"Hmph!" Shika snorted as she watched the two Spydragons falling deeper into the vertical tunnel. But, a second later, the two serpentine creatures of light morphed their bodies, condensing a pair of wings that they used to revolve around each other, forming a helical path of motion as they rapidly flew towards the bottom of the tunnel.
'Thankfully, I had placed a stigma in this area before. Now, both of them have been successfully marked.' She sighed in relief internally, aware that she now had the means to catch them anytime she wanted.
But, right at this time, Dwun extended his hand, clenching it into a fist. Suddenly, a transparent sphere formed around the two Spydragons, trapping them within, preventing them from escaping.
"Haha, they'll be mine…" He had just laughed when three arrows slammed into him, shot by Shika.
Condensing his pair of gloves, he unleashed shockwaves, disorienting the arrow flight, causing them to swerve around him and slam into the walls of the tunnel, causing mud to spill out.
Having fought with each other often, they didn't hide their attacks, going all out while their figures continued to fall.
And, as they continued to fall through the tunnel, hidden in a small tunnel near the top was Compass Carburettor, observing their fall as he focused, waiting patiently as he used Directional Misalignment, causing Shika to move while fighting.
She moved in such a way that she appeared within two metres from him as his figure vanished, appearing within her space.
As she was at Stage 3 and had already summoned all her mutated beasts, her space was empty. So, when Compass Carburettor appeared within, she didn't notice anything amiss.
Now that he was within her, he connected with her senses, observing the surroundings, watching Dwun continue to attack her.
Just to prevent the Night Ranger System from detecting him through the flow of Mental Energy into him, he had already designated Grisha as the node. So, all the Mental Energy was received by her.
This way, the Night Ranger System wouldn't be alerted of his presence. First, no Mental Energy was flowing into him. Second, thanks to the shielding on his Mental Energy Form, he didn't exhibit any Mental Energy either.
And third, as the space was empty, Shika didn't feel any strain when he appeared within.
As the Night Ranger System was focused on Shika's growth, it remained unaware of his arrival within her space.
But, he was surprised all of a sudden, able to hear Shika's surface-level thoughts.
"System, maintain the Stigma on those two creatures."
"It's being maintained, Host. It won't disappear for at least a week." Came the System's reply.
Even though it was a conversation in their mind, for some reason, Compass Carburettor too was able to hear them, 'Is this because I've connected myself to all her senses?'
The senses also included the sense of touch. So, whenever Shika suffered an injury, he experienced all the pain she felt. But, it wasn't much, for she had been fighting a lot these days and had improved her skills.
So, she was hardly injured. But, the case was the same for Dwun too.
Still, since Dwun trapped the two Spydragons within, it meant that as long as she failed to kill him, he would reap all the benefits from this mysterious mutated beast.
So, Shika had already gone all out, intending to kill him this time. She had been tied down by him for long enough.
Her crossbow continued to shoot at him while her left hand condensed a sword and plunged it into the tunnel walls, breaking her fall, beginning to reduce her momentum.
Dwun punched the walls, spreading out the impact radius to only weaken the walls. He then plunged the ant sword into it, reducing his falling speed. But, as he had weakened the walls, his sword wasn't able to stop in it.
So, the rate at which he slowed down was a lot lower than Shika. But, that was what he had been hoping for, intending to first create some distance from her so that he could nab the two Spydragons and then make a retreat.
As they were already captured by him, he only needed to find a way. And for that, he planned to blast a tunnel along the side and bury it after he entered. This way, she wouldn't be able to come after him while he'll be able to get to safety.
Upon seeing his actions, Shika understood his intentions. Moreover, the two Spydragons were in his hand, so she was unwilling to let him leave.
Shika retracted her sword, beginning to free fall deeper into the tunnel as she loaded her crossbow and blasted a flurry of arrows at Dwun, distracting him.
He had no choice but to defend against them. Otherwise, he would be impaled. Soon, she neared him, intending to engage with him in close combat. She was planning to sever his hand with her sword.
That way, her advantage would increase, allowing her to gain victory.
The moment she arrived in range to Dwun, Compass Carburettor flickered into the opponent's space, looking around for a moment before condensing his Body Layer.
Without any delays, he expended a lot of Darlac, expanding the Body Layer to instantly reach a size of ten metres. But, the space wasn't that big enough, getting filled immediately.
Thanks to the pressure he unleashed, the space began to crack immediately. Without any hesitation, he retracted the Body Layer and condensed it again, expanding it to become even bigger this time, causing the sounds of glass shattering to resound.
He quickly returned within Shika's space, observing the figure of Dwun coughing out blood as he gazed at her in shock. After all, right at this time, Shika exploded with renewed power and severed his right hand.
"Damn!" Grunting in pain, he clenched his left hand into a fist, pouring all his power into it.
Instantly, Shika's eyes widened in shock, for the power Dwun exhibited now surpassed everything he had shown until now.
Core Skill—Power Punch!
