King Of Limbo

"Fine!" As Esmeralda yelled in agreement another cry echoed from afar as if in response.

*Kawwwww!*

The loud cry seemed to have come from the clouds and as soon as it was heard, the many various creatures already in the sky scattered.

"What was that...?" Esmeralda asked as she looked up to the sky with a worried expression. Aron on the other hand only narrowed his eyes and showed a serious look. "Get on now!" He ordered and Esmeralda quickly jumped and clung to his back without hesitation.

Afterward, Aron immediately began to climb up at a hurried speed. Despite the surface being rather steep and rugged he easily maneuvered up at an impressive pace.

*Kawwwww!*

Little time passed and once again the strange bird cry echoed through the sky. Aron didn't even bother turning his head and continued to focus solely on climbing up as fast as he could whereas Esmeralda couldn't help but glance back.

What she saw caused her pupils to shrink. In the dark clouds far away, a large silhouette could be seen moving slowly towards their direction.

Lighting sparkled and the thunder roared wherever it passed causing Esmeralda who saw this to fell a great sense of danger and cling onto Aron harder.

"Faster... you have to go faster..." She muttered in a trembly voice but got no response as Aron carried on at his own pace as if she were not even there.

Before long Aron began to approach the summit but as he was doing so, the area began to grow darker as even more dense clouds gathered high above the peak.

*Kawwww!*

*Kawwwwww!*

The cry was now even louder, indicating the creature was not far. The clouds above had thunder roar and lighting struck the flat peak that was several kilometers wide with the central area being a pool of lava.

As lighting struck the Volcanic peak, lava began to splatter and rocks flew down forcing Aron to shift last minute in his climb up. Esmeralda felt panic when lava splattered her way but Aron's cloak provided her ample protection.

It was only when they finally reached the peak did Aron decide to look up and see just what was lurking in the clouds.

The silhouette was fast approaching and was only less than a short distance away now. "Why are you just standing, don't tell me you plan on fighting here of all places?" Esmeralda questioned with worry on her face.

The peak was far more deadly than the bottom and if a large scale fight did breakout here then she'd be in very great danger.

"No choice,we can't outrun it." Aron replied truthfully while waiting for the beast to reveal itself, he meant what he said and if the creature wasn't something he could handle he was going to go ahead alone.

Soon the skies crackled and the clouds began to part before the creature behind the cries revealed itself.

The beast was around seventy meters in height but it's large wings which were more than double that when spread out made it look far more larger and intimidating.

Much of its skin was thick like that of a mammal with the exception of it's wings, long neck and part of its back which had feathers.

It's tail was also strange as it had no feathers either, instead it was long running which made the beast look like a mix between a bird and a snake.

The three glowing eyes on its head were stationary and didn't even blink. One couldn't tell what direction the beast was looking in or if it could even see.

*Kawwwww!*

The beast opened its mouth were a blue glow that matched its eyes could be seen emanating from the depth of its body.

Once it did this, lighting struck down numerous positions on the peak causing Aron to grab Esmeralda and shuffle back slightly.

'It's similar to a Jzir Vulture but at the same time so different. Is this from evolution... or is it an entirely different species.' Once again Aron vaguely recognized the beast but it's features and habits seemed so different from what he knew.

So he was left with two theories. One that this was an entirely different species and two that it was a beast that came from Limbo but evolved over the years it was trapped in the peak.

"Can you take it?" Esmeralda who knew she couldn't escape without Aron wasn't the least bit calm in the situation. "That's what I'm trying to find out." Aron replied but still made no attack.

'Well until we're sure just what you are, let's call you the Pesian Jzir Vulture.' Aron thought as the light in the beast's mouth began to emanate again before lighting struck down. He quickly held Esmeralda by the waist and once again dodged.

How exactly it was making the lighting struck at will wasn't yet known to Aron but he did see a connection between the lighting and it's cries.

Despite having large sharp talons, the Beast continued to fly above the peak and didn't directly attack which he found odd. A creature it's size shouldn't be so cautious which only meant...

"It's developed intelligence..." He muttered and showed a small smile on his face, Esmeralda who still had her waist held onto to tightly was perplexed.

How was that a good thing?

"Won't that mean it's harder to beat?" She asked while looking at the large beast but Aron shook his head. "No, since it's also cautious of enemies it won't carelessly attack without confidence in winning...."

"Which means, I just have to show it that I'm not an easy opponent. I may even catch it off guard and land a fatal blow." Aron explained before unsheathing one of his arcane guns and firing at the bird's wing.

He imbued his own mana rather than use a mana filled bullet to test the hardness of it's skin. He had better chances of wounding it if he used techniques or beast arts but that would be no different than telling Esmeralda what he was capable of.

The blasts from Aron seemed to only irritate the beasts but it did release wails of pain causing even more violent streams of lighting to fall down.

However once again the beast wasn't accurate. It seemed it couldn't aim the attacks and they were simply random, the more it let out cries the more violent the lighting but still random.

Aron was starting to gain a rough understanding of the beast and didn't want to waste anymore time lest more come his way so he made his first plan to take it down.

He once again shot at the beast, his attacks causing abrasions but not penetrating the thick skin of the beast. However this wasn't his goal...

The beast was angered once again and it began to open its mouth, this time the glow within looked even more potent.

However just as it was about to release more cries, Aron unsheathed his other arcane gun and fired multiple times.

The damage was little but each attack was aimed at the wings which forced the beast into an awkward position before...

*bang!*

One of the streams of lighting had actually struck the beast itself and forced it to crash onto the peak near a stream of lava.

It's body looked mostly unharmed from the lighting aside from a few blackened feathers. Aron however used this moment it was grounded to charge forward with his battle axe in hand.

As if aware of danger, the beast was about to take off when Aron threw his axe with tremendous force.

*Kawww!*

The beast let out a cry of pain as one of it's wings was slashed through by the axe. It's reddish blue blood spurted out and caused it to cry out before another surge of lighting struck down again.

Esmeralda who was further away had ducked down and covered herself in Aron's cloak.

While it continued to cry out in pain, Aron charged forward bare handed but not without obstruction. Once he got within reach, it had tried to claw at him with his talons.

It had faked being completely vulnerable to draw him in, which failed despite it managing to graze his hand as he dodged. The cut was rather large despite only a small part of the beast's talons scratching him.

"Tsk." Aron only clicked his tongue and ignored the long cut on his hand which had already began to emanate a thin misty smoke while healing.

He charged in once again but this time he caught the talon before twisting one of the claws. He then leapt forward onto it's head before concentrating large amounts of mana into his fist.

His entire hand began to tremble as his veins bulged up. The beast shook violently in an attempt to throw him off but it was already too late.

Aron struck the beast with mighty force on the neck before leaping off. He then picked up the battle axe he had thrown before returning to Esmeralda's side.

"Kaa-!"

The beast tried to cry but found no sound came out except that of blood being gurgled and spat out.

"It's over..." Aron muttered as he watched the beast wriggle and move around as it's lungs slowly filled with blood.

It no longer even paid any mind to Aron who held Esmeralda by the waist and got ready to leave . "Let's go, just in case it's healing is also something else."

"Ok..."

…

[ RULE#77: Before you attack an unknown beast, observe and check for weaknesses ]

[ BEAST INDEX#4: Pesian Jzir Vulture ]