Boundless Evolution: The Summoning Beast
Chapter 72: Tide of Battle Shifts

Chapter 72: Tide of Battle Shifts

A blur of shadow and motion struck like a thunderclap.

Ash appeared beside him in an instant, his paw pressing firmly against the cultist’s chest as he sent another burst of aether through.

The cultist switched his target at the last moment and swung down his sword at Ash who had no time to dodge as the incoming sword struck him.

At that moment, Ash, or what had been Ash, suddenly dissipated into wispy shadows as a shadow clone materialised from the smoke to his side and slammed full-force into the man’s midsection.

The cultist’s eyes bulged as he was lifted off the ground, sent hurtling sideways like a ragdoll. He crashed into the rubble near a few of the other cultists.

"Blasted Hyena!" the cultist shouted in rage as he hurriedly attempted to get back his balance before he could fall. But in that moment, he felt what he should’ve felt way before, the rune had activated...

"Uh-oh..."

Kaboom!

Another loud explosion rang out, sending explosive aether everywhere and quite a few of the other cultists who were nearby were caught in the radius of the explosion, taking further damage.

Ash hurriedly ran to the feline. It was still lying on the ground, as blood slowly began to spurt out of its heavily injured midsection, panting weakly to gather energy. Its eyes were still vigilant, weakly perked up as it looked at the surrounding cultists, preparing to launch a final attack in case any of them got through and tried to strike Lucas.

’Hang in there, just concentrate on your injury, Lucas is still under my care,’ he told the feline, reassuring her as he then turned to see the remaining cultists.

Seraphina stared at Ash with wide eyes that displayed wonder. From the moment the stage exploded, not only had Ash managed to protect Lucas but he had also managed to figure out a way to counter the exploding runes that had been engraved.

’Such intelligence...’ she pondered, allowing her head to drift for a moment, ’it’s almost as if he is a human...’

’I’ve used each skill excessively, I don’t have enough to last me for that much longer at this rate...’ Ash thought to himself as he assessed his aether reserves. He had been spamming Shadow Sprint, Shadows of the Pack, and Umbral Rend to keep the enemies at bay and to counterattack.

As the smoke began to clear and the echo of the last explosion faded into silence, a murmur spread among the remaining cultists.

"That hyena..." one of the cultists called out, "Could it possibly?"

"He reversed the rune..." another whispered.

"That’s impossible..." the final one spat, trembling, "How could a mere hyena manipulate our sacrifice?"

Fear could be seen creeping into their eyes as the realisation dawned- the hyena in front of them had figured out a way to trigger their detonation runes at will.

The battlefield was shifting...

"No... if he can set us off... then there’s no escape..."

Desperation twisted into madness as the three of them nodded at one another before roaring as they charged forward recklessly.

Meanwhile, the cultist leader and Bennet were still caught deep in their battle. Both sides were unable to gain the upper hand. The leader sent a wave of blade slashes of her dagger straight towards Bennet who managed to dodge effortlessly and with his own sword, he struck forward as he attempted to counter attack but in that split second that he had done so, the leader was faster and launched a side kick straight at Bennet’s chest, forcing him backwards before he could complete his swing.

A dagger strike came from the leader but Bennet was unfazed and simply dashed to the side suddenly, revealing his summon, the lion whose mouth seemed to be dripping liquid fire.

In the moment that Bennet had gone out of its attack range, the lion let out a raging breath of solid orange fire that made their way straight for the leader.

The leader hurriedly brought back one of her daggers, freeing her hand which began to take on a purple glow as arcs of lightning seemed to appear from her. As the lightning emerged, it immediately began to concentrate as she pulled her hand back into a fist.

Rumble...

Just as the fire was about to strike her, she punched out and all that lightning that she had gathered released with a shockingly loud explosion as it neutralised the incoming stream of fire.

Boom!

"Smart manoeuvre, Lord Valen," she spoke through the smoke and dust that were released by the two elements clashing, "But it’s still far too weak to take us down."

Slowly, she began to make her way towards Bennet, taking each step one at a time.

"Sadly, there’s too many of us. You cannot save your son nor your wife," she spoke as the smoke began to clear and her arrogant confident expression came to light.

And the moment she took another step, another explosion occurred.

"Hahahaha!" the leader laughed, not even turning her head as she had full confidence of what that explosion signified, "You cannot even protect your family."

"NO!" Bennet shouted, panic surging through him as the leader’s confidence and the distant explosion twisted in his gut like a blade.

With a burst of energy, he dashed backwards, parrying a swipe from the leader’s dagger and rolling to the side. In that moment, a huge gust of wind burst out from his feet, propelling him forwards towards the source of the other explosion.

"Tetetete..." the leader muttered, deciding to let Bennet dash over to see the hopeless situation, "This kingdom will bear witness to a new order."

Bennet ran. His breath ragged but his mind was clear: he had to get to his family before it was too late.

Seraphina was kneeling beside Lucas, her glowing rapier still held in one hand while the other was still healing Lucas as she guarded his barely-conscious form.

Ash stood nearby, his fur matted and his body streaked with flesh wounds, warily staring at the cultists who were in the process of charging straight at them.

In the next moment, he reacted. His body blurred forward, claws igniting with shadow energy as he intercepted the first cultist’s mid-charge. He hurriedly attempted to press his paw onto the man’s chest but the man reacted as he shifted his body, narrowly dodging it. He then grabbed the paw but in that moment, a dark tendrils of shadow energy began to emanate from Ash’s mouth as he bit down on the man’s hand.

"AGHHHHH!"

Seraphina’s serpent struck next, coiling and hurling another cultist back as it wrapped itself around the cultist’s leg and swung him onto the floor.

"ACK!"

One cultist remained. And he was charging- straight for Lucas and Seraphina.

Instinct came in as both immediately dashed to intercept the final cultist but as they attempted to dash. They found themselves unable to move.

The cultist that had his hand bitten had reached out with both hands and tackled Ash to the ground. The wound on his hand seemed to open up worse as blood gushed out from his wound, causing him to flinch in pain but nevertheless, with both hands interlocked around Ash, he was determined not to let Ash go.

The serpent on the other hand hurriedly attempted to dash but found itself unable to move forward. Turning around, it saw that the cultist that it had just thrown had grabbed its tail, its grip ungiving as he stopped the serpent from moving to intercept the remaining artist.

’They’re not trying to win anymore! They’re trying to end it!’

Bennet’s boots pounded against the fractured stone, smoke curling past his shoulders as his view cleared.

The last cultist was closing in- only a few meters from Seraphina and Lucas, his body already glowing with unstable aether, preparing to explode.

Seraphina was crouched protectively beside Lucas, desperately gathering energy to summon a barrier that would be able to tank the explosion that the cultist was going to create. She would have been able to dodge it normally but her healing skill on Lucas was diverting her focus and energy, causing her to be unable to form it without strain.

The cultist’s eyes locked onto Lucas.

He screamed a war cry, feet pounding towards them like a madman.

And then- steel flashed.

Bennet emerged from the smoke with a cold look on his face ,sword raised high. With a blinding slash, he cleaved straight through the cultist’s neck, decapitating him cleanly and leaving no time for him to react.

The cultist’s body jerked mid-stride as blood splurted out from neck and he crumpled onto the floor, about ten meters from Seraphina and Lucas.

Breathing hard, Bennet planted himself between them and the chaos as he checked up on Seraphina and Lucas.

"I’ve got you," he growled, "No one else is dying today."

"Dad...?" Lucas croaked.

Relief broke through Bennet’s expression as he knelt down his hand caressing Lucas while he placed his head on Seraphina’s calming and reassuring her that it was going to be okay.

Ash twisted with a snarl, baring his fangs. He suddenly dropped low and used his momentum to roll beneath the cultist’s grip. With a sharp kick from his hind legs, he sent the cultist stumbling backward just enough to break free.

Across the field, Seraphina’s serpent exploded in a pulse of light, its coils glowing with divine wrath. It slammed its body against the cultist restraining it, sending him flying through a cracked column.

Both Ash and the serpent staggered free and rushed back toward Bennet.

’Bennet,’ Ash spoke to him, ’Did you take down the leader?’

"Not yet," Bennet shook his head before turning to Ash, "Ash, I need you to get them out-"

He didn’t finish.

A sudden burst of aether cracked through the air like a thunderclap, rippling across the battlefield. And with it, a voice sliced through the tension- cold, disbelieving, laced with confused fury.

"You should’ve been ashes by now..." she said, her voice cracking under the weight of disbelief, "How are you still alive?"