Chapter 108: Chapter 108:Faster and Harder [2]
As sparks of lightning flew off her body and hit me as she rapidly approached me, my body's condition deteriorated even more as the sparks of lightning burned right through my clothes, leaving burn marks.
Only my stomach was left untouched, as even the sparks of lighting couldn't penetrate through the magical artifact.
Looking past Liana, I saw Ruby lying on the floor, and the others slowly lost consciousness.
Being treated as a hologram by another person had probably caused Ruby to pass out as Liana's lightning body had phased right through her, but I had no idea why they were slumped down on the ground for the others.
Stopping right in front of me, the Elven Queen looked down at me as I kneeled on the ground in pain.
Opening her mouth, which creepily had no teeth or gums but just pure lightning, Liana stared at my hands, still covered in corruption from my manifesting of the new device, and commanded.
"Get rid of it."
Behind Liana, all the smoke particles that came out of my original jar had been destroyed by Liana's lightning strike from her change to a non-physical state, so the only thing left was the new device I had manifested.
Barely managing to open my mouth while sprawled across my floor, the pants torn to pieces by the sparks of lightning, I muttered out.
"c-can y-you move back."
I literally could do anything but convulse in pain with the constant stream of lighting sparks flying off her body.
Staring at the lightning sparks flying off her body at me, Liana's eyes, made out of lightning, widened for a moment before she stepped back.
This was her first time being in this state... but shouldn't she be a bit more self-aware??? I mean, I was literally rolling on the ground in pain...
Raising my hand, I dismissed the device on the ground next to Ruby, causing the cloud of smoke to grow smaller, and I also felt a bit more energized as the corruption returned to my body.
Stepping further away from me, which I internally thanked her for, Liana raised her right hand, and her entire arm glowed a darker purple for a second.
*CRACKLE*
The next moment, a beam of pure lightning appeared in the palm of her hand and barreled right at the remaining cloud of particles.
The beams instantly melted all the particles as it passed through the cloud, but it didn't stop there as the beam went further and further until it hit the cave walls.
Then... it passed right through the walls, creating a gigantic hole in the cave wall, and went further away, creating more and more holes in the walls of the entire tree.
...yeah use that one-of-one overpowered ability without testing it all; it's a perfect idea!
Forgetting about my presence for a moment, Liana's mouth opened in awe and confusion as she stared at the countless holes she made in the tree.
She had damaged the tree more than me at this point, but here I was, lying on the ground in pain!
Justice is fake!!!; what the hell is this!?
As Liana slowly turned back towards me, I immediately cleared all of my thoughts: What would happen if I got hit with that beam!?
1 second.
I needed one second until my dash's cool down wore off; that second was all I needed. Well, that second activated the usage period, and then another second to actually dash forward.
It had to be perfect.
Liana's speed was now almost three times as fast as my dash with her new lightning body, so with my calculations of her current speed factored in, I decided that I had to dash forward and leave the cave within a period of around three seconds.
With the energy I got back from returning my corruption, I raised my hand and placed it on my hood, feeling the soft fur of my asleep cat.
...was he really sleeping this entire time?
At this point, I wasn't even mad that the cat had been happily resting while I was in this near-death situation; I was more astonished.
Did none of the light from the beams and sparks of lightning or when I literally collapsed to the ground not wake it up...?
Staring at me with my hand on my hood, Liana ensured she was far enough so that sparks wouldn't hit me... before bowing?
With head facing the ground below her and her back turned, Liana, with an indifferent expression, said.
"I must thank you for allowing me to destroy all the particles. If you hadn't removed the jar and allowed the particles to fall out slowly, there would have been a chance they hit the tree."
Standing back up, Liana offered me her hand and continued expressing her thanks.
"Although I came later, I was early enough to see how you heroically defended the tree's spirit from the particles with that jar of yours. If you had allowed those particles to pass through and hit the tree, I can't imagine what would have happened..."
As the cave returned to normal, devoid of any smoke particles, Liana pointed to Ruby's unconscious body and continued.
"I understand why you threw the jar of particles, and I do not blame you. You were simply trying to save that human from being crushed by my rampage... that is my fault."
Staring at her hand, which was also made of pure lightning, I hesitated for a moment.
Does this queen have no self-awareness!?
If I accepted her hand, I would be immediately electrocuted and fall to the ground in pain... but the damned queen of the Elven realm was personally offering her hand to me.
...Could I even reject that?
However, despite that dilemma, I was relieved to see that the queen was not planning on killing me but rather thanking me.
There was still one problem, though... she was expressing all these thankful words and bowing with an indifferent expression...
Shouldn't she show at least some emotion?
Maybe the lightning body didn't let her change her expression?
Noticing my dilemma, the queen stared at her lightning hand before quickly contracting it. Then, just like I dismissed my corruption device, the queen de-manifested her lightning body, returning to a physical state.
Taking her now normal hand, I stood up, my legs still trembling, and awkwardly looked around the room where everyone else was lying unconscious.
Hm?
As I turned to look at Liana, I noticed that she was wearing a rather awkward expression while scratching her hair.
" *ahem* t-there is still one problem, I still may need your assistance for..."