Couple of minutes ago.

Jensen stood in the back cabin of the gyroplane. He stared at the hatch, holding tightly onto the rails.

"Sir." The sergeant that accompanied him here walked to his side. "Are you certain about not wearing a parachute?"

"Save it," Jensen pulled down his mask and said. "Extra things disturb my wielding rhythm."

The sergeant nodded back in a much-respected way then headed back to his seat on the plane.

"Major!" Soon after, the pilot yelled towards the back of the gyroplane. "This is about it. We can't hover for too long," he said.

Jensen nodded, pulling his mask back up tightly. He regulated his breaths and ordered the shells on his back to start moving, covering his entire body.

They had thought that there might not be a way to land before they had departed. This led to Jotuun agreeing that there was a necessity for Jensen to be there on the battlefield, but it was more on the aspect of reducing the struggle he was feeling. After all, they were dropping an entire team of Chasers from the sky. The situation would most likely be chaotic, no matter if parachutes were involved or not.

Although the operation was accompanied by risks, the commander of the Wall of Dawn had agreed to what Jensen had volunteered for. Perhaps it was because of that this was the most immediate and efficient way they could come up with in terms of supporting in a limited amount of time.

Jensen glanced at the standing sergeant and the pilot's back. If he fails, the S.D.A will lose a warrior who's irreplaceable. But if he succeeds, a lot of his comrades won't have to sacrifice themselves today.

He turned around, facing the hatch that was slowly opening, then hopped off.

Jensen crossed his arms in front of his chest. He straightened his legs and closed them tightly together. He dropped almost in a linear way, as if he was a professional diver. This might have not been the most accurate diving gesture, but it didn't matter. He didn't even get trained for parachuting. The reason why Jensen did this was to let the shells on his back close up more on his back, in order to wrap himself up tighter. It was to prevent any shells from being blown away by the airflow when he was moving at such high speed.

Suddenly, he felt like he was one of them. He was like those invaders that came from the end of the universe. They hide themselves in their thick shells, cross over a plethora of stars in the vast void, and finally they arrive here.

Jensen might not have dropped from somewhere that's as high above, but the concept of how he was wrapped in the shells was almost the same as the Star Creatures. Without a drop pod as a buffer, he was in direct contact with the air surrounding him. He could feel the strong current swept over his face and body.

Jensen didn't have the nerve of steel, he just felt like he could succeed. He just felt like he needed to trust the shells that fight alongside of him, just like how soldiers trust the guns in their hands.

As long as his Shelling Bubble was still there, those shells would heed his order, surround him, protect him, just like how it protects the Star Creature. On a certain level, he was more like those monsters compared to other Chasers. Not only because of the fact that he was partially 'them,' but also that they're just like them. He would march into the battlefield alone.

The only difference was that Jensen wasn't trying to swallow those humans underneath him. He was there to save them.

The man covered in black shells darted through the sky like a ginormous black pin, thrusting towards the ground. Soon enough, he was less than 100 meters away from the surface. 80. 70. Then, the shells on him suddenly exploded towards his surroundings. It was as if they were a single ignition of fireworks. The black particles did not scatter and disappear. They assembled and congregated once again, forming into a long piece of board underneath the man.

Jensen followed the original plan. He used the Shell Board as the buffer before landing, and he had succeeded. He gathered all the shells underneath his feet and controlled them to follow the pace he was falling down. At the same time, pushing upwards with slight reverse force in order to cancel out the acceleration of gravity he had created.

This requires precise and sophisticated shell-wielding technique. If it was only gathering the shells underneath him, he might have crashed into the Shell Board he had created and gotten seriously injured. The board must keep up with his speed, at the same time decelerate upwards.

Jensen lowered his body. His dropping speed was canceled out completely just a few meters above ground. The Shell Board lifted him up so that he was levitating. He ordered them to bring him to the surface before closing up the shells to his back once again.

Jensen landed in the middle of the battlefield, just right after four S.D.A Chasers. The four of them were baffled for a second, but they immediately turned back to block off the attacks from the two Star Creatures.

Three Star Creatures.

Jensen measured his surroundings.

Seven Chasers.

The other five might have died already, or they might have been injured to the point where moving wouldn't be possible.

Will they listen to my commands?

He asked himself. But soon he realized that his worry was unnecessary, since he had just gotten the answer from the way they looked at him. They were waiting for his orders. Not just because of his rank, but the way that he appeared.

"Move!" Jensen took off his mask and shouted. He put it back on at once, this was his habit. A normal Chaser team would communicate through tactic signs, since it would be hard talking wearing the breathing mask of a Shelling Bubble, and that talking would mess up the breathing pattern.

Unfortunately, having teammates alongside him in a battle was like something that happened an eternity ago to Jensen. He had almost completely forgotten how to do the signs. "I'll take on these two!" He shouted once again, running straight forward.

The four Chasers blocking the Star Creatures stepped aside one by one after they heard the command, but they did not go far.

The furious behemoths attacked. Countless tentacles slapped down, aiming for the figures on the ground. Jensen rose a Shell Wall with incredible speed to block the attack. At the same time, he used the Shell Wall as a huge shield, slowly pushing forward. The two Star Creatures backed a few steps because of him. Jensen had formed a space behind himself. "Go help the other side!" He turned back, commanding the four clueless Chasers.

The four of them were taken back at first, but soon they did a quiet and fast salute before turning away to get to the other three of their comrades.

Really? The stupid military courtesies still?

Jensen couldn't even begin to fathom. As soon as those people left, he immediately shifted his attention back on to the two opponents standing in front of him.

He reduced the area of the Shell Wall by half, using the other part to create a Shell Lance. A lance and a shield. This is the standard code for Shell Wielders.

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Shell Wielding can be separated into two categories, Shell Manipulating and Shell Shaping. Shell Manipulating obviously points to how easy it is for a Wielder to order the shells around. Shell Shaping, on the other hand, is the ability of assembling the shells into different shapes. Of course, this involves a person's aesthetic perception and creativity. Therefore, after trials and trials, flake and bar shaped items are recognized as the easiest way to form shapes with shells. This is also one of the standard Shell Wielding techniques.

A Shell Wall is a barrier packed with shells, and a Shell Lance is a spear made by congregating the shells.

A lance and a shield, simple and unadorned, yet fulfill both offense and defense.

Jensen stood firm. He placed the Shell Wall in his front and the Shell Lance at his side while he was facing the enemy. He had never needed to face two Star Creatures at the same time. It wasn't because he couldn't handle it, the S.D.A refused to let him do so.

He has never tested his limits.

One of the Star Creatures shot out two tentacles, swiping towards Jensen. He immediately shifted the Shell Wall to block the attack. Compared to other typical Shell Wielders, Jensen's technique was much more flexible and agile. In a flash second, he had deployed the shells to their correct position.

The giant beast's attack was successfully blocked. It shrieked and roared. The tentacles did not move, it just kept on putting pressure towards the ground. Jensen did not back down. He maintained the Shell Wall, resisting against the ginormous tentacles. At the same time, he aimed and shot it with the Shell Lance.

Jensen used his Shell Wall as the center. With an incredible speed he charged and pulled back, then repeated the same process over and over again. He was like a cavalier charging the enemy lines. The sharp tip continuously pierced outwards from the Shell Wall's sides, heavy and fast like a storm. It left a huge, appalling hole on the enemy's tentacle. Those wounds weren't deadly, but they were enough to make the Star Creature cower, or slow it down.

The Star Creature that attacked Jensen withdrew its tentacles. Its companion soon stepped forward to substitute, and was also waving its two furry arms around. However, it did not charge its attacks the same way. The Star Creature separated its tentacles, coming from left and right both at the same time. It was trying to smash Jensen flat like a fly swatter.

Trying to block off attacks from both directions at the same time was pretty tricky for Jensen, but he could still do it; just that this might not be the most ideal plan.

Normally, Shell Wielders would prevent controlling more than two Shell Objects simultaneously. Since each time the shells were allotted to create new items, it would only disperse the Shell Wielding efficacy. It would also weaken the Shell Wielder's consciousness towards controlling Shell Objects. They might even get discombobulated.

Under the circumstances where there were enough people in a team, offense and defense could also be taken care of by different people. One might be wielding the Shell Wall while the other handles the Shell Lance. However, when there was only one person on the field, Jensen would have to sacrifice his Shell Lance if he were to build up two Shell Walls on his sides. Hence he did not go for that option.

He moved the original Shell Wall to down beneath his feet, making it a Shell Board. Much like the others, it was another type of Shell Object. The shape of it was fairly similar to a Shell Wall, but the purpose of it was to move, not to block.

Jensen stepped on to the Shell Board and controlled it so that it brought him off the ground. He avoided the tentacles that aimed for him from the sides just in time. The Star Creature's attack missed. The two tentacles hit each other, creating a resounding clap. It did not give up. Immediately, the monster reached upwards with its tentacles, trying to capture the black dot moving around in the sky.

Jensen, on the other hand, was undisturbed. He leaned forward, diving down fast diagonally. He couldn't wait until they were taking in breaths to strike. That would be too much of a risk. He had to take care of one of them first.

He closed up on one of the Star Creatures that was wrapped in black shells, at the same time dodging its attacks.

The other Star Creature joined in the siege. Four tentacles sweeping in the air like a storm, dazzling the ones who witnessed. Jensen was no slouch as well. The figure traversing in the air was just like a surfer breaking out from the waves. With one foot front and the other back, he stood steadily on the Shell Board. Following the pattern of the attacks, he swung and turned, climbing to different altitudes when necessary.

The key to battling a Star Creature was not about the efficacy of offense and defense, it was the ability to dodge. The everchanging tentacle movement was unpredictable, making it hard to defend. In order to dodge this type of attack one must be proficient in using the Shell Board, and Jensen has easy control.

A tentacle pierced towards him and he quickly dodged.

Now!

He thought, stabbing with his Shell Lance back in return. It pricked straight through the tentacle that just whooshed past him. The tip was in the skin of the Star Creature, but Jensen did not recall it back. Instead, he ordered it to penetrate even deeper.

The Star Creature struggled, retrieving its tentacle. But the Shell Lance Jensen created was barbed, trying to get rid of it would not be a simple task. He caught up on the tentacle and followed it around. Shell Wielders have to stay close to the shells, or else the connection would break. He was flying around the tentacle that he pierced through while controlling the Shell Lance according to his senses. He made it progress further into the body of the Star Creature, like some kind of parasite that he had control over.

The Star Creature soon sensed the foreign body inside. It started resisting and acted more violent. This was the crucial moment that tested the Chaser's capability. If Jensen was struck by now, everything he had just done would be a complete waste of time.

He carefully avoided the path of the attacks that were coming for him, since he only had half of his shells left for self-defense. At the same time he had to maintain the control he had on the other half of the shells to inject them deeper into the enemy's body.

In any case, this was not the tactic any normal Shell Wielder would go for. Thankfully, Jensen wasn't normal anymore. Distributing his attention on two things at the same time would only slow him down. However, that also made him more cautious. It has been a long time since he had tried ending the fight anytime apart from when the Star Creatures were taking in breaths.

At last, Jensen could feel that his Shell Lance had successfully penetrated through the Star Creature's lungs. The giant beast let out a loud, muffled groan. Immediately, its tentacles went limp. Damaging any vital organs in the Star Creature would directly kill them. However, the easiest way would still be to aim for their lungs. When a Star Creature has its lungs full of air, their lungs bloat up, making it stand out more than its other organs.

In addition, ruining a Star Creature's lungs would also cut off its connection to its Shelling Bubble, exposing the body under the shells.

Jensen waited for the thick shells to drop on the ground before recalling his Shell Lance.

We'll deal with the corpse later.

He thought, then controlled the Shell Lance to make it spin in the air in order to cast off the gooey mucus on it.

The man levitating in air turned around, facing the left-over Star Creature.

It let out some shrieks but did not launch any attacks. Soon enough, a strong current came from the behind and started hurling Jensen towards the monster's ginormous mouth.

Shit!

He cursed. He did not expect it to be taking in breaths now.

Jensen tried to avoid it, but the position he was in, there was nothing he could hold on to in the air. It was unlikely for him to use his shells as a support as well, since those shells move with him. Thereupon, he was sucked into the Star Creature's mouth with his shells.

When confronting only one single Star Creature, Jensen would always pay extra attention to when they would be taking in breaths; since that there really wouldn't be any obvious signs of venting beforehand. Once they have vented out the outgoing air through the air pores on their bodies, they will open their mouth to inhale new air. When one gets too close at this moment, they will likely get hurled in as well.

Dealing with two Star Creatures at the same time was a little overwhelming for Jensen, but he quickly forced himself to remain calm. When the Star Creatures take in breaths, the shells on them will also desquamate. For ordinary people, this will be when they are comparably weaker. As for Chasers, this will be the best time to take them down.

Jensen pulled on to the Star Creature's opened mouth expeditiously. He managed to reform the Shell Lance in time, then calculated the right timing to shoot it out; like an arrow piercing through the air towards the bloody mouth.

Once again, he had taken his moving speed and the discharging momentum of the Shell Lance into consideration; in order to make sure that the shells would still be in his range of control.

The Star Creatures won't be able to close their mouths when taking in breaths, and they also have no time to attend to what comes in their mouths. Jensen's Shell Lance flew straight into the monster's mouth, knocked off teeths and stabbed right through its gullet before landing in its body.

The enemy let out a roar and the suction force stopped right when Jensen was about to get crushed by its lower jaw. The sudden loss of force dropped him right on to the ground. He dusted off his suit, quickly standing up.

Too close.

Jensen stared at the ginormous beast that was right in front of his eyes. Its mouth was still hanging open, the sharp teeth inside were clear as the sky. Like a ferocious beast that had just pounced on its prey, yet sound asleep.