Chapter 729: Chapter 729: Bloody Trap
Kain, unperturbed by Nikolai’s obvious attempt at ntal warfare, raised a hand—and Aegis dropped onto the stage with the sound of a small mountain dropping from the sky.
Massive. Cold. Controlled. The kind of power that didn’t need to be loud to be threatening.
Chewy arrived silently—erging at Kain’s feet as a small shimring spore with tiny translucent filants—barely noticeable to those watching. It was only after one of the announcers, who was a 7-star beast-tar barely spotted her and the cara zood in on the ‘tiny dot’ at his direction that the crowd, and Nikolai, spotted Chewy.
Kain almost wanted to grumble at the announcer for giving away Chewy so early to Nikolai, but there was nothing he could do.
And Bea?
She had already been summoned and even the 7-star announcer couldn’t sense her.
The mont the referee’s hand dropped, her invisible self had seeped into the ntal undercurrent of the field. Microscopic. Undetectable. But there.
Strangely, at the exact mont Bea appeared, although he couldn’t possibly see her, Nikolai revealed a smirk.
————————-
Supernova College, Debrief Room – Earlier
“I don’t care if he brings that weird ntal attribute creature that is too much of a coward to show itself,” Nikolai snapped. “My current lineup is anti-control.”
The professors stared at him evenly.
“The Crimson Wraith can dissolve its entire body into mist and last year that worked to eliminate so of its effects. The Blood Fla Hound isn’t as affected by ntal infiltration. And the Slagbeast?” Nikolai smirked. “Let’s just say I want that thing to invade the Slagbeast. I want it to touch the blood. So when it collapses, Kain will feel it.”
He let the words settle. No one replied.
Then Nikolai turned to leave.
But just before stepping through the archway leading to the prep area, he paused.
“Oh. And if he tries hiding it again?” he added, glancing over his shoulder, “Don’t worry. The Slagbeast is hungry enough to sniff it out.”
Then he vanished into the hallway, cloak trailing behind him like smoke.
The room stayed quiet a mont longer.
One of the younger professors finally exhaled and muttered under his breath, “That boy’s going to get himself killed one day…”
The noble instructor nodded slowly. “Maybe. But probably not today.”
————————-
Back in the arena, the match hovered on the edge.
Bea, like usually, imdiately released the Pale Thought Field.
But sothing was strange.
‘Sothing’s wrong.’ Bea imdiately conveyed.
The Pale Thought Field, instead of cleanly stretching out over the enemy field, buckled. A sharp siphoning pressure yanked a chunk of her field straight into the Hemogloom Slagbeast. A gravitational pull not unlike the one pulling the nearby blood surrounding its ‘lips’ made of bone into its mouth.
Hundreds, thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands, of her ntal “splits” sprouted instantly almost beyond her control—then died in monts, cashed out as soon as they ford. Not destructive, but deeply draining. Bea wasn’t hard—but the toll on her energy was brutal.
Bea’s field began to flicker wildly. Empty Thrones—the ntal “thrones” created when a large amount of her splits dies that allows for the instant infiltration and amplification of her true body’s abilities—flared into existence across the Slagbeast’s consciousness. More and more popped into being as more splits continued dying.
Every few seconds, a new ‘throne’ appeared. Bea recognized the trap: the Slagbeast was forcing those Thrones, hunting for her real body to step inside its mind.
Bea froze in surprise when she realized its intention. But also she was pissed. Was this sack of blood looking down on her? It didn’t even have a ntal attribute and it wanted to target her.
Kain sensed her uncertainty but also ire.
He ntally sent: ‘Focus—you can still do this. I’ve got you.’ While activating his spiritual skill to give her an all-round boost to her abilities. Both Bea and this beast were blue-grade. So Kain doubted that no matter how elaborate the trap laid that it’d be able to hurt Bea too much…right?
Simultaneously, Chewy pulsed a quiet wave of psychic energy into Kain, refilling his ntal reserves instantly.
Bea steadied herself. She no longer resisted the stronger and stronger draw into the Slagbeast’s mind
And was sucked inside.
——————–
What Bea found inside wasn’t like anything she had ever experienced before.
It wasn’t even a mind.
It was a prison made of at and screaming. And blood. So much Blood.
Blood that strangely seed to gravitate and move toward her like a tsunami. When it touched her…for the first ti in her existence Bea felt pain.
Then ca a visual.
Bea, injured and disoriented, accidentally relayed a burst image to Kain. It wasn’t from her.
It was from the mory of the creatures the Slagbeast had eaten.
Mice.
Small, white, trembling things, squealing as darkness rose around them. One image—too clear. A stitched marking on their fur. A spiral rune.
Kain’s eyes widened in recognition
Spiric Mice – ntal attribute spiritual creatures. Low in combat ability but extrely rare. Not due to being eaten—they have no natural predators. Since they are capable of imprinting fragnts of ntal signatures into their blood over ti. Blood consumption by predators resulted in localized ntal corruption and severe reverse-feedback to psychic invaders. aning that overti no creature dared eat them. Rather their small numbers were due to how difficult it was for each to reproduce.
Kain grit his teeth.
Nikolai had fed those things to the Slagbeast. And not just for fun. To pri it.
To make it resistant—no, lethal—to ntal contracts. To Bea specifically.
Kain relayed the realization through their internal link. As his mind worked in overdrive to figure out a solution.
Bea didn’t respond with words.
She just shuddered once, and forced herself forward.
———————
Aegis, anwhile, was under siege.
The Crimson Wraith darted around his back, striking from blind spots. The Blood Fla Hound lobbed bolts of soul-searing heat. And the Slagbeast lumbered closer, slow but thodical. Each footstep warped the stage slightly like its weight was far greater than its size would suggest.
Aegis was greatly outnumbered when it ca to this physical fight.
Kain had summoned no offensive support.
That was the entire strategy. He couldn’t afford blood-heavy contracts against an opponent like Nikolai. Only Aegis, Chewy, and Bea could function here.
But even the supposedly ‘immune’ contracts were proving to be in danger.
Reviews
All reviews (0)