A green glow fell upon Pryde, Zeph, Vinda, and herself.

The combination of the two skills was able to counter the poison rain and also prevented Instructor Zeph and Pryde's instinct from taking over.

Then it began, The death of an SSS-Rank Dark Beast.

/////

Before the Dark Beast could move, they were already upon it.

Zeph first went at it, He struck the shaft of his polearm at the joint of one of the legs he had attacked before.

He heard a clunk as the shaft slammed against it.

Zeph flinched in pain from the impact he did not anticipate the beast to possess such tough bones

But with the boost from his skills, his hit carried enough force to fell the beast to its side.

"SCREECH!" It wailed as it knocked down.

Because of its fall, its underbelly was uncovered, an opening for Pryde who dashed in fast and struck at it to pierce.

But the covering at which he struck became elastic and threatened to bring about the strike, slipping past it.

However, Pryde's hand claws were not an S-Rank weapon for no reason, especially now blessed with a skill.

The flaming claws dug in albeit in a mild way, but that was all h

////

Happy New Month!/e had to do.

Upon the first successful attack, Pryde went on with the assault.

Several slashes got on to be adorned onto the underbelly of the beast.

Abruptly Pryde's and Zeph's instincts blew up in caution so they both receded.

A good reaction as if they stood in place a minute further, Spikes cropped up from the beast's shadow would have impaled them.

Nevertheless, they were tenacious men.

As Pryde and Zeph pulled out, they both molded weapons made out of their respective elements, Fire and Water then cannoned them at the beast.

Their organized onslaught stirred some dust that obstructed their vision, it soon later calmed down after a few instants showing the beast in a shadow globe.

Which retracted soon after.

"Shadow Manipulation," Zeph said in shock

The revelations were not done.

Shhhh

Pryde and Zeph heard a quiet sizzling sound come off from the beast.

They also saw the blood leaking wounds the beast acquired close up right in front of them.

"Shit it still has more skills," Zeph told Pryde in annoyance.

"Selussa when will it take effect!" Pryde asked in a yell

"Soon!" She said back with annoyance in her tone

Arachnid screeched again and made signs of movement at which Zeph and Pryde tensed at.

Waiting for its shadow manipulation or for it to move

But instead of doing so, it spat out a small line at them

It extended to them at a speed that they were almost able to acknowledge.

Regardless, They were not too troubled. Pryde and Zeph had faith in the recovery passive buffs placed on them.

However, never did they anticipate the string to go past them.

Then they understood

The attack was never meant for them.

"Selussa!, Vinda!" They shouted in realization, Pryde quickly cut through the string to stop its advance, but it was too late.

They first checked Selussa and she was unscathed……… but Vinda was not

*Splurt*

Vinda stood there looking at the white thread that went into her heart.

'A string' Her last thoughts as the world went faint, and she fell to the ground onto a patch of vegetation Selussa produced in haste.

She then strode to her, took out a potion, and soon pried it into her mouth.

Upon drinking the potion, the hole in Vinda's heart began to seal itself.

A few seconds later, she regained consciousness.

"Are you alright!?" Selussa interrogated.

Vinda stood up shaky but was for the most part fine.

"Yes, I'm good," Vinda responded.

"Can you still fight?" Selussa asked her.

"Yeah, I still have a lot of ether left for this bastard."

Pride and Zeph let out breaths of relief when they saw Vinda stand up fine.

But the distraction caused by the attack on Vinda gave Arachnid a window of chance.

Clang

Pryde and Zeph blocked two sharp pincer attacks with swift reflexes, Although the force behind the strike still pinned them to the ground.

It shocked them that the beast had this much power as it did not seem this much powerful a moment ago

The toxin rain and Pryde's claws should have lessened its strength by a ton.

They couldn't speculate much of it because the beast made another play.

It threw its head back slightly in a way that Pryde and Zeph knew.

"Shit it's about doing it again."

"Zeph, With me" Pryde ordered

"Mh!" Zeph acknowledged

At the same time, They parried the pincer that was on them which made the beast fall forward into two Ether affined powered fists.

The combined force of Zeph and Pryde's punch propelled the beast through the air away from them.

"Let's go!"

They then kicked off the ground and into the air again onto the Dark Beast.

'[Forgoing Elusive For Intrusive]' Zeph casts

[Full Powered Ether Burst!].

The punched Arachnid sensed the incoming threat and forthwith made an effort to dodge

But it couldn't move, It struggled and struggled but it was unable to move.

Arachnid had lost its locomotive nerves.

At this scene, Selussa drew a smile.

Boom

The combined attack of Pryde and Zeph gave off an explosion that made a loud bang.

The wind current generated from the blast was ample to propel everything in its radius away, even Instructor Selussa and Vinda had to take cover underground to avoid the blast.

After a few minutes, the blast receded and the dust settled.

Vinda and Selussa came above ground and went onward to meet Pryde and Zeph who sat upon the fallen figure of the SSS Rank Dark Beast.

"Well that was easy," Pryde said before giving a hearty laugh

"Say that for yourself" Zeph snapped.

"Come on, Don't be a brooder. At least now the Stampede should stop."

"Tch…. Either way, you're right. The stampede should stop now…"

"You know Pryde, While this beast was strong"

"It wasn't SSS Rank strong" Pryde finished as he gazed at the skies that soon cleared.

"Mmh, At most SS Rank. Although it was smart and caught us off guard. It just wasn't SSS Rank strength."

"Which is weird, the beast released an SSS Rank Aura yet only gave out the power of an SS Rank."

"Maybe it was just one of its mysteries." Vinda chipped in as she and Selussa walked to them.

"We haven't met a lot of SSS Ranks in the South, so it's impossible to give an accurate description of why this happened"

"But we can deliver it to our research team or earth, They should be able to tell us what happened." She advised them

"Ok but first back to Aemplefort," Selussa said, "Pryde you're the strongest of us, please carry it."

"Sure", He said as he and Zeph stood off it.

Pryde leaned in to lift the Beast but instead of his hands to lift it, His hands went through it and out like it wasn't tangible

"Huh?"

Pryde tried it again and again and again, but every time his hand went through it.

Then he realized, " It was a clone"

"What?" Zeph asked.

"It was a clone!" Pryde shouted.

The image of the fallen Dark Beast faded out of existence as he said that making the Instructors widen their eyes in surprise.

"But H-How?" Vinda stammered., "When"

"So we've been fighting a clone" Selussa murmured, " But if we've been here fighting a clone….. then that means the original is...."

Zeph's eyes widened in realization as he looked in the direction of Aemplefort, he then cursed out, "Shit!"

And that was how an SSS Rank Dark Beast 'Clone' died.

(AN: SIKE)

///// Aemplefort /////

Dark Clouds began to emerge all around Aemplefort, Winds began picking up, and Lightning began to dance.

This manifestation drew the attention of everyone on the battleground, even the Dark Beasts.

Amid the stampede, The shadows came together to make one huge pool of darkness.

From that pool, A powerful aura gushed out from it and draped the entire south.

This aura dragged down every Dark Beast and Human in its vicinity, whether S or SS.

After a while, something arose from the pool.

That thing was Arachnid in an evil aura shroud with glaring red eyes.

Signifying

Beserk.

Then it declared its presence.

"SCREECH!!!"

/////

Happy New Month