Ch 27: Nightshade Vesper

Ever since his severed arm and leg grew back, Emrys had been feeling different. His vision was far better than it had ever been; not only could he see in the dark, but he could also adjust his focus length.

Apart from his vision, his Echo Sense ability was also enhanced. Minor sounds coming from far away could not escape his senses. Besides, he could track the source of a specific sound now even in a noisy environment.

On top of that, he had also sensed a tremendous increase in his bodily strength.

Although broken, Elysia had her XT-300 Starfallen Armor. However, all he possessed was his physical strength which was nothing much.

Trudging through the dense tropical forests was not a walk in the park since the high humidity and rough terrains were real challenges to one's physical stamina. However, Emrys had been walking for a few days now but he had yet to feel tired.

'It looks like the Golden-striped True Royal Voidfrost Weevil has not only given me the regeneration ability and the ability to see in darkness but also enhanced my overall physical strength!'

Emrys thought to himself inwardly. He was not ready to tell anyone about it because he did not want to attract any attention that might make him appear suspicious.

As Emrys followed Elysia and continued on, his uneasiness got worse.

'Damn it! What the heck is going on?'

The bad feeling Emrys was having irritated him. He doesn't want to trust his intuition, but his instincts told him to trust it. Otherwise, he would regret a lot.

Previously, he never had any intuition when it came to danger. He can only trust his "Echo Sense" ability to sense the vibrations and slightest of the sounds. So, he trusted Elysia to make better judgments than him. After all, she was a powerful Seventh Star Esper.

This is also the reason he fought back the uneasiness and chose to trust Elysia who, despite having the strength of a Seventh Star Esper, was not feeling any danger.

Elysia wielded her blade and cleared a path in front. Just as she was ready to move ahead, Emrys felt something again. This time, the danger that suddenly grew in his heart was alarming. At the same time, his Echo Sense warned him rapidly that an enemy was already there.

"Watch out!" Emrys lunged forward to grab Elysia by the broken armor on her waist and pulled her back forcefully.

Elysia jolted and flew backward. Startled, she instinctively swung her blade to the back.

Emrys caught her wrist in time. Fortunately, he caught it before she could swing the blade fully. Even so, he staggered backward dozens of steps before falling to the ground, unable to balance his body.

Standing up, he shook the dust off his body and said, "It’s me! Calm down!"

"What are you doing?!" Elysia could not help but raise her brows.

"I..." Emrys tried to explain that he had pulled her back because his intuition told him there was danger.

Just as he was about to speak, the ground where Elysia stood on a second ago, burst open all of a sudden.

At the same time, a loud screech echoed as an insectoid burst out of the ground.

This insectoid was a Nightshade Vesper.

Nightshade Vesper are dark-winged insectoids. They move silently and use poison-filled stingers that paralyze foes. They are mainly known for their stealth ability and they can strike without warning and vanish just as quickly.

"Fall back!" It was not the time to ask questions. As a Seventh Star Esper, Elysia's first reaction was to aim her blade at the Nightshade Vesper and slash.

The blade lit up and an arc of electrocuted light slashed outward. It hit the Nightshade Vesper as if they were hitting some high-density alloy; they did not cause any harm to the bug at all.

"It is a Seventh Star Insectoid," Elysia muttered under a deep breath.

Then she turned to Emrys and shouted.

"Get back! Get back!"

Elysia shouted as she took out an energy grenade which surprised Emrys. He did not expect her to have an energy grenade on her body.

She was wearing the XT-300 Starfallen Armor. Although it was already damaged greatly, it was still a powerful body armor. Coupled with her own strength as a Seventh Star Esper, detonating an energy grenade at a relatively close distance would not cause her any harm. At most, it'll only cause a minor concussion.

"Okay!"

Emrys had experienced how lethal and terrible the energy grenade was. He immediately retreated and then threw himself behind a mound.

"Go to hell!"

Elysia pulled out the safety pin and threw the grenade out.

No matter how strong her armor was, she was not so stupid to detonate the grenade too close to her.

However, that Nightshade Vesper was apparently not stupid either. When Elysia threw the grenade, it parried with its front leg and kicked the grenade away.

The energy grenade exploded with an ear-shattering boom, but because it was far away, it did not inflict any harm on the Nightshade Vesper. Instead, the shock wave and flying dirt hit Elysia. She was bedraggled from head to toe.

"Damn it!"

Elysia threw out three more energy grenades that she had. These three were last three and now, all was used up by her.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the Nightshade Vesper had seen it coming.

It hit one of the incoming grenades away, dodged one, and disappeared from sight, easily evading the third one as well.

It utilized its ability to enter the stealth mode to suddenly appear behind Elysia's back.

"It is behind you," Emrys shouted out loud, warning Elysia.

He was unable to sense the Nightshade Vesper's movements. His Echo Sense ability was utterly useless in current situation.

Maybe, it was due to the Nightshade Vesper's stealth ability and high strength that his Echo Sense was unable to sense this insectoid previously.

Instead, including the previous time, Emrys was instinctively able to feel the arrival of danger and tell where it was. That's how he was able to warn Elysia in time.

Elysia suddenly slashed backward.

Screach~

The Nightshade Vesper cried out in surprise and flashed, retreating a few meters. Then it turned to look at Emrys with a threatening gaze.