CH461 Queen Senu's Claim

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[Fireball]! [Icicle Storm]! [Ice Blast]! [Parasitic Weakness]!

Mordor's debuff spell arrived first.

Instead of the standard [Weaken], the Orc Shaman–Swordsman unleashed an infectious variant. The curse leapt from target to target within close proximity, sacrificing power for potent infectious spread.

Then the other three spells struck.

With tacit coordination born of countless battles, Alex, Zora, and Fen attacked different sections of the hawk cast simultaneously.

Alex's [Fireball] detonated mid-air, blasting multiple hawks from the sky in blazing arcs of fire.

[Icicle Storm] followed.

Zora's upward variant of [Icicle Shower] unleashed a torrent of razor-sharp ice shards that shredded wings and punched through fragile avian bodies, gunning down cast members with overwhelming projectile density.

Meanwhile, Fen released what appeared to be an oversized ice bolt from his maw.

The hawks—keen-eyed apex predators—dodged it with ease.

That was... until the spell suddenly detonated.

A burst of frigid mist exploded outward, instantly freezing the wings of several unfortunate hawks mid-flight. Their bodies stiffened before gravity claimed them, sending them plummeting toward the ground.

With the cast scattered and destabilised by the mages' opening volley, Silver and the Crossbowmen moved in seamlessly, picking off the remaining airborne hawks. On the ground, the rest of the party efficiently finished off the fallen beasts.

Senu, however, was far from idle.

Enraged by the challenge to her authority, Queen Senu plunged directly into the heart of the aerial melee.

She darted through the sky with lethal grace, wings flashing as hawks fell one after another in her wake.

If not for the thin, passive protective energy film surrounding her body, she would have been drenched in blood.

Recognising her as the greatest threat, five hawks broke formation and converged on her from multiple angles.

Senu welcomed them.

She surged forward to meet the challenge head-on.

Seeing this, Silver swiftly notched three arrows and fired—seemingly at Senu.

Just as the arrows reached her mid-charge, Senu executed a sudden barrel roll. Her body streamlined, slipping cleanly through the narrow gaps between the arrows.

The bolts flew past her—

—and struck the incoming hawks.

Three of the five were shot down instantly.

Senu's roll didn't stop there.

Carrying razor-sharp momentum wrapped in spatial force, she tore straight through the remaining two hawks, ripping them apart as she passed.

Her momentum carried her onward—straight toward another swarm.

The hawks reacted with uncanny precision, instinctively calculating where she would emerge and striking that point at once.

Alex's heart skipped a beat.

Mana surged as a spell instantly formed in his outstretched hand—

—but through their bond, he felt it.

Senu's calm reassurance.

A cold glint flashed in Senu's avian eyes.

The instant she came to a stop, her body snapped open—wings spreading wide—and a spherical burst of razor-sharp energy erupted outward.

[Omnidirectional Spatial Rend]!

Each blade was a Spatial Rend—a stronger, more lethal variant of [Spatial Slash]—capable of ignoring most conventional defences by cutting directly through space itself.

The invisible blades carved fleeting wounds into the fabric of reality as they shot outward.

Within a five-metre radius of Senu, every hawk struck by the attack froze mid-air.

The spatial distortions were repaired almost instantly by the natural laws of the plane—but in the process, every hawk caught within them was torn apart from the inside out.

The predators that had sought to exploit her momentary pause fell lifelessly from the sky.

SKRREEE~~!!!

Queen Senu unleashed a triumphant, imperious cry that rippled through the air itself, momentarily stunning the remaining hawks.

That single heartbeat of hesitation was all Alex's party needed.

Spells, arrows, and blades finished off the survivors with ruthless efficiency.

Senu glided through the air, wings spread wide, radiating unquestionable dominance as she claimed the sky as her undisputed domain.

Alex watched, finally releasing the breath he hadn't realised he was holding.

Then—

A pulse of weakness travelled through their bond.

'Sleepy.'

Senu's thought reached him faintly.

Without warning, her body tilted—and she dropped from the sky.

[Abyssal Conqueror's Step: Wraith's Crossing]!

Alex vanished.

In the next instant, he reappeared beneath her falling form, catching her mid-air and rolling upon impact to dissipate most of the force.

The landing tore shallow cuts across his body, but Alex didn't register the pain. His entire focus was on his beast companion.

He let out a sigh of relief after confirming she was unharmed.

A wry smile tugged at his lips.

"Another breakthrough," he announced calmly. "Someone else just advanced in battle."

Surprise rippled through the group. However, after witnessing Sergeant Lopota's advancement earlier, the shock was tempered—especially given Senu's prior condition.

"Hurry," Alex ordered. "Start looting before another group of beasts swarms us."

The party moved immediately, extracting valuable materials from the fallen hawks—most notably their beast cores.

Alex glanced across the battlefield, eyes narrowing slightly.

"With this many beasts already," he muttered, "I can see why Azgrug is worried about this place."

If such a vast number of beasts were to form a beast tide and attack Camp Red Rock, then even if most of them were weak—at least by the expedition party's standards—their sheer numbers would overwhelm the settlement.

The Camp's powerhouses would have little they could do to stop it.

Even if the tide were eventually put down, the damage caused would be nigh irreparable.

Alex shook his head and turned his attention back to Senu.

Her breakthrough, in truth, wasn't all that surprising.

She had yet to fully digest the immense energy she accumulated while still an egg.

Between the Bonsai Tree and the Voidheart Core gathering power within the Sanctuary Space, Senu had absorbed an extraordinary amount of energy even before she hatched—so much so that it affect her birth.

After emerging, the residual energy condensed within her eggshell had been devoured completely, not a trace left behind.

Much of that energy had remained dormant within her body, unused—largely because she rarely engaged in true combat.

This battle was likely the first real trial she had faced.

"Beasts grow through competition, combat, and survival," Alex muttered an age-old truth.

Beasts consumed enormous quantities of energy-rich materials, and the way they refined and stabilised that power was through constant struggle against other creatures.

It was an advantage wild beasts possessed over most contracted companions.

Alex's gaze drifted toward Fen.

'Should I throw him into the thick of battle and let him struggle too?' he wondered.

Fen suddenly shuddered.

He tilted his head, puzzled.

'Why did I feel cold just now?' he thought. 'In the desert?'

That made no sense, especially since he was an Ice-type beast –for the most part.

Alex shook his head and refocused on Senu cradled in his arms.

He crouched and gently placed the unconscious eagle onto his shadow.

Her body shimmered as obscure glyphs flickered briefly across her form, and then she sank smoothly into the darkness beneath his feet.

Alex let out a breath of relief.

Even unconscious, the transport method still worked.

Within his shadow was the safest resting place for his herald.

The Elite Rank marked a critical turning point for Nightmare Eagles, and Alex suspected Senu would be no exception—despite her many deviations from the norm of her species.

She was going to need every ounce of energy she could gather.

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