slammed them brutally down onto Sayma's golden shield.
BAM!