Chapter 70: Is it a comet? No, it's the MC!

Chapter 70: Is it a comet? No, it's the MC!

The hangar housing the hatch had been partially destroyed. Only a few corpses lay nearby. No one saw any part of the hangar tremble. The collapsed roof began to move before slowly lifting. Seconds later, it tilted to one side, releasing a dark well. A head popped out, soon followed by the rest of the body. Looking left and right, a young man surveyed his surroundings before jumping out of the hole.

A luminous flake fell to his right and disappeared into the ground. Blinking, Priam raised his head to contemplate an unknown meteorological phenomenon.

Hundreds of thousands of snowflakes were falling all around him. Yet there were no clouds at all, but rather strange aurora borealis. Priam reached out to grab one of the little lights but decided against it. His instincts told him this was a bad idea.

Suddenly, he felt a wave of heat. Priam turned toward the forest, and his eyes widened. Only a few hundred meters away, the Earl was confronting a flaming titan. Their battle was terrifying. The lion moved gracefully and swiftly, while the fire monster was slower but developed colossal power behind each of his attacks. The Earl often dodged, seeming to dance around his enemy.

Priam hadn't sensed their fight until a wave of heat - a titans attack - reached him. The choreography of the two giants took place in absolute silence. The cause was apparent. The Earl had banished the air around them in an effort to stop the titan's flames. It worked partly, as the monstrosity's flames found no hold on the lion.

"We have to help him."

Priam turned and smiled. For once, he had sensed the animal's arrival but chosen to ignore it. His high perception and the presence of mist were beginning to pay off. Detecting his surroundings through the fog had become an automatism for Priam.

The eagle was one of the Viscounts in the lion's court. Yet he hadn't come to the Earl's aid during the early stages of the fight. The coward had waited for Priam's arrival before daring to show his face. I'm sure he'll want me to go first...

Priam didn't waste a second thinking. Sphinx and Blueberry were waiting for him, and he had no intention of wasting time confronting a Viscount.

"Of course. I've just improved my spear and think I can seriously wound the titan. But I need a good angle of attack. Could you drop me above him?" asked Priam.

The eagle looked at him for a moment, and Priam gave him his most innocent smile.

"Human heads are weird. Your beak is deformed. It's so ugly..." commented the eagle. Priam blinked. Did I really just get insulted by a bird?

The ground shook again, and the eagle gazed toward the titanic battle before nodding.

"I don't want you to ride me, but I'm willing to take you in my claws," he said.

Priam nodded. It slightly altered his plan, but it was a concession he was willing to make to appease the raptor.

The eagle took off, and Priam jumped. With his left hand, he grabbed one of the eagle's talons. The bird gave a mighty flap, and Priam almost let go of his grip because of the acceleration. Within seconds, the two Viscounts were several hundred meters high.

Priam looked around him, smiling like a child. The new moon looked magnificent from the sky. The eagle had first chosen to move away from the battle so as not to collide with the wisps. Above them, the sky, half hidden by the eagle's body, was sublime. The atmosphere was thin, and the black sky allowed the stars to shine brightly. In the background, the earth stood out against the sidereal void.

Priam looked at his home planet, smiling fondly. He would return there one day. Despite this thought, he knew he might not recognize anything. The earth was constantly changing. No doubt thanks to the System, nature was reclaiming its rights at a surprising speed. Priam's Perception enabled him to see as if through binoculars. He could make out continents, oceans, forest fires, titanic storms, abandoned cities and even what appeared to be a plane...

The plane looked at him. Priam's eyes widened. A creature with a wingspan of a hundred meters was crossing the sky, flying over the Atlantic Ocean. A dragon? That seemed unlikely. If the Phoenix was such a rare animal, a dragon couldn't already be present on Earth. But the reptile certainly had draconic blood. The next Reunion was shaping up to be an eventful one...

Suddenly, Priam felt a tug. The eagle was changing direction, about to fly over the aurora borealis, the source of the wisps.

"Get ready," said the eagle in a voice weary from his aether consumption. At their altitude, the atmosphere was not thick enough to support conventional flight. The bird was expending a great deal of energy to soar higher and higher. They must have been almost eight kilometers high, and the moon's atmosphere must have stopped at around ten kilometers. I wonder if there's a Title for the first human to reach it... Priam smiled. Knowing the System, such a Title surely existed.

The northern lights were approaching, and Priam prepared himself. He would only have one chance.

The lights were blinding, and the amount of aether present was terrifying. His peach fuzz bristled on his forearms and Priam swallowed. Suddenly, a hole in the phenomenon appeared.

"Now," cried the eagle.

Priam let go of the claw and turned in the air. The two Viscounts were less than ten meters apart. Priam cocked his arm and prepared a tenth of his accumulated kinetic energy. He concentrated on Promesse, their connection and [Spear Throw]. His muscles snapped, and Promesse left his arm. Towards the eagle.

The eagle's eyes widened as he saw the attack coming and he tried to dodge. Unfortunately, the weapon was too fast, and he had no time to maneuver. Like a comet, the spear of fire streaked across the sky before striking the eagle.

The Viscount must have specialized in agility and perception. His constitution didn't allow him to tank the attack, and Promesse passed through him, piercing his heart. Priam mentally recalled his spear.

Update: Predator - Viscount

The peasant fears the Baron but the Baron fears the Earl.

Do you fear the Earl?

Prove your worth and your ambition. Overcome the Earl's guards, the Viscounts.

Alphalia, the Lion's Wings, is dead.

Reward: Potential +50.

Participation: 100%.

You have eliminated a Moon Viscount without help. An outstanding performance.

Priam altered the application of [Kinetic Control] and his positioning slightly to better glide toward his target. Five hundred meters from the tree, Priam began to make out certain things under the canopy. Sphinx and Blueberry were having what appeared to be a heated discussion with two Viscounts. They were guarding Spring and preventing Blueberry from approaching.

Priam knew they'd have to kill them. Blueberry was undoubtedly waiting for Priam to do just that. Indeed, the bear seemed to think one of the Viscounts could temporarily control the Jubokko. If so, they'd have to kill them without giving them time to retaliate. Priam had no desire to confront an Earl-tree hundreds of meters tall and possessing a Domain.

Priam looked back one last time and had an idea. There might be a way to defeat both Viscounts simultaneously. The plan was perilous and would seriously injure him, but the Spring would heal him if he succeeded. Now was the time to take risks!

Two hundred meters from the canopy, Priam positioned his left arm in front of his face. He had slowed down, but his speed was still phenomenal. At almost a hundred meters per second, Priam slammed into the canopy. Leaves scratched his arm and the rest of his body, tearing his clothes. Two small branches lacerated his belly and tore off part of his scalp. Priam grunted in pain and reopened his eyes a quarter of a second later. He had broken through the branches and was looking down at the two Viscounts below him.

With a final burst of [Kinetic Control], Priam corrected his trajectory. His target - a sort of gorilla - looked up at him. Priam smiled at him and readied his knees. The key was to land well.

At one hundred meters per second - three hundred and sixty kilometers per hour - Priam manages to execute a flying knee kick to the center of the gorilla's face.

Dunk!

Status: (Average value for a Homo sapiens male before integration: PHY 10 / MEN 10 / META 0)

PHYSICAL:

Strength 155

Constitution 258

Agility 171 (+5)

Vitality 284

Perception 299

MENTAL:

Vivacity 176

Dexterity 201

Memory 50

Willpower 288

Charisma 150

META:

Meta-affinity 141

Meta-focus 98

Meta-endurance 90

Meta-perception 32

Meta-chance 114

Potential: 1090 (+5)

Tier 0

[He Who Eludes Death] charge OFF. Reloaded in 5 hours 48 min 38s

[Tribulation]: Tribulations are coming.

Time: 10 hours 8 minutes 32 seconds.