Floating Islands: SSS Gacha Lord
Chapter 418 - One Blink Too Late
Atlas watched as the swarm of insects dispatched by Krythalis spread rapidly in all directions. What had initially filled the air like a dark cloud quickly thinned out, dispersing until they were no longer visible to the naked eye.
Krythalis remained sharply focused, repeatedly shifting the direction he faced, as if tracing an invisible trail through the air.
"He is not far."
Someone spoke at the same time, and Atlas turned to see Edrik crouching low, one hand pressed against the ground. Atlas followed his gaze and noticed something embedded in the soil.
A large footprint.
"This is still fresh," Edrik continued. "There is mana residue. The mana signature is completely different from that of this world’s natives. This is very likely the person we are looking for."
Atlas had not even had the chance to respond when his instincts exploded with warning.
He snapped his head to the side just as Krythalis unfolded the protective plates along his back. The beastkin’s wings vibrated violently, releasing a sharp hum through the air.
"My lord, that direction," Krythalis said quickly.
Atlas clenched his teeth. In a single motion, his full armor activated, and an eruption of golden lightning wrapped around his body.
"Follow!" Atlas commanded.
Everything happened in an instant.
Krythalis shot into the sky like a released arrow. Atlas followed right after, launching himself from the ground with a light step, his body tearing free from the earth.
Golden lightning exploded around Atlas as he accelerated, yet even that was barely enough to match Krythalis’s flight speed.
They pursued the beastkin target as time itself seemed to stretch thin. In the blink of an eye, they crossed an enormous distance, streaking over endless stretches of forest below.
"He is moving extremely fast!" Krythalis shouted, not far ahead.
Atlas surged forward again, stepping onto invisible platforms of compressed, magnetic earth. His body detonated with power as he propelled himself onward, flashing through the sky like a bolt of living lightning.
Krythalis surged forward at terrifying speed, bursts of crackling energy snapping around his body. Bzt. Bzt. Lightning flared with every movement, making it seem as if he was performing short-range teleportation, even though he was truly just flying.
Atlas pushed himself harder, racing through the air and following wherever the beastkin moved. Wherever Krythalis headed, Atlas knew one thing for certain. The person they were searching for could not be far from them now.
Then, in a moment that was far too brief.
Atlas did not see it coming. He did not sense it either.
A massive explosion erupted out of nowhere.
Atlas snapped his head to the side just in time to see something enormous spinning violently toward him. He could not even tell what it was, only that it was huge and moving far too fast.
Damn it. Too fast.
The object was going to hit him head-on, and Atlas knew instantly that it would not be easy to withstand.
Something blinked rapidly in his peripheral vision. Edrik vanished from the air again and again in quick succession, and in the next instant, he was right beside Atlas. Edrik slammed his hand outward.
Reality tore.
A jagged rip opened in front of them.
The massive spinning object suddenly dipped downward as it tore through the space between them. The pressure alone caused the air to explode, a deafening impact ripping through their ears.
They tried to track its movement, but it was impossibly fast.
The object slammed toward them again.
Edrik positioned himself on Atlas’s right side and took the brunt of it. A brutal collision followed, detonating the air around them in a violent shockwave.
Edrik was blasted away by the impact, his body flung through the sky. Atlas was caught by the aftershock alone, thrown backward as he hastily stabilized himself with magnetic earth.
In that instant, Atlas finally saw it.
A massive black hammer, wrapped in a spiraling trail of fire, spinning at terrifying speed.
And in the very next moment, it changed direction and shot straight toward Atlas once more, faster than before.
It was an overwhelming attack. Taking it head-on would be far too risky for Atlas.
In that instant, he reacted.
He dashed.
Atlas twisted his body just in time, narrowly avoiding the massive hammer as it tore past the side of his torso, its violent rotation ripping through the air where he had been a moment earlier.
He accelerated immediately, shooting through the sky as the hammer continued to spin wildly, diving and chasing after him without mercy.
Damn it.
Atlas cast skill after skill, leaping in sharp zigzag patterns through the air to evade the relentless pursuit. The hammer was absurdly fast. So fast that even Krythalis could not clearly track the direction of its attacks.
Then, in a single sudden moment, the spinning hammer veered away from Atlas.
It happened in a blink.
The hammer plunged straight toward the ground at terrifying speed. Below, Edrik had just stabilized himself, still in the process of recovering.
Atlas and Krythalis dove downward at once, rushing toward the ground as fast as they could.
And at that moment, they saw him.
A large figure stood there. He was not taller than Edrik, but his body was packed with dense muscle, thick and solid, like something carved from stone rather than flesh. Every line of his frame spoke of raw power and weight.
Was this the one they were looking for?
The dwarf clenched the hammer in his right hand and launched himself straight toward Edrik.
Edrik was in danger.
Edrik vanished repeatedly, blinking in and out of the air in rapid succession. Yet the dwarf moved just as fast, swinging the hammer again and again, striking precisely where Edrik reappeared each time.
Despite his short-range teleportation, Edrik could not keep up with the dwarf’s speed.
Damn it. How could he move like that?
In the final exchange, Edrik managed to block the hammer’s strike. A thunderous impact followed, the collision detonating the air around them. Edrik’s body was flung away, disappearing into the distance a moment later.
Atlas and Krythalis were still descending toward the ground.
And at that moment, the dwarf tightened his grip on the hammer and lifted his head, looking straight up at them.
A violent impact exploded beneath the dwarf’s feet, energy erupting outward as the ground shattered.
In the next instant, it was as if time itself froze.
The man was suddenly in the air, right beside Atlas.
His massive left hand shot forward and clamped down, not only around Atlas’s throat, but crushing against his jaw as well.