Chapter 17: Entering Demirva Ridge

“Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!” A burst of intense flames erupted toward every direction, incinerating the vegetation into ashes in a radius of fifty meters.

Cattelin was in full blown rage as she failed to sense and find her spatial ring.

“The bastard must have stolen it! That was my SPATIAL RING! Everything I collected for the past twenty years! Darvajka, I want to kill them!”

She shouted and punched rays of scorching mist energy, looking more like a child having a tantrum while holding and shooting a gun, then an unruffled Advanced phase third level Core Master.

Darvajka was not far behind, standing, waiting for Cattelin to calm down.

Suddenly, his patient countenance changed and his forehead creased. “Cattelin, settle down immediately!” He berated. Using his Sublime Soul Sense, he compelled her to obey him.

“Darvajka, you dare to coerce me? FUCK YOU, FISHBREATH! If I refused to postpone the task just so you will not miss your breakthrough, I want to see how you would have had the nerves to force me to submit!”

Having her staring at him venomously, Darvajka bitterly grimaced. Even before he broke through he was stronger than Cattelin, but as things are at the moment, he owes her a big time. Furthermore, with his debt to her cleared or not, she was his partner in this joint operation, and with this task being their overall sixth together, it was not just more difficult for him to handle her, but well aware that he should not even try.

“Hear me out, Cattelin”, Darvajka said and removed the oppression of his Sublime Soul Sense. “I was informed a moment ago, following up with the lists doesn’t matter anymore! Someone leaked the news about the slumber of the Demirva Ridge’s wraiths!”

“What!” Cattelin cried in alarm. “Was it those weakling Musclehead and cowardly kitties?!” The shock dealt her a slap of clarity.

If the news about the event were out because of Zax and the rest, then she will be blamed for negligence and definitely severely punished!

“I ... Wait!” Darvajka did not answer right away as more information was transmitted to his communicator. “I don’t think so”. He finally said, permitting Cattelin a breath of relief.

“Then by who?”

“The news started to spread from the west, far from our location. The culprit suspected to be a participant or participants who done so out of spite and to create chaos for the Mercenary Association”.

Finishing receiving the new orders, Darvajka stopped paying attention to his communicator. “Come, we are heading to Demirva Ridge, the mission commence!”

WHOOSH!

He did not wait for her response and made the first move toward their destination.

Cattelin tarried for a bit before composing herself and closing in from behind. “What’s the plan? Are they going to send Martial Mortals?”

“Currently, undecided. You know that it would be a breach in the five powers’ mutual agreement. They should be debating it right now; they also have to take in consideration that bringing in Martial Mortals will put their main forces in immense risk! My breakthrough in the Violet Scaled Troops’ dominance was treated as a loophole in the agreement, which dispels half the problem and why the Grand Admiral approves my ongoing stay in the joint operation”.

...

Up on the summit of a crude looking, kilometers tall mountain.

“Hahahahaha! Someone went and did it, hahahaha!” A strong, vigorous voice echoed in jubilation and brimming presence. “The cunning Martial Association issued a fairly simple assignment in the second level trials just to distance us, loose Martial Mortals. Who would have thought that sitting this time’s trials out will end up being more beneficial! They spent so many resources into getting our attention and making things easy to pass the trials, hahahahaha! Now everything will collapse on their deceitful heads, hahahaha!”

...

Inside a star shaped bus size aircraft.

“Sister Beatriz, which of the five powers you think already knew about the upcoming event?” A young lass wearing a sliver robe with a metal plate embedded with the words “Luminous Church” on her small chest, asked the middle aged woman, Sister Beatriz, who sat next to her.

The two were sitting on plump seats inside the extravagant interior of the star shaped aircraft.

Sister Beatriz’s garments were quite the same as the young lass, the differences were in the golden color of her robe and the head covering that revealed only the features of her poised face.

“Mm...” Sister Beatriz mused. “I presume that the Mercenary Association had to share the predication with either the Blessed Army or the Violet Scaled Troops, and our missionaries on ground reported odd movement of the Blessed Army’s side ... Sister Iaura, without a proper investigation, that is all I can say”.

The young lass, Sister Iaura, leaned with her back sinking into the backrest of her seat. “It doesn’t matter, we have Sister Beatriz accompanying us. I’m not afraid of anyone when Sister Beatriz is by my side”.

“Hahaha”, a juvenile, male laughter from a sit at the front of the star shaped aircraft rang in amusement. “My darling, Sister Iaura, you are not afraid of anyone when Sister Beatriz is by your side, but are you even familiar with the prospect of ‘Fear’ when I’m around?”

“Definitely not! Definitely not, Your Young Eminence!” Sister Iaura hastily straightened her stature from the laidback posture on the seat and waved her arm.

“Your Young Eminence, please do not tease Sister Iaura, she is still just a postulant. Her comprehension of Your Young Eminence is still lacking”. Sister Beatriz said in a calm and soothing manner.

“Hahaha, Sister Beatriz, what I said is not wrong, but completely and utterly right! The Almighty graced our Luminous Church with this magnificent blessing. Wretched are those who affront me, be they Peak expert of the second realm or Martial Mortals, like you, hahaha”.

...

Quiescent on a bed of burning coals.

“So it’s that folktale that created all the commotion...” A robust voice growled out of the muscular throat of a blue scaled, one meter and eighty centimeters long, Pink Eyes Agama. It then proceeded to respond to the transmission it just received. ‘If you reach a deal with the other four powers and intend on dispatching me alone, then so be it. But, I want a portion of the dark attribute’s essence’.

...

Through a heavy, nighttime rain within the Titan Kapok Trees.

“Should we slow down?” Fengar glanced back at Zax, who maintained a low pace for the past hour or so.

“No. My body is in the process of healing. It won’t take long for me to get as fit as I can be with a severed arm”.

The two leaped from one giant branch to the next, covered by raincoats.

Zax had to borrow his own from Fengar. Underneath he wore his tunic and underneath that he kept only the bandages on his right shoulder. His condition was worse than he let on or even realized before deciding to proceed with the assignment. To be injured by both continuous use of Soar With The Storm and Cattelin’s scythe took a great toll from his body.