Transcendent Gene
Chapter 65: Mock Subjugation [3]

Chapter 65: Mock Subjugation [3]

When it came to Jax, being bait meant something entirely different.

But that was something he could show far better than anyone could explain it.

His shadow appeared above those two birds as he made his move. His presence was completely silent until that moment, but just as he reached that position, a formless aura burst forth from his body and revealed the weight of his presence.

He had two swords in his hands. They looked similar to the Aether sword Gio used, but they couldn’t be compared at all.

"Yo!" Jax said with a grin, his eyes on those monsters.

"Wanna go for a spin?"

He crossed the blades around his body and started spinning like a top. Gio thought it looked stupid at first, but that was only for the second before his body turned into a blur.

Shing!

The constant sound of metal cutting through the air rang out.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Jax fell between the two avian monsters. The blades in his hand cut against their metal-like feathers, pushing them apart by force. Every time they made contact, they caused a small burst of some sort that cracked the feathers and forced them apart.

He couldn’t do any significant damage with just this much, but saying that he didn’t have the monsters’ attention now was a lie.

And that was his only job.

He dropped between them and fell back into the forest below. The two monsters looked confused, as if they didn’t know whether to continue their own battle or chase after the human.

"Amaya, now’s the time."

Gio’s order came through, and the beastmaster made her move.

On the ground a few meters away from where Jax landed, she brought her hands together and formed a myriad of symbols before her. In her mind, she saw the image of what Gio requested from her, a beast she knew well.

A reddish-black aura radiated from her body as her eyes were painted in the same color. Her skin turned completely red, a pair of horns grew out of her head, and a pair of wings sprouted from her back.

If one looked behind her, one could faintly see the image of the devil-like beast she had become.

Amaya slammed her leg into the ground and propelled herself into the air. With a flap of her wings, she spiraled towards the two birds and pushed past Yhima.

Her hands came together, forming a ball of red energy in their grasp. As she arrived before Yhien, she pushed it forward and released it.

It traveled slowly. So slowly, in fact, that it was almost comical.

But that also gave Amaya more than enough time to escape before it erupted.

Those two birds, however, weren’t so lucky.

It was as if that sound was louder than anything else.

That slight humming, slowly getting louder and louder, crescendoing into a grand–

VOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The red energy ball erupted, ballooning to a dozenfold its original size. It wrapped Yhien inside, blasting the monster with torrents of chaotic energy.

Yhima was thrown away by the force of the original blast, which barely saved it from experiencing the same fate.

But that was an intentional move.

Yhien and Yhima, as descendants of Yhia, had a decent level of intelligence. They could understand the benefits and disadvantages of their decisions.

Previously, fighting Yhien was a terrible decision. Yhima was desperate to run but lacked the opportunity.

However, the situation changed when those humans arrived. It could very well kill them immediately and then return to its battle, but it was more beneficial to wait until Yhien was dead, wasn’t it?

Yhima watched the explosive burst of energy fade away, revealing an enraged Yhien to the world.

SKREEEEEE!

It screeched in fury, sweeping its gaze over the humans below.

Yet, it could not attack them.

Because before it had the chance, a monster of similar size, its own brother, slammed into its side and attacked.

On the zephyr, Gio’s grin widened.

"There we go. Step one is complete. Natalia, how’s your progress?"

"The trap has been laid."

"Perfect. Regroup with Raymond and prepare for what’s coming. Amaya, Jax, start bringing them this way."

"Understood."

"Copy!"

The responses were getting livelier with every second.

Things were going a little too well for them to not be warming up to Gio.

Though they rarely had a reason to directly acknowledge it, his voice was constantly in their ears.

They didn’t know why they needed to understand the battlefield as much as he made it seem like they did, but the information was useful nonetheless.

He took all the data that was sent to him by the operators about geographical conditions, weather conditions, surrounding ecosystems, and beasts, and turned it into a quick and streamlined explanation the team could still comprehend while engaged in combat.

And most importantly, he added from his own wealth of knowledge the prime weaknesses on Yhien’s body.

"The joints under its wings, its ears, its thighs..."

Amaya shook her head as she looked at the monster in the sky.

"Well, let’s give it a shot anyway."

She pushed forward, her form changing again as she moved her hands into a different set of symbols. She leapt into the air and positioned herself as if she was shooting a bow, manifesting energy in her grasp.

’From here...’

"Everyone, fall back!"

Amaya’s train of thought was interrupted by an abrupt callout from the zephyr.

This was a mock subjugation still. They were still acting according to Gio’s orders only, and they faithfully did the same when he told them to retreat.

Because last time he did so, another powerful monster appeared.

There wasn’t an extra enemy making itself known this time.

No, rather, the monster that had been continuously attacked until this point, so much so that the state of its body hadn’t been properly examined until now, finally gained itself some freedom.

Yhien flew as fast as it could high into the sky.

It panned its gaze across the world, its eyes finally landing on its own kin.

SKREEEEEEEE!

Another powerful screen, accompanied by a flap of the wings filled with so much strength that they cracked the air like a whip.

SKREEEEEEE!

Yhien raised its wolf head to the sky, making a sound that didn’t come from a wolf at all. Its eyes shined a reddish-orange color as it released a wave of Aether from its body.

VOOM!

It resounded like the thumping of a heartbeat.

VOOM!

And it didn’t end with a single sound.

It all happened within a single second. Right as the ground team followed Gio’s order to retreat, those pressure waves coagulated and shot into the air, becoming one with the clouds.

RUMBLE!

The sky roared in fury. Ten separate whirling tornados touched down to the ground and tore through the jungle. Trees went flying everywhere. Smaller beasts and monsters that hadn’t fled the area were sent into the air and ripped into shreds by the currents.

"Everyone, hold onto something!"

Raymond gritted his teeth as he looked at the surrounding chaos.

They had to avoid the winds somehow. At a time like this, even if Gio hadn’t failed his mock subjugation, they couldn’t afford to keep holding back.

The difference between Grade 5 and Grade 4 for monsters meant one important thing.

Their control over Aether was no longer limited to things outputted from their own bodies.

They could control the Aether in the world around them to attack.

And Yhien, who was on the edge of that boundary, had already grasped the method to do so.

"Everyone, aba–"

Raymond didn’t get the chance to say it. His voice was immediately drowned out by another.

"Focus!"

Gio’s childish voice seemed uncharacteristic considering his tone.

"Remember what I reported to you and move accordingly! Natalia, move together with Jason and Ulver and cover them! There’s a hollow you can hide in ten meters to the east! Amaya, transform into something with enough weight to withstand the current and move with Jax to find shelter!"

In the zephyr, his eyes were darting around, finding the information he needed to secure the team’s points.

"The battle isn’t over. It can control the surroundings, but only at a surface level. This is the extent of its ability, and it won’t be able to use it for long bursts. All of you just need to survive until this one ends, and then it’s our turn to attack."

As Raymond heard Gio commanding the team, he found that even he was following the boy’s orders.

It was certainly safer to end the mock subjugation here and end things once and for all, however...

’Isn’t he going beyond all expectations right now?’