Elemental Cats

Lucy was running through the forest panting. He didn't know how far away from the clearing he had managed to lure the bear, but he was running out of mana and stamina. Just peeking into the Demonic Spark Bear's mind was troublesome, and since Lucy had to keep its attention away from Toz, he didn't just stop there as he started pulling and dragging on the darkness that was the Demonic Spark Bear's mind.

Lucy also had to hide from the bear while sprinting as fast as he could, further away from the pursuing bear. Eventually, he only had enough mana to either provoke the bear one last time or hide and escape, not both.

It didn't take much deliberation for Lucy to stop attacking the Demonic Spark Bear angrily chasing after him, demanding his life, which would have led to his death. Instead, he disappeared into the depths of the forest's shadows so he could circle back to the others and help Toz get out of the woods and to safety.

The Demonic Spark Bear, to its relief, noticed there were no further attacks on its mind. But during its frustration-driven chase, it had left the clearing where it was first summoned to, far behind. The bear was lost in a place it had never been before. Although that had always been a part of the deal, the clearing had been the most suitable spot for absorbing as much lightning it could handle.

Although the bear was worried the pest that had persistently annoyed and tormented it would interrupt the bear in the middle of the process, the bear was also worried stronger opponents would sense the summoning and appear.

With its mind set, the bear roared to the sky just like it had done when it was first summoned. But this time, the roar stretched on for longer.

The first time the thunderclouds had already been cleared. And the bear wanted them to stay that way while it removed any distractions. Now that the Lightning Clouds were fully blocked, the Demonic Spark Bear first had to clear a path with its roar and use enough power to keep the thunderclouds away while it devoured the lightning.

After about a minute, the Demonic Spark Bear ended its roar since a gaping wound had been opened up in the thunderclouds, revealing the bright Lightning Clouds above and lighting up the forest like a spotlight.

The Demonic Spark Bear pointed its horns toward the lightning-filled sky, and with a hum, they began lighting up. With a buzz, the red zigzagging lines on the bear's body started glowing.

It looked similar to what the bear had done when attacking Toz, but instead of a mass of lightning gathering at the tip of its horns, the lightning was completely drained away from the horns and into the red lines covering the bear's body.

The clouds of lightning trapped in the sky started trembling in response to the bear's actions. And when it looked like the sky was about to shatter, a tremendous lightning bolt broke through the air, striking the Demonic Spark Bear's horns.

The thunder rumbled out, but before even the traces of light in the air from the first bolt faded, the second one struck.

Despite grunting and snorting each time the lightning struck it, the Demonic Spark Bear received every bolt happily.

The Demonic Spark Bear hadn't been summoned just because the robed figures had been bored and wanted a convoluted way of getting home. The Demonic Spark Bear was a rare demonic beast that could quickly and efficiently enhance its strength by devouring the power of lightning.

The bear had been summoned by the robed figures so it could devour the Lightning Clouds above Sleepless Brights before wreaking havoc on Roaring Skies. With the incredible boost in strength it could achieve, it wouldn't be a problem for the bear to escape the plane, enter the void and just quietly disappear into the Human Realm without any human experts finding and killing it.

The Demonic Spark Bear had faith that even if it couldn't leave the Human Realm with the strength it got from the Lightning Clouds it was currently devouring, it could find other sources of lightning and grow strong enough to get back home to the Demon Realm. A place where not every single being it encountered would want to kill it due to its origin.

Although the Demonic Spark Bear wasn't sure how widespread information about demons was in the lower levels of the Human Realm. Since there was a pretty intense feud between the two realms in the higher levels and above, most who recognized the demonic energy tended to at least show some signs of being angry or upset.

Although the bear had only encountered a single human so far, that one had only calmly given up and faced it head-on without displaying any killing intent or rage.

But none of that mattered. The human was dead or on the verge of death. There didn't seem to be any further distractions, and the bear had already broken through to the next division, reaching the seventh level of power.

Considering Roaring Skies was a fifth level plane, there shouldn't be many individuals who could pose a threat to it, but the Demonic Spark Bear continued devouring lightning like there was no tomorrow.

If it devoured all the lightning in the Lightning Clouds, the bear felt like it would easily reach the peak of the ninth level. With that much power, it would be easy to wreck the plane and get away before any human expert strong enough to defeat it was sent its way.

Unfortunately, the Demonic Spark Bear's dreams were bound to be crushed.

The tornado created initially by the ritual. The permanent thunderclouds tearing open to light up the forest that had been covered in darkness for ages. The repeated bolts of lightning striking down as if the Lightning Clouds were cleaning house.

All of it, signs that pointed to something extraordinary and possibly nefarious happening.

And all of it visible from Sleepless Brights.

Even if it wasn't visible, the demonic energy that had sprung forth from the portal spread through the forest and beyond. Despite being extremely diluted by the time it reached the city, people who were sensitive enough and familiar with the feeling recognized it.

And then, when the Lightning Clouds began emptying its trash can again, something not that good was probably happening.