Despite being surrounded by enemies, Aster had the nerve to smile—like a beast presented with a great feast. He might seem arrogant at a glance, but his power was at least worthy of pride.
"Then, for starters...!"
He took a deep breath, lowering his stance as he prepared to use another technique—one focused on handling multiple targets simultaneously.
His gaze sharpened as the Qi in his body exploded all at once, creating a mysterious sight.
With a fierce expression, he called the technique's na out loud, attacking at the sa ti. "Nine Fangs of the Shadow Wolf...!"
The Qi that exploded, with him as the center, devoured all "shadows" it passed by. Aster manipulated them, turning them into sharp spikes—fangs—that aid right at the enemies' throats.
It happened so fast that, of the nine enemies targeted, only half managed to react and dodge!
The Shadow Fangs struck their targets, embedding deeply until they pierced through. With a fist-sized hole going through their throats, it was obvious they wouldn't last long—an instant kill.
"Cocky brat...!"
Seeing a number of their comrades fall in an instant was enough to light the flas of anger in the assailants' hearts. Furious, they rushed forward, wielding their weapons, their bodies glowing with various effects from activating their skills.
"Taunt!"
"Shadow Bind!"
"Dagger Storm!"
Various skills flew as weapons were swung. Aster, standing in the middle of it all, lowered his head—and laughed. "Hah! Too weak!"
Gathering Qi in his body, he concentrated it in his legs, stomping the roof they were standing on, cracking it. The impact of the stomp spread, creating sothing like a shockwave that hampered the enemies' advance—but their skills still continued, unaffected.
The Taunt made his body move on its own, target-locking onto the man who used it. At the sa ti, a shadowy hand moved, holding him in place, before a storm of daggers rushed toward his face.
It was a perfect, seamless combination given their skills—one that would prove fatal under normal circumstances... But currently, the situation was far from normal.
"Aster-sama!"
Kurenai jumped from the side, waving her hand, which held a single kunai.
It was a simple motion, seemingly effortless, but just like that, the dagger storm was blown away, clearing the danger. Kurenai landed beside Aster, then held his body tight before jumping out of the encirclent toward the sky.
After reaching about a hundred ters up, the effects of Taunt and Shadow Bind finally faded—he was now out of their range.
"Kugh...!"
Aster gritted his teeth, anger welling from the depths of his chest as he turned to Kurenai, who was holding him. "Why did you interfere?! I could've handled them fine on my own!"
He broke free from her grasp before using his own technique to stay in the air, looking down at the enemies.
"Aster-sama...!" But Kurenai wasn't backing down.
Her hand moved, faster than lightning, and—
*SLAP!*
—struck Aster across the face. His cheek turned red instantly, the stinging pain rendering his thoughts blank for an instant.
"Stop being reckless!" she growled, her voice guttural, like a wounded beast. "If I hadn't interfered, you would've died back there! Please stop this insanity and escape with !!!"
"..."
Aster held his cheek, his mind finally calming down.
Right. He was... drowning in his newfound power. He thought he could handle anyone with the Qi he now controlled. He realized how childish he had acted, wanting to try out the new techniques he had learned.
"...Sorry, I got ahead of myself," Aster apologized, shaking his head. "But this is this, and that is that. I'm still going to help the hidden village's people until the end...!"
Kurenai frowned, grabbing his arm while trying to argue. "Aster-sama, I'm telling you we need to—!"
But when she saw his expression, the words she was about to say were lost in the wind.
Unlike before, when he was overflowing with confidence and childish bravado—he now had the expression of a weathered warrior. His eyes were clear, his expression filled with unyielding fighting spirit.
"I know..." Aster nodded. "As soon as I judge the situation stable, I will escape with you. But until then, please allow to fight for your village's sake..."
"Aster-sama..."
Kurenai felt as if soone had just gripped her heart.
She had never heard such heartfelt words before. Rather than a request, Aster's words felt more like a prayer—a revelation. She felt as if going against his words now was equivalent to going against the word of God.
"...Alright."
She slowly let go of his arm, sighing. "But I will be fighting with you. If I judge the situation too unfavorable, whatever your opinion of the matter is, I'll be taking you away—even if I have to do it by force!"
Aster, receiving permission properly, showed a satisfied smile.
"Then, I'll be relying on you," he added.
"...!"
Kurenai, hit by the direct Pretty-boy Smile Attack, felt her face grow hot. She quickly turned around and tried to change the topic, pushing her own feelings aside.
"T-Then, let's quickly return and provide backup!"
"Ah, wait..."
Aster pulled her back forcefully, explaining.
"Before we return, we should handle those attacks coming for us," he added, pointing downward.
Kurenai turned to where he was pointing and realized that various long-range skills were flying up toward them.
There was a blue fla dragon, countless root-like appendages, a gigantic ice ball, and a flash of blinding light. All were undoubtedly skills of over level 500 strength.
As soon as she realized the situation, Kurenai extended both hands forward—but Aster was a step faster.
"This is the last technique I learned from your mother, the hardest one for to master," he spoke before waving his hands forward, drawing figures in the air using his Qi.
The Red of Fire, the White of tal, the Green of Wood, the Yellow of Earth, and the Blue of Water—those colorful Qi ford a star, a pentagram, with a yin-yang symbol right in the middle.
"T-This is...!"
Kurenai, upon seeing the pentagram, gasped in shock.
After all, it wasn't a technique that should be available to Aster just yet—and she was right to think that.
He had been taught the lower version of this pentagram, called Elent Creation and Destruction, but for so reason, he had sohow derived it into this advanced technique that not many in the village could use.
Aster remained calm as he observed the attacks, judging which one would land first. The speed of projectiles varied, after all.
The first to arrive was, as he expected, the light beam. Light—broadly interpreted—was of the Fire elent. Judging this, Aster twisted the pentagram, letting the Water elent point straight down.
"Water destroys Fire!"
As he spoke, the beam hit the pentagram and—broke into pieces. It was as if the beam had never existed in the first place, dealing no damage at all.
He didn't stop moving, of course, and prepared for the next one.
Aster twisted the pentagram once more, pointing the Wood elent upward.
"Wood generates Fire!"
And using the Wood elent, he "accepted" the blue fla dragon. Instead of vanishing like the beam, the flas gained even more vigor—but didn't inflict any damage on the two.
While the pentagram burned with blue flas, he turned it once more, shifting the Fire elent to the top.
Doing so, the flas suddenly surged and—without further ado—devoured the incoming roots, using them as fuel to further enhance the flas.
The sa principle of Wood generates Fire!
"Take it back."
And using the flas, enhanced twice by the enemy's attacks, Aster counterattacked. The flas ford a powerful blue "sun," which was then sent downward.
The gigantic ice ball didn't even affect it as the blue sun descended.
Not even a second later, the attack landed—and exploded in the middle of the enemy formation. So managed to escape, while others barely blocked the attack—but the number of casualties on the enemy side still reached the hundreds.
A single attack that could easily turn the tide of battle!
"Amazing..."
Kurenai, who watched everything from up close, could only mutter that single word.
After all, the man she had sworn to protect—
—was using the highest-level technique she could only dream of learning!
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