Chapter 194 -
For an extremely brief moment, Alden froze.
His thoughts ceased their turbulent flow and his mind turned numb, unable to process what the squall of furious, blinding motion signified. Then, as if understanding the gravity of the sudden situation, he quickly snapped out of it, his instincts screaming a horrible, dreadful song.
The Keeper's Apprentice cursed.
"EVERYBODY JUMP!"
Abruptly, a terrible tremor rocked the molten plain; the ground quaked, craters shuddered and a vast crack suddenly tore through the igneous landscape.
Alden leaped into the air, his mana surging through his body like a seething river.
Responding to his dire call, the Provisional Paladin squad followed his lead, springing into the air like swift arrows. They shifted their gaze below, a silent, alarmed question brewing in their eyes - only Avel, Clay, Terra and the rest of the Stonewardens seemed to show no apprehension.
Perhaps they had come across a similar situation, before.
…Alden hoped that was the case.
A moment later, the vast crack widened.
Suddenly, a grotesque, terrible maw swallowed the ground which the Provisional Paladin Squad had just stood on.
Alden shuddered, his sole eye growing wide.
As the group of fifteen warriors reached the zenith of their leap, the abomination revealed itself in all its horrendous glory.
The Defiled Djinn possessed a long and equally wide reptilian body, half the size of Alden's home. It had a broad, slightly flattened head and a furious mantle of incandescent flame shrouding its molten hide. Furthermore, the Defiled's eyes burned like two hot, glowing coals.
Suddenly, the Fire Salamander slammed its tail into the ground.
The igneous landscape surrounding it crumbled, revealing a glimpse of a bright orange pool hissing beneath.
Alden's expression tightened.
"Yuki! Isolde!"
Understanding his intent, the Frost Clan duo immediately unleashed a gelid beam brimming with glacial ice energy.
An equally dire incandescent breath escaped the Salamander's maw, though, crashing into their attack.
Immediately, the incinerating ray of fire devoured Yuki and Isolde's attack.
'…!'
Alden quickly shifted in the air.
Mana detonated within his body, allowing him to evade the scorching ray. As he landed on the cracked remains of the molten plain, he did not spare a moment to glean the others' fate.
Alden launched himself off the ground, lunging towards the dreadful abomination. As he did, his decay sizzled as it came into contact with the molten plain.
Alden whistled.
Immediately after, a black blur dove towards the Fire Salamander. Knowing that her flames were unlikely to be of much use, the pitch-black phoenix resorted to raking her claws, wreathed in obsidian fire, across the Djinn's eyes.
The abomination roared.
Alden couldn't tell if Ignia had been successful in dealing damage or not.
Suddenly, he paled.
'Ign-!'
With barely a thought, Alden's figure disappeared from the spot.
Less than a heartbeat later, he materialised in the air, pushing Ignia out of the way. Then, he shifted, the vicious tail of the Fire Salamander looming like an infernal edifice in his vision. Alden gritted his teeth, acting on instinct and deploying a tangible buckler of solid decay.
He also crossed his arms in front of his body, forming a X shape.
Before Alden could even comprehend what happened, a devastating rush of force slammed into his buckler, shattering it.
As broken shards of the stygian shield dissipated in his vision, Alden braced himself for a world of pain.
'Blasted...'
He wasn't able to finish that thought.
For just then, the Fire Salamander's tail crashed into him. Instantly, all the breath left Alden's lungs.
A shock-wave of air formed from the impact as the tail finished in its vicious, sweeping arc, as if casually swatting away an annoying gnat. Alden rushed uncontrollably through the air, disorientated, terrible pain engulfing his mind and senses.
Ignia cried anxiously through their bond.
'Ah… crap.'
Cursing the Fire Salamander deeply, the Keeper's Apprentice shifted.
Immediately after, his figure faded from view, returning within the Provisional Paladin Squad's midst, surrounded by the Stonewardens.
…Kneeling on the cracked, molten plain, Alden disgorged a mouthful of blood.
A moment later, he felt a pair of hands rest on his shoulders.
Shortly after, his pain lessened and his broken ribs began to heal at an incredible pace. Alden wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, struggling to stand up.
"Stay still, you reckless fool!"
Once Raphaela finished healing him - scolding him another time for extra measure -, the Keeper's Apprentice was finally able to stand up. Just then, the Fire Salamander's roar rolled across Inferno's Plain, furious that they had stepped on its land.
A dark expression marred Alden's face like a gruesome scar.
Full of bloodthirsty malice, his presence erupted.
The Keeper's Apprentice formed another abyssal blade, the dark energy it was formed of roiling, as if it couldn't wait to devour another foe.
Without needing to be told, the Provisional Paladin Squad swiftly entered the fray.
As if sensing their desire to fight, the Fire Salamander unleashed another scorching breath. Yuki and Isolde stepped up to meet it. The sound of shattered ice resounded like the crack of numerous stalactites, before the weakened fire breath engulfed the former, who was encased in a mantle of ice.
A burst of steam washed over Inferno's Plain.
Then, Alden sensed a spike of mana in the air and the flash of ice within the mist.
Once the steam had settled, he saw that the molten expanse of the scorching plain had frozen over - large parts of it, at least. Enough so that the Provisional Paladin Squad did not have to worry about falling into the deadly chamber beneath.
Following that, Avel and Clay immediately launched themselves towards the Fire Salamander.
One moment they stood beside Alden and the others. The next, a rush of wind crashed into the Provisional Paladin Squad; the echo of a physical confrontation between two Experts and a Djinn disheveling them.
Terra was not far behind, either.
As the battle picked up, Alden instructed Ignia to remain with Conrad, Sybil, Steel and Marion who were responsible for guarding their flank, ensuring nothing disturbed their clash against the Defiled Djinn. The little phoenix did not want to leave his side, but after some quick persuading and promising he would be careful, she acquiesced.
Alden's shifted his gaze towards the Fire Salamander, his sole crimson eye gleaming like a pool of liquid blood.
Suddenly, a strange itch tickled at his chest.
A ravenous hunger took hold of Alden.
It was as if he had become deep and boundless, possessing an appetite so vast it couldn't be described with mere words.
As Alden continued to stare at his latest foe, the itch inside him grew stronger.
…He couldn't wait to devour the Salamander.