Chapter 1000: Tiger

1000 Tiger

Tiara twisted her body, evading a burst of darkness. It would have hit her if she hadn't instantaneously used Inner Force to alter her momentum. She grinned deviously at the Divine Lifeform before her and triggered Silvarean Tiger. The Soultrait had been pushed to 6-Star, just like Inner Force, more than a year ago, granting her more access to the deepest secrets of the Silverfang Tigerfolk.

Her bones cracked, and she transformed into a full-fledged Tigress with bright, glowing eyes and matte silver. Her speed increased, and she pounced at the DIvine Lifeform, which retreated upon sensing an impending feeling of danger and death. The Divine's eyes narrowed to tiny slits as he slapped the Tigress in the face. At least his attack was supposed to strike Tiara in the face. It didn't hit the target quite right.

The Tigress dissolved, and Tiara appeared beside the Divine Lifeform. The dispersing mist of the other Tigress was Tiara's Soultrait, Misty Doppelganger.

The Divine didn't expect the Tigress to disperse into mist, but he reacted quickly. His body spun around to face Tiara head-on, only for a mental attack to strike him hard. Under normal circumstances, a Divine Lifeform would have no problem blocking mental attacks with a simple technique, but the Divine didn't sense the attack.

Spirit Whip was a Soultrait that Michael had pushed to 6-Star after adding the Mental Concealment Soultrait to it. He used Insert on 4-Star Spirit Whip to create a perfectly concealed mental attack, Soultrait. The Soultrait was now much stronger than it used to be, but it was still not omnipotent. The mental fortitude of a Divine Lifeform was still much stronger than the power most Higher Lifeforms could unleash through Spirit Whip.

Fortunately, Tiara could use Overclock. Overclock was Tiara's strongest Soultrait. It was a 7-Star Soultrait that allowed her to unleash the power of Soultraits with much higher potency. A double Overclock drained three times the amount of energy as unleashing the full power of the targeted Soultrait, but it released twice the power of the said Soultrait.

That was exactly what she had done with Spirit Whip. Double Overclock was already enough to stun the Divine for a quarter of a second. It drained a considerable amount of energy, but Tiara didn't have to worry about that. Michael had prepared the perfect Soultrait for that case.

Tiara had been gifted a Soultrait called Energy Heart. It was a 6-Star Soultrait with one purpose; to store energy. Tiara's Energy Heart was filled to the brim, but not for long. She accessed Energy Heart to use triple Overclock on Silver Streak, the Soultrait that had formed from advancing 4-Star Thrust - after combining it with equally lethal Soultraits. The Tigress' paws transformed into silver streaks as she accessed her Soultraits. Her attack impacted the instant the Divine regained full control of his body. He conjured a thick membrane made of an unknown liquid all over his body, but triple Overlocked Silver Streak, unleashed by the Silvarean Tiger of the Silverfang Tigerfolk, was enough to pierce through the liquid membrane. Tiara's claws dug deep into the Divine Lifeform, ripping his chest apart. He escaped death by instinctively pulling back, but his condition was bad. Another Divine Lifeform jumped into the battle, replacing the injured Divine, who retrieved a brilliant golden potion. He crushed the cap and swallowed the content in a hurry, only to find out his injuries didn't heal. Blood continued gushing from the claw marks all over his chest.

Tiara roared in excitement even though she was under pressure. Her Soultraits worked as intended. She didn't have a clue what kind of potion the Divine had tried to use, but Silver Streak's bleeding effect worked perfectly fine.

Tiara unleashed Silvarean Tiger again and transformed back into a bipedal creature. However, her tiger form wasn't fully dissolved. Her body was still shrouded in a fur coat, protecting her from various attacks. She also didn't lose the physical gains from Silvarean Tiger. On the contrary, it felt like Tiara was more flexible in her half-transformed form. Tiara's claws elongated and a bright silver hue shrouded them. She used triple Overclock with Spirit Whip on the unscathed Divine Lifeform before him as he attacked her. The attack nearly killed Tiara on the spot, but a double Overclock with Inner Force salvaged her life.

Her heart was beating wildly, but she pounced on the Divine Lifeform when his expression turned into horror and confusion. The Spirit Whip struck the target several times. The first attack wore his defense down, the second hit crushed the defense altogether, and the following whiplashes were enough to affect the Divine Lifeform and weaken him.

Energy Heart was already on the verge of getting sucked dry, forcing Tiara to either go all out and kill the Divine Lifeform or switch to defense, but neither was necessary. The Titan Black Bear, one of the Divine Beasts of the Untamed Jungle, appeared next to Tiara. The Divine Lifeform before her had been the Divine Beast's foe, and it didn't take the Divine Lifeform's sudden disinterest well.

The Titan Black Bear roared at the top of its lungs and swatted the Divine Lifeform across the Astral Space Cage. The DIvine Lifeform couldn't block the attack as he was still affected by the Spirit Whips and ended up crashing hard onto the ground, where Caesus was already standing. One of his blades pierced deep into his chest while the other blade swished across the Divine's throat.

The Divine Lifeform couldn't be beheaded with a single strike, but his throat was sliced open.

"The Kulik should have been just like that," Caesus cursed, his attention drifting to the injured Divine Kulik. That bastard was still not dead, but he didn't fare well. Caesus had been given his utmost to deal with the nuisance.

"Why don't you kill your little friend first before taking our prey?" Tiara asked while the Titan Black Bear charged past her. The Divine Beast couldn't care less what happened to his foe. He had been given a mission by the human he loved the most, and he would do everything in his might to help the little Princess of the Untamed Jungle get whatever she wanted.

The Titan Black Bear rushed to the Divine whom Tiara had injured and attack with full might. Meanwhile, Tiara cursed a little before she rushed up to Caesus to help him kill the Divine Kulik.

"Since you couldn't kill him, I will make a contribution to this kill. The loot is mine!" Tiara demanded, but Caesus couldn't care any less.

"You are getting greedier by the day, sister. Don't you think we owe Michael a little bit more? This is one of our first fights without Michael, yet you are only talking about the gains. I thought you've improved. It's sad to see you like thi-..."

"Shut it, Caesus! Nobody asked the loser to speak up. It's a waste of precious oxygen to talk to you." Caesus shrugged and zipped his mouth. There was no way their relationship could improve at this point. Maybe in the future, but Caesus wasn't confident about that.

Maybe his relationship with his sister was fated to never recover.