Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 223: Book 3: Chapter 74: Devastating

Read chapter 223 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 3: Chapter 74: Devastating Chapter 74: Devastating The battlefield cracked open like the gates to hell parting to reveal the suffering within. The first daughter-queen, covered in molten armor, dropped like a meteor into the field, the ground blistering beneath her splitting open and appearing just like her magma-lit skin. She was bulky and each swing of her arms scattering armored men like dolls. Her molten claws cut through steel and bone as if both were paper tissue. Beside her landed another of the daughters. Silvery white chitin plates covered her body in ways that was sleek and predatory. Her body giving the appearance of all lines and speed, with legs bent backward like a hunting cat’s and a thick tail for balance and force. Her arms gleamed in the red light given off by her sister and ended in claws as long as swords. She darted through the ranks as a blur of silver, the air bending around her passage. It was like watching Holly’s wind manipulation twisted from graceful and beautiful, to something violent and terrifying. A third daughter reached the chimeras at the frontlines instead of joining the other two. She spread her arms and began pouring light aether from her form in a radiant halo. Dozens and dozens of beasts glowed in answer to her, their forms charging forward faster and stronger than before. Alex could see that it was a group buff spell, see it plain as day. It was just like Peter’s spell, except this one didn’t just strengthen a single squad. The queen's turned almost a whole entire army into boosted rage monsters. And then the fourth came down like the shadow of an executioner's axe. Her body gleamed black, like living crude oil. A curved blade extended where one arm should have been, the other hand eerily human was tipped with claws. Within moments, her eyes locked onto Selka. Alex felt his gut twisting, a dreaded certainty hitting him like a hammer: predator to prey. He looked at the dark figure as it seemingly melted into the earth. One moment it was there, then just…gone. Alex’s [Aether Sight] and instincts screamed a warning in his mind, but he was too far away. He was too slow. The black Queen rose from Selka’s shadow, blade-arm already driving forward, Selka never even saw it. But Sarson did. He moved without any apparent hesitation, putting himself between them. The curved blade of the Queen’s arm punched through his armor and flesh without any real effort. Then she vanished back into the ground, melting away like smoke. Selka turned, confusion flashing across her face. Just in time to see Sarson’s body split open. His torso slid apart, blood spraying across the ground as gravity finished what the daughter-queen's blade had started. Alex’s breath hitched. His mind refused the image even as his eyes burned it in to his psychi. The blood pool, the shocked expression on Selka's face, Sarson's glassy, vacant eyes. Sarson was gone. Selka screamed. Her voice released a sound that wasn’t a battle cry, but a desperate, heart tearing, clawing grief. She dropped to her knees, clutching what was left of Sarson's upper half. His head, slack and limp, collapsed into her arms and she sobbed huge hitching gasps followed by roars of anguish. The sound that left her throat made Alex’s ribs ache just hearing it, something far too human for a battlefield like this. He wanted to look away. Gods, he wanted to. But he couldn’t. There was a flicker of movement and the shadow stirred behind Selka once more. Alex’s feet were moving before he realized what he was doing, [Aether Burst] cracking beneath his feet to push him, rocketing him forward. He hit the ground at Selka’s back just as the Queen’s blade arm arced downward again. “Move!” he roared, slamming a kick into the shadow’s side. The impact sent the Shadow-queen skidding across the ground. Alex landed behind Selka, but he didn't dare take his eye's of the dark black figure in front of him. “Selka, move!” “He’s gone…” Her answer was a whisper, her arms refusin