Author’s note:
Extra Chapter for achieving the goal of 60 Power Stones!
This is also the 100th Chapter! We actually reached it in just two months!
Thank you, everyone! Your support is what keeps this series going!
The next goal is 110 so let’s aim higher!
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"Take care of the Rest!"
Franco crouched down and leaped. Ben followed right after him, treating Mark to a first-seat experience of getting his body launched into the air. Ramsay shouted sothing at them, but with the wind blowing around them Mark failed to hear any of it.
When he sensed that their upward montum had halted, he opened his eyes and saw that they were flying high above the surrounding buildings hundreds of ters away from where they were. Lara was floating on their left while Franco was on the right.
Waving aside the flas that enveloped its body, King Scorpion raised its right arm and slamd the ground, quacking the surrounding area. Its body seed to bound along with the impact, its feet raising high while its arms reached for the ground.
While balancing itself on one arm, the Demon spun around, its tail slowly following the movent. Just when it was about to finish a complete circle, the tail suddenly snapped like a whip.
The move was faster than the eye could follow, and its results weren’t felt right away.
In a two-hundred-ter radius from Scorpion King, a line appeared on everything that has a height reaching above six ters. The line was flawless, like a single thin thread that had been wrapped around each and every building.
King Scorpion bent the arm it was standing on and launched itself into the air, flipped once then ca down swinging both its arms. The impact of its strike reverberated through the area and a mysterious purple wave washed over everything.
The next instant, anything touched by the wave seed to lt into a pile of purple sludge. Be it buildings, rock formations, or the smaller Exo-apes, everything within the area marked by the kind dissolved into the purple swamp.
Ramsay, Alex, and Elya were already in the air. Though so ti had passed since they jumped, they had yet to begin their descent, making it seem as if they were floating.
"That piece of shit..." The Sergeant clicked his tongue, already losing interest in hunting his prey.
Closer to the Demon, Alex unequipped his shield and one-handed sword with a thought and summoned a new weapon with the other. This one was a long white sword.
"I really hate poison types!" He shouted, sounding more amused than angry.
"Ugh, I can’t do this..." Elya pinched her nose. "The sll is unbearable!"
She held a hand out and an item fell into it out of nowhere. It was a gas mask. Quickly putting it on, the petite Piece Keeper took a deep breath then slowly exhaled. Summoning her broad sword again, she rested it on her shoulder and glared down at the Demon
"Alright! That’s enough gas, stupid monkey!" She yelled. "I’m gonna crush you now!"
Down on the ground, at the center of the newly ford toxic swamp, King Scorpion landed on its feet and exhaled a cloud of crimson fog. With its rampage seemingly over, it gradually raised its head and stared at the puny humans.
The opening in its helt was gone as if a visor had been lowered, leaving only two openings from which the glow of its Madness filled eyes could be seen.
Its tail swayed left and right then halted. The bulbous stinger at its end had changed since its last iteration. It appeared long and flat, its sides sharpened to a deadly edge.
~[ ]~
"Uwah..." Franco’s expression twisted in disgust. "That’s nasty..."
"Poison..." Lara muttered.
"Seems like it." Ben glanced at Mark. "So they didn’t teach you anything about the Ranks?"
Mark glanced back at the big guy whose shoulder he was hanging on.
"Is this really the ti?"
"Sure."
Gravity began to do its thing and the four went into a free fall. Because of his larger size, and since he was carrying another person, Ben seed to be falling faster than the other two.
Skydiving was sothing Mark never planned on doing with a parachute, much less without one. The fear got its grip on him, leaving him barely able to hear the Peace Keeper.
"That thing over there is a Demon." Ben pointed at the giant gorilla in the distance. "Demons are Fallen of the Fifth Rank."
"THIS.IS.NOT.THE.TI!!!" Mark continued to yell and hold on to the big guy’s jacket.
"HAHAHA! There is nothing to worry about! Just crank up that Force Field of yours!"
Mark squeezed his eyes shut and did as he was told. The last thing he saw was the ground fast approaching and was sure they would crash the next second, but even after a few passed he didn’t dare to release his Force Field.
His center of gravity suddenly shifted along with his position.
The output of a Force Field is controlled through thought so it was entirely possible to lower it around the eyes while keeping the rest of his body covered. That’s what Mark learned while trying to get a look at his surroundings without lowering his guard.
"Never do that again!" He yelled while sitting on the dirt ground.
"You’ll get used to it." Ben laughed so more. "Anyway, where were we again?"
"PUGYAAAAAA!"
A shrill cry drew their attention and they saw one of the remaining Exo-ares running toward them.
"Right! The Ranks!"
Slamming his fists together, the big Peace Keeper then swung his right hand. The armored monkey seed to trip on nothing and fell on its face, but then its entire body rose in the air, pulled from the tail by an illusory hand.
"This here is the is a Fiend. Fiends are Fallen of the third Rank."
Mark looked at the monster that struggled as it was pulled closer to them. Ben waved at it with his left hand and another illusory palm manifested, snapping its neck with a single slap.
"Shouldn’t you start from the very beginning?" Mark got up to his feet and said. "How many Ranks are there to begin with?"
"Eight." Though the battle wasn’t over yet, Franco saw it fit to unequip his weapons and light a cigarette. "Nine if you include Dormant."
"And they are..."
"Dormant is the ninth and the lowest. It refers to normal humans who have yet to Awaken or contract Madness." He explained. "Above it are Fallen, Fiend, Nightmare, Demon, Lord, Overlord, Disaster and Apocalypse. A higher Rank ans more power but also fewer numbers."
Another dented cry drew Mark’s attention. He equipped his shotgun, but seeing that only a single armored ape was running toward them he saw no reason to care.
"Are you telling the lowest Rank is also what you call all those monsters?"
"Pretty much." Franco raised his head and let the white smoke slowly rise out of his mouth. "Well, different worlds have different ranking systems, but they all seem to agree on that part."
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