Ch. 45 - The Antimage (3)

In Kerina's eyes, everything in the world could be divided into two things---those that can be eaten and things that cannot... for now.

The parasitic monster glided through the dense forest and devoured everything in its path.

"Hurry up, my baby! I can't wait to meet that little apprentice! Ooh, I wonder what he would taste like! I'm so excited!" Kerina rambled while biting her finger with a dazed look.

The parasitic monster suddenly shifted, raising its body off the ground. Scales rapidly grew on its hideous head and revealed hundreds of eyes peering at its surroundings. Kerina drew some blood from her finger and smeared it on top of the monster's head, imbuing the monster with dark energy. The monster roared and the sound waves knocked down the surrounding trees.

"Found you!"

"Oh."

Kerina and Adam approached each other rapidly.

Kerina's eyes were blinded with lust. She took a deep breath and rambled, "Your egg! What a wonderful smell, can I eat it, please? Please? Pretty please! Please give the egg to me, I'll eat you too!"

Adam ignored Kerina's drivel and put himself on guard. He could feel an oppressive aura radiating from the monster. "What is that monster of yours?" he inquired.

Kerina unmounted from the monster and stroked its body. "Do you want to know? Then, become one with it!"

She slapped the monster's body and it burrowed itself into the ground.

Adam felt the ground beneath him rumble and he immediately shot into the sky. In an instant, the ground cracked and the monster pillared into the sky, following him with the intent to devour.

However, the monster couldn't fly, it attempted to chase Adam with the momentum it used with its strong body. It fell back to the ground with a loud slam.

"Weak. What's the point of having a monster like this? Any apprentice who can fly can already beat this useless monster," Adam taunted.

Kerina leaned softly against a tree, biting her finger. "Why are you resisting? Wouldn't it be nice to be eaten up by my little precious?"

The monster hit the ground, shrinking itself. Adam could sense it was casting a spell, and true enough, flames shot out towards Adam.

The flames' temperature was extremely high and even a slight touch would immediately melt all of Adam's psychic barriers.

Adam was shocked. "Is this... magic? No. It can't be. It must be the power of her blood."

Adam zipped around the sky to dodge the flames, but the monster followed him and attempted to trap Adam in a barrage of fire. Adam halted himself in the air and conjured a thick stream of water, violently gushing it towards the breath of fire. The water and the fire met and dense steam clouded the sky.

Adam rushed towards Kerina using the steam's cover---he knew the monster would be difficult to kill, so he intended to kill its master instead.

Adam shot out a thin beam of water, intending to slice Kerina in half.

"Funny," Kerina muttered seeing this, not moving at all.

With a single whisper, the monster shot out from the ground and shielded Kerina from the blast of water. While the water was unable to slice through the monster, it left a huge wound in its side.

Kerina darted forward, tearing the wound open. The monster howled in pain as its purple blood splashed everywhere, corroding anything it touches. Adam bounced back, using wind magic to push himself away from the ground.

"Troublesome." Adam frowned. Kerina was the most difficult enemy he had encountered so far. The parasitic monster couldn't get him in the air, but dealing with the monster was difficult. Adam had a great interest in the monster and was reluctant to retreat.

Adam glided forward and landed on the ground, he could feel the monster burrowing underneath, ready to devour him from below. Adam squatted down and pressed his hands on the ground, using an earth magic called [Harden]. In an instant, the soft, moist soil turned into cold, hard rock.

The monster struggled underground, attempting to break free of its rocky prison. Adam snapped his fingers, causing the rock to shatter and severely injuring the monster.

Kerina fell to the ground in pain and shouted, "My baby! No! Does it hurt? Don't be afraid. Mommy will help you out..." As soon as she finished, she took out a rusty knife and slashed across her arm. Her blood leaked out and she chanted a silent spell; her arm ripped itself out of her limb and flew towards the monster underground.

The monster split itself into two and abandoned its previous body underground. Adam immediately shielded himself with additional layers of his psychic barrier and resisted the shrill screams of the monster.

Adam ducked behind a tree. He could see Kerina's arm being swallowed by the monster, it rapidly recovered from its injuries.

"What kind of magic is this..." Adam's eyes widened upon witnessing the scene before him. With his current knowledge, he didn't know what kind of magic Kerina was using. Sacrificing oneself to enhance the monster's strength... How does her petite arm provide such a huge energy boost to the monster?

Kerina fell on the ground while grasping her bleeding wound tightly, "Baby, help me! I'm in pain! It hurts... it hurts so much!" She embedded the rusty knife onto the ground and beads of blood on the ground shook violently.

"Kill him! Eat him! Avenge your mother!" Kerina screamed.

Adam's eyes widened upon seeing that her blood started to morph into miniature versions of the parasitic monster.

Kerina scattered her blood indiscriminately, making tiny monsters surround Adam from the ground and the sky. Countless screams converged into a mind-shattering noise, attempting to deafen Adam.

Adam was completely surrounded. There was no escape for him.

Adam was in a crisis. It was impossible to capture Kerina alive---he had to kill her.

"Pity," Adam sighed.

Kerina constantly clawed at her body, letting the monster absorb her essence through strange means. The evil aura emanating from the monster grew stronger. Kerina smiled hysterically. "You're right... what a pity that you will die here!"

Adam shook his head and responded, "Such a pity that I have to destroy a good test subject."

As soon as he spoke, Adam hailed strong winds and blew all the monsters away from him. He covered the sky in a curtain of fire. Under the high temperature of a thousand degrees, the tiny monsters became barbecue and the main body cowered under the flame.

The curtain of fire fell on the ground, burning all the monsters to a crisp. Adam ran forward and pointed to the sky, gathering lightning on his palm.

The tiny monsters were burnt to ash while the monster's main body was bruised by the fierce flames.

The parasitic connection between Kerina and the monster brought her great pain. Even though her body was breaking down as it was absorbed by the monster, she didn't cry. "No... my child... my child... my precious..."

Adam dashed forward and swung, casting a highly pressurized jet of water while imbuing it with electricity. The impact caused Adam's body to be flung into the sky. As soon as he regained his balance in the air, all he could see was a huge hole with no signs of Kerina and the monster.

Adam was pleasantly surprised seeing how powerful his magic was. He didn't expect that the blast would be equivalent to nearly 500 kilograms of TNT.

Adam gently landed on the ground. The residual electricity that sparked on the ground chipped away at his psychic barrier. Adam walked to the ash formerly known as Kerina and found that the knife no longer shone with an eerie red light, it was embedded firmly into the ground.

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