SSS Class Mythic Beast Master

Chapter 407: White Eagle (1)

The forest opened into rocky terrain.

Massive boulders rose from the ground like fangs, creating pillars that stretched toward the sky. The air felt different here; it was lighter, cleaner, carrying currents that spoke of creatures who ruled the sky rather than the ground.

Roana opened her map and said. "Three-Eyed White Eagles nest in the cliff faces ahead." Her gold eyes lifted to scan the area. "Reinhard, you wanted the Weakness Peering ability for your Beast Sigil?"

Reinhard nodded before his light blue eyes tracked upward, searching the rocky outcroppings for signs of movement.

"I'll go with him," Scáth announced immediately, her wine-colored eyes gleaming with barely contained excitement as her purple hair whipped as she turned to face the group. "Two of us should be more than enough."

Marie opened her mouth to probably suggest going instead, but Joseph's hand on her shoulder stopped her. He shook his head slightly.

The message was clear: let Scáth have this since she needed the combat.

"Be careful," Brunhilde said softly, though her gentle smile suggested she had complete faith in their capability.

Reinhard and Scáth moved forward as a unit, leaving the others behind. The rocky terrain required different movement, and they were careful to avoid loose stones and constantly scan for aerial threats.

A screech pierced the air.

Reinhard's head snapped up.

There, perched on a boulder thirty feet above, sat a Three-Eyed White Eagle. The beast was magnificent with pristine white feathers that glowed, a wingspan that had to be at least fifteen feet when fully extended.

But most striking were its three eyes arranged in a triangle pattern on its face. Two where eyes normally appeared, and a third positioned directly above them on its forehead.

That third eye opened.

Reinhard felt the gaze land on him, but it was different. It felt like a presence that swept across his body like an invisible scanner. The sensation was invasive, analytical, deeply uncomfortable as the eagle's third eye glowed faintly.

Then four more screeches answered the first, and other eagles emerged from hidden nests.

Two from the cliff face to the left, two more from the rocky outcropping to the right. There were five in total, and all were focusing their gazes on the two intruders.

"Five against two." Scáth said, her voice practically vibrating with joy. "Perfect odds."

Her crimson-purple spear manifested in her hands, and it shone a bit before she spun it once, movements fluid and swift.

Golden-black markings appeared on Reinhard's arms as Fenrir's power flooded his system. His light blue eyes transformed into blazing gold with three diamond pupils arranged in a triangle pattern, endless blackness swirling around them.

The eagles attacked simultaneously.

All five launched from their perches, wings spreading to full, impressive span. They dove with coordinated precision, utilizing their Weakness Peering to identify optimal strike points.

All of their talons descended on them.

But they weren't just diving; their bodies began to shimmer. Then light began bending around each eagle's form, creating multiple overlapping afterimages. It became impossible to determine which image was a real bird and which was an optical illusion.

"Their illusion skills, the real ones should be-" Reinhard called out, his enhanced senses cutting through the deception.

"I see them!" Scáth interrupted, her own combat instincts identifying truth through movement patterns and air displacement.

She moved first, thrusting her spear upwards to the eagle on the far left. The weapon passed through two afterimages before connecting with solid flesh. The eagle screeched before veering away and adjusting its dive angle.

Reinhard's response was different as his hand came up, golden energy gathering in his palm. The swirling black orb immediately began pulling at everything nearby.

The eagles' flight paths curved involuntarily toward the gravitational pull.

Two eagles compensated, powerful wing beats fighting against the suction, but the third was already too close.

The Devour Disk caught its wing.

Its wing began twisting from the swirling orb, with the sounds of bone shattering ringing out. The eagle shrieked, its dive collapsing into an uncontrolled tumble, and then it crashed into a boulder with heavy impact, white feathers scattering.

The aerial eagles regrouped instantly, their three eyes all focusing with renewed intensity. Three beams of concentrated light shot from their forehead eyes, targeting the weak points they'd already identified.

The beams moved at light speed.

But Reinhard's Fenrir senses perceived the attack swiftly before it completed. His body shifted as he blasted out with his fist, which blasted through the air and crashed into the beam. The light beam instantly arrived and crashed into his fist.

The lights scattered out, leading to minor burning appearing on his fist before his fist began healing quickly.

Scáth simply grinned as the beam struck her knee. Her Cuirass of Consequence was already active, the black bark and dragonhide armor that absorbed light and subtly redirected attacks. The beam curved away at the last instant, striking her shin instead of the knee joint. She absorbed the impact and continued moving without a care.

Scath spear multiplied, one became six with all maintaining the crimson-purple coloring, all equally solid and real. She threw all six simultaneously, and as they flew through the air, her Beast Sigil activated.

Mugen.

Each spear split mid-flight into dozens of copies, creating a storm of projectiles that filled the sky. The eagles scattered, wings beating frantically. But there were too many spears covering too much area. Two eagles took multiple hits, the crimson-purple weapons piercing their wings and bodies, driving them down toward the ground.

They crashed hard with their white feathers stained with blood.

Two eagles remain airborne.

The aerial eagles activated their third new ability as both opened their beaks and released screeches that harmonized perfectly. The sound waves became visible, leading to rippling distortions in the air that carried concussive force.

The waves spread outward in expanding circles, targeting everything below.

The sound waves crashed into Reinhard and Scath's invisible barriers. The force drove both fighters backward several steps, boots scraping across rock.

But they held with little injury.

Dozen small blue portals appeared around the two airborne eagles, each portal six inches in diameter, positioned at strategic angles. The eagles' Weakness Peering immediately identified the threat, but identifying and avoiding were different challenges.

Azure beams shot from every portal simultaneously.

The eagles tried to dodge, wings tucking and extending, bodies twisting through impossible angles. But Reinhard had anticipated their escape routes; the beams weren't aimed where the eagles were, but where they would be after dodging.

Both beams are connected.

Once the beams smashed into the eagle's body, ice began spreading instantly across their white feathers. The ice turned their pristine feathers into frost-covered statues mid-flight.

Both eagles dropped like stones, frozen completely, crashing into the ground with sounds of shattering ice.