Chapter 16: Comradery

The jaguar stared at Empress, grinning evilly. 

Empress’s heart went cold. It was definitely an intermediate-ranked beast. Its intelligence and abilities were too high to be anything else.

The main problem Empress faced was the creature’s third eye. It was allowing it to see her actions in advance. Empress grimaced. There had to be some kind of limit to the beast’s power. She just had to figure out what it was.

The primordial beast was in no rush to kill her. It slowly circled her, toying with her.

Empress summoned her barrier shards, shooting them out in a wide net in an attempt to prevent the jaguar from dodging. It didn’t even move. The shards crashed into it, breaking as they touched the steel-like fur.

The jaguar dashed forward with blinding speed, not even giving Empress time to teleport. It swiped at Empress’s good leg, rendering it useless.

Empress cried out in pain, falling to the ground. Both of legs had been rendered useless. The creature licked its lips, stopping in place, curious how Empress would react.

She slowly crawled away, trying to put distance between herself and the creature. 

All of a sudden, she saw an object.

“An arrow!” Empress thought with glee. She bent down and touched the shaft with her gauntlet, causing it to teleport towards the jaguar’s third eye. The jaguar immediately turned its head, allowing the arrow to fly past.

Empress summoned a reflective barrier, causing the arrow to rebound, heading towards the beast from behind. It didn’t dodge. The arrow pierced its back, causing it to howl in pain and bewilderment.

Suspicion appeared in Empress’s mind. Why hadn’t the creature dodged?

Empress fired barrier bullets at the beast, purposefully missing them all. Once they were behind the jaguar, they expanded, damaging the creature from the back.

The primordial beast roared in pain once more, rage appearing in its eyes. It stared at Empress angrily. It would no longer toy with her.

Empress understood. The creature could only use its foresight on things it could see!

It pounced towards her, claws gleaming threateningly. Before it could reach her, a red-haired body crashed into it from the side.

“Helia!” Empress gasped. The girl had returned.

Helia had a massive gash on her forehead, streaming blood. She touched the jaguar, causing the wound to transfer. A huge cut instantly appeared where the creature’s third eye was, blinding it. It trembled in agony, releasing a screech that paralyzed Empress and Helia in fear.

“A mental attack!” the frozen Empress realized. She activated her emotion teleportation, sending her fear back towards the creature.

The jaguar shivered, panic entered its eyes. 

Suddenly, Helia roared, breaking the paralysis. She stabbed her sword forward, catching the immobile beast in the eye. The sword entered its brain, killing it instantly.

The massive body shook, then crashed to the ground with a boom.

A notification popped in front of Empress’s eye.

You have reached level 25!

Emotion teleportation mastery has reached level 2!

Her eyes went wide. She had gained five levels!

She turned her attention to Helia, mixed emotions in her mind.

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“You came back.”

“You saved my life. I couldn’t leave you here, even if it could’ve gotten me killed,” Helia frowned.

“That was really stupid of you, but thank you,” Empress laughed.

“It wasn’t completely stupid of me. I saw you reveal the creature’s weak point. I wouldn’t have attacked otherwise.” Helia huffed.

“I’m just teasing you,” Empress smiled.

Helia turned towards Empress, her face softening, “Let me heal one of your legs.”

She touched the wound, absorbing it.

“Sorry I can’t heal both of them right now,” Helia sighed, supporting Empress by the shoulders.

“It’s enough,” Empress smiled, “Let’s go to the castle after we pick up my arrows.”

Helia nodded in agreement. She was thoroughly worn out.

“Wait a second,” Helia said, “Take this.”

She held out an intermediate power crystal.

Empress shook her head, “You use it. Your powers haven’t evolved yet, right? You need it more than I do.”

Mixed emotions entered Helia’s eyes, but she eventually nodded, “Thanks.”

Under the background of the setting sun, the two girls picked up the arrows and returned to the castle. When the two reached the gates, they were met by a group of men in black armor.

“Greetings Empress!” they cried in unison.

Empress’s eyes went wide. 

“Felix?” she asked the man, “Are these my henchmen?”

Felix nodded with a big smile.

“Impressive, aren’t they? I’ve been disciplining them.”

Empress nodded in appreciation, “You’re doing a great job!”

“Thank you madam!” Felix saluted.

Suddenly, Helia looked at one of the henchmen.

“Come here,” she motioned.

The man look at her warily, before trotting forward. When he got within range, Helia touched him, causing the man to collapse to the floor.

“My leg!” he gasped in pain. Deep gashes had suddenly appeared in his flesh. Helia smiled, walking over to Empress and absorbing the wound from her other thigh.

“Was that really necessary?” Empress rolled her eyes.

Helia shrugged, “Better him than you.”

“Thanks,” Empress smiled.

Helia blushed slightly, rubbing her head.

“You’re welcome,” she whispered.

The girls walked into the great hall.

“Let’s divide up the minor power crystals,” Empress told Helia.

They split the stack of crystals in half, each getting a decent number.

Empress immediately absorbed hers, causing her skills to level up.

Emotion teleportation mastery has reached level 3!

Reflection force field mastery has reached level 2!

Empress smiled with satisfaction. The trek had been very beneficial.

Suddenly, she sighed. She was still far away from being able to contend with Crescendo. Hunting primordial beasts was a good way to gain experience, but it wasn’t fast enough. She would have to search for other methods.

It was at that moment that Empress noticed the condition of the great hall. The walls were practically glowing. The piles of rubble that had laid on the floors had been removed.

“Wow. You really did hire servants,” Helia commented.

“Yeah, they did a fantastic job, didn’t they?”

“For sure,” Helia laughed, “It’s not an eyesore anymore!”

Empress laughed.