"kekeke"
"jujujuju"
"Jijijiji"
There were the creatures, having what appeared to be some kind of interaction. Nothing more than an annoying laugh came out of them, but there was certainly an exchange.
and although they sounded different, they were laughs that sent shivers down the listener's spine, giving the sensation that something was crawling under their skin.
The creatures prowled around as if searching for something, exploring, some digging in the ground and others seeming to sniff. There was a clear intention to search for something.
They couldn't be bodies, as it was the village's tradition to burn fallen warriors, but these aberrations of nature kept circling, and it was at that moment that—
Whoosh!
As a warning, a sharp wind sound came. But it was too late before they even noticed, one already had on its head—or on that lump on its upper body where a plant was lodged—something that shouldn't have been there.
Thunk!
A loud bang echoed throughout the place. The aberration was hit by a force that dragged it several meters along the ground, raising a cloud of dust and destroying some of the tombstones.
"Jijijiji"
Seconds later, the result was clear: the creature was still intact and still laughing. The only difference was that it now had a silver spear embedded in the plant on its head.
However, it did not pierce through it, proving that even the force that dragged it was not enough to perforate it.
"Jijijiji"
The creatures seemed unable to emit anything but that annoying laugh.
At that moment, Cassian appeared from the nearby bushes like a wild beast.
He ignored the others and went straight to the one with the spear stuck in it. He quickly grabbed it; although it had not pierced the seemingly delicate Sapling, it was firmly rooted.
For Cassian, that was a good thing.
Thump!! Thump!! Thump!!
He began to use the spear and the aberration as if they were the head of a hammer, repeatedly striking it against the ground from side to side.
"Jijijiji"
Even as its body was pulverized and deformed, it continued to laugh. It wasn't clear if this was a mental attack, but the annoyance was palpable. Hitting it against the ground stopped, and it was tossed into the air."
Fwoosh!
At that moment, from various angles, water spears appeared, moving like snakes in the air until—
Splat! Splat! Splat!
Several spears pierced the creature's body from different directions. Although their aim seemed erratic, the impact of the spears stabilized it, and as if coordinated, they turned its body so that the opposite side from where Sapling was stood faced the source of the spears.
From there, one last spear, firmer and thinner, shot out and embedded itself.
Crack!
"jijijjjiiii!.."
There was a rustling sound and not long after that last laugh, the creature began to dry up, as if withering away until it crumbled to dust, leaving only the sapling to fall to the ground.
But it didn't end there. Not far from Cassian—
"kekekeke"
Two other beasts were being confronted. One was between Valeriane and Celestine, both on opposite sides. This creature had a twisted shape: it was difficult to tell where the front and back were.
Their hands were pointing in opposite directions, and the little sapling on was resting on what seemed to be one of the thighs of their three legs.
Those legs, though they seemed tangled, were highly functional and allowed the creature to move nimbly; it moved constantly, intertwining with each other, making it difficult for the Sapling to stay still.
"Horrible and annoying creature, test my power!"
At that moment, Celestine, tired of trying to follow the movement of the leg, stepped forward and attacked with everything she had.
She activated her dragonization: her hands and nails became sharp, and she sought to cut off all three legs at once.
But the creature seemed cunning and withdrew the leg with the sole out of reach, and Celestine only managed to tear off the other two.
But, that was enough for Valeriane to take advantage. Before the severed legs could regenerate and move quickly, she dodged the attacks from the hands and, with a reflective glint on her sword, struck the opposite side of her position.
There was no doubt: although she couldn't see it clearly, her attack had hit its mark.
"Kekeeeeeew!!"
Valeriane hit her target, and the creature let out a laugh mixed with a scream. Nevertheless, it withered away.
The last aberration was being besieged by Yefeng and Diona, Nahara, Eshaan and Marcus' remote support.. In her case, it was a problematic aberration because she had no seedlings in sight.
But thanks to Ellys, —who despite vomiting afterwards— managed to locate it, it was discovered that it was on the creature's tongue.
It was not the tongue on its head, but the gigantic mouth located on its abdomen, which seemed to always smile with a distorted laugh.
That aberration was grotesque: obese, with short limbs, but, as Eshaan said, that didn't prevent it from moving with agility.
From the beginning, it was understood that it was the most difficult to eliminate because of the location of its seedling.
The plan was for the village group and Yefeng to buy time while the other two aberrations were eliminated.
She was very problematic: even Yefeng had managed to cut her several times, including her limbs, but they regenerated almost instantly.
Her attacks consisted of charging at high speed, using her body as a guided wrecking ball. They had to be vigilant or they would die.
Now, Cassian watched her, ready to intervene. The plan was to stop her in her tracks and repeat the strategy used on the previous creature: throw her into the air so that Ria and the rest could attack her vulnerable area.
But before he could do so, he saw Yefeng's shadow moving.
"oh!"
But what really surprised him was what happened next, since just at that moment the aberration was heading towards Yefeng.
He, who had anticipated this, dodged by a hair's breadth, apparently on purpose, and immediately made a deep cut in the creature's back. However,
the wound closed quickly. The aberration turned to charge him again... but at that moment, it stopped dead in its tracks.
It was held by something: black ropes that, in an instant, bound its legs, arms, and various parts of its body.
Before anyone understood what was happening, a dark stake emerged from the ground, piercing it from below and exiting through its head. Shortly after, the creature withered away.
"Hey, what was that...?"
Yefeng, being the closest, was the first to be stunned, he did not seem to understand what happened. Everything had happened too fast.
"React, Sir Yefeng. We don't know what happened. It could be an enemy!"
At that moment, Valeriane, who was approaching with Celestine, also saw it and warned him.
"Huh? Oh... yes... I don't feel anything. Is it another one like that woman?"
"Hey, what are you guys talking about?"
Cassian didn't understand why the group seemed more concerned when they had already killed the three creatures.
"Sir Cassian, didn't you see what happened?"
"Yes, it was great. I didn't know she was capable of that."
He thought she was in his shadow, since she hadn't left since then, but without him realizing it, she had slipped into Yefeng's shadow and did something unexpected like that.
"Do you know who caused it?"
"Yes, of course, it was Ling-Ling."
"Huh? Ling-Ling? Ah!"
Cassian can understand Valeriane's surprise - he was also surprised that Yeling was capable of such a thing.
"Hey, but is Ling-Ling okay?"
"…Hah" (They don't have blood… haaah… but I still don't feel very well.)
When he called her, she emerged from Cassian's shadow and answered him, leaning on him.
She seemed a little out of breath, but she wasn't shaking or weak like before. Knowing that she wasn't as bad as before reassured him.
"Oh, well... but the important thing is that you acted on your own. You did well! At least now you didn't just stand there doing nothing. Well done!"
"..." (Th-thank you.)
That she, who had seemed so affected before, had joined of her own free will, was something Cassian thought was worthy of praise, and he patted her on the head; she was just the right size.
Yeling was surprised, but she simply accepted it as she looked down.
"So it was Miss Yeling, I misunderstood, I thought you were an unknown enemy! I'm sorry about that, and also for not taking you into account, again."
"..." (No, it's okay, I understand.)
"Excuse me, but I don't understand?"
"Ah! She says she doesn't care.... Hey, but Yefeng, why did it seem like you didn't know it was Ling-Ling either?"
"I-I didn't! Rather, Ling... since when could you do that? I mean, I only knew you could put yourself in the shadows, not that you could use attack sorcery. Wait, Ling, are you okay doing that? Don't you feel bad?"
"..."
"Eh, but it's not a problem that can be fixed with simple practice, you're a little pale."
"Um, excuse me for asking, but does Miss Yeling have any problems or anything, besides the ones mentioned above?"
"About that, she... um, how to explain it..."
"What's the problem? Just say that she's afraid of killing and blood, which is why she hadn't helped until now. Hmm, but it's true that even without blood, she still killed something and doesn't seem completely fine. Hey, Ling-Ling, why don't you use my shadow again? You already did it very well before."
"..." (Y-yes, thanks.)
Yeling did not hesitate and quickly stepped into Cassian's shadow.
"she even told you that. Besides me, she never..."
"So there was something like that. I see, I'll take that into consideration too... if I don't forget."
"That's right, you don't really remember her until she shows up. Hmm, but more than forgetting her or losing memories, it's as if any thoughts about her simply don't form unless you look at her or someone mentions her. How interesting."
"What are you doing here? Why did you leave your position?"
"Well, it's all over now, right? I wasn't the first—it was the little angel. For some reason, she suddenly ran over here, and I just followed her."
"Uh!?, Miss Ellys?"
"...There was nothing left... I wanted to see if there was... mental contamination and if anyone was hurt."
"Oh, that was timely. Lys, look here first, they want to rip his arm off!"
In fact that was timely, because after Yeling entered his shadow, Cassian realized that something was going on on the residents' side.
He saw Nahara about to cut off Eshaan's arm and moved to stop her.
He thought it was mental contamination or something that made him attack an ally, but he noticed that it was because Eshaan's arm was black from a wound on his forearm; apparently, he had been wounded by the aberration.