THE LUSTING WORLD - Season 3 Episode 34

“I can handle it, Lyod. Go save others!!” Paula shouted at her husband, directing him to rescue the injured guards. *Screech* A shrill sound tore through the atmosphere, followed by a massive pillar of dark red fire, falling from the skies. A gigantic black mass was the source of the screams.

“You have improved, brat haha..!!” Paula levitated to stand beside a blonde man. The guy was huffing from over-exhaustion. She smirked looking at his ripped clothes and the bloody wound on his head.

“Haha.. what do you know, old hag! It’s time this junior takes the center stage haha… Crimson Blaze!!” At his shout a pool of fire manifested mid-air, falling on the huge abomination that was being held down by the guards. Each one of them had a mana rope attached to the large tentacles of the entity as they did their best to hold the thing down.

*Screech* Crimson fire rained down from the sky, burning through the hardy skin of the creature. They have taken heavy losses from this sudden invasion. The creature had emerged from the center area of the plantation. The town was prepared for these invasions as some sentient Krypto vines do make their way to this side. Nevertheless, this was the very first time something this big had visited them.

The elite guards under the town chief had been enough to thwart any previous invasive attempts, but this time most of them were left scattering for their lives. Fortunately, three of the most powerful personalities currently residing in the town were quick to come to their rescue.

*Cough* *Cough* Eric spewed blood from his mouth promoting him to hurriedly sit in the air to recover his lost mana. “Fuck.. how the heck am I supposed to explain all this destruction.” The woman beside him slapped his head. “Don’t curse in presence of your seniors, brat..”

Eric was left disgruntled, yet he lacked the time to engage with this vindictive woman. “How much time do you need? Our powers are not suitable to deal with it. Yours is the only one that affects it. Oi.. Oi.. Why are you staring at me at my breasts?” Paula suddenly put her hands on her chest, hiding the portions ripped open due to her previous fight.

“The fuck! When did I do that?” Eric gritted his teeth. This woman sure knows how to get on someone’s nerves. Even during such precarious situations, she finds a way to frustrate him even more. “Huh.. I know, I am still so beautiful but you should look for someone your age, little Eric. I might be old enough to be your mother, you know.”

Eric had to take deep breaths to calm himself down. He was aware that she was just messing with him and bidding her time to recharge herself, despite that it was extremely difficult to not lose his mind under her narcissistic comments.

“Huuu..” He opened his eyes and decided against arguing any further. “I need at least 10 minutes. Think you can buy me that?” Paula’s face contorted like she was disappointed that the fun ended sooner than she expected.

“You are so cruel, Eric. Do you want these old bones to engage that monstrosity for 10 whole minutes? You got no sympathy, you know!” She sulked but Eric had already closed his eyes, choosing to shut her off completely.

Paula’s demeanor took an about-turn, once she noticed that the man had begun ignoring her altogether. “Huh.. so insensitive!!” Her body descended on the ground. Taking a look around, she found out that half of the guards were out of commission and the rest were barely holding on with Lyod’s help.

“Shhh.. the things I need to do for the juniors.” She keeled on one leg, placing both her hands on the ground. Immense mana circulated inside her channels, bursting out with a heavy bang. *Boom* *Boom*

“Get back!! Get back!! Lady Paula is here!!!” Many guards shouted, noticing the harbinger of destruction step in. They had to run back to safety, otherwise, they would only hinder her efforts. They retracted their mana, leaving the woman alone with the monster.

Getting the breathing room, the vine monster began rejuvenating its wounds. The fire attacks from earlier had damaged it massively. *Rumble* *Rumble* All around, the earth began shaking and Lyod called out to any guards who were naive enough to remain close to Paula.

Being her husband for so many years, now one can be more clear than him about her capabilities. In raw fighting strength, she surpassed even himself. He would have liked to help the woman but unfortunately, he had utterly exhausted his mana reserves fighting this abomination.

Lyod had been the first to be informed of its existence and naturally, he was the one who had to hold out against it all by himself, until Eric and Paula came to his rescue. Having dueled with such a powerful being for so long, large lacerations can be seen all over his body, in addition to a puncture wound on his right shoulder that left his arm useless.

Across the battlefield, a guard had injured his leg and was limping to safety when he fell from the vibrations of the ground. Too stupefied to move, he felt his body getting swallowed by the earth below when the hard surface began transforming into minute sand particles with every passing second.

Till the time he realized his condition he found himself struggling to even keep his head above the sand. All around him the area had suddenly changed to a quagmire, eager to swallow anything that came in its path. “Ahhh.. Somebody save.. meee! Agghhh!!”

He shouted to attract the attention of his fellow guards but all of them can only freak out. Thankfully before the guy can drown in the lake of sand, his hand was grabbed by a floating body before being pulled out from his early grave.

Lyod placed the man on the ground, letting others tend to his wounds. Behind him, an area of 100 meters had been converted into a desert. The sand vibrated and began rising with the natural flow of the mana. In the center, Paula opened her eyes.

The Krypto creature had used this time to heal up some of its earlier burns that it received from the dammed fire attacks. It was smart enough to realize that the man sitting cross-legged mid-air was a much bigger threat, taking the opportunity multiple arms surged towards him.

Alas, Paula had recovered much of her energy. With a single point of her finger, a large amount of sand stuck to the approaching tentacles, thwarting the attack launched at Eric. “Don’t go on ignoring this old mother here.. Allow me to play with you in the meantime haha..”

Paula’s body rose through the air, stopping at the same height as the monster and staring right into its muddy eyes. The creature was just an overgrown Krypto with some amount of consciousness. It was not very intelligent, evident from its brute force way of fighting. Yet, the humans were no match for their extremely resistant skin and the ability to recover from the gravest of injuries.

*Scrreech* It wasn’t particularly excited after having his attacks blocked by the woman. “Crush!” Paula clenched her hand and instantly the sand stuck to the huge arms of the creature coalesced harder and harder. *Screech* No matter how hardy it was, the monster can still feel the pain.

*Boom* *Splatter* Unable to resist the crushing force its arms were thoroughly destroyed, leaving behind a mangled mess. *Swish* *Swish* Infuriated, large tentacles were launched towards Paula as she swiftly dodged the attacks.

“Your intellect is even less than the beast haha…Such a fool!” Paula maneuvered between the large black mass, her small size made sure that the guy had a hard time locking onto her. Meanwhile, she kept using her sand powers to annihilate its arms, one by one.

Lyod watched the woman fly around the net of tentacles in the sky. A smile made its way on his face. He can tell, Paula was having the time of her life. In truth, she was a fighting maniac. Opposite to himself, she was someone who enjoyed the life of adventure. Only because of him she decided to give up on her likings, and settle in a far-off town with him.

No matter how much he tried, she refused to change her decision. In his heart, he always had the feeling like she had been deprived of her destiny, all because of him. Watching her right now, affirmed his belief. ‘Maybe it’s better for her to leave the town for a while.’

*Screech* *Schreech* Annoyed at being played around for a fool by a peaky human, the creature retracted its arms back. *Spit* A large glob of greenish sludge was ejected from one of its body holes, aiming straight at Paula. Thankfully, the woman was quick enough to counteract it. A large amount of sand collected in front of her, taking the attack for her.

*Hisss* It must be acidic, as she had assumed. Right then, she felt her senses tingle and she hurriedly made another shield to her left. Of course, the attack had managed to take her by surprise and she was only able to create a makeshift blockage that was blasted away by one of the creature’s arms.

It had taken advantage of the small window of opportunity to launch a devastating attack, aware that she can’t see it with the sand blocking her view. The guards beside Lyod panicked when Paula was struck but the old man kept smiling.

*Boom* A lot of sand rose to catch Paula mid-air. “Haha.. fuck!! It hurts!” She wiped the trace of blood at the corner of her lips before her eyes turned vicious for once. All this time she had a mocking tint in her eyes like everything was nothing but a play.

“Well, well, you got me there haha..” She decided to go all out but a voice called out to her in a scornful tone. “You have really gotten old, lady Paula hehe..” Her eyes found Eric suspend in the sky with roiling flames all around his body.

The woman retraced the anger in her heart, smirking back at him while flying towards the creature. “Haha.. you are one to talk brat. You think those flames can hide the heavy beating you received from this fellow.” A large area under the Krypto creature began sinking in.

The creation tumbled, trying to grab onto the nearby trees to keep itself from being swallowed by the earth. A fireball stood over its head, chanting a spell. *Screech* “Hold it right there.” The creature below can sense the intense mana fluctuations coming from the guy. There was no doubt that he was preparing for a massive spell.

Multiple arms with large jaws at the end of each one-shot towards Eric, only to be countered by the sands in the surroundings. “Don’t go around ordering your seniors, brat!!” Eric’s eyes glowed red as he put forth his hand.

Aware that this might turn out to be its last stand, the creature tried to release toxic gas trying to threaten the swathes of guards in the distance. “It won’t work twice!” Eric raised his left hand and effortlessly set the gas on fire. “Majestic Infernal Flames!!”

A magic circle manifested right over the creature’s head, slowly moving down. It must have been able to sense its doom, causing it to frantically struggle to get free from Paula’s sand bindings. Multiple arms dislodged from its body, biting on the tree trunks surrounding them.

“Move!! It’s damaging the trees!!” Lyod can see the creature devouring the life force out of the massive Yuva trees, futilely trying to refill its empty energy reserves. They can’t sustain any more damage. One tree had already been sacrificed to contain this monster, they had to protect the rest with their lives.

Lyod’s body had rushed to the location of one of the arms, attached to the tree. *Slash* A bluish vapor covered his hand and he chopped down on the tentacle. The hardy body that had been enduring multiple attacks from everyone had been sliced like a common fruit by him. With that, he had leaped towards the next one.