[Psychokinetic] Eyeball Pulling - Chapter 146 (Patreon)

No, he wanted more. Strength, power, freedom, security. He wanted all of it. His head snapped back to the fight.

Jonathan glanced at Gavin. He was an illusion mage, and it was thanks to him that they had eluded the pursuit of the countless beasts that surrounded their party.

It was almost time now. Jonathan clenched his fists so hard that the whites on his knuckles were on display.

An evolution stone… the meaning was obvious. It was a chance at rebirth. Ever since Connor had died during the subjugation, he swore to himself he wouldn’t let another one of his friends die by his side.

For that, he needed strength.

A sudden explosion jostled his spine. The Seafaring squad looked at each other with uncertainty. A fight had kicked off. It wasn’t something they could even hope to get close to.

Apprehension tugged at Jonathan’s heart. Should he risk his life and compete for the stone? He gazed at the ground and sifted his fingers through the dirt.

One day he would be the fertiliser for the very soil under his feet. Was he destined for more than just being a noble Seafarer?

No, he wanted more. Strength, power, freedome, security. He wanted all of it. His head snapped back to the fight.

He just needed an opportunity.

***

Bellona was about to activate a Skill that she hesitated in using. One, it was a Skill that once one had seen it, they could prepare against it. And two, she had never used it before.

She was worried it would devastate her body. Destroy it. It was a Skill still in its infancy stage.

However, something picked her and the puppy up, and the next moment she opened her eyes, she was standing beside a tree. They were out of the range of the eggy smell.

A violent explosion ravaged the area she was standing in. The shrubbery, soil, and trees were eviscerated. The detonation had erased the scenery. A wide hole in the ground had replaced it.

“Brett?” Bellona frowned at the appearance of her colleague. An arm missing, a cold detached expression that was like a mask across his face, the desperate look on the battle-maids face…

She gazed at the emergence of a golden masked man. A halo was engraved into the forehead of the mask. A feeling of grandeur washed over her, but instead of a holy feeling–it was a ghastly version of it. Like it was plagued. It was wrong.

“Run,” Brett commanded them.

Bellona wasn’t one to refuse such orders. Especially up against that man. She could feel the crazy mana radiating from his pores.

Could she cancel it? She shook her head as they immediately retreated from the area.

Just as the haloed man was about to pursuit, a gargantuan roar assaulted Bellona’s eardrums–causing them to thrum in pain. It was followed closely by a resounding slam, then a smell of rotten eggs.

Bellona glanced over her shoulder as an enormous demonic beast charged through the trees like a raging bull. Its only objective was destruction as it hurled straight for the haloed man.

Can it sense his mana? Bellona questioned herself. Judging by the strength of the monster, they had most likely invaded its territory. And with the haloed man being the strongest, he was its first target.

Although she only took a glance of the monster before running away, its image was branded into her mind. It had the silhouette of a gorilla, but it was more slender than it was bulky. It was as tall as a tree and its thickly armoured forearms were obviously its best weapons. Judging by its muscles that were akin to bundled steel wire, the entire body of the monster was a weapon.

Just before Bellona disappeared behind an enormous tree, the monster approached the haloed man in close quarters.

From under the gaps in his mask, he smirked and raised his hand. With a click of his middle finger and thumb, a spark spat out from the resulting sound. It was bright, but not overly so. It looked just like a spark from a sword-strike.

However, the result was devastating. Like a cloud, a greenish explosion engulfed the monster whole. Like a whale devouring a swarm of krill. It vanished.

It didn’t last long. A roar split the explosion, but it wasn’t from the sound the beast made–rather it was a result of the beast slamming the ground. With a slap, the gaseous explosion was sent up in the air. It was like a gust of wind had moved the cloud to another area of the sky.

One, two–Bellona’s counting was cut off as the haloed man clicked another explosion to life. This time, the monster caught the brunt of the hit as it was sent careening through the air–right through multiple trees–before tumbling to a stop.

The monster bore its fangs, but Bellona wasn’t focused on the result of the battle. Brett and Leena were here. That meant Astrid was still missing.

Brett took them to a safer place. It was an outcrop near the mountain, however, it was still in close proximity to the massive pillar of light. They had full field of vision of the entire field around the hill where the light beam was located.

Ignoring the brutal fight that was taking place–and the screams of the other masked people–she glanced at the hill. Squinting her eyes, a rock pillar was emerging. She didn’t know what the evolution stone would look like.

Was that it, or was the evolution stone embedded within the rock? She didn’t know. She had never heard of such an absurd thing like that. Evolve… Evolve what?

Bellona glanced at every corner of the land. There was still no sight of that golden haired girl that caused chaos wherever she went.

Where was she, was she sleeping through this entire mess… no way, right? This was the perfect event for her. Not that she would even stand a remote chance against the might of those monsters.

Just as Bellona’s heart was settling, another beastly roar, followed closely by another, rocked her eardrums. She held her hands against her ears as the other monsters made their appearance.

They were hulking beasts.

One was the ape-like monster.

Another was a golem made up of hardened rock. Metal ores glistened from parts of the monster's body–as if it was a piece of the mountain itself.

The last was a draconic looking bird that stood at the same size as the other titans. A shining metal edge lined the beast's wings as if it was a blade designed to take life. A shrill screech pierced out from within its razor-sharp beak, while its colossal talons latched into the ground. It was ready to attack as it gazed at the pillar of light.

The kings had arrived, and they intended to fully display their might to the rest of the world.

It was a short stand-off, cut off by the raging ape monster that seemed to hold a great desire for battle. The monster leapt from the ground. But instead of engaging with the haloed man, it barreled toward the mountain golem.

It seemed to prefer having the more known opponent by its side, rather than risking battling the unknown.

The ape sent a punch for the mountain golems face. The air screamed in protest from the rocketing fist. Smash. The hit struck the mountain accurately, causing its head to snap back. But it was only for a moment.

Recovering almost instantly, the golem stomped on the ground as the dirt and rock changed from its command. The rock was about to shoot up the monster's leg, but the ape had obviously fought the mountain before, and knew its attacks.

It grabbed hold of the rock, and constricted its arms around it–then squeezed.

Even from the distance that Bellona was watching, she could still hear the creaking, and groaning of rock being pressed together with high pressure.

Spikes erupted from the mountains back, as blood seeped down. The ape roared in anger and instead placed its feet against the golems hips, then grabbed hold of its throat with its extended reach. The ape was making use of its extremely long limbs as it narrowly avoided the rest of the spikes.

But it seemed the other predators wouldn’t let the opportunity go. While the ape was more straightforward and preferred to batter its opponents in a one-vs-one, not everyone was the same.

The draconic bird and the haloed man moved at almost the same time. They were intending to kill two birds with one stone.

From a distance, Bellona could barely make out the strange attack the haloed man relied upon. It was faint, but she had sensitive eyes when it came to anything mana related. A vague cloud was formed, then it exploded with a click of his fingers.

The blast separated the two hulking behemoths from each other, only for the draconic bird to sweep in for an attack. Its talons suddenly glowed a faint savage blue tint–then it projected them forward. The dual set of claws surged through the air, then swiped a deep gouging mark into the mountain's already falling body.

As the two hulking figures were flailing to the ground. The ape managed to control its body. Blood dripped, yet it still moved as though it wasn’t injured in the slightest. With its hand, it somersaulted on the floor, creating a resounding surge of earth like a wave. Then it landed to the side.

The Skill was casted outward and caught the haloed man unaware. It was strange. Unlike the mountain golem who controlled the earth, the apes' attack had bound him.

He seemed to realise something as he lifted his foot in haste, only for the other one to erupt with blood. The next moment, his body vanished. Only to reappear within one of the vague clouds located some metres away.

Despite the injuries, it didn’t seem to affect them very much as the beasts bounded forward. Just as their colossal bodies were about to clash against each-other, a vast, chaotic energy storm surged from the ground.

It wasn’t mana, but something more… destructive.

The peculiar energy caused her to take a step back. She had trained all her life to stop mana. What she was seeing now, she couldn’t stop it, even if she tried. If it was aimed at her–could she survive?

It happened too fast. The three beast kings weren’t able to react in time as the ground was split asunder. Purple light shone from within each crack, then, an apocalyptic blast erupted the ground and continued its might through.

A purple ball of spiralling energy stopped, but instead of continuing like Bellona thought it would, it suddenly collapsed.

What happened next would remain within her mind for the rest of her life. The spiralling ball of purple mass exploded, but unlike a regular explosion, an ocean of stars were the backdrop of… nothing. Nothing existed within the space–as if it was the void itself.

The explosion caused the air to split, and the monsters along with it. They were sent hurtling back like empowered cannonballs.

A wing of the draconic bird lay limp. The ape was missing a hand. And the mountain golem was noticeably thinner.

“I did it! I finally exploded the damned, stupid thing!” A voice boomed throughout the battlefield, then, a small figure emerged from the cratered ground.

She had long golden hair and a savage grin filled with child-like excitement was plastered on her face. But that wasn’t the most striking thing. It was the two eyeballs floating behind her shoulders.

One was pink and almost the size of her head, the other was more subtle in size but it exuded a frigid cold.

“Leena, guys!” Astrid waved in exuberance to her battle-maid, and the others.

The beast kings, along with the haloed man–glared at the floating witch. But their gaze shifted at movement in the horizon.

An entire army arrived. One was made of rock golems, one consisted of apes, the other–draconic birds. But that wasn’t all. Along with them, on the other side, screams of crazed psychos screeched along the fields.

“The stone is mine, if you even attempt to steal my toys–” Astrid paused as a wicked energy emerged from her right eye. “I’ll rip out your eyes and add them to my collection.”

Despite her words, the battle of the evolution stone began.

Time remaining until the birth of the evolution stone: 10:00