Chapter 37 - One Vs Five (2)

The 'Sky Piercing Arrow' flew at max speed as it darted towards one of the three remaining Horned Cloud Rabbits. Unfortunately, the arrow just missed its target as the beast chanted the same wind elemental spell as before and dashed out of the arrow's trajectory.

Meanwhile, the Wandering Glow spell also went into action once more as one of the other Horned Cloud Rabbit's charged at the little kitten with bared fangs. With the threat of the burning orange snake swerving into its path, the beast growled in a frustrated manner as it darted off into another direction, not daring to take on the heat of that flaming snake.

'These horned rabbits are so swift, it's a wonder I was able to kill those first two!' The little kitten hissed in frustration. 'Its as if these buggers are learning from the first two and learning how to avoid my attacks... Damn red furred freak, making these horned rabbits so realistic!'

As the seconds turned into minutes, the little kitten's frustration grew in intensity as the three Horned Cloud Rabbit's got better and better at avoiding her 'Sky Piercing Arrow' and after nearly five minutes of this, one of them even sneaked by her 'Wandering Glow' spell and struck her with a head on tackle that sent her tumbling several meters.

After reaching the end of her tumble, the little kitten dug her claws into the solid floor to maintain her standing figure, preventing her weakened legs from collapsing. In the middle of readjusting her state, she then found herself in further danger as a swiftly moving Horned Cloud Rabbit was charging at her from nearby, soon to be in range to strike her with its nasty claws.

Gritting her teeth, the little kitten concentrated her aura in the 'Wandering Glow' spell and ordered it to intercept the attacking Horned Cloud Rabbit.

To the little kitten's shock, the Horned Cloud Rabbit did not retreat when the 'Wandering Glow' spell threatened to strike it and instead swiftly leapt into the air over the flaming snake and was quickly in range of the little kitten.

'Its not so easy to strike me down, damn rabbit!' The little kitten hissed as she shockingly formed four familiar white claws over her right paw, all without the need for a chant!

However, these four claws were obviously unstable and smoky aura seemed to seep out of them wastefully.

The little kitten didn't care about her aura wasting away however, as the dire situation necessitated it and without further delay, the little kitten's right paw swiped diagonally upwards, causing the 'Celestial Claw' spell to go charging forth in all its glory.

Unsuspecting of this desperate and swift attack, the Horned Cloud Rabbit was helpless in the air as it was struck with the deadly blow. Blood sprayed from four newly formed wounds as the 'Celestial Claw' dug quite far into the beast's skin and by the time the Horned Cloud Rabbit tumbled to the floor, its small artificial life had already come to a bloody end.

'Only two more to go!' The little kitten's eyes glittered with confidence and her tail wagged back and forth in excitement.

★★★

'How interesting... While she had to sacrifice a bunch of aura and the end result was a little shabby, she was still able to conjure the 'Celestial Claw' spell without the need to chant... She's been really blessed, it would seem...' The Guardian Spirit thought mysteriously as he looked on at the little kitten who was in the middle of a game of cat and mouse with her remaining two enemies, though its more like cat and rabbits. 'Kekeke, though in the end, its still her own insight that has allowed her to come this far, so it can't all be attributed to that...'

★★★

As the 'Sky Piercing Arrow' chased one of the Horned Cloud Rabbit's, the little kitten was also in a scramble against the other Horned Cloud Rabbit, her 'Wandering Glow' spell always on the move to intercept the beast's swift attacks.

Like before, this attacking Horned Cloud Rabbit was learning with every exchange and the little kitten could tell that soon the beast was going to be able to launch beyond her outer defence, the 'Wandering Glow' spell and be able to attack her with its vicious claws, or even its vampire-like teeth.

'How annoying!' The little kitten spat as she quickly moved into action once more, the 'Celestial Claw' spell was activated once more. Its unstable form flickered to life and was rocketing towards the Horned Cloud Rabbit.

Yet, to the little kitten's shock, the Horned Cloud Rabbit seemed to predict this attack and swiftly manoeuvred around those four white blades. As the 'Celestial Claw' spell flew off into the distance, coming to dissipate into nothingness a dozen meters away, the Horned Cloud Rabbit maintained its momentum, its furry right leg digging into the wooden floor and launching itself at the wide eyed silver kitten.

However, things weren't as desperate as they may have seemed and this became clear when the little kitten's initially wide open eyes suddenly narrowed and took on an excited gleam.

Swish!

The Horned Cloud Rabbit that was attacking the kitten had failed to notice in its fervour that the kitten had long redirected the flying arrow to return to her position. The Horned Cloud Rabbit had no time in its last second, even when it had noticed its mistake, when the 'Sky Piercing Arrow' struck it in the side of its head, piercing right into it with the winged end hanging out.

'Haha, it worked!' The little kitten thought in delight. Yet, despite her enthusiasm, she was now beginning to breath heavily and her paws felt weak. 'I've used too much aura...'

The Horned Cloud Rabbit that was just struck dead fell to the ground, twitching a few times before coming to an eternal still. The metallic arrow that jutted out of its head suddenly began to dissipate, vanishing into dust.

At the same time of the 'Sky Piercing Arrow's dissipation, the 'Wandering Glow' spell soon followed suit as its corporeal form warped into flames that were quickly whisked away into nothingness as well.

Finally, the metallic armour around the little kitten's body, the 'Ravager Armour' also began to see some changes. Despite not fully vanishing, a large chunk of it had narrowed to a finer thickness. The armour did not look nearly as formidable as it once did so before...

Meanwhile, the final Horned Cloud Rabbit seemed to notice these changes and quickly charged at its weakened foe, not willing to give her the chance to recover for even a second!

'J-just one m-more to go!' The little kitten thought with gritted teeth. Her four limbs were trembling in place, exhaustion bogged her body down, the result of overusing her aura. Inside of the little kitten's body, her Inner Haven was producing a pitiful amount of aura, the biggest contributor to her current state. The more aura one draws from their Inner Haven in a small period of time, the more they will stress the Inner Haven until it eventually ends up producing aura at a very slow rate, only to recover after a long rest or with certain items...

The charging Horned Cloud Rabbit gained on her in seconds due to the effects of its Wind elemental spell, and yet the little kitten remained still, looking as if it was a miracle that she was even still standing.

Yet her eyes held unwavering determination!

'I. Ain't. Losing. To. No. Stinking. Rabbit!' In those last few seconds before the Horned Cloud Rabbit would reach her, these were the words the little kitten exclaimed as she used the last remnants of her flowing aura.

Her beautiful voice rang out in a harmonious chant as the now very familiar 'Celestial Claw' spell came into form once more!

Due to her dwindling aura and having the time to sing out the spells chant, the little kitten chose not to use the spell chant-less. She needed to pull out all of her remaining strength for this final attack, she couldn't afford to hold anything back... Otherwise, she doesn't have the confidence that she would have the remaining strength to attack the Horned Cloud Rabbit any further.

As her final attack was sent into action, most of her aura went with it and she instantly felt her body and mind become numb. Her eyes rolled backwards and her vision blurred until all that she could see was darkness!

In her final moments of consciousness, her last memories were of a loud pained cry, seemingly from the Horned Cloud Rabbit, before she suddenly felt a heavy weight smash into her small form.

And then, all became nothingness as unconsciousness took hold of her...