Brand New Life Online: Rise Of The Goddess Of Harvest Chapter 2018: Team Work

-----

"Enough... is enough!"

Norman roared as his aura surged. A giant bear paw formed and crushed a Hollow into the ground, flattening it like a pancake. An explosion of soul energy erupted, white flames burning the others in agony.

"Where are my friends?! Where did you take them?!" he demanded angrily, finally beginning to fight back and act for himself.

The Hollow lacked the intelligence to respond. It roared and punched him away.

He crashed into a large building that collapsed on top of him.

In that moment, the Hollow and the others drawn by the commotion started running. They fled, seeking easier prey.

"Where do you think you’re going?"

Norman quickly destroyed the rubble and chased after the Hollows. His incredibly tough body was their nightmare, especially his ability to absorb damage and release it tenfold!

As he pursued the monsters, he saw them chasing someone else. He ran toward them to intervene, then heard a familiar voice.

"Mark?!"

He looked in the direction of the voice and found a familiar zombie.

"Wait, that’s...!"

The zombie froze in shock. It was not Mark but Norman.

"Sailor?!"

Norman was naturally overjoyed.

"Norman?!"

In his disbelief, Sailor screamed the name loud enough that the Hollows chasing other prey finally noticed him.

"Fuck!"

A giant claw descended, aiming to crush him to pieces. Sailor barely dodged, stumbled, and found two more Hollows closing in.

"Tsk! Move!"

He roared and unleashed his techniques. His powerful water aura surged and erupted. His fists, shaped like shark bites, pierced through the monsters’ bodies, drying them until their legs crumbled into bone and black dust.

Yet his energy fluctuated and cut off. He had not fully recovered!

"Damn it, not enough juice?!"

A giant black ray surged from one of the Hollows. Sailor clenched his teeth and ran, but the ray drew closer. Two more Hollows appeared in front of him, blocking his path.

"Am I really going to die now?!"

As he searched for a way out—

The laser struck him, or rather the person who appeared behind him.

"?!"

Sailor’s eyes widened as he saw a tall white skeleton shielding him.

The skeleton looked back, eyes gleaming with faint yellow light. His aura surged, making him resemble a gentle-looking Werebear.

"A Werebear...?" Sailor muttered weakly. "No, wait! Norman! You... you saved me."

"It’s the least a friend can do, right?" Norman replied. Through his soul visualization, similar to what Mark could do, he covered his skeleton with his solidified spiritual soul to resemble his human appearance. Though ethereal, glowing, and spiritual, Sailor could see what Norman’s soul truly looked like.

"Friend, huh?" Sailor muttered, feeling guilty that he had never viewed Norman that way. He had always been selfish and kept to himself. Even though he had forged bonds with others, only now did he begin to slowly drop his mask.

"Aren’t we?" Norman asked as a Hollow charged forward. He swung his fist, blowing a hole through it, then crushed the rest of the body with a massive spiritual and ghostly bear paw.

Seeing the scene, Sailor’s eyes widened and his mouth hung open in disbelief.

"Uh... hahaha, yeah... I guess we are. Since when are you so strong?!"

"My attacks aren’t that strong. It’s the power I take, the damage I accumulate, which I release. On my own, it’s not that powerful, unfortunately."

"I see... nonetheless, that’s amazing," Sailor said with a proud nod. "More are coming. I’m still recovering my energy... I have no idea where everyone else is... we should team up."

"Of course. Why even ask?" Norman replied. "If you need to recover, use the pills! Here, I have some more—"

"No, don’t be too kind, man! This is why you’re so weird..." Sailor sighed. "I have my own. Let me take some. Let’s evade, and you help me tank!"

"Sure," Norman nodded.

"They’re coming!" Sailor said.

Norman and Sailor teamed up, standing back-to-back as they moved from place to place. Sailor avoided attacks, ate pills, and slowly recovered his energy while Norman tanked blows from every direction, absorbed damage and energy, and fired it back with powerful attacks.

This deeply enraged the Hollows, who grew more desperate and furious. Norman was too strong and tough, and Sailor was far too evasive and quick. They made an incredible duo.

"Norman, now!"

"Yes!"

Norman tanked a powerful strike, absorbed the energy, and released it. A bear paw manifested and struck a Hollow into a weakened area already dehydrated by Sailor, causing the entire creature to crumble and explode into pieces.

Sailor could not help but laugh at the scene while Norman noticed his energy had recovered considerably.

"Hey, we don’t make such a bad team together, skeleton!"

"Yes, I have to say the same."

It was not as if they had never fought before. They had faced similar situations, but most of the time they were overwhelmed and pushed back. Now, after cultivating and growing strong enough, it truly felt as though they were finally pulling their own weight.

"Only a couple Hollows left. Don’t let them fuse and we can end this!" Sailor said. "I can feel it. They’re close too. We have to hurry and—"

"Sailor, did you count that weird one?" Norman’s voice echoed.

"Huh?"

Sailor’s eyes turned toward the "weird one" sitting atop a large tower, gazing down from above.

Sailor’s eyes directed toward the "weird one" sitting calmly atop a large tower, gazing down at them from above. It was indeed a strange and unsettling Hollow.

A Hollow with a humanoid body no taller than Norman, possessing a pitch-black, super-muscular and chiseled physique. White bones covered its arms and legs mostly as decorative armor. A big, wide smile stretched across its face, revealing perfect white teeth, while only half a mask covered its eyes. A pair of enormous bat-like wings spread from its back.

And it laughed, the sound low and mocking as it watched them with clear interest.

-----