CHAPTER 346: CHAPTER 346: PURSUIT

Chloe sped through the passageway lined with metal walls and ceilings. Her wings beat the air, creating a torrent of fierce wind that pushed her faster and faster.

She weaved right, then left, following the path and drifting at sharp corners.

Here was no light here, everything was dark. The illuminating crystals had long ceased to work as there was no inflow of a power source.

The passageway would sometimes get smaller, and other times, she would make a sharp turn into a wider pass.

Her black wings hit the metal walls multiple times, creating panging sounds that echoed into far places.

She had to move fast, not only was there a possibility of tigers chasing after her, but she was also aware that Kael’s survival might as well be in her hands.

She wasn’t confident that Kael would be able to defeat three tier 5 tigers. The chances of that happening were too low in her eyes.

Tigers were not like other creatures whose combat ability was dependent on instincts or learned techniques.

It was one of the things she had warned Kael of earlier so she wasn’t worried that he would be ignorant.

It wasn’t a mistake that tigers tended to outclass lions in terms of combat, even at the ordinary creature level. It was only a matter of law affiliation.

They were built and designed for combat, their very bones, claws, fangs, and muscles, all worked together to make them the ultimate fighter.

And there were three of them, all against Kael.

All Kael had to do was block the entrance and not allow any tiger to get in, he had to hold his guard long enough for her to navigate through the passageways and find the Command Chamber.

To say that she was confident that he could do it, would be a lie.

That was why she rushed fast, exerting herself. The sooner she found the command chamber, the sooner she could help Kael.

By now, she had already gone down the metal structure, definitely below the ground level.

Finally, she reached a part of the passageway with a wide and tall gate on the right.

The gate was opened and there was a bit of light inside.

Chloe rushed in.

What appeared before her eyes was a vast field. There was soil, trees, and even the sound of rushing water could be heard.

The place was eerily silent and devoid of life.

’This must be where the tigers had hidden in the Arkship,’ She thought to herself.

Seeing this inside the jungle was a nice surprise for her. She had seen similar scenes on another arkship in the past.

She beat her wings, ascending to the sky so that she could get a better look, she didn’t have time to look around for the place where they had kept some of their valuables like the info orbs.

Then, she saw it, far in the distance, under the dimly lit artificial sky, the reflection of a metal gate could be seen.

It was a few kilometers away...

Her ears twitched to the back as she heard the sounds of roars and bodies slamming into the metal walls.

With shock in her eyes, she turned to see tier 4 tigers rushing through the open gate of the inner jungle.

Their auras surged forth, shaking the trees and hardening the air.

They all set their sights on Chloe who flew above and was already flying away.

Immediately, they pursued.

The winged tiger among them roared and ascended to the sky, gathering cyclones and tornadoes around him.

Without wasting any time, Coe transformed into her lioness form. Her true power was revealed then.

Tier 4.

She had successfully evolved.

She turned into a stream of black wind, racing toward the distant metal gate on the other side of the inner jungle. The white tiger was behind her.

He wasn’t catching up, clearly, his speed was not superior to hers.

Below, the tigers also raced forward, hoping to intercept her at the gate. They smashed through trees, burrowed through the ground, and blazed through the air just to get there.

The closest to achieving this would have been the War Tiger among them but he was still behind. Chloe had a lot of gap between them before they started pursuing, and it wouldn’t be easy to just catch up.

Just like Kael, she broke through the sound barrier, quickly reaching the gate.

It was locked, so she had to stop. This gave the tigers time to catch up.

The black winds blew away the trees and battered the walls due to her sudden stop.

Panicking, Chloe slammed her paw on one of the runes embedded on the side. The massive circular gate that was close to ten meters in diameter began to open, sliding outward.

It created a low cranking noise as it opened.

The tigers were already there.

*BANG!*

One of the tigers jumped out and pounced on Chloe with jaws wide open and claws bared. Chloe could only respond by erecting a firm wind barrier while slashing out with black wind claws.

The tiger bounced on the wind barrier before being sent flying by the wind claws, leaving him with three claw marks on his neck.

Meanwhile, other tigers had arrived. The winged tiger dived down with unhidden killing intent.

Fortunately, the gate had opened wide enough for Chloe’s body to slide through. She immediately rushed out, leaving her wind barrier to hold them off for as long as possible.

The wind barrier, as expected, did not last more than one second before being destroyed.

The tigers continued their pursuit, this time, they were dangerously close to Chloe.

Although the sight of the new passageway got them curious, they put it at the back of their mind. First of all, they had to catch that lioness.

Meanwhile, unknown to the tigers, the Arkship had begun to come to life.

Chloe had used her paw to activate the rune and open the gate, something only a lion or lioness could do.

The arkship, with its seemingly infinite size and computational prowess, had recognized and registered a familiar presence.

The operating system that had been dormant for eons began to stir and reboot.

All over the arkship, gates and doors began to unlock themselves.

As Chloe flew through the passageways, rushing into one chamber after the other, she noticed that the gates no longer needed to be unlocked manually.

This was good, as it meant that she wouldn’t have to stop anymore just to open a gate. But it also meant there were no obstacles for the tigers hot on her tail.

Resounding bangs were heard as Chloe and the tigers slammed repeatedly into the metal walls, unable to control their inertia whenever they wanted to make a turn. It couldn’t be helped, both parties were moving at full speed.

Attacks were launched at Chloe and she did her best to block or evade them.

It was ironic, lionesses were usually the ones who hunted in groups while tigers operated solo. But now, Chloe was on her own and running for her life while being chased by a group of tigers.

Time was passing, Chloe’s heart beat fast, she had to find the Command Chamber, if not, that would be the end for her and Kael.

....

Outside the arkship.

Something else was happening here.

While Constantyne was blazing his way back to clash with the transforming Kael, Katari was taking action.

Two tigers had died.

Their bodies lay on the ground, their fur soaked in their own blood which pooled around them. One of the tigers was missing its head.

"What did she do?"

"Where is she?"

"Over there!"

*BANG!*

Chaos erupted as tigers zig-zagged around the battlefield, moving at high speeds as they communicated with each other.

There were sparks as well as loud banging sounds as Katari would appear out of nowhere in her lioness form, randomly attacking a tiger before disappearing like a ghost.

Her mode of attack frightened the tigers and kept them on alert.

That Katari was still alive was a shock to them and it made them question their own abilities.

She used stealth and abused her new powers to achieve peak killer satisfaction.

Every of her spatial attacks and defenses was amplified by the power of magic, giving them mysterious properties and enhancing their effects.

The Conquering Essence pool within her already made her exceptional among tier 4 beings, and now she had the power of a Magus, albeit temporarily.

The tigers found themselves being barraged by invisible needles or spatial blades. Some of them tried to create distance between themselves only to find that they had not moved at all.

Some would shoot fire claws or lightning beams, just for a portal to open up and swallow all their attacks.

Another portal would open up close to them, sending their attacks back to the sender.

Some would erect defensive barriers, then Katari would just teleport through, effectively rendering their defense meaningless.

It was chaotic. The surroundings were utterly decimated. No more trees could be seen.

The shockwaves of their clashes spread out for kilometers, echoing the might of high-level entities.

By the time five more tigers had died, the rest of the group had begun to adapt. Katari was being cornered, it was bound to happen.

*WHOOSH!*

Constantyne had arrived, rushing past their battle and heading straight for Kael. He left a trail of fire behind him.

The fight did not stop.

All of a sudden, the sound of magic cannons powering up was heard, causing the ear of everyone to shift.

The magic shuttle.

Multiple beams of magic light shot over their head, heading for different targets.

Unfortunately or Fortunately, Agatha was one of these targets.