Ch 5

  For the first time, the invincible commander had taken a visible wound. It stared at its blackened, smoking paw for a second, and then its eyes—now burning with a pure, unadulterated rage—snapped back to mine. I was no longer an ant to be crushed; I was an irritant that needed to be eradicated.

  I reached for another Tier-2 Water Astra, my fingers raw and trembling against the string. I didn't care about the pain; I forced myself to infuse the prana into 5 Tattoos.

  [REMAINING HUMAN PRANA: 48.25%]

  My Prana had finally dipped below the halfway mark. My insides felt like they were being scraped hollow, but I locked my sights on the Stalker’s exposed neck and loosed the shaft. The projectile screamed through the air, but the Commander was not alone. In a display of chilling loyalty, one of the remaining Elite Hounds intercepted the shot. It leaped into the air, offering its body as a meat-shield for its master.

  The high-pressure Water Prana tore through the hound, extinguishing its internal fire in a microsecond before it detonated in a violent, blinding white explosion.

  The explosion went off directly in the Hell-Fire Stalker’s face. From the heart of the smoke, a roar erupted that felt like the earth itself was splitting open—"ROAAAR!"

  A sudden, agonizing wall of heat slammed into us. It was a suffocating, dry pressure that made me feel like I am starving for water, gasping for air that was no longer there. I watched as the ground beneath the Stalker’s paws didn't just scorch—it liquefied into bubbling, orange magma.

  "ACTIVATE YOUR ULTIMATE ABILITIES! NOW!" I screamed, my voice rasping in the superheated air. I frantically nocked my next water astra, pushing the power increase to 100% once more.

  The Stalker, still seventy meters away, didn't run—it vanished. It was a blur of obsidian and flame so fast that my eyes couldn't track its movement. In a heartbeat, the monster was upon us. The proximity was overwhelming; it felt like being submerged in a vat of boiling oil.

  I saw its massive, obsidian-scarred paw swing through the air like a falling mountain. Rocky stepped forward, his face a mask of absolute focus as he triggered his Ultimate Space-Earth Shield. He became a pillar of unbreakable stone, anchoring himself to the earth as he prepared to catch the blow that could level a building.

  CRACK-BOOM!

  The collision sent a shockwave through the field that knocked the breath from my lungs. Sparks of magma and shards of earth-prana flew in every direction as the shield met the claw.

  The collision was catastrophic. As the Hell-Fire Stalker’s massive paw slammed into Rocky’s ultimate shield, the impact sounded like a mountain fracturing. Rocky didn't just fall; he was launched backward like a cannonball, hurtling eight or nine meters across the field before crashing into the scorched earth. He lay motionless as trails of fire chased his path, leaving us wondering if he would ever stand again.

  In that heartbeat of silence, a primal scream erupted from my Intuition. It wasn't a thought—it was a frantic, soul-shattering alarm: DANGER! DANGER! Without thinking, without even looking, I pivoted and loosed my 100% Resonance Water Arrow toward my right flank. I didn't know why I was firing, but my instincts were in total control.

  BOOM!

  A thunderous explosion rocked the air before I could even process the movement. My astra had collided with something mid-air. The resulting shockwave slammed into my chest, sending me flying four or five meters back. I hit the ground hard, a jarring mixture of searing heat and biting cold washing over me. As I gasped for air, I realized what had happened—the Stalker had tried to impale me with its four-foot magma tail. My instinctual shot had intercepted the strike just inches from my heart. If I hadn't moved, that would have been my final breath.

  [REMAINING HUMAN PRANA: 39.5%]

  My Prana was plummeting into the red zone. The realization hit me like a physical blow: despite infusing my Prana into 5 tattoos, the Stalker’s defense was monstrous. My ultimate shot hadn't even scratched its skin; it had only extinguished the fire on its tail, turning the glowing magma into blackened, brittle obsidian.

  I scrambled to my feet, my muscles screaming in protest as I grabbed my Silver Bow from the dirt. I was already reaching for another Water Astra when a surge of immense power radiated from my side.

  I looked up and saw Maya. She was launching a terrifying, full-throttle assault aimed directly at the Stalker’s exposed throat. The sheer density of the prana radiating from her Gada was staggering—it was her Ultimate Tier-2 Execution.

  When Maya’s Gada connected with the Stalker, the sound was deafening—a heavy, metallic CLANG that echoed like a sledgehammer striking a mountain of solid stone. To our horror, the blow seemed to do nothing. The Stalker merely tilted slightly to the side, absorbing the massive impact without showing a single sign of a damaging wound.

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  My eyes were burning from the blistering heat. Every breath felt like I was inhaling scalding steam; the oxygen was so thin that my chest felt like it was being crushed. Desperate, I fully activated my Water Chakra, circulating the cooling Prana throughout my internal pathways. I had been using it sparingly to conserve energy, but now it was a matter of survival. If I, standing at a distance, was suffering this much, I couldn't even imagine the hell Maya and the others were enduring at point-blank range.

  I was frantically infusing my Prana into 5 tattoos to launch Tier 2 Water Astra when I saw Ankit make his move. Immediately following Maya’s strike, he unleashed his spear, channeling his Ultimate Ability into the Stalker’s legs. The spear struck with incredible force, but the Commander merely shifted its weight. It stood immovable, like a fortress of living lava.

  "ROAAAR!”

  Then, the Stalker unleashed a guttural, earth-shaking roar. The temperature spiked instantly, turning the battlefield into a literal furnace. It felt as if we were trapped inside a smelting forge.

  Suddenly, the Stalker turned its predatory gaze toward Maya. It opened its molten maw, its jaws dripping with liquid fire, and lunged to crush her. I didn't wait for a full charge. I loosed my astra at only 60% power increase, aiming directly for the monster's open jaw.

  The astra struck the inside of its mouth just as it was about to snap shut on Maya. The explosion of steam and high-pressure water diverted the Stalker's bite by mere inches. Maya was caught in the resulting shockwave of clashing elements and thrown violently backward. She collapsed onto the scorched earth, and I could see her skin blistering from the heat—she was gasping in sheer agony.

  [REMAINING HUMAN PRANA: 35.25%]

  I watched in horror as the Stalker’s magma tail lashed out like a whip, targeting Ankit as he attempted a rear assault. Ankit reacted instantly, triggering his Ultimate Defense and spinning his spear into a defensive vortex. When the tail collided with the weapon, a massive explosion erupted. BOOM! The impact was so overwhelming that Ankit was launched meters through the air. As he crashed into the dirt, I could see his skin smoldering and his hair singed from the sheer thermal shock.

  The heat radiating from the Hell-Fire Stalker was becoming unbearable. I realized that even with my Defense Stat of 10, my physical shell was beginning to succumb. My skin felt like it was melting, and the pain was so excruciating that I lacked the raw strength to even draw my bowstring to its full extension.

  Suddenly, a blur of motion cut through the smoke. Lori, our small cat now transformed into the size of a large hound, sprinted past me. She lunged with desperate courage, aiming for the Stalker’s glowing eyes. But the Commander was too fast; it swiped its massive claw mid-air, striking Lori with a bone-crushing blow. She was sent hurtling into the distance, her fur catching fire as she let out a pained shriek.

  Before I could scream her name, Golu charged from the right. The evolved bull lowered his head and slammed his horns into the Stalker’s midsection with the force of a runaway truck. The impact was significant enough to make the monster stagger. For a brief second, the Stalker was pushed back, sliding across the molten glass of the battlefield.

  But the beast recovered instantly. With a snarl of fury, it whipped its tail around and struck Golu. Despite his massive size and high defense, the blow sent the bull sliding meters back, his hooves carving deep trenches in the earth as he collapsed in a heap.

  Despair began to claw at my throat. After all these ultimate attacks, the Hell-Fire Stalker seemed practically unharmed. It had taken only superficial damage while my entire team lay broken. Fear and rage boiled within me—fear because we were facing our deaths, and rage because we were so powerless.

  Driven by pure desperation, I stopped waiting for the resonance to charge. I began rapid-firing my Tier-2 Water Astras, unleashing five astra in less than two seconds. I aimed every single one at the monster’s open maw. The sudden deluge of Water Prana collided with its internal furnace, turning the immediate area into a blinding white shroud of steam. For a few seconds, the temperature dropped just enough for us to breathe, but the battlefield remained a graveyard of white mist Extinction.

  The thick shroud of steam blinded me, but I didn't stop. I kept firing astra after astra into the white mist, fueled by pure desperation. Suddenly, the steam in front of me parted, and two glowing yellow pits of fire stared back at me. It was the Stalker. It had ignored the steam and was lunging directly for my throat, its molten jaws wide open.

  Just as its teeth were about to snap shut on my head, Maya’s Gada whistled through the air and slammed into the Stalker’s open mouth. The heavy mace wedged itself between its massive fangs, forcing its head upward. That split-second distraction saved my life, but the proximity was lethal. The radiant heat scorched the left side of my face, and without a shirt to protect me, my chest and arms were covered in angry, blistering burns. I let out a jagged scream as the smell of my own charred skin filled my nostrils.

  I quickly backed off.

  My body was a temple of agony. I frantically circulated my Water Prana through my veins, trying to douse the fire raging under my skin. The cooling energy provided a momentary relief, but the stinging pain of the third-degree burns remained unbearable.

  Every breath felt like I was drinking liquid lava. My lungs were withering under the extreme heat, but the scene before me turned my blood cold. The five remaining Elite Cinder-Hounds had decided to end the struggle. They broke formation, each one picking a target—one for Maya, one for Ankit, one for Ajeet and one for the fallen Rocky. They were no longer fighting; they were beginning the harvest.

  "Save them! I’ll keep the Leader busy!" I roared at the few remaining villagers who were standing paralyzed in the back, their souls seemingly stripped from their bodies by the horror.

  Four villagers snapped out of their trance and sprinted toward the hounds to protect my friends. But as I watched them, a chilling realization hit me. One hound was missing. It wasn't in the field. Suddenly, an overwhelming sense of Extreme Danger spiked from my right flank. It was a stealth kill. The missing hound was lunging at me from my blind spot, its molten jaws wide open, barely four meters away.

  Driven by pure survival instinct, I loosed my Tier-2 Ultimate Astra toward the sensation. The astra struck the beast directly inside its gaping maw.

  BOOM!

  A violent white explosion erupted less than four meters from my face. The shockwave of the Rank D+ Elite’s detonation, combined with the point-blank range, was catastrophic. A wall of searing thermal energy and concussive force slammed into me. I felt my body being launched meters through the air like a broken doll. My vision turned a blinding, crystalline white. My grip failed, and my Silver Bow slipped from my fingers as I crashed into the scorched earth.

  [REMAINING HUMAN PRANA: 28.25%]

  I lay there, my eyes staring vacantly at the bruising violet sky. The world was fa

  ding, the sound of the battlefield becoming a dull, distant hum. I was broken, exhausted, and unarmed.

  Find out in the next chapter—Click Next! Don't forget to Add to Library if you're enjoying the invasion!"