"My king, please get inside. I will finish this and get back to you," Naida said with a light smile, her tone firm and her face void of any tension.
Asher knew it was crucial to avoid getting caught in the collateral damage of their impending clash.
Moreover, he needed to replenish his depleted mana reserves. Clutching his stomach, he retreated back into the ship and, without a moment's delay, began to sacrifice his life force to replenish his mana.
And just as he had enough of it, he teleported to his Damned Dimension, where he could recover without anybody seeing him roll on the floor like a madman.
Meanwhile, Boragor's expression twisted into one of fury as he faced Naida, "Don't get too confident, you bloodsucking bitch!" he roared.
In a display of his immense power, Boragor unleashed a barrage of a hundred poisonous wind blades, each one a deadly projectile aimed at Naida.
With a graceful movement, Naida made her counterattack. She conjured mirrors made of blood, each one a shimmering, crimson shield that not only reflected the incoming wind blades but also distorted their trajectory.
Some of the blades were redirected back at Boragor, while others were deflected harmlessly away.
Boragor, undeterred, infused his massive claws with the power of wind, enhancing their destructive capability.
"Yaargh!" He tore through the blood mirrors with ease, shredding both the reflective barriers and his own redirected projectiles with a savage ferocity. His claws cut through the air, leaving trails of wind energy that howled like banshees in the storm.
Naida, in response, danced between the attacks with an elegance that belied the danger.
Her movements were fluid and precise, a ballet of survival against Boragor's relentless assault.
She manipulated her blood mirrors with expert control, creating new barriers and offensive formations.
Boragor, growing increasingly frustrated with Naida's elusive tactics, prepared to unleash a devastating attack.
"GROWLL!!" With a mighty roar, he summoned a massive whirlwind, laced with a deadly poison.
The swirling vortex was a menacing spectacle in the form of huge claws, designed to engulf Naida, disorient her with its ferocious spinning, and deliver a lethal dose of toxin.
But Naida, poised and ready, countered by conjuring a dense mist of blood, a nearly impenetrable cloud that absorbed and deflected the claws from touching her.
The mist swirled around her, creating shifting, obscure forms that confused and disoriented Boragor.
Taking her strategy further, Naida crafted a complex maze of illusions within the mist.
Boragor found himself surprised and trapped in a bewildering maze of red gardens and bloody sky, a world of illusions that began to cause mental exhaustion and disorientation.
The intricate pathways twisted and turned, a maze without end, making him feel trapped and causing fatigue to his mind.
However, Boragor, relying on his acute senses and the power of wind to enhance his agility and speed, navigated the seemingly beautiful but deadly maze.
With just his sheer speed, he outmaneuvered the illusory maze before it could grow in size to overwhelm his mind.
His every movement was a battle against the disorienting effects of the blood mist.
Finally breaking free from the maze, Boragor emerged, taking heavy breaths from the exertion. He felt like he spent days trying to get out.
His anger reaching a boiling point, declared, "Now you've really pissed me off!"
Naida, standing with an air of grace and poise, chuckled lightly, "That isn't going to help you in the least," she replied, her tone laced with a mix of amusement and challenge.
Boragor growled in response, foregoing words for action.
He began to summon a dense, poisonous cloud that started to spread in every direction.
The cloud billowed around them, growing larger and more menacing by the second, forcing Naida to cautiously back away as it threatened to engulf her.
But the pace of it was too fast and latched onto her crimson cloak.
Naida, however, remained composed and simply let go of the cloak as she fell back.
But seeing that the poisonous cloud was still coming after her, she murmured calmly and countered by summoning a deadly storm of blood.
The blood rained down in torrents, colliding with the poisonous cloud. As the two elements mixed, the cloud became saturated with blood, diluting its toxic potency and reducing its effectiveness as a weapon.
"You bitch!" Boragor growled in frustration as he expended a lot of mana for that attack, only for her to get rid of it so easily.
"You shouldn't bark so much," Naida whispered, knowing his sharp ears could easily hear her. She then enchanted the bloodstorm, infusing it with a highly corrosive property.
Upon even making contact with the shield of the ship, the blood began to sizzle and fizz, eating away at anything it touched.
Boragor, caught in the midst of the corrosive downpour, fought back with ferocity but found himself gradually overwhelmed, especially since his mana reserves were running dry.
Unlike her who focused on Intelligence stats, his was focused on strength and defense. It was obvious whose mana pool was higher.
"Aaaargrrr!" His roars of pain and frustration filled the air as the corrosive blood made contact with his flesh, causing fizzing sounds as it burned through.
The mighty chief of his clan, once a figure of terror and power, was forced to his knees, his body writhing in agony.
As the bloodstorm began to dissipate, Naida's figure emerged, standing before the defeated Boragor.
She looked down at him, a brief smile gracing her lips, "Thank you for delivering yourself to me. It was a pleasure," she said, her voice carrying a finality that signaled the end, and raised her hand to deal the killing blow.
Just a few seconds ago, kilometers away from the Skycrawler, deep within the heart of the stormy clouds, an elderly man rode atop a majestic Stormroamer.
His eyes, sharp and focused, were trained on the distant figure of Naida, standing victorious over a kneeling Boragor.
In his hands, he held a bow and arrow, the arrowhead glowing ominously with a dark green light.
"It's a good thing I insisted on this, chief," Elder Moru mumbled to himself.
With a practiced ease, he loosened the arrow, sending it slicing through the stormy air, its trajectory aimed straight at Naida.
Back on the Skycrawler, Naida was poised to deliver the final blow to Boragor.
However, in a display of her incredible reflexes, she suddenly raised her hand and caught the arrow mere inches from her neck, her fingers closing around the shaft with pinpoint accuracy.
She frowned, sensing the origin of the attack, but before she could react further, the arrow's tip exploded into a cloud of dark green poison.
Naida coughed violently, the toxic cloud enveloping her and dulling her senses, as she stumbled back.
In that moment of vulnerability, a crimson bolt of lightning, summoned from the tumultuous clouds above, struck her down.
The bolt's impact was direct and brutal, smashing her body against the ship's protective shield.
The distraction from the poison cloud left her no chance to dodge the lightning.
Blood spilled from Naida's mouth as she slowly rose, her body wracked with pain.
But before she could completely regain her footing, a huge claw shot out, raking across her back, leaving five deep, bloody, poisonous lacerations.
Naida's face contorted in agonizing pain, and before she could turn back, she got kicked down to the shield's surface from behind, causing minor cracks to spread along the shield.
She grimaced as she tried to raise herself but an immovable force pressed down on her back.
Boragor, blood dripping from his mouth, let out a triumphant, yet pained laugh as he pressed his right foot onto Naida's back and briefly looked up, "Even the devils want you to die by my hand," he taunted, his voice a mix of malice and triumph, "It's a pity I can't take you back to have a fun time torturing you. Who knows what kind of tricks you might pull on the way. But I'll satisfy myself by tearing out your spine now," he said menacingly, crouching down, his claw poised to strike at her vulnerable back.
However, before he could enact his gruesome intention, a figure materialized behind him, wrapping their limbs around his body in a swift, unexpected move.
Boragor felt a jolt of shock and a chilling power coursing through him, disrupting the flow of mana in his circuits.
"You..." Boragor weakly voiced his shock, baffled and enraged to find it was the alien brat latching onto him.
In a rapid motion, Asher pulled both of them away from the ship, plunging them into the dark, stormy clouds.
"How cowardly of you to attack a lady from the back," Asher scoffed, his tone laced with disdain.
The skeleton beneath his flesh glowed ominously with a dark green light, making Boragor's eyes widen.
*BOOM!*
A scorching, powerful explosion erupted from Asher's body. Dark green energy radiated in every direction, an inferno of eerie power that engulfed Boragor. The explosion was a whirlpool of energy, sending shockwaves through the clouds.
Boragor groaned, shocked upon finding his strength suddenly sapped. He found himself drifting through the clouds as he tried to stabilize himself and his mana circuit.
And just as he was about to regain his bearings amidst the dark clouds, he was suddenly hit with that same chilling sensation that had earlier disrupted his mana circuit.
He tried to fight off the invasive energy that felt like it was trying to seep into his soul, making him feel a sense of fear he had never felt in his life.
It was as if he could feel a gigantic bony hand wrapping around his body and slowly tightening its grip, making him feel like his soul might get crushed.
But just as he was about to push back against this sensation, his vision was filled with the sight of a fist, blazing with dark green flames.
In the next instant, Asher's fist connected with Boragor's jaw with devastating force.
The impact was monumental - Boragor's crimson fur rippled violently, saliva spewed from his mouth, and his eyeballs rolled back from the sheer force.
The shockwave from the punch boomed through the stormy skies, sending Boragor plummeting down through the clouds like a meteor.
Asher, wasting no time, soared back towards the Skycrawler and was surprised to see Naida standing with blood dripping down her lips and her face paler than usual.
"I am fine. Let's get inside," Naida said with a weak smile as Asher followed her into the cabin of the ship, "Eradicator, now!" he shouted, his voice echoing with urgency.
At Asher's command, the ship hummed to life, pulsating with a burst of dark red mana. It shot forward through the skies at an indescribable speed, cutting through the clouds like a blade.
Boragor, his body battered from Naida's attacks and his pride wounded by that alien, managed to stabilize himself in the air.
He growled menacingly, ready to give chase to the Skycrawler, only to find that the ship had vanished from his sight.
"It's too late, chief, and you are in no state to chase them," Elder Moru sighed, his voice carrying a hint of resignation as he descended gracefully on his Stormroamer, floating beside Boragor.
Boragor released a growl of frustration, his fists clenching in anger. He couldn't believe he let that alien brat ruin his plan.
Elder Moru, maintaining a composed demeanor, offered a perspective, "If it's any consolation, they may not survive their journey. They sacrificed a large part of their defenses to escape. The storm could severely damage or even destroy that ship. But," he paused, his expression turning grave, "what we should really worry about is answering to 'him', especially after they entrusted us to finish this."
At the mention of 'him', Boragor's eyes flickered with a hint of fear.
The weight of their failure and the consequences that awaited them loomed large in his mind.
He glanced to the side, his thoughts racing, "We will somehow...make up for it," he said, his voice tinged with a mixture of determination and apprehension.
