System Change

Edward’s eyes widened as the bunny attacked without another word. Derek’s companion coming to save him was something he would have never expected in a million years, but there she was, flying at a tremendous speed toward the prince of another country.

However, Edward still couldn’t put much faith in the little thing. How strong could a beast companion really be? Especially one that had most likely been bonded when it was still at a low level. This ‘Silvi’ obviously wasn’t a normal bunny, but she clearly showed some of the features of the widespread common Horned Rabbit. He would be shocked if that wasn’t what she had been before she evolved from a bond.

So, sure, Derek was strong, but as a bonded companion, she could have, at most, what? Three quarters of his stats, if he had a legendary class. Natalie Savannah had let it slip that Derek’s stats were actually higher than Edgar’s, so him having a legendary class was probable, especially since Edward suspected that his brother also had one.

No, Edward didn’t put much hope in the bunny dealing with the situation alone. What he was hopeful for, however, was that she could damage or surprise the elven prince enough that he lost focus and dropped the barrier placed around them. If that were to happen, Edward’s reinforcements would file through the teleporter the second the barrier dropped, and there would be a good chance to reverse the situation.

So, Edward followed the movements of the small bunny as best he could. The amount of power she used to launch herself off her back legs was staggering. Her strength stat must have broken through the second threshold, and the way she left the ground. Is her dexterity close to that as well? He thought.

But in that split second she was in the air, possibly not even that long, she had made it to the front of the young elven prince. Somehow, during that extremely short amount of time, she had begun glowing a deep purple, leaving a streak of purple behind her.

Edward clenched his remaining hand tightly. This was it. Both princes were caught off guard. He could tell by the look in their eyes. If she can just damage… he started to think, but before he could finish the thought, the flying bunny crashed into a barrier just in front of the elven prince and Edward’s heart fell. Even with such a surprise attack, he was ready.

Fucking barriers, Edward inwardly cursed as he watched the bunny, no longer glowing, kick off the barrier and land back exactly where she had first appeared. The bunny shook her head violently for a second before glaring at the elven prince and his barrier.

Edward shifted his focus back to the prince, and was surprised when he saw the shield in front of him flicker in and out of visibility. When it was visible, Edward actually saw a spiderweb like crack flowing through it. But if that wasn’t enough to shock him, what happened next was.

The elven prince staggered on his feet before violently spitting up multiple mouthfuls of blood and grasping at his chest. What the hell happened? Did his shield getting damage also damage him? That doesn’t make any sense. What good would such a shield be if that happened. But… why is he like that? The prince continued to cough violently, half the blood landing on the ground and half on the back-side of the shield barrier.

With the blood running down the barrier, even when it was flickering invisible, the shield could still be located. Edward wasn’t the only person who was stupefied. Everyone around them had the same dumbfounded look on their faces. A small bunny had… head-butted the prized skill of the royal family of Indria, and not only had the skill cracked, but the user had been damaged.

All this came with a realization for Edward. With his personal barrier so damaged and flickering, along with the elven prince obviously being damaged, how much longer would he be able to control the anti-communication and teleportation barrier?

“Drink this, hurry! Before she attacks again!” The voice of Titus broke Edward out of his thoughts as the man shoved an expensive-looking potion into the elf’s hand.

Orion took the potion and started to uncork it, but before he could, the bunny made her next move… the same move. She launched herself off the ground again and began to glow. She was like a life seeking magic missile.

“It can’t…” Orion began to say. Obviously, he meant that his shield wouldn’t be able to take the same attack again. His hands were shaking, and he still had yet to drink the potion.

Go! Edward cheered the purple blur on. But before she made it to the shield again, Titus made his own move.

A thick wall of dark ice instantly sprouted up in front of Orion’s shield barrier. Edward clenched his fist again. That wall of ice didn’t look like it would be something easily broken. But, to his surprise, just when the missile bunny was about to hit the thick wall of ice, she disappeared.

In the next instant, Edward saw and heard multiple things he couldn’t explain. First, he heard what he could only describe as the sound of someone smashing a melon with a hammer. That came along with blood flying into the air, going even higher than the ice wall, high enough that Edward could see it even though he was on the opposite side.

The next thing he heard and saw was the shocked yell of Astrus’s Crown Prince and the look of shock on his face, accompanied by a smear of blood dripping down his forehead. The final thing he heard was the sound of ice crumbling, and the final thing he saw was the ice shattering, leaving a bunny falling to the ground from around six feet in the air.

“My horn got stuck in the stupid ice,” the young, feminine voice sounded out from where the bunny was sitting. “I don’t like that.” The bunny turned her head and eyed Titus with a tilted head. Blood continuously dripped down her horn all the while.

But everyone else was too dumbfounded to react… and… where was the elven prince? Even if she somehow killed the prince, his body would still be there. Surely, he didn’t just explode into nothingness. What kind of skill would she have to have to do something like that?

Edward was just as stunned as everyone else, but he was easily broken out of his trance as he saw the surrounding dome barriers both flicker a few times before disappearing once again. Yes! he cheered inwardly. With the barriers gone and… something… happening to Orion, in seconds, his reinforcements would arrive.

“O-Orion! What the hell? W-what…” Titus shouted out in confusion before his own eyes moved to the ground to focus on the bunny once again… the bunny who was once again violently shaking her head, this time, the scene was much more gruesome than the last because of all the blood and gore flying off her in every which way.

When the crown prince’s eyes locked with the bunny, she disappeared once again. In a panic, more walls of ice appeared, and Titus yelled, “Attack!”

This time, the ice appeared both behind and in front of the man. He wasn’t going to allow the bunny to have any chances at him. But, to Edward’s surprise, once again, the bunny did something completely unexpected.

The cry of a woman sounded out behind him. When he heard it, he first thought about Valerus, who was still trapped in the ice behind him. He quickly turned his head. But instead of seeing Valerus in even more trouble, he saw one of the hooded figures, a female elf, with about an inch of the bunny’s small horn stick out of the center of her chest.

Then, the horn disappeared, and Silvi reappeared in the air above the woman. The woman clenched at the hole in her chest. It was definitely a critical wound, but it wasn’t life threatening if she were to drink a potion or be healed soon. But none of that ever got the chance to happen. Instead, the bunny in the air glowed that same purple.

This time, since the bunny was static in the air, Edward was able to see what was really happening with the purple energy. All of it gathered at the tip of her bloody horn, then, just like one of his own attacks, a lightning bolt made of the deep purple energy shot out of the bunny’s small horn and landed directly on the female elf’s head.

The woman looked up at the bunny in confusion, as if the attack had done nothing to her. Silvi disappeared once again, this time avoiding a flurry of arrows and spells in doing so. Then, out of nowhere, the woman fell to the ground and spasmed a few times before stilling. A pool of blood then began to form around her head and chest areas.

She… she’s a killing machine. The rumors… I… I thought she only liked to cook and eat. Edward made sure to make it a priority to learn more about the bunny… no… Silvi. Derek’s companion… he would never call her a bunny or his pet again. She was too monstrous to risk offending… If she’s his companion and already this strong… then Derek Hunt… Edward breathed in a deep breath and turned to watch the rest of the battle.

What happened next… well… he wouldn’t call it a slaughter. Titus and his remaining men, now on guard and having seen how Silvi fought, fought back. But, Silvi was too fast… not physically, but whatever teleportation skill she used made her extremely hard to pin down.

What stunned Edward even more was when Titus seemed to catch on to how her skill worked, or made an extremely lucky guess. When she appeared behind one of his men, she was met by an icicle hurtling through the air. The long icicle directly hit Silvi on the side of her small body with enough force to send the small thing flying into the teleportation building.

She crashed through the wall and disappeared from everyone’s sight, and Titus snorted.

“She may be fast, but with her size… she’s probably already on the verge of dea…” he began, but was immediately cut off by the appearance of the bunny above him.

Her cloak had a hole in it, but she didn’t have any blood or wounds on her… at least she didn’t have any of her own blood on herself.

“How?” Astrus’s Crown Prince muttered as the same, now ominous, purple energy began to gather on her horn once again.

Four walls of ice were what Titus decided was needed to avoid the weird lighting attack. It seemed to work, too, as Silvi snorted and disappeared to attack one of the other ambushers. They stood their ground after figuring out Silvi’s attacks, but her early assault was demoralizing.

While Silvi was busy attacking one of his team members, Titus phased through the ice wall and yelled out, “Retreat!”

At the same time, a squad of five elites rushed through the exit of the Teleportation building. It’s barely been that long? Edward was stunned at how short the fight had actually going on, but since his reinforcements had finally arrived, he heaved a heavy sigh of relief. They would actually be okay… Well… the survivors will. He looked at the fallen bodies of his companions and sighed before turning back to the scene playing out in front of him.

With the call of retreat, the ambushers instantly used every movement skill they had, and were neigh impossible to catch. But that didn’t stop Silvi. As Titus and his team rushed down the street, which now had numerous onlookers gathered at the commotion now that Orion’s barriers weren’t there to obstruct them, Silvi disappeared and continued her own attack.

“Prince! Are you okay? What happened?” One of his men rushed to his side as more and more elites spilled out of the Teleporation Building.

“I’m okay…” Edward said, but looked at his right bracer, which was now missing a hand. “I’ll be okay.”