Transcendent Gene
Chapter 197: Legacy Guardian [3]

Chapter 197: Legacy Guardian [3]

Bang!

Gio slammed into the griffin’s face, throwing its eagle head to the side. Its eye turned to look at him as it did something similar to gnashing its beak before slamming its head back in his direction.

Boom!

Gio didn’t have much maneuverability in the air. He could only raise his arms to block the impact while he was thrown back.

"Khhh...!"

He felt the burn. His bones rattled and felt like they would break from only a single hit, but despite the massive size of the beast, the actual strength in the hit wasn’t much.

’It can’t move fast.’

It had the same limitations as any other large beast. Its movements weren’t fast but they were filled with power. The problem was that the power in question worked best when it had time to accumulate.

At such a short distance, the swinging of its head could only throw Gio back without causing much damage. It was as if he’d been hit by a padded wall.

OOOOOOH!

However, the griffin’s only goal was to throw him back. It opened its mouth and bellowed, sending a wave of hot air at him that scorched his skin. Following its "breath" was a cloud of colorless gas that he could barely see.

His eyes widened.

’Flamethrower.’

Whoooosh!

When the gas touched the hot air, everything around Gio combusted into flame.

’Fuck!’

He couldn’t avoid the heat against his skin before he fell out of the flame’s range. Several parts of his body were turning red and would blister at some point, but for now, they only felt cold against the wind.

Gio summoned his energy to cushion his fall and slammed into the ground. The eagle’s eyes trailed him, and its paw was already in the air by the time he landed.

BOOM!

Dust and debris did not fill the air as the arena’s floor was made of sturdy materials, but the air still shook from the impact. Gio stumbled, barely dodging the paw before running towards the griffin’s chest.

’My goal isn’t that hard right now.’

The first step was to keep the griffin still. He had to stay in the vicinity of its head and front paws so it didn’t wildly move its body and throw Neriah off.

The second step was to make sure any abilities the griffin could use from this part of its body would be used on him.

As long as he did both, he didn’t have to worry about anything else. Objectively, as the distraction, he had it easy.

The extent of his job was keeping the beast’s attention. The most he had to do was keep its eyes on him.

Neriah had the harder job.

She took it, and he allowed it. He also understood why she believed she was fit.

He jumped, spouting blue energy from his feet to shoot several feet into the air. When he was in front of the griffin’s chest, he slammed his hands into its fur and called forth his energy.

[Aura Explosion]

Booooooom!

It wasn’t that he did no damage. The effects of his aura tore the lion’s fur to shreds, revealing the dark leathery skin material beneath. Gio could see that leather being torn as well, but it was what stood beyond that stopped him.

Only, there was a blackness present beyond it. Gio could t tell if it was because the metal was black or because of something else, but that blackness was the only thing in his way.

’There’s no blood or flesh, so there’s no obvious signs of damage,’ Gio thought as he fell back towards the ground.

In the first place, he didn’t expect to see any visible signs of progress.

The eagle’s head turned directly down like it was an owl, opening its mouth once again.

A new mist was released, green in color and clearly toxic. Gio didn’t wait for it to reach him before retreating under the beast’s stomach.

Whoooosh!

He let loose a burst of flames that burned away any of the gas that got near him. He sent another burst directly upward into the creature’s belly to make it aware that he was still standing below it.

It shifted a little. From the way the mist came closer, it had turned its head even more.

Thinking of this creature as a griffin was pointless. The fact that it could spit fire and poison already separated it from such a beast.

Gio wasn’t convinced that this was all it could do, either.

He couldn’t cause any visible injury, sure–

’–but that’s only because there’s metal underneath. When I’ve done enough, it’ll lose its strength and start to fall apart.

While Neriah looked for a way into its body, he was also going to try to reach the core he sensed from the outside.

"Huu..."

He charged back out, grabbing the beast’s attention with a huge fireworks show of virtual energy.

As he said, his job was the easy one.

He was the distraction, but his role was much more insignificant than even that.

Because he couldn’t keep the beast still while also stopping it from attacking Neriah.

It was not a beast, but a weapon that could attack in ways living beings could not.

In fact, the air was filled with sounds of combat. Metals clanged against each other and bursts of energy flew in all directions.

However, none of that came from Gio.

On Gio’s side, there were only two paws and anything the eagle’s head could expel.

On Neriah’s side...

Bang! Bang! Bang!

She zipped from side to side. Her eyes were trained on the beast’s back, making her aware of when the smallest hole opened up beneath her.

Whoosh!

She pushed back as a massive metal spike rose from the beast and tried to impale her.

Bang!

At the same time, she raised her sword and blocked the head of the serpent tail.

Hisssssss!

Its tongue flicked only inches from her face, its fangs clenched around her blade.

Crack!

She frowned.

Bang!

With a single step, she leapt high into the air as her sword broke into shrapnel. A rifle appeared in her hand and was quickly put to use.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Her shots hit square on the snake’s scales, but the bullets shattered without causing much damage. Its scales were much stronger than anything she’d had to face before, but they were never her goal.

She was still near the back of the griffin’s body. She was forcefully kept from moving forward by the creature itself.

It didn’t try hard to hide that it was mechanical once she was on its back. Metal spikes and weapons rose from all directions and tried to corral her as the serpent head aimed for the kill.

Even as she was in the air, chains shot at her and tried to hook her shins. She had no choice but to stop attacking the serpent to knock them away.

Her eyes had to remain on her surroundings so she could live, but whenever she got the chance, she focused into her peripherals.

There was one main reason why she took this role instead of Gio. It wasn’t because he was a better distraction. Rather, it was because she felt she’d be better for finding their way inside.

When they were in the air, she used her pathfinding ability and tried to find some sort of pathing on the beast’s back.

There was nothing at first, but that changed when she landed. When it started using its technology to attack her, she was able to glimpse into the holes the spikes came from and see the abyss within.

Even if she couldn’t see what was inside, her ability learned that she wanted to path inside that abyss and started working to find the route.

She could see the start. She could see a purple glowing line that led her towards the beast’s head, but it faded before it could become anything meaningless.

She had to follow the path she had so her ability could find the next point for her to reach at. She was actively attempting to do so, but it was almost as if the creature understood her intentions.

’We may have skipped a few steps.’

In her mind, Neriah somewhat believed that they were not intended to reach the creature’s back from the very beginning of the battle. It felt more like she was fighting a fight meant for a much later time.

Most of the trials were made to be completed by one person. They, as two, were already anomaly in this trial.

In the same way, they, as two, were able to reach the creature’s back in a way that would have been much, much more difficult alone.

The fact that the creature was a machine wasn’t supposed to be an easy realization. Whether it was Gio or Neriah, the fact that they could reach that conclusion by hitting it two times was impressive.

And before that realization was made, they weren’t meant to be kn the creature’s back.

Nevertheless, she was already on top of the beast, and she was already dedicated to reaching its core.

This time, she would prove that she could be stronger than him as well.