NOVEL FROG Chapter 140: Thunderstruck
Saint raised his sword high, bracing for a final, desperate stand. As he prepared to face the onslaught from all directions, a sudden burst of energy obliterated the omens and ravagers around him, leaving him momentarily stunned. The ravagers watched in awe as he stood unharmed at the epicenter of the chaos, a ring of smoke and charred bodies, where he emerged unharmed. Despite being struck by lightning, he was the only one who had survived. He stood aghast, looking around before glancing at his sword as he felt it burning with electricity. Dominion was now glowing with an intense radiance, brighter than when it powered up at the factory. It had absorbed some of the lightning’s energy, and electrical currents now pulsed from its blade.
Mesmerized by Dominion’s brilliance, Saint quickly realized he once again harnessed its full power and began to swing it with purpose. Crisis, equally astonished, couldn’t help but worry for him amid the electrifying spectacle. As they kept their eyes on the battle, they noticed the continuous flashes of lightning originating from the center. The erratic glow moved towards them, prompting Panda to lower his shield slightly for a clearer view. However, their distraction nearly cost them their lives as the ravagers prepared to launch a final attack. Just then, Saint reappeared, slashing the ravagers from behind and halting their charge instantly.
Standing before his squad, Saint looked unscathed, his presence almost surreal as Dominion’s energy extended to his hands, seemingly coursing through his veins with a bright, blue glimmer. Even Frost found it hard to believe what he was witnessing. The luminous glass sword, charged with the storm’s lightning, radiated skylike brilliance, yet the real spectacle was behind Saint. The ravagers he struck didn’t instantly; they had fallen to their knees, paralyzed. They remained alive, conscious, and breathing, but completely immobilized by Dominion’s touch. A few seconds passed, but their paralysis persisted; they had become sentient statues, only able to panic mentally.
–H-how did you?...– Nitro stammered, almost mirroring the paralyzed ravagers in his shock. Realizing Saint’s newfound power, he quickly grew excited, but Saint remained focused. He responded with a quick nod before turning to fend off the remaining ravagers. Fearful of their stunned comrades, most of the omens attempted to retreat, but the ravagers were too slow to comprehend what they were facing and kept charging at Saint, only to share the same fate.
Unlike the others, Panda seemed rather unfazed, having witnessed Saint’s power before. As he kept clearing a path with Dominion, the rest of Crisis followed Panda as he raised his shield and advanced. Frost was slower to react but resumed his leadership, guiding his squad off the rooftop. With Saint at the forefront, paralyzing any ravager in his path with a mere touch, the squad made their way back to the roof’s center, where they saw the scorched impact site of the lightning strike.
More enemies were approaching from below, so Crisis hurried to catch up with Saint, navigating through a field of ravager statues. As the omens climbed and encountered the eerie scene, they inspected the area in disbelief, giving Crisis time to retreat. Saint reached the tower door, revealing the ongoing battle inside. The ravagers were streaming from the staircase beside the door until Panda blocked their path with his shield while the rest assessed the situation.
Ravagers and omens were filling the four corridors surrounding the tower, forcing the Cloudstars to retreat to the central spiraling staircase, using it as a defensive position. Empowered by the lightning, Saint charged towards the center, with Frost and Kiwy supporting them. He cut through the corridors with more precaution to not hit any allies, paralyzing enemies in his wake until he reached the stairs. Initially, the Cloudstars almost attacked him in panic, but after recognizing Crisis, they gained the confidence to hold their position and push both enemies back down the corridors.
Sticking close to Saint, Nitro, and Candy pushed forward, carving a path to the Cloudstars. Meanwhile, Frost and Kiwy stayed back, fighting conventionally but not letting loose to give Panda time to catch up. They reached the stairs, but more enemies swiftly replaced those Saint had paralyzed, filling all four corridors once again. Now reunited with the Cloudstars, they found themselves pinned down and forced to ascend the tower. Panda, Frost, and Saint held the base of the stairs, buying precious moments for the rest of Crisis and the Cloudstars to reach the top. The ascent was lengthy, and the trio had to hold out for an extended period as they covered the staircase’s width to prevent anyone from slipping past them. Although they bought time for their teammates to escape, they soon realized that the tower’s summit offered little refuge, with a limited area to defend and the threat of being surrounded.
The Cloudstars tried to create space for their allies, but the top of the tower was too small, not even half the size of the hangar’s roof. Some were forced to remain on the stairs, but once Crisis reached the top, they spotted the main middle tower nearby. Barely peeking out of the fog, the largest and tallest tower in the center offered a better defensive position. Unfortunately, there was no direct connection between the towers, not even from below, as the access was located on the first level at the central hall.
With no clear way to reach it, Nitro quickly devised a plan. Amid the chaos, no one could hear him speak, but his intentions became clear when he pulled out his grenade launcher. Initially, some panicked, fearing he might have gone suicidal and blown them all up. However, with Candy and Kiwy sticking by his side and creating space, they realized his goal as he tried to aim at the middle tower.
–Are you sure yo-..?– Candy began to ask, gritting her teeth anxiously, but Nitro cut her off with a chuckle and a wide grin. Moving to the tower’s ledge to get closer to his target, he loaded one single grenade in the chamber and aimed. The other backed away, sharing Candy’s concern, and waited for him to pull the trigger.
–I have no idea, but we’ll see…– Nitro replied with a distressing laugh, not exactly filling Candy with any confidence. Nonetheless, it was too late to stop him. He took his time to line up the shot, and though it appeared he wasn’t aiming properly, he fired at the wall of the opposite tower, aiming slightly lower.
The explosion created a gaping hole causing the structure to tremble. For a moment, it seemed the tower might collapse, but as the smoke cleared, the Cloudstars saw a large opening in the side of the tower that they could jump into. Nitro had considered the distance between the towers, and since the hole was below their current level, the Cloudstars could barely make the leap into the window he created, landing on the spiraling staircase inside the main tower.
Hearing the explosion, Frost and Saint rushed upstairs, with Panda slowly retreating, trying to stall the enemies. The blast's shock seemed to break Saint’s focus, as he immediately prioritized reaching the top to understand what had happened. Dominion began to change again, quickly losing its skyblue hue and returning to its original white with a hint of purple-blue. Saint looked confused and concerned but was relieved to see the Cloudstars making their way to the other tower, with Crisis staying behind to protect them and help those injured who couldn’t make the jump by themselves. Panda was left behind, and upon realizing everyone was hopping to the other tower, he headed up and saw his teammates hadn’t jumped yet, but he instantly turned back upon noticing the daunting distance.
–Oh hell no, I’m not jumping that…– Panda protested as the others prepared to leap. He glared at Nitro, shaming him for creating the precarious hole, while the others seemed unfazed by the gap. Noticing Panda’s reluctance, Nitro just smiled teasingly before lining up to jump after all the Cloudstars made it to safety.
Candy went first, sprinting to gain speed before leaping and landing gracefully with the help of a couple of Cloudstars. Saint followed, but his jump was too powerful, causing him to hit the wall above the hole. He clung to it and slid down until Candy reached for him and pulled him through with a hug. Nitro jumped next, carelessly flailing his arms and shouting euphorically, but landing with a roll on the staircase and knocking into a few Cloudstars. Kiwy made it look easy as she summoned her inner cat and leaned on the ledge before leaping fearlessly.
Frost tapped Panda on the shoulder before boosting himself straight through the hole with a slight push from the tower’s edge. Candy caught him to prevent a collision with Saint, also pulling him with a hug but in a nurturing nature, squeezing him hard and holding his head with a loving embrace. With only Panda left, they all peeked out, noticing his hesitation. He stood on the ledge, fear gripping him, even after tossing his shield and machine gun for Nitro and Frost to catch.
–You can do this! Come on, jump!– Saint shouted with supportive urgency. The rest of the squad seemed more amused by Panda’s anxiety, but it quickly faded as they noticed enemies rushing up the stairs through the narrow windows of the tower.
Panda had no choice. Even though Saint’s encouragement didn’t bolster his confidence, the sight of ravagers closing in was motivation enough. He backed away to gain some speed and began to run as the enemy caught up. Driven by sheer survival instinct, he launched himself off the tower without a second thought. He aimed for the hole but miscalculated the distance, falling a foot short. Desperation gripped him as he reached for the ledge, barely holding on. Before he could plummet, Frost and Saint grabbed his wrists and pulled him with all of their strength. Amid a struggle and bullets whizzing past, they managed to haul Panda into the main tower.
Regrouping quickly, Panda picked up his weapon and shield, only to hear more enemies approaching from below. Despite reaching the other tower, their ordeal was far from over, as the Cloudstar base had been completely overrun by both enemies. Crisis and the Cloudstars rushed to ascend the next spiral staircase, aiming to reach the highest point of the base, just below the dark, heavy clouds. The roof offered more space to defend, allowing all the Cloudstars to stay at the top, but it wasn’t long before the ravagers began pushing upwards.
The Cloudstars formed a defensive line at the stairs, shoving enemies away and attempting to steal their weapons in self-defense. Though they managed to hold the line for a while, they were greatly outnumbered and would soon be overwhelmed by the enemy forces. Crisis found themselves unable to assist as they were exhausted and out of ammo. Nitro was a shadow of his energetic self, visibly drained after his injuries became more than a mild hindrance, and seemingly disheartened now that he had nothing to blow up. Panda tried to fight in the front line to help the Cloudstars, but his strength waned by the second to the point where he struggled to his shield or deliver a punch.
Candy, overwhelmed by the chaos, couldn’t tend to the injured or focus. She sat in the middle of her teammates, huddled in a fetal position, tears streaming as she stared up at the ominous clouds, murmuring to herself. Amidst the anguish and torment of a never-ending battle, only Kiwy noticed her distress but chose to climb onto Panda’s shoulders to get a better view of their surroundings. From her elevated position, she scanned the area through the fog and quickly spotted something that made her call for Panda’s attention.
Busy guarding the stairs, Panda was reluctant but eventually turned to see what Kiwy was pointing at and warning him about. Peering through the fog, he squinted hard and made out the silhouettes of the omen reinforcements approaching from the west side of the base, through the large passage between the mountains. They were still coming strong and seemed to have more units than the ravagers as waves of omen soldiers lined up, collectively marching into battle.
Out of everyone, one familiar group stood out. Panda’s eyes widened as he spotted Spook in the middle of the approaching army. Not only was Scarecrow back in one piece, but Onyx had somehow escaped or had been rescued, only suffering minor injuries. They were all reunited, and rather than fleeing, they were fighting their way toward the base once again. Panda’s heart sank at the sight, and after realizing the futility of their situation, he decided not to share this with the rest of the squad.
It was pointless to worry about Spook when their immediate threat was going to finish them in the next few minutes. Panda urged Kiwy to stand by his side and help him in the front line. She begrudgingly climbed down from his shoulders and tried to push forward, but as soon as she saw the sheer number of ravagers coming at them, fear overwhelmed her. She turned back and ran to Candy, her own resolve faltering as she realized everyone else had seemingly given up. Joining Candy, who kept murmuring prayers, Kiwy sought comfort in her arms, shielding herself from the chaos while the Cloudstars frantically adjusted their formation since they couldn’t retreat anymore.
They left only Frost and Saint as the only ones with weapons capable of defending the group, but they too chose not to engage. The energy and power Saint had harnessed with Dominion had drained quickly. While he could still wield his sword in its normal state, he was utterly exhausted. The sword had given him strength and taken more in return as he collapsed next to Crisis as soon as he reached the top of the tower. Panting heavily and unable to muster the strength to stand, he remained on the ground upon seeing his teammates give up on the fight as well. Looking around in desperation, he noticed Frost standing nearby, and to his surprise, he had holstered his blades and was trying to make a call on the radio.
–What are we doing? Are you g-...?– Saint tried to ask, struggling with his fatigue and holstering Dominion to catch his breath since it kept draining his energy.
–They should be coming soon, I have to let them know where we’re located…– Frost replied, growing frustrated as he struggled with the radio amidst the horrible weather. The storm made it nearly impossible to get a clear signal, but he continued trying desperately. The rest of Crisis watched anxiously, adding to his stress. But just as he seemed overwhelmed, he finally found a signal strong enough to communicate with Indie.
–Are you there? We’re pinned down at the main tower. There’s no way to get down… We need backup immediately, the ravag-...– Frost reported quickly, but the signal was poor, and with the noise from the Cloudstars and ravagers around, he only heard unintelligible static in response. The thunder drowned out his words, but with all his teammates watching, he tried to maintain a resolute front to show a little hope instead of despair.
–Are they coming for us? Did Indie make it??– Nitro asked desperately, his eagerness turning to frantic hope. But Frost’s expression gave him away as his anxiety building up in his eyes told the truth, and he could no longer keep up a composed demeanor. More concerning than a burst of anger or frustration, Frost simply looked up at the sky and let the rain wash his face, seeming to give up entirely.
The squad realized the gravity of their situation. Despite the hard truth that no help was coming, they remained relatively calm and gathered in the middle. Even Panda chose to stay with his team, abandoning his defense of the Cloudstars, who were rapidly falling to the hands of the ravagers. Crisis united as Panda pulled them into a circle around Candy, who was now audibly reciting her prayer. Her teammates mouthed the same words, all staring at the sky in a collective plea to the higher beings. As they embraced and accepted their impending doom, Saint watched with a mixture of understanding and irritation. He knew why they resorted to praying, but not knowing the prayer himself, he felt isolated and grew frustrated by their decision to surrender until he opted to take matters into his own hands.