Parasite: SCREEEEEEEE!

Screeching at the nearby figure of a wolfman, one of the many parasites prepared itself to fight. Having watched the humanoid creature effortlessly dispatch of several of its brethren, the little parasite was very cautious. watching the wolfman dart between several of its allies, it witnessed them being killed in single blows. hiding behind its brothers, the little bug bided its time. keeping an eye on the wolfman, it was waiting for an opportunity. knowing it couldn't do anything but die in a 1v1 fight, it hoped to use its superior speed to launch a sneak attack. in the end, it didn't have to wait very long. Briefly exposing its back to the hidden parasite, the wolf man was dealing with one of its brethren. another of the more intelligent parasites had tried to perform a sneak attack as well, but the wolfman was too attentive. As soon as he saw it coming, the man's fury claws had weaved their way into the pouncing parasites eyes. using its eye sockets as makeshift handles, he ripped the little insect in two. using the moment of pause its dead brother had given it, the hidden parasite attacked. springing out from the safety of the horde, the little parasites teeth were ready to sink into the wolfman's exposed back. But to its surprise, just as its pearly black teeth were about to clamp down on the wolfman soft flesh, its target disappeared. Before it could react to the mysterious disappearance, a claw had appeared above its head. Striking down into the parasites head, the furry hand's pointed nails stabbed through the shiny black shell. Having its brain mashed up within its own skull, the little parasite died instantly. Moving onto the next parasite, the wolfman continued to slaughter the unrelenting army of parasites.

That figure was, of course, Solomon. Having jumped head first into the several thousand strong army, both himself and Pluvia were now facing the first wave of enemies. still being relatively far from the main chunk of the parasites, they were only facing a dozen parasites at a time. though that sounds like a lot, if they were to stand in the armies centre, they'd be fighting 100 parasites at a time. because they were still only facing the outermost parasites, they alone were holding off the oncoming horde of bugs. Standing 30 meters behind them, Alice and Gareth were watching the massacre occurring before them. the amazed looks on their faces were more than enough to show their surprise.

Alice: since when did these two get so strong?

Gareth: I know, it's crazy! a little while ago Solomon wasn't much stronger than me, but looking at him now were in entirely different leagues.

marvelling at the power being displayed, Alice and Gareth both had the same thought in their head. "I want to be that strong". spectating this battle, all they wanted was to be fighting alongside their comrades. but with their current strength, it wasn't possible. affirming it in their hearts, they both pledged to become as strong as Solomon, no matter how long it took them.

Pluvia: what's your score!?

shouting over the screeching of the dying insects, Pluvia was keeping track on their competition. having now been fighting for a few minutes, Pluvia wanted to compare scores.

Solomon: 36!

Pluvia: 45! guess I'm just better at this, huh.

With a broad grin appearing on her face, Pluvia went back to her killing spree. Using her claws to split apart the enemies in front of her, pluvia made short work of the little parasites.

Solomon: damn, I'm falling behind.

Not wanting to let the gap widen further, Solomon went back to his own killing. but unluckily for him, the creatures were now grouping up. realising their individual efforts were only ending in death, they started to coordinate with each other. but to Solomon and Pluvia, these tactics only helped to speed up their killing. being so much stronger than the little parasites, they held an absolute advantage over them. because of that, it didn't matter if they were facing 1 or ten parasites, the outcome would remain the same. Using his incredible leg strength, Solomon jumped towards the three parasites. Moving too fast for the parasites to process, he landed in between their triangular formation. Reaching out to his sides, Solomon grabbed two of their heads. Then quickly pulling his arms towards his front, the two helpless bugs smashed into their teammate. As their weak bodies slammed into each other, a sickening crunching sound rung in the nearby parasites ears.

Parasites: CRRRRRRCK!

The power in Solomon's arms smashed open the bug's weak carapace, killing all of them instantly. Where they had been forced together their bodies combined together, forming into a weird statue. looking over the grotesque morph of dead insect bodies, Solomon had a proud smile on his lips.

Solomon: humph, how's that?

Looking at the three malformed corpses, he was impressed by his own strength. Looking for the nearby Pluvia, Solomon hoped to brag. But when he caught sight of her, his mouth was left hanging open. having been circled by a few groups of parasites, Pluvia was looking around at her surrounding foes. Her 8-foot tall bull-like frame was easy to spot above the crowd of dog-sized parasites. the scene reminded him of a group of bulldogs surrounding a bull. taking the initiative, Pluvia charged forwards. Reaching a two of the parasites in a split of a second, Pluvia swiped for them with one of her claws. Her casual swing turned the two little insects directly into pulp. She moved so fast that even the speedy parasites had no way to react to her. The difference in their abilities was clearly displayed by this one attack. It showed the parasites that they had no power to resist us. that they were weaklings who we could kill at our whims. though this sort of display would be enough to drive fear into the strongest of men, the parasites had no reaction at all. Running on instinct, the parasites had no fear. even if they were facing a dragon, they would be steadfast. this trait was one of the reasons that the parasites were so dangerous in the film. when fighting the army, they would die in droves, but their fearless charge into almost certain death dealt a heavy psychological blow to the army. Using that to their advantage, the parasites could easily deal with the army. that one advantage allowed them to walk all over the modern day military as if they were little toddlers. putting those thoughts out of his head, Solomon continued to watch Pluvia. Moving onto another of the nearby parasites, she flicked her tail towards it. leaving a fist sized hole in the parasites chest, she quickly moved on. Leaving it lying on the floor, she knew the injured parasite would soon die of blood loss. After all, how long could it survive with a huge hole in its chest? Pausing briefly, Pluvia scanned the nearby parasites. feeling the threatening pressure coming from Pluvia, the two groups merged into one. Seeing this, Pluvia let a wide grin slip onto her face. Taking a deep breath, the scales on her neck began to glow an ominous red.

Pluvia: HAAAAAAAA!!

Sharply huffing out all the air in her lungs, Pluvia sent a spout of flame flying out of her mouth. Enveloping the group of parasites in front of her, the flames reduced them to ashes. Standing up on her hind legs, Pluvia looked around for Solomon. Catching sight of his flabbergasted face, she let out a little chuckle.

Pluvia: hehe, that's 54 now!

Clearly taunting Solomon, Pluvia shouted over to him. But before he could respond to her, she had dashed off again.

Solomon: fine, if that's how it's gonna be I'm not holding back anymore.

Watching the gap between Pluvia and himself widen so quickly, he decided it was time to get serious. He already knew that physically, his power was nothing compared to Pluvia's. But when it came to ranged attacks, he was confident in his abilities.

Solomon: Wind release: Verdant mountain gale!

Quickly forming several hand signs, Solomon activated one of his new skills. Unseen by everyone but him, 5 tendrils of qi appeared before him. Attached to his clasped together hands, they waved around idly.

Solomon: haha, let's see how well these work then!

Charging forwards, ran towards a nearby group of parasites. Seeing him charge at them with his hands held together, they thought he had gone mad. Not willing to let this opportunity pass, the little insects charged at him. Not seeing the tendril coming out of his hands, they were ignorant of the danger they were approaching. But this the exact reaction Solomon was hoping for. keeping his eyes on their distance from him, Solomon waited till they had all entered his range. When they did, a bright flash of light suddenly blinded them. but unfortunately for them, that blinding light would be the last thing they saw. before they could recover, Solomon had already dealt with them. the 3 dead bodies before him were perfectly split in half. the cuts were made with so much precision that the internal organs had yet to spill out from the lifeless corpses. sitting still on the floor, the corpses looked more like anatomical models than bodies.

Solomon: wow, it's even stronger than I thought.

Hovering in front of Solomon, 5 large swords were waving back and forth. The tendrils of qi firmly grasping onto their handles. When the parasites come into his range a second ago, Solomon had pulled the swords out of his dimensional storage.when he did it produced a mild flash of light. but to the Parasites, this flash of light was brighter than the sun. Having sensitive eyes, they were vulnerable to bright lights. even thought the light from the dimensional storage wasn't huge, in this moonlit room, it was like the turning on a light bulb. Using the moment of pause that the light had given him, Solomon had his tentacles grab the swords. then using extremely quick movements, the swords cut the stunned parasites cleanly in half. because these swords were all high-quality weapons, they sliced through the parasites like a knife through butter. Normally a G rank could only afford one weapon as strong as these swords, yet Solomon was using 5 of them as secondary weapons. Luckily after stealing these weapons from the previous mission, he didn't sell them to the market. if he had, then this sort of fighting style would have been impossible. Seeing the devastating power the combination of his skill and the strong weapons created, Solomon was very pleased with his decision.

Pluvia: wow, seems like I can't let my guard down.

Taking a glance at Solomon, Pluvia saw him easily dispatch of a group of parasites. Running up to them with his swords floating behind him, he goaded them into attacking him. When they did he would lash out, slicing them into pieces. seeing his killing speed almost triple, Pluvia reminded herself that underestimating Solomon was a bad idea.

Pluvia: it seems like our effect is starting to fade though.

having fought their way through the outer layer of parasites, Pluvia and Solomon were now completely surrounded by the small creatures. At this point, the difference in levels was understood by every parasite. Leaving the two strongest enemies to the queen and the enlarged parasites, they set their sites on Alice and Gareth. Hoping that they weren't as strong as the two demons before them, the majority of the parasites were circling around Pluvia and Solomon. unfortunately for them, Gareth's hail of bullets stopped them from reaching himself or Alice. at the moment, Gareth was relying on the support of Solomon and Pluvia to draw away a large portion of the parasites. But when they started their battle with the queen, it would be like the floodgates had opened. the number of parasites approaching him would grow 10x larger. in such a situation, he wouldn't be able to cope with their overwhelming numbers. luckily for him, he wasn't alone. With Alice fighting beside him, they would be able to resist the surging numbers of parasites. Using necro's powers to summon a small army of Goblies, they would use them to take the main brunt of the parasites charge. Though the small creatures weren't particularly strong, they had one absolute advantage against the parasites. Poison immunity. As they were just the reanimated corpses of Goblins, they didn't have any weakness to poisons. so fighting against the highly poisonous parasites, they could more than hold their own.

So with the support of those creatures, there was no doubt that Gareth and Alice could defend the tunnel. Even if they were forced to face a dozen of the larger parasites, their combined power would be able to ward them off. the only real danger to them was the queen. So as long as Solomon and Pluvia could deal with it, handling the rest of the parasites wouldn't be an issue for them.

Confident in her assessment of her teammate's strengths, Pluvia looked towards the centre of the parasites. Still standing tall, like a beacon in a storm, the queen towered above the parasites. being as tall as a building, she wasn't difficult to spot over the dog sized insects. slowly walking forwards with the parasites, the queen appeared to be assessing the situation. unlike the instinct driven Parasites, the queen had a decent amount of intelligence. when faced with enemies, it wouldn't dash at them with its teeth bared, but instead, would use its minions to test the enemies power. But whatever the reason was for its actions, Pluvia was just happy that it was staying a large distance away. looking away from the enormous figure of the queen, Pluvia looked for the other threat in the crowd of parasites.

Pluvia: so that's where they are.

Currently trampling their smaller counterparts underfoot, the 30 oversized parasites were charging towards Pluvia and Solomon. Having faithfully stayed by their queen's side until now, Pluvia was surprised to see the horse sized insects sprinting towards her. Even more surprising was their speed. kicking up huge plumes of dust, they easily reached 45 MPH. At such a speed it wouldn't take them long to reach her. Seeing this development, Pluvia had one of her worries disappear. when she saw the large parasites staying near their queen, she was worried that they'd have to fight them and the queen at the same time. even just fighting the queen Pluvia felt uncertain, but adding in the enlarged parasites, her confidence fell to rock bottom. now being able to fight them separately, she was eager to wipe them out.

Pluvia: you've just made your first mistake. unfortunately, you won't have a chance to make a second one.

Settling into a crouch, Pluvia prepared began preparing to use her skill. Lowering her head, a blinding light appeared above Pluvia. being several times brighter than the light from Solomon earlier, it drew the attention of the whole parasite army. Starting off as a small yellow light bulb, the light quickly grew several times larger and brighter. Eventually becoming a small sun in the moonlit room. The ball of light then began thinning out. splitting into several pieces, the light formed a magic formation. being covered in intricate character and shining a royal golden colour, one could easily see the power contained in the formation. thrumming every few seconds, the formation filled the cavern with a silent pressure. as if everything before it wasn't fit to be in its presence. After forming completely, the formation seemed to be waiting for a command

Pluvia: Golden scale formation!

Shouting out in dragon tongue, Pluvia activated the formation. Shining with a blinding flash of light, the formation fell down onto Pluvia's body. As it fell over her, Pluvia's previously dim brown scales completely transformed. Becoming a shining golden colour, her appearance instantly changed. As well as the change in colour, her body was now surrounded by a paper thin layer of golden energy. Though that energy looked extremely weak, it was stronger than a steel pillar. Getting up from her crouching position, Pluvia's height had grown as well. Now standing at 10 feet tall, the atmosphere coming from her body had taken a transformation. Instead of a vicious and unforgiving feeling, she held a feeling of superiority. Along with the change in atmosphere, her strength had doubled. Sweeping the nearby parasites with her gaze, they trembled slightly. even though they couldn't feel fear, the inferiority they felt compared to the majestic Pluvia left them ashamed. Letting out a deafening roar, Pluvia's made the cave tremble beneath her feet.

Pluvia: RRROOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!

infusing qi into her voice, Pluvia made the air near her visibly vibrate. that one action was a clear display of her power. even the queen's screech from earlier had not reached this level of power. under the assault of this roar, the parasites became stunned. wobbling unsteadily, it looked like it would take a while for them to recover. Even the queen several hundred meters away was shaking its head from side to side. Watching this spectacle from the sidelines, everyone was in awe of Pluvia. Her display reminded them that, though she didn't show it, Pluvia was an S-ranked elder dragon. Seeing the petrified parasites, Solomon wasn't willing to let the opportunity go to waste. Charging at a nearby parasite, he once again kicked off the slaughter.