RB Chapter 151 Tricked

Eric's patience had also been wearing thin while the time ticked by. The chat with Leah had at least managed to prevent him from snapping.

Time droned on, two hours passing without event. The entire camp had sank into silence except for the crackling of the dry wood in the flames.

This place, where they had camped was one of the few dry places in the grove. They had travelled so far inside that they had met with a swamp. The creatures which had been in the swamp had all probably already been slaughtered by the black ants.

'I have waited long enough. They aren't that special, except for their concealment methods...but what was that about spectrum warriors...and space?' It had been listening to the conversation, but it found some of the terms unfamiliar. It had been clever enough to apply context to understand some, but these ones were unfamiliar.

It didn't waste any more time. It stood and started descending on the branches. It made sure to be as silent as possible. It had the belief that their guard was down. Even if it wasn't, the other two were sleeping. As long as it was fast enough, it believed that it could take the two down before the others fully awoke.

The moment it descended, Eric was alerted. He had never lost sight of the beast. 

"Tsk!" He clicked his tongue, attracting Chloe's attention. As they locked eyes, she understood what he wanted to convey right away and secretly got ready.

She became excited that she was finally going to act, but that didn't make her act hastily.

She silently released her electromagnetic domain, five meters around herself. Elena and Leah were included within its confines.

Eric had no need for that, as his spectrum vision was all he needed!

As he waited, seconds ticked down in his mind. The beast descended at a slow pace, like a predator, stalking its prey.

But through his spectrum vision, he could see it accumulating energy, preparing itself to strike. The energy build up was mostly concentrated in its legs.

Once it reached optimum distance, it went silent. Eric felt a chill, but he already knew where it was coming from, so he waited.

Before a second, could pass...

Crackle!

The groan of the dry wood in the flames acted as the signal!

The cat was situated on the tree behind the stone Eric was leaning on.

A gust of wind hit the back of the stone, and something dark appeared right above it, clawing down with its right paw.

The moment the claws made contact with the body, it discovered something, causing it to instantaneously leap out of the way!

A fist, covered in electric snakes passes in front, a few inches from where it had been before!

The fist turned into a sweep causing it to still be within the domain of the attack.

Boom!

The sweep made contact with its abdomen and it was hurled away, crashing into the tree bark, causing a few leaves to flutter to the ground.

"That was the perfect trap." Eric's voice came from beside the rock.

"Yeah, but its instincts are terrifying!" Chloe praised. She had been the one to throw the punch.

"Mmmm." Eric nodded in accent. He had even manipulated the light from the camp fire to create the illusion that he had still been leaning on the rock, but even with that trap, it had managed to evade Chloe's punch.

"I think it got away unharmed from the sweep."

"I saw it clearly. The kinetic energy was dispersed by its skin rippling." Eric answered. His eyes had never once left the cat. Even though it was weaker than both of them, energy channeling could lead to variable results if used cunningly.

"Has it finally attacked?" A voice cane from behind them. It had a certain lazy quality to it, due to the fact that the person had just awoken.

"Our mission target finally lost its patience." Chloe answered without turning her head. Her entire body was clad in electricity and the grin on her face was joyous.

'A cat...it must have been a domestic cat before the mutation, or its parents were.' Eric finally took a look at their attacker. The light from the fire gave a vague image, but with the night vision, it was as bright as day. It had green luminous pupils with a vertical dark slit running down the middle. Its black fur made it appear as if it was simply a shadow, or an illusion.

It was standing on its two hind legs, and it was currently warily regarding the duo.

"Chloe, we need to work on our teamwork, so don't use your spectrum abilities." Eric ordered.

"Leah, Elena, take the sides." Through his spectrum vision, he saw that they were ready and gave them positions.

Leah took the right and Elena took the left. They had wordlessly acknowledged his orders.

The green luminescent pupils flickered in the darkness...probably thinking up another plan now that the ambush had failed.

The cat finally came to a decision and instantly turned into a black streak heading for Chloe and Eric, the ones at the front.

Just five meters away, it made an unexpected maneuver. It spun its body and its foot, now facing Leah's direction, kicked off the ground.

The two, Chloe and Eric were caught offguard by the movement...and it wasn't just limited to the two of them.

Leah had just appeared at the right, her eyes hadn't once left the cat for an instant, so she saw everything, but just like the others, she had thought that the duo were the targets!

"Shew!"

The sound of something cutting through the air entered her ears, and the cat, like it had teleported, appeared a meter away from her. A fatal distance!

Elena's eyes widened as she beheld the cat's back as it prepared to assault her friend. Her mouth opened wide, probably to shout out a warning...

Leah had less time to react since the feline's agility trumped hers, so her brain instinctively chose the most optimal solution. With a reflex action, her hands were raised to eye level to protect her face.

Emerald scales poured out of her skin so fast that they coated her entire body in the span of an instant!

"Screeeeee!"

The claws clashed with the scales producing sparks and a grating sound. The cat had aimed for the head!

Its idea had been to take down one of the four with speed and trickery! The claws slid along the scales, leaving a trail of white marks and sparks.

Leah's head lowered and her neck shrunk from the force. Her brain shook as the impact passed through it.

Boom!

All of that happened in an instant! The ground cratered as she became buried, her life and death unknown.