Ch 13

  "They're using the sun as a weapon and the light as camouflage!" I hissed to myself. I nocked a Tier-2 Earth Arrow into my bowstring, channeling my Prana. "I need defense!" I activated a quick 20% Resonance.

  Prana of Human: 99%

  I risked a glance upward. The entire third squad of seven was circling directly above me. They had identified me as the long-range threat and were closing in for the kill. This time, I didn't wait for them to fire. I loosed my Earth-Resonated astra straight into the invisible formation.

  One of the wyverns diverted from the swarm. It angled its body, using its wing as a shield. My astra struck the iridescent glass panel.

  BOOM!

  The impact was powerful. The Earth Prana explosion was localized, but the sheer force of the detonation stopped the Wyvern's charge instantly and sent it reeling backward. It was disoriented for a second, shaking its crystalline head before rejoining the group. They were not fragile, I realized.

  I could intercept a Wyvern's initial approach with a 20% Resonance shot, but that was just the start of their dive. Once they committed to an attack and gained supersonic velocity, they would be nearly impossible to intercept. I needed to rethink my defense or prepare for an extremely high-speed fight.

  I switched tactics, manifesting a Tier-2 Water Astra, activating my 20% Resonance with the flick of a thought. The process was significantly faster now, thanks to the implicit benefits of the Level 10 Chakra Threshold and my increased Third-Eye attribute. The astra glowed with a potent blue energy, ready to create a blinding mist if it struck the invisible beasts.

  I loosed the shot, a high-speed projectile designed to neutralize their vision. But the wyverns were faster. The moment my astra tore through the air, their sensitive ears picked up the sound. They simply angled their bodies and accelerated, maneuvering around the projectile with effortless grace. They weren't attacking yet—they were coordinating, waiting for the optimal moment to strike me down as one.

  As I nocked another astra, two wyverns detached from the squad and angled toward me. They weren't diving; they were hovering, their wings shedding a lethal rain of crystalline feathers. I sprinted from the spot, my agility straining to evade the [Glass-Storm]. The razor-sharp shards bit into my arms and face, a thousand minor stings that drew shallow rivers of blood. The pain was minimal due to my Earth Defense (17), but the sheer volume of attacks was staggering.

  As I ran, I activated my healing protocol, circulating my Water Prana (17) through my veins, rapidly sealing the superficial wounds. I maneuvered between the falling debris, quickly charging a 40% Water Resonance shot

  Prana of Human: 97%

  I fired the shot, aiming it at the air behind the nearest wyvern. The astra detonated in a massive cloud of high-pressure mist, enveloping the area in an impenetrable white fog that blinded half the squad. Simultaneously, a spike of extreme danger flared in my Intuition (15). I dove sideways as a terrifying pressure enveloped my previous location.

  BOOM—THUD!

  A powerful sonic boom erupted where I had just been standing. A wyvern materialized from the fog, smashing into the ground and recoiling back into the sky. It had used the sonic attack as a distraction for its physical dive. They were playing me—luring me into predictable movement patterns.

  "They're too smart," I hissed, a cold fury rising in my throat. "They're orchestrating these attacks based entirely on that C+ leader's commands. I have to take out the Alpha first, or they will wear us down and finish us off.”

  I was trapped in a lethal cycle of evasion. Every time I loosed an astra, the Wyverns danced around it with an almost precognitive grace, as if they could see the trajectory of my astra.

  Their counter-attacks were instantaneous, forcing me into a desperate scramble for survival. I knew their game: they were bleeding my Prana dry, waiting for exhaustion to turn me into easy prey. I was lucky the Alpha hadn't made another move yet, but I knew I couldn't survive this war of attrition.

  "I have to end this. Now."

  I manifested a Tier-2 Earth Astra, its shaft heavy and vibrating with the density of a mountain. I didn't hold back. I channeled a 100% Single-Chakra Resonance, funnelling a massive surge of my Prana of Human directly into the astra. I felt the raw prana being sucked out of my chakra.

  Prana of Human: 82%

  Just as the Resonance peaked, a Wyvern plummeted toward me, its crystalline beak aimed at my throat like a falling diamond spear. I released the string. The Earth-Astra tore through the air, leaving a trail of red dust and distorted space.

  Sensing the overwhelming lethality of the projectile, the Wyvern tried to bank mid-air, its wings flapping frantically to change its course. But the astra was too fast. Even as the Alpha Leader launched a crystalline shard from its wing to intercept, my Tier-2 strike didn't shatter this time. It pulverized the shard and continued its path, slamming directly into the diving Wyvern’s left wing.

  BOOM!

  A shower of iridescent glass rained down as a massive hole was punched through the Wyvern’s wing membrane. The beast shrieked in agony, its flight pattern collapsing as it spiraled toward the earth, struggling to maintain its balance. It was no longer a predator; it was a crippled prey, lagging behind the formation.

  A brief flash of triumph flickered in my heart, but it vanished as quickly as it had come. From the center of the formation, the Alpha let out a high-pitched, vibrating roar that felt like a knife dragging across my skull. It wasn't just a cry; it was a command fueled by pure, cold fury.

  I watched with a sinking gut as the Alpha Wyvern hovered, its five subordinates merging into a singular, tight formation behind it. They weren't diving; they were vibrating. The crystalline membranes of their wings began to hum with a lethal, high-frequency resonance that made the very air shimmer with heat. My intuition (15) wasn't just ringing—it was screaming a death toll.

  They’re going to unleash a localized Sonic Barrage, I realized, my mind racing. If that sound wave hits me directly, my brain will turn to mush before I can even nock an astra.

  I had no physical shield, no stone walls left to hide behind. But then, a desperate thought ignited in my mind: If I can manifest astra and blades from my Space Chakra, why not a shield?

  I didn't need a heavy wall to block a physical blow; I needed an aerodynamic barrier to deflect the sound waves. I visualized a Conical Spatial Aegis—a sharp, cone-shaped barrier of pure Space Prana, its point aimed directly at the sky. Its purpose wasn't to stop the sound, but to split the vibrations around me.

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  As I channeled the prana, I felt a violent drain on my chakra.

  Prana of Petals: 85%... 80%... 75%... 70%

  A translucent, shimmering cone of blue light erupted around me, its apex pointed toward the Alpha. No sooner had it solidified than the sky exploded in silence.

  The five wyverns shrieked in unison. There was no "boom," only a crushing pressure that turned the atmosphere into a solid weight. I watched through my shield as the reinforced grass around me was obliterated—not burnt, but pulverized into a fine green mist by the sheer frequency. The ground beneath my feet began to crack and sink as if an invisible giant were stepping on it.

  My Conic Aegis vibrated violently. The sound was a physical blade, scraping against my spatial barrier with a screeching intensity that made my nose bleed. But the cone held. The sonic waves hit the sharp point of my shield and split, flowing harmlessly around me like water around the prow of a ship.

  The pressure was mounting, a crushing weight that made my conical shield groan and spiderweb with cracks. This won't hold, I realized, my teeth gritting against the high-frequency vibration. Once my Prana is bled dry, I’m a dead man. I need cover—and I need a kill.

  I watched the Wyverns circling above like glass vultures. They were too fast, their senses too sharp; they could feel the vibration of my astra through the air and intercept them before they even reached their mark. But then, I remembered the fundamental nature of Space Prana.

  A Space Astra doesn't move through the air; It offers zero air resistance, zero sound, and stealth. If I wanted to bypass their sonic radar and the Alpha's interceptor shards, I had to stop being a brawler and become a ghost.

  I reached into my Space Chakra and manifested a Tier-1 Space Astra. Instead of infusing it with destructive elements, I focused every drop of my 100% Resonance into its Stealth and Spatial properties. My silver bow hummed, drinking my Prana of Human with a terrifying thirst as it funneled prana into the bow’s Space Chakra tattoo.

  Just as the astra reached its peak, the sonic barrage from above intensified. The screeching sound turned into a physical force that shattered my shield into thousands of violet shards. I didn't wait. I threw myself toward the skeletal remains of my broken house, seeking any cover I could find.

  The sound waves hit me like a solid wall of lead. My vision blurred, and I felt a fresh, warm trickle of blood leaking from my ears. My head felt twice its normal size, throbbing with a rhythmic agony that threatened to black out my consciousness. But I kept running, my boots crunching on pulverized concrete as I dove behind a fallen pillar.

  Through the haze of pain, I saw the Alpha hovering, its wings shimmering with arrogant triumph. It thought it had broken me. It didn't see the translucent, soundless astra I was currently nocking in the shadows.

  "You can't intercept what you can't hear," I hissed through blood-stained teeth.

  I scrambled deeper into the skeletal remains of the ruined walls, desperately trying to stabilize my 100% Space Resonance. The sonic barrage was relentless—a physical weight that ground against the stone, turning the mortar into dust. My bones felt like they were vibrating out of sync with my flesh, and the sharp, rhythmic throbbing in my ears was a constant reminder of my mortality.

  The moment the Resonance hit its peak, I lunged from the shadows. Above me, the sky was already raining lethal crystalline shards, a [Glass-Storm] designed to shred me before I could even draw my string. I locked my gaze onto the Alpha.

  I loosed the Tier-1 Space Astra.

  At the last millisecond, the Alpha sensed my moments. With predatory reflexes, it angled its prismatic wings, catching the midday sun. A blinding flash of refracted light slammed into my retinas, momentarily seaving my vision. My aim wavered for a fraction of a hair's breadth as I released.

  Prana of Human: 75.5%

  Unlike my elemental astra, this projectile made no sound. It didn't scream through the air or leave a trail of vapor. It was a ghost—a silent ripple in reality that ignored the atmospheric resistance and the crushing sonic waves. It closed the distance in a heartbeat.

  The Alpha tried to bank away, but the astra was too fast. It didn't explode or detonate; it simply phased through the leading edge of the Alpha’s right wing. The reinforced glass membrane shattered like a fragile mirror, leaving a jagged, gaping hole where the wing met the torso.

  The Alpha let out a high-pitched, vibrating shriek that felt like a serrated blade across my nerves. The sound was a cocktail of agony and pure, unadulterated hatred. I knew what was coming next. It had stopped playing with me. I could feel the atmosphere around the beast beginning to compress, turning into a solid wall of air as it prepared for its ultimate retaliation.

  "I can’t let this drag on," I hissed through gritted teeth, the copper tang of blood filling my mouth. If I didn't decapitate the head of this swarm now, we would all be dead. I didn't know how Maya, Ajit, or the others were holding up, and that uncertainty was a poison in my veins. I had to end this—one shot, one kill, no matter the cost.

  I reached into my Space Chakra and pulled out a Tier-2 Air Astra—a lethal fusion of Space and Air Prana. This was my most unstable and powerful projectile. My plan was suicidal: Dual-Chakra Tier-2 Resonance. It would drain my Prana of Human like a starving leech, but I had no other choice.

  Suddenly, my intuition flared into a blinding, rhythmic alarm. The Alpha was diving again.

  The creature didn't just fall; it became a living distortion in the sky. I could hear the familiar, terrifying whistle of the air being compressed into a supersonic wall. I bolted from my cover, my legs screaming in agony. The atmosphere felt suffocating, thick with the pressure of the approaching Sonic Boom.

  BOOM—CRACK!

  The shockwave again hit me like a physical hammer. I was launched into the air, the world spinning into a blur of grey dust and blue sky. I slammed into the ground, a sickening crunch echoing from my leg—a fracture. My chest felt like it had been crushed by a falling mountain, and every breath was a jagged shard of glass. But I didn't let go. I gripped my silver bow with a white-knuckled desperation, my focus locked on the swirling prana in my hands.

  I had never pushed my chakra this far. I refused to go to 120%—that would be certain death—but 60% on a Tier-2 Astra was already terra incognita. I watched, mesmerized and terrified, as the Astra transformed.

  My Prana of Human was being devoured. I could feel my very prana being converted into the shimmering, chaotic light of the Astra. The string of the silver bow groaned, sounding like a dying beast, as it held back a force that wanted to level the entire market.0

  I initiated the Dual-Chakra Resonance, and the drain on my prana was instantaneous and violent. My Prana of Human and Prana of Petals began to plummet, sucked away as if by a starving predator. The three dormant Chakra-tattoos on my silver bow ignited, their light becoming a ravenous maw that devoured my prana. The bow itself began to tremble in my hands, a low, tectonic hum vibrating through my fractured bones.

  I saw the Alpha Wyvern—it had recovered from its spiral and was banking hard, its tattered wing sparking as it repositioned for a final, lethal dive. I was out of time.

  As the five tattoos finished their feast, the prana surged, splitting into two distinct streams that flooded into the Space and Air Chakra Tattoos on the bow’s frame.

  The two chakras spun with such ferocious velocity that they created a miniature vortex, pulling in the ambient atmosphere until the air around me felt thin and brittle.

  [NOTIFICATION: CRITICAL DEPLETION]

  Prana of Human: 70%..65%..60%..50%..45%

  Slowly, the concentrated prana from the twin chakras began to bleed into the astra. The astra didn't just glow; it began to warp the reality around it. The wind, which had been howling moments ago, suddenly fled, as if terrified of the Astra I was forging. The space around the bowstring began to ripple and compress, creating a localized pressure that felt like it would crush my ribs.

  The atmosphere transformed. A heavy, suffocating weight settled over the battlefield. The Alpha Leader, sensing the existential threat, let out a piercing, panicked shriek. It didn't dive alone. On its command, five of its remaining subordinates detached from the formation, transforming themselves into supersonic living missiles. They dived in a synchronized strike, five streaks of crystalline death plummeting toward me from five different angles.

  "Faster! Complete it faster!" I screamed internally, my mind a frantic blur of desperation. I knew with terrifying certainty that if the resonance didn't peak before they reached me, I would be nothing more than a bloodstain on the scorched earth.

  The five Wyverns were closing in, a lethal formation of crystalline death plummeting from the sky. They were barely forty to fifty meters above me, their sonic wakes vibrating through my very marrow. Just as the shadow of the first beast swept over me, the resonance hit its zenith.

  I didn't flinch. I ignored the agonizing tremors in my hands and poured every remaining ounce of my strength into the draw. My focus narrowed until the world consisted only of the silver string and the Alpha hovering at the apex of the swarm. I had to ensure this shot bypassed the five interceptors; there would be no second chance.

  And then I released!!