The Absolute: Humanity's Second Chance

Esther rushed through the mountains, making sure to pull back as far away as possible as she could from the pillar of lightning.

And just when the pillar of lightning disappeared, she felt her heart rate suddenly increase.

From her experience as a professional assassin, she knew that this was her body warning her of great danger. An instinct of survival.

...!!!

But unfortunately for her, this time around, the danger appeared right before she could even assess the level of danger she was in.

Swoosh~

BZZT~

A magnificent pillar of purple lightning flashed right besides her, as she luckily pushed herself aside when she felt danger, and stopped a few meters away.

Just as it stopped, a powerful breeze was forcefully summoned, almost pushing her back. 'Such speed...' She thought in admiration.

The purple lightning then dispersed, revealing the enlarged figure of a purple furred wolf.

'So it's you? You've grown, quite a bit? Anyhow, where are your pals..?' She thought, but her senses could not pick up anything.

'None? They are not here?' She thought, being forced to put most of her focus on the current threat, and some of it towards her soroundings.

The wolf before her then charged up towards her once more, transforming into a pillar of purple lightning that illuminated the sorounding in shade of purple.

"Hmph..!!" Esther scoffed, and used her Abilities in conjunction, summoning a wind storm so powerful, it seemed to have pushed back the mountains all around her.

And this included the rushing beam of purple lightning. And the moment it paused to reveal its figure, it's shadow abruptly came alive, and tangled itself all around it.

"..."

This action trapped the wolf, and forcefully pinned it down. But Esther was unsatisfied, for she knew more than anyone... how powerful of an opponent she was facing.

"AWOOO!!!"

BOOM!!

The wolf roared, discharging powerful bolts of lightning from its body, that snaked up on the shadows restricting its mobility.

Some of the lightning discharged, lost control and struck a few mountains here and there, erasing them to nothing but sand and pebbles.

'Pulling back, now..!!' Esther thought, disappearing from the region, and appearing ten thousand miles away, from right under a small tree's shadow.

"Haaa~... [Shadow Traversing] can really come in handy during times like this." She thought, sighing in relief to herself.

She then turned to face the direction of the battle, and could already feel the currents within the air. "It's coming." She frowned, and indeed as she predicted...

The purple furred wolf appeared just a second right after she appeared. It's speed was terrifyingly monstrous.

But Esther wasn't slow either. 'Honestly, I could outrun it if I used my Abilities. Unfortunately, can hubby or Fifi (Fiona) take on its speed?' She frowned.

The wolf also did not attack. It instead circled around her, watching her every move. While Esther herself, was thinking of a plan to perhaps kill it... or escape.

'I could try and use [Shadow Traversing] with them. But... I doubt the both of them would be able to drift along the shadows even when I'm leading them.'

'That place... doesn't sit right with me, let alone them.' She thought to herself. 'Or perhaps fight it out with it... If I take on my [Tempest Thunder Form], there's a chance of success.'

"GRR..." The wolf snarled, bringing her focus back to itself. And giving it another glance, she was now sure of her choice.

Death.

"..."

And with those thoughts, she reached out to her hair pins, and and pulled them off. Her hair draped down her shoulder like a pristine waterfall.

Her beauty was always showcased when her hair was let down. And now that she had enhanced beauty, she was absolutely divine.

"...GRRR..."   The wolf subtly pulled back, feeling more threatened by her presence.

Esther then pointed one needle at it, and her expression slowly lost all emotions. The air around her also changed, becoming one with the environment.

It was as if she was blending into her soroumdings, like a chameleon. The purple furred wolf could barely discern her movements.

...!!!

It's fur rose in alarms and it hurriedly retreated as fast as it could. And by the god's grace, avoided an almost instantaneous kill shot from Esther.

"Hm? You dodged that?" She asked, slowly walked towards her hair needle, that stuck the floor, not too far away from where it previously stood.

She had thrown it as fast as she could, and was sure that the attack was a sure kill. Unfortunately, it was not. "A pity. But no worries... there's plenty of time."

She said, her hair slowly breaking apart into elemental particles. The platinum blonde part of her hair transformed into lightning.

While the silver part transformed into raging winds. Her skin also transformed into a pure lightning body, while her clothes became wind, circulating her figure.

"Now... let's dance." She said, her figure resembling an elemental goddess of lightning and winds.

"..."

The purple furred wolf, crouched down and prepared itself for a charge. Esther also held her breathe, and cut off her thoughts alongside her emotions.

Her body was now under the control of her carnival instincts. And the majority of those instincts... was to kill.

"AWOOO!!!" The purple furred wolf roared out loud, almost shaking the sorounding mountains, signifying the beginning of the battle.

But just as Esther was about to attack, she froze in shock. Not only her, even the duo watching from afar, was also shocked as well.

"..."

"..."

"..."

They were all shocked by the shameless demeanor of the wolf, as it pulled back as fast as it could, without so much as a care of pride.

In laymen terms, it ran away.

...???

Esther failed to react in time, and by the time she did, it had already covered a vast amount of distance.

"Hahaha, you seriously let it go?" Her husband voice rang from behind her. And not even a second later, he crashed heavily onto the ground not far from her.

Bang!!

His rough landing creating a small crater. A moment later, a bird made out of flames descended after him, and gently landed as well.

"...I was caught off guard." Esther sighed, her gaze still set towards the direction of the purple furred wolf.

"So, what now? Can you catch up?" David inquired, and she nodded without hesitation. "Yes. Give me a moment."

Along those words, she burst off into a trail of lightning and wind, leaving behind the duo that just arrived.

"...I guess we are chasing after her?" Fiona inquired, already transforming into a bird of flames and flying after her.

Her speed was quite fast as well. David only smiled at her words, and enlarged his entire physique by a hundred times, becoming titanic.

He then chased after them, covering over a hundred meters with each step.

Meanwhile, Fiona flew as fast as she could, desperately surveying the environment for any hints or clues of her guards.

And unfortunately, just like the other times, she found none. 'They could be on their way home by now, telling papa about me missing... no, they wouldn't dare.'

'Papa would have their heads for that.' She thought. That was also the major reason why she was worried.

Not because she was lost, but because if word got out that she went missing, those poor guys, and possibly her mentor and classmates, would all die.

'All just because I wanted to go deeper and experience a sense of being free? How stupid can I be?' She thought, subconsciously increasing her speed.

It's been two months since she's been away from them. And likewise two months since the Gray couple left the Shade Stronghold.

And during these two months, a lot had happened. Especially during the last month itself.

Things became too chaotic. The Wolves were growing stronger and faster, with variations appearing now and then.

The current purple furred wolf was one of them. And many more within the Wolf Valley. In fact, the situation was so chaotic, that even a single wolf could destroy the Stronghold.

'Maybe... I should go back home by myself? The situation isn't looking good for the Shade Stronghold, and I need to let papa know about it.' She thought to herself.

Fiona felt conflicted throughout the last month. Many problems were standing heavy on her shoulders, and she did not know which one to solve first.

Esther, mother Esther, being the caring woman she was, had even offered to help.

They spent most of their time going through the many regions, searching for any human establishments, whilst taking care of any stray wolves on their way.

Unfortunately, the situation was only dire for her. Even now, they were in this mess precisely because she took them here.

'It was also the last region we were supposed to camp at, before I messed up.' She sighed to herself, slowly down her speed.

Up ahead, she could see Esther's visage. And her Tempest Thunder Form was disabled. 'She killed it? Already?' She thought, also transforming back into a human as she landed.

"Miss Esther, you're as fast as ever. That's amazing." She said, genuinely impressed at how fast Esther was.

"..."

Yet no response met her words.