Chapter 56 - Chorus
Chapter 56 - Chorus
"Argh!" The leader grunted, biting a portion of his dress, refusing to budge as he locked his right hand in place. His left hand moved up before he could react, opening his left eye to pluck its eyeball.
"Aargh!" The leader screamed, rolling on the ground as he started to regain his senses. Unfortunately, his left eyeball got crushed into pulp in the process. Panting, he got up, struggling to keep himself awake as he activated his Water Qi perception, noticing two eyeballs roll out from each of the other four scouts.
Plop!
Followed by the sounds of a jump, water splashed as a scout walked towards them, dragging the first injured scout into the house through the breach in the kitchen walls. Three more followed behind him, dragging the other three scouts back to the house.
The leader noticed some of the scouts from the living room had made it safe, quickly springing towards them when he noticed a cylindrical object roll out from the breach and crash into the three dragging the scouts.
The impact collapsed their balance, making them fall into the ground as a certain object worn over their heads fell off. When it touched the water and was covered by the rain, the leader noticed that they were lanterns used in the house.
The Kalhas had used that to cover the head of the scouts they controlled and exited the house to drag the others back in. Once the cover came off, the rain fell on their faces. The controlled scouts swiftly closed their eyes, unwilling to open them as they tried to get up.
From within the top of the Aeki, a hand shot forth, carrying a needle-shaped Magic Artifact, stabbing into the forehead of a scout, killing him. The hand retracted the needle-shaped Magic Artifact, stabbing it into the forehead of the other two scouts in a fluid motion, killing them.
Slowly, Re'Kha climbed out of the Aeki, her condition lacking the fear and other emotions she had displayed to fool the scouts. She was covered from head to toe in silk, wearing normal clothes above it. For a moment, the leader was unable to identify her, after all, he could only perceive her ankle from the ground up.
As the figures—scouts—under the control of the Kalhas streamed out, the two scouts trying to save their team member from under the table could only leave him and drag the other two that were starting to recover.
As they hadn't stared at the Kalhas directly and had only listened to the sounds, they were barely able to recover after the rain fell on them long enough. After wearing their masks, they perceived the position of their leader, quickly running towards him.
They noticed Re'Kha swiftly kill off the scouts around her, entering the Aeki as she rolled away from the scene. Five figures sauntered from the house, their heads covered with lanterns. One of them stayed behind to drag the corpses of three scouts within whose eyes the Kalhas remained alive. For, their eyelids were shut and prevented the rain from seeping through.
Among the remaining four, three sprinted towards the five scouts while the last ran towards Re'Kha. During the chaos when the Kalhas were targeting the scouts and gaining control over them, Re'Kha slipped away. For, the granary entrance was right next to the breach in the kitchen walls.
She only rolled a couple of times before escaping. Unwilling to allow a prey to escape, a scout under the control of Kalhas chased after her. His movements were slightly sluggish, for the Kalhas controlling him didn't feel well in the rainy environment.
After rolling for a certain distance, Re'Kha crawled out of the Aeki, emptying her stomach on the floor before getting up, sensing the approach of a figure through her Water Qi perception. Using the Aeki as a cover, she put the needle-shaped Magic Artifact in her storage space and took out the whip-shaped Magic Artifact.
The moment the figure closed in on her, she lashed out with the whip diagonally, aiming the attacker's head. The Attacker had to halt his momentum, for he couldn't make abrupt dodges in fear of losing his headgear. Re'Kha lashed out from every direction possible, constantly targeting the opponent's head and legs.
She added a spin to her body, moving while making circles, using the momentum to continue swinging her whip without interruptions. While attacking with the whip, Re'Kha kicked the water, causing a splash; the water sprinkled on the attacker.
The attacker had to close his eyes, for the direction she aimed from made some water droplets splash into the lantern through its bottom. The attacker had just closed his eyes while guarding his front with hands when a palm projection slammed into him, sending him flying.
The force knocked him, curving his body like an arrowhead as it sent him flying. It caused the lantern worn on his head to fall off. Re'Kha followed up the attack with a series of lashes, keeping pace with the attacker.
Forced to the ground, he was placed in a passive spot, receiving her lashes. Re'Kha mentally willed, activating the whip that shone with blue radiance, increasing in brightness thanks to the rain as she lashed on his head. The Water Qi in the rain converged upon the whip as it moved along with the attack, slamming into the attacker like the tide.
The Kalhas within his eye sockets were drowned by the Water Qi she unleashed, suffering from damage when Re'Kha arrived beside his face, crouching as she gently used her hand to open his eyelids. The rainwater fell into the Kalhas within and turned them back into normal eyeballs.
Unfortunately, the man died the moment they died. Re'Kha left him as if and focused on the state of the five remaining scouts. They had lost one while the opponents were down to one. The people controlled by the Kalhas couldn't unleash their Pranic Arts, so they battled like normal people. Against the Harmonisers, it was hard to clinch victory.
Though, the scouts weren't faring better either. They were constantly subjected to an incessant sound the Kalhas emitted. Seeing the commotion, the Kalhas within the other houses wriggled in the little space they had, creating a weak tune in conjugation with the sound.
The entire settlement soon echoed with their tune, a chorus the eye cluster had begun.