Amidst the raging storm, although the giant centipede's body was intact, it was, for some unknown reason, merely struggling violently in place.
With his vision enhanced by aura, Morrow could even observe that its struggles presented a bizarre state of stillness and motion.
As it struggled, the movements of its upper body grew increasingly frantic, while its lower half seemed nailed to the ground, utterly motionless.
Even with the fierce winds swirling around it, strong enough to topple Chimera, the giant centipede's lower body and its dense cluster of legs did not sway in the slightest.
This phenomenon was exceedingly strange.
Morrow's heart tightened. He figured the giant centipede's current state must be related to that peculiar object hovering in mid-air.
This was supposed to be a hunt, a chase.
Yet the unidentified creature, with a body like a ragged sack, was only about the size of an adult bull, not even as large as one of the centipede's segments.
However, the one being hunted and pursued was the colossal giant centipede.
The absurdity of this scene was like an anteater, which should have easily ravaged an anthill, now being chased by a single ant with nowhere to run.
A mechanism-type creature...
What put Morrow on alert at that moment was the giant centipede's clearly divided state of motion and stillness, which was undoubtedly the handiwork of that unidentified being.
If it notices Chimera, the possibility of it attacking us cannot be ruled out. In this weather, it's difficult for us to relocate. Should we strike first now...
Realizing that the unidentified creature possessed some kind of dangerous, mechanism-based ability, Morrow's first consideration was naturally the team's safety and situation.
Based on the signs he was seeing, he speculated that the unidentified creature's ability was likely related to "fixation."
That was how it could render half of the centipede's body completely still in such an atrocious storm.
It was also how the creature itself could hover steadily in mid-air, unaffected by the surrounding gales.
Although I don't know the principles or activation method of its ability, if it only 'fixes' the body... even if I'm hit, I can counterattack with Insidious Shooting Star.
Morrow stared at the bizarre figure from afar, weighing his options.
With his guard up, if this unidentified creature moved even slightly closer to the mountain, Morrow would not hesitate to attack first.
Just as Morrow was deducing the mechanics of the unidentified creature's ability based on the signs, a sudden change occurred.
A flash of lightning split the heavens and earth.
Morrow, who was closely monitoring the situation, suddenly noticed that the eyeball within the creature's trumpet-shaped body flickered in sync with the lightning for an instant, like the flash of a camera shutter.
The next moment, before the lightning had fully faded, the half of the giant centipede's body that had been seemingly nailed to the ground abruptly vanished into thin air.
There was no sound of an attack, no noise of a body breaking apart, and certainly no trace of splattering blood.
That half of its body was gone, as if erased from existence.
Then, another bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.
Having lost half its body, the centipede was paradoxically freed from its restraints.
Uncertain whether it felt no pain or was solely focused on escaping, it writhed its remaining half-body frantically like a gecko that had shed its tail, fleeing into the distant darkness against the storm.
The unidentified creature, which had been behind the giant centipede, remained motionless, as if welded to the air, not moving an inch.
However, the eye within its trumpet-shaped body remained locked onto the fleeing giant centipede.
Crack...
Lightning once again tore through the sky, ripping apart the dark curtain.
Flickering simultaneously was the eye of the unidentified creature.
With just that one fleeting camera-like flash, it passed through the wind and rain and swept over the giant centipede's remaining half.
The giant centipede was instantly frozen, fixed in the escaping posture it had held a second before.
In the cave.
...
Morrow's pupils contracted sharply.
If not for his ability to greatly enhance his vision with aura, it would have been truly difficult to notice that camera-like flash hidden within the lightning.
So it uses this method, like a camera flash, to firmly fixate a creature it 'flashes'... but how did the lower half of that centipede disappear just now?
Morrow had initially thought the unidentified creature only possessed a restraining ability that could fixate a target's body. He hadn't expected a second-stage effect that could directly erase the immobilized body part.
Before his thoughts could yield an answer, the unidentified creature in the distance provided one with its actions.
Another flash, synchronized with the lightning, swept past.
Immediately after, the giant centipede, frozen in place, suddenly vanished into thin air.
Once again, there was no sound, nor were any traces left behind.
Morrow's heart went cold, and his danger assessment of this unidentified creature instantly shot to the highest level.
This thing...
The first flash could immobilize its prey, and the second directly erased it?
If aura couldn't defend against the effect of this flash, which was as fast as lightning, then it would be almost impossible to dodge.
Once immobilized, the second flash would make one evaporate from the world...
Hm?
Morrow focused his vision and could barely make out a blurry mouth on the ragged, sack-like Flesh, which was chewing slowly.
Chewing what?
Could it be the centipede that had just vanished into thin air?
What in the world is this thing...
Morrow's expression was grave. He could only hope that the monster wouldn't notice Chimera here.
But his hopes were dashed.
In the torrential rain and fierce winds, there were almost no signs of other living creatures.
And Chimera, clinging to the giant mountain, was ultimately too conspicuous.
The unidentified creature, having just finished its hunt of the centipede, was perhaps not yet satisfied, so it began to swivel the eyeball within its trumpet-shaped body, scanning its surroundings.
Soon, it noticed Chimera's existence.
It stopped swiveling its trumpet-shaped body, aiming the eyeball inside directly at Chimera.
—--
Inside the cave, aided by the strobing lightning, Morrow saw its movement, and his heart sank.
Chimera's size was ultimately too eye-catching.
During their journey so far, they had often been attacked due to Chimera's presence, but only this time did Morrow feel a truly fatal threat.
He quickly composed himself, channeling his aura to form a Shooting Star in his hand, preparing to engage in an instant.
—--
In the distance, the unidentified creature's body flickered and vanished.
The next moment, it reappeared five meters away.
Then it flickered again and disappeared once more.
When it appeared, it was still precisely five meters away.
It seemed it could only travel in this manner, and the timing of each flicker was perfectly synchronized with the lightning in the sky.
It was as if it could only use its ability in the instant that heavenly lightning flashed.
Furthermore, its choice to "move" suggested that its flash attack, which could immobilize and erase, clearly had a range limit.
Morrow keenly perceived this point.
Without the slightest hesitation, he decisively shot the fully formed Shooting Star from his hand.
In an instant, a fluorescent green light pierced through the heavy curtain of rain, speeding straight toward the distant unidentified creature.
Seeing the Shooting Star hurtling through the air, the unidentified creature immediately sensed the threat.
Its flickering movement could only proceed in the direction its eye was facing, with a maximum distance of five meters per flicker.
At this moment, if it timed it perfectly, it could use its ability at the instant the lightning flashed, thereby phasing through the Shooting Star's trajectory.
But this required perfect timing with the lightning streaking across the sky.
This was by no means easy and carried immense risk.
The unidentified creature did not want to take that risk.
Although it could shift its eye's direction to flicker sideways and move out of the Shooting Star's attack path, adding an extra step also meant shouldering an extra degree of risk.
Therefore, in the instant the next bolt of lightning illuminated the rain-swept sky, the unidentified creature's choice was to freeze the incoming Shooting Star steadily in mid-air.
One second later, lightning once again tore through the sky, for just an instant.
The unidentified creature took advantage of the light to flash again at the frozen Shooting Star.
The light vanished in a flash.
Along with it, the Shooting Star also disappeared.
However, the amount of aura output Morrow had used to form the Shooting Star did not return to its original state with the star's disappearance.
Not erasure... it's transfer?
Morrow had not withdrawn the aura output used to form the Shooting Star.
No, he couldn't withdraw it.
Relying on his rich experience and knowledge of ability systems, he almost instantly determined that the unidentified creature's flash attack didn't directly erase the target, but rather transferred it to another space.
I can't even dispel the Shooting Star?
Unable to reclaim the aura for the Shooting Star, Morrow tried to restore his aura output level to its original state by simply abandoning that portion of aura.
But when he tried, he found he couldn't even do that.
If the transferred Shooting Star remained in this state, then the portion of aura output Morrow used to create it was effectively stripped away and sealed, unable to be activated or used again.
Although he realized this situation was extremely tricky, Morrow's will to attack did not waver in the slightest.
He once again fired a Shooting Star at the unidentified creature.
The flash from that thing's eye seems to synchronize with the lightning in the sky... could that be the condition for activating its ability?
Watching the Shooting Star speed away, Morrow began to channel his aura again while pondering. If so, as long as I can get a Shooting Star to it in the gap between two lightning flashes... perhaps I can finish it in one fell swoop.
When it came to combat timing, Morrow had always been skilled, decisive, and ruthless.
So, after analyzing all the available information, when he fired the second Shooting Star, he had no qualms about the possibility of a large portion of his aura output being transferred and sealed.
On the contrary, with an almost terrifyingly stable will, he poured his aura into a third wave of attacks without any hesitation.
Shooting Star · Star Rain.
In an instant, a stream of Shooting Stars shot out from his palm.
At this moment, the unidentified creature repeated its old trick, freezing and erasing Morrow's second Shooting Star.
It even used the gap between lightning flashes to flicker forward twice in a row, instantly advancing ten meters.
But Morrow's Shooting Star · Star Rain followed close behind.
The unidentified creature was not foolish.
Sensing the intent of Morrow's latest offensive, it didn't remain in the path of the Shooting Stars. Instead, it risked the extra step, mechanically rotating its trumpet-shaped body to aim its eye to the side.
Then, as lightning streaked by, its eye flashed.
It instantly flickered five meters to the side.
The Shooting Star · Star Rain consequently missed entirely, shooting off into the distance.
However, before the unidentified creature could catch its breath, the next wave of Shooting Stars attacked again.
This time, it was neither a single shot nor a stream.
It was a sky full of Shooting Stars, weaving into a net that descended upon it.
The unidentified creature raised its trumpet-shaped torso and, with a single wide-area flash of its eye, froze the entire sky of Shooting Stars in place.
"Gya."
Its sack-like body split open into a mouth, as if mocking Morrow's futile effort.
Next, it only needed to flash one more time, and in theory, it could completely transfer and seal away the majority of Morrow's aura output level.
And it did exactly that.
A light flashed in its eye, and the sky full of Shooting Stars vanished into thin air in an instant.
However, when the unidentified creature shifted its gaze back to the original spot, the aura fluctuations leaking from the cave crevice had vanished.
Morrow, of course, had not disappeared.
He had left the cave and, braving the storm that could easily send him flying, had quietly circled around to the unidentified creature's blind spot.
The source of his confidence for such a move was not the ability of Terpsichora, but the Entropy Bird clutched tightly in his hand.
He had the Entropy Bird bestow a bout of good luck upon him.
Thus, under the effect of fortified luck, wherever he went, it was as if he were in the eye of the storm, completely unaffected by the gale.
This phenomenon defied all logic.
But it happened nonetheless.
This was the power of fortified luck.
While the unidentified creature's attention was drawn by the sky full of Shooting Stars, Morrow used this advantage to pass through the storm and secure a perfect position for a sneak attack.
So, just as the unidentified creature looked back toward the cave, Morrow, who had already circled behind it, directly grabbed the soft black tube connecting the trumpet-shaped torso and the ragged sack-like Flesh with his aura-infused right hand.
Tree Rings immediately prompted whether to absorb.
As I thought.
The prompt confirmed Morrow's guess.
This unidentified creature, which belonged to the same mechanism-type as Entropy Bird, could also be judged by Tree Rings as Post-Mortem Will.
However, with the appearance of the prompt, Morrow couldn't actually be sure, was this a coincidence brought about by the power of fortified luck, or was this the outcome that was meant to be?
As his thoughts stirred, Morrow activated the ability of Tree Rings.
In an instant, the mocking smile on the unidentified creature's sack-like Flesh froze.
An intense sense of crisis washed over it like ice water, causing it to react abruptly amidst a cold shiver.
"GYA!!!"
All its previous composure was gone as it tried to resist in a panic.
But it was meaningless.
The suction of Tree Rings was like a black hole, leaving it no room to struggle or escape.
Just like that, it was completely devoured by the power of Tree Rings.
At the same time, the Tree Rings on the back of Morrow's hand suddenly surged, rocketing from 19% all the way to 50%, 60%, 70%...
Such an exaggerated increase made him look over in surprise.
The Entropy Bird, clutched in his other hand, was now utterly petrified.
This... this is truly the power of the 'Pillar of the Entropy Fire'...!
The Entropy Bird was terrified.
The Pillar of the Entropy Fire was the absolute ruler of its kind, and also its nemesis.
So it was afraid that it, too, would end up like that unidentified creature, having its energy completely reclaimed by this power originating from the Pillar of the Entropy Fire that Morrow was now displaying.
Morrow was unaware of the terror in the Entropy Bird's heart, let alone the existence of the Pillars of Creation, which, strictly speaking, were not real entities but more akin to a conceptual influence.
His attention was on the Tree Rings. Seeing the energy finally settle at 91%, a wave of pleasant surprise washed over him.
This unexpected harvest could perhaps already guarantee the entire team's safety on their journey home.
However, this pleasant surprise lasted less than a second.
The surrounding scenery suddenly changed.
The sound of wind and rain in his ears abruptly ceased.
By the time Morrow saw the transformed scene clearly, he was already in a space filled with irregularly shaped iron metal.
And on the ground before him lay the giant centipede that had been erased by the unidentified creature's flash.
More accurately, it was the corpse of the centipede, split in two.
What's going on?
Morrow's first reaction was that he himself had been transferred by the unidentified creature's ability.
Otherwise, how could he suddenly be in this space full of iron metal, and even see the giant centipede's corpse?
But I clearly absorbed it completely...
But the surge in his Tree Rings energy made him doubtful.
Then, another possibility surfaced in his mind.
Could it be that because he had absorbed the unidentified creature, everything it had ever transferred had suddenly returned to reality at this very moment?