Isa crashed into the ground; her body enveloped in the darkness of the void. Her purple and black diamond scales hissed and smoked as they dissolved like burning paper. She opened her mouth, releasing a gut-wrenching roar.

Her pupils dilated as she scanned ahead. The barrier stood firm, flickering brightly as it fought against the void that tried to escape. Isa gritted her teeth and unfurled her arms. She clawed at the ground, pulling her body towards the barrier. With the protection from her scales removed, the void latched onto her soft, tender flesh. The void was starting to eat her alive.

My baby. I must get my egg outside the barrier! Isa kept her wings wrapped tightly around her body, protecting the precious future. Left claw. Right claw. Left again. She dragged herself onward, bulldozing through the forest as she picked up momentum. Trees in her path exploded into debris.

My body isn't going to last. Isa dug into reserves she'd never tapped before. Dirt flew as she tore the earth asunder in her desperation to get outside the barrier. Her skin burned. Her lungs felt like fire. She inhaled a hard breath, her nostrils flared.

The ancient mirage dragon quickly panned her eyes overhead and then to the sides. She was moving forward at a good clip. She flung both her forelegs out and down. Still, time was short. The void had opened wounds in her impenetrable armor. Her blood stained the forest. She launched herself into the air, leaving a crater in her wake. Isa unfurled her massive wings, gliding for an instant. A single flap doubled her speed and sent her racing for the barrier. Refolding her wings, she bet everything on this final burst. Her life was ebbing away.

The barrier drew closer and closer with every passing second. Isa maintained a shred of hope even as her body disintegrated, becoming food for the void. She bounced off the ground as though she were a rock skipping across water. Her breath froze in her lungs. The void had found what it was looking for. As it painfully devoured her spark of divinity with brutal efficiency, her dying screech rent the heavens asunder, echoing to the far ends of the world.

The barrier had stripped the void off of Isa's body as she passed through it, revealing nothing more than a pale skeleton. Her egg, clutched tightly in her claws, was still wrapped protectively, albeit uselessly, within her barren wings.

Vivian–

"Yes, I am aware," Vivian interrupted.

You are confident, then?

"Mm. You can blame yourself for that." Vivian spun her staff around her body in a show of speed and skill. The fun was just a bonus.

That's fancy, but–

"You're concerned about the difference in raw strength? Just have some faith," Vivian declared as she strode boldly into the clearing ahead.

Five large void beasts awaited her, resting lazily upon the ground. Sensing the change in the air, they slowly rose to their feet, annoyed that they were interrupted. Vivian held her breath a moment and released it all in a huff. "This might take a hot minute."

A hot minute? What's that?

Vivian didn't respond. She squared her feet and planted her staff firmly against the ground to her right side. The beasts facing her looked down at her pitiful form and snarled hungrily in response. The impact of their footsteps resounded as they leisurely moved to surround her. She regarded the beasts with feigned disinterest, casually looking each one over for a few seconds before her eyes swept along to the next. Map markers blinked and flashed as they updated to reflect the beasts' appearances.

Streaks of lightning arced and danced between the clouds overhead, offering flashes of temporary illumination. Thunder rumbled in their wake, and rain started to fall, pattering noisily upon the ground.

Sure, why not? The familiar feel of the hand of death wrapping around her throat stifled her breathing for a moment. Vivian rotated her arms and shoulders, stretching her muscles as the rain pelted and soaked her clothes. Her free hand shot to her neck, grasping at air. You just had to rear your ugly head, didn't you?

Kekeke!

Great. Now I'm starting to imagine the hand of death responding. Vivian lamented when the great roar of a dragon overpowered all other noises for a moment.

Isa—? Vivian turned towards the sound, visibly shaken.

The five beasts snarled, sniffed, pawed the ground in anticipation, or licked their lips. The rain bombarded their bodies, giving rise to the odor of wet fur.

Vivian recovered her composure and kept her breathing balanced and calm, even as she scrunched her nose. "Phew, you're a smelly bunch."

The five roared. Their hind limbs released like a taut bowstring, lunging the creatures forward at her simple provocation, each eager to rip her apart and devour what remained. Vivian released a satisfied smirk as some of the tension wound up in her body eased. She pistoned her legs and kicked off the ground in an elegant backflip that sent her on a course toward the beast behind her.

The beast opened its maw wide, preparing to sink its teeth into her tender-looking body. Vivian pulled her staff to the center of her body and shifted her hands to the end of the staff. And waited. As the distance between them disappeared, Vivian thrust her arms forward. Her stick jabbed into the mouth of the void-beast and impacted hard against its throat, forcing it to gag at the sudden intrusion. She turned herself around the staff, her back facing the ground, and forcefully swung her arms, her body bent in half at the end of the motion. She launched the beast forcefully, and with a sporadic spin, into the other four that were currently on a collision course to the spot where she used to be.

Vivian landed on the ground, her momentum carrying her sliding through the slippery mud. Her feet slipped out from under her; she fell hard on her butt as she tried to use her staff to stabilize herself and stymie her forward momentum.

Wails of confusion and humiliation mixed into the splattering rain. Four beasts raised their forelimbs, preparing to rip the choking beast apart amidst their combined claws and fangs.

The matriarch lifted her staff from the mud, abandoning futility, and instead struck nearby tree trunks. The void had left behind mere husks, a memory of the forest's former greatness. Ash scattered to the wind when the brute force of the pole connected. She grunted and raised her staff overhead. Swinging down as hard as she could, her staff impacted with the mud, sending it flying in every direction. But most importantly, her staff lodged into the ground.

Vivian celebrated her tiny victory with a smirk that faded into wide eyes and a frown just as quickly when her momentum and the grip she had on her staff sent her unintentionally pole-vaulting into the air.

Vivian, I don't want to nag, but you don't really have time for this nonsense.

I'm not doing this on purpose, thank you.

No amount of dexterity will let you walk on water. Let alone maintain proper footing on slippery surf—

Not now! Vivian gritted her teeth.

Have you considered using your mana to make an optimal surface under your feet?

Sasha—Wait, really? You bitch! I can feel your condescending glare. Stop messing with me. I'm busy here!

Busy sliding on your butt, pole-vaulting... what's next? Are you going to do some air-borne choreography with your staff?

"Sashaaaaaaaaaa!" Vivian roared as she landed on her feet.

It's a good thing you gave those beasts something to do while you're over here playing in the rain and mud.

That maneuver would have been flawless if not for the rain! Vivian pouted, then she squared her shoulders and walked toward the four remaining beasts. The sound of bones cracking and crunching rose over the din of the rain. The matriarch fanned her fingers through her wet hair removing the offending blockage from her eyes, then wiped the rainwater out as well. She increased her pace to a jog, trot, broke into a run, and finally an all-out sprint as she adjusted her movements to the slippery mud.

Vivian burst into the clearing, a blur of grey illuminated with a blue aura crashed into the four beasts as they ate their fifth companion. She jabbed her staff into the ground, rising over her staff in a proper pole vault. She rose into the air high enough to kick a feasting beast in the back of the head, ruining its day and meal in one swift stroke. The beast lurched and fell forward from the sudden impact, faceplanting into the mud.

The matriarch swung her staff as her momentum continued to carry her forward. The head of the unfortunate beast she connected with twisted unnaturally around on its neck. Flesh and muscle tore sickeningly loudly.

Two left! Vivian thrust her staff down at the fallen foe beneath her and only managed to nick its fur. Damn it!

The void had been slowly gathering itself in the air around her. The net triggered, and the smoke encroached around her.

"Here I am, don't keep a girl waiting!" Vivian declared boldly.

You shouldn't provoke it!

Vivian pushed her latent mana into her new passive [Void Resist(weak)] skill as the void enveloped her. When the skill received enough to switch into the active state, it began voraciously absorbing her mana.

"This skill is greedy?!" Vivian shouted in shock as the skill shot from [Void Resist(weak)] straight to [Void Resist(advanced)].

Anything related to Void is a wildcard.

"And it carries a high price," Vivian groaned before she disappeared behind a solid wall of black smoke that slowly wrapped tightly around her body to choke her life away.

Jaden slowly picked himself up to a sitting position and folded his legs, blinking his eyes carefully to prevent further aggravating his already pounding head.

"Sasha, the hell is going on?" he rubbed his temples and waited impatiently for her answer.

"Sasha?"

We're sorry, the party you are trying to reach has been evicted.

"That's absurd," Jaden's headache only grew in pain and discomfort.

Believe what you want. But maybe this will help you understand? Skill [Divine Void] lost.

New Skill [Void of the Abyss] acquired.

"Well, that doesn't sound very nature friendly. Do I get an explanation, or are you just a tease?"

Yes, we are a tease.