RISE OF EROS-Chapter 776 - 775

Duglas and Lustas's concerns regarding Andrew having already met with their greatest competitor immediately filled their minds. Especially when they noticed the person in question wasn't at the party.

Their competitor is named Cassandra Niss, and surprisingly, she's a liquid spirit like Elidyr from the Land of Rivers. There are many races in the city of Comers, so it's no surprise that a liquid spirit lived here.

In fact, she wasn't the only liquid spirit in the city; liquid spirits ran her entire company. It was a branch of the liquid spirits from the Land of Rivers that split off many years ago. This small group settled in this place and over the years managed to create a shipping empire. Being a race blessed by water, it wasn't difficult for them to profit from the sea.

They even knew of the existence of the spirits who guarded the seal of the fallen god. Well, to be more precise, they knew Aqua and another sea spirit, but had little interaction with them and were unaware of the information about the fallen god.

Still, that didn't matter, as they had become merchants and were now one of the largest companies in the city and the largest maritime trading company, surpassing Duglas and Lustas.

Just as they had thought, Andrew had already met with her and even reached an agreement. Andrew didn't really need Duglas and Lustas, as Cassandra has the capacity to handle his entire business, but it wasn't good to put all his eggs in one basket.

Cassandra hadn't come to the party, as it was part of the agreement to put pressure on Duglas and Lustas. While this would go against Cassandra's interests, she had no choice, because just as these two were being pressured now, she was under pressure a few days ago when she met with Andrew.

In short, Andrew was using them to put pressure on the others, as whoever he chose would have the advantage. Andrew's intention was not only that, but to establish a business relationship with all three.

It was better to have dealings with the three, because as long as they were competitors, they would have better deals, and they would always have to be on guard against the others, lest they steal a client as important as Andrew's.

Although a brilliant plan to control them wasn't Andrew's; it was Candice, Victoria, Carolina, and Gastón who devised it. They had a better understanding of these matters than Andrew, so he simply followed them.

While all this was happening, Sereda's laboratory was immersed in the glow of ethereal lights and the constant hum of arcanetech energy. On a metal table, the inert body of the beast clone lay open, its flesh still fresh and vibrant with latent power.

Crhono watched the process with a stoic expression, while Sereda manipulated precision tools, extracting fragments of tissue with meticulous care. "The key is in its cellular structure," Sereda murmured.

Her gaze was fixed on the data projected on a translucent panel. "Its body has a unique quality, something that allows it to obscure its presence from any form of perception… but it's not perfect. There's a pattern here, a residual imprint."

Crhono tilted his head, analyzing the information with his flashing eyes. Sereda was right. The beast wasn't completely undetectable; its trail existed, albeit in a subtle form, a barely perceptible etheric imprint. If they could amplify that signal, they could follow it to its hiding place.

With a slight movement of his hand, Crhono activated a device on his wrist. A flow of energy coursed through the room, resonating with the tissue sample. The runes etched into the metal of the table glowed faintly.

"It works," Crhono confirmed with a faint smile. "Now I know where it's gone to hide," he said cheerfully. Sereda looked at him with warning in her sharp eyes. "Don't underestimate that thing, Crhono. Being able to track it doesn't mean you can catch it easily," she warned, and Crhono assured her, "I know that. But now I have something I didn't have before: a lead."

Without further ado, Crhono left the laboratory and began his journey. The air was thick with tension as Crhono arrived at the forgotten ruins in the heart of a fog-shrouded forest. Following the subtle resonance he detected with his new method.

He had tracked the beast to this desolate sanctuary, a place where shadows seemed alive and echoes of ancient presences filled the void between the moss-covered stones. He stopped in the middle of a clearing.

His senses were alert, his power raging beneath the surface, ready to erupt at any moment. He knew the beast was close, but he couldn't sense it yet. His ability to erase her presence still worked. Tracking her and sensing her were two different things. "Get out of here," he muttered, not waiting for a reply. And then, it moved.

A whisper in the air. A subtle shift in the pressure around him. Crhono reacted in a split second, spinning and raising an energy shield just as a scythe-sharp claw descended upon him.

The force of the impact caused the ground beneath his feet to crack, and the shockwave sent dry leaves and dust tumbling in all directions. The beast was swift, like an impossible-to-catch shadow.

Its body, a grotesque amalgamation of its former leaders, slithered through the shadows with impossible movements, a dance of death and stealth. Every time Crhono tried to attack it, it vanished before his blow connected.

Yet Crhono was no mere warrior. He was infinitely more powerful than the beast. "You can't hide forever," he snarled, activating an energy blast that disintegrated a section of the forest, leaving a smoking crater around him.

The beast reappeared to his left, lightning fast. Its eyes blazed with savage intelligence, its mouth curved in a sneer. It knew it couldn't outmuscle it, but it didn't need to.

Its advantage lay in deception, in uncertainty, in the impossibility of being caught. Crhono launched a flurry of energy projectiles, but the beast slipped through them as if reality itself were distorting around it.

Then it counterattacked with a stealthy strike, seeking a weak spot in its enemy's defenses. The duel continued, a lethal game of pursuit and evasion. Crhono had the advantage in raw power, but the beast dominated the battlefield in stealth.

Each attack from Crhono shook the earth, each explosion lit up the night like day, but the beast always found a gap in which to hide, a corner of reality to disappear. The clash of forces resonated throughout the region. Lesser creatures fled in terror, and the unleashed energy shook the heavens, but the battle was not yet over.

A move as powerful as that of Crhono, the strongest warrior on the continent, unleashing his power, alerted many. At that moment, the words spoken before echoed, "There is another beast."

Over time, everyone had begun to believe that Crhono was truly lying and that the claim of another beast's existence was just him saving his reputation, but when they sensed that he was fighting, everyone began to doubt it.

The dragons had been hidden for centuries, and since they reappeared before the public, they had only been seen interacting with two types of events, at least as far as strength was concerned.

The first was the Abyssals, and the second was Purgatory. However, lately, they could also be linked to the beast that had appeared out of nowhere, especially Crhono. That's why, upon sensing Crhono's struggle, everyone understood it was either Purgatory or the beast, and based on the location of the battle, the beast seemed a more likely possibility.

Demigods from all over quickly rushed to that place. Not only were they hidden figures, but allies like Draneg, Kael, Asha, and even the Lightning Wielder went to see. Unfortunately, they weren't nearby, so arriving would take quite a while. Perhaps by the time they arrived, the battle would already be over, but that didn't convince them not to travel.

The encounter between Crhono and the beast even caught the attention of Purgatory, who had been hiding for some time. They wanted to use the beast, but were powerless against Crhono.

Despite these difficulties, they also traveled to the scene to see if they could help in any way, but like the other demigods rushing there, they were far away. The landscape quickly transformed into what looked like a field bombarded with heavy artillery, but Crhono had yet to deal a decisive blow to the beast.

The tracking method Sereda developed allowed them to narrow the search, but it didn't reveal the beast's exact location, so fighting it was still difficult, as it could easily hide. She could dodge Crhono's attacks by blending into the shadows and erasing her presence, but unlike previous times, she couldn't flee, as Crhono now had a tracking method. freewёbnoνel.com

This doesn't mean the beast knew it, so the moment it saw it was at a disadvantage, it tried to flee, but to no avail. Crhono followed it with great ease, and then the beast felt fear for the first time.