(Planet Caorn- Elysium Archipelago)

(Unnamed Island)

The monster paused for a brief moment and the silvery mask on its face turned in the direction of the three girls.

It was a behemoth.

A massive over ten feet tall creature whose body was composed of an inky black substance that wriggled and oozed.

Horrific red lines pulsated across the creature's body as it took a step in Sophie's direction. Its paws were so big that the ground itself trembled under its feet.

SCREECH! SCREECH!

The monster roared and the shockwaves that erupted from its mouth sent the nearby trees flying off into the distance.

Sophie grabbed Rachel and Cleo and flung them behind her body. She dug her blade-like appendages into the ground and absorbed the full force of the blow.

Her eardrums instantly collapsed and regenerated several times within a minute. Pain laced through Sophie's body but the hybrid girl did not even frown.

She was used to pain far worse than this.

Screech!

More cries came from the jungle in the distance. Sophie winced slightly as the memories of the last surviving clones flowed into her mind.

Reinforcements would be arriving eventually.

But how to deal with the monster in front of her?

Sophie lashed her whip at the creature but just like the rest of its brethren, her weapon passed harmlessly through its body.

The creature stood on its hind legs and lunged at Sophie with smoking paws. The hybrid girl jumped to the side and narrowly avoided the blow.

Archangel Descent!

Rachel's body was surrounded by a golden glow as she channeled the full might of her patron deity.

Large translucent wings sprouted out from her back, the halo hovering above her head glowed with an even brighter light and the crosses in her eyes expanded significantly.

She held up her sword and a heavy pressure surrounded her body.

Without saying a word, the saintess of the Nephilim church swung her blade forward at the monster.

A massive wave of holy energy crashed into the beast and its body trembled as the holy energy entered the runes that made up its structure.

"Run!" Sophie yelled loudly as she picked up her two friends.

"No! The guilty must be punished!" Rachel struggled in her arms as her usually playful expression shifted to a much colder one.

"You can punish the guilty later" Sophie hissed angrily as she took a brief glance backwards and saw that the monster had already recovered.

Rachel continued to struggle as the urge to punish the wicked filled her thoughts with righteous judgement.

This was unfortunately a side effect of using the full extent of her powers.

"I got it," Cleo whispered softly as she stretched out her hand and touched the top of Rachel's head.

The princess closed her eyes and activated her psychic technique to put her friend into a dreamless slumber.

Psychic Arts- Mental Shutdown!

"The guilty" Rachel's voice trailed off as her eyes slowly closed and the transformation of her body gradually disappeared..

The saintess fell into a deep sleep and loud snores came out of her unconscious mouth.

Well, it was more like a coma than a sleep since Quafes did not require rest.

"Thanks babe," Sophie said with a smile as she adjusted Rachel's body on her shoulder so that her friend did not fall off.

SCREECH!

The monster went down on all fours and then proceeded to rush forward like a mad dog giving chase to its prey.

Sophie's golden eyes shifted colour as she activated her most powerful ability. Her eyes turned completely white, and the world froze in place.

The world was now completely in black and white. Vague whispers in an incomprehensible language came from all directions.

Blurry images of her future paths could be seen everywhere that she looked. It was easy to get lost in this strange place of endless possibilities and outcomes.

No one could guarantee the future.

Not even the most powerful of foresight techniques.

The very act of seeing the future itself could cause a butterfly effect leading to the vision never coming to fruition.

Sophie's ability was the next best thing.

She could witness the possible branches that the timeline could take and the probable outcomes of her actions.

Of course it was up to her to act on what she saw but Sophie knew that this ability was her ace in the hole.

The hybrid girl wandered through the black and white zone and saw the different futures. In some she turned around and faced the monster in battle.

While she was not defeated the other creatures would arrive and eventually surround her and her companions.

She was forced to used her Rsychosis technique again and again. But without the means to destroy the magical constructs it was useless.

Okay so fighting was a bad idea.

Now running on the other hand those futures appeared to be her best bet.

In most of them her speed was enough to avoid the large behemoth and she widened the gap between herself and the other monsters.

She just needed to dodge. huh? Were those rocks?

Sophie blinked and her vision returned to normal. She had a splitting headache, but the pain soon faded away.

Only a few seconds had passed since she had activated her ability but the large beast had already narrowed the distance.

Sophie channeled her qi into her leg meridians and her speed rapidly increased until her body became a blur.

"Cleo! Grab the map and tell me what direction to go," Sophie shouted as she jumped to the side just as an object crashed where she had just been running.

BOOM!

Sophie glanced at the mysterious object and discovered that it was a large orb of an inky black substance.

Screech!

The beast hollered and its paws ripped out another massive chunk of flesh from its body.

It did not seem to feel any pain even as the flesh on its body failed to regenerate.

It cocked back its arm and flung the massive bundle of flesh at Sophie. The hybrid girl's danger sense tingled, and she easily avoided the projectile.

This seemed to annoy the beast as it tossed back its head and roared loudly for a second time.

"Keep going straight then make a hard left," Cleo shouted as she grabbed the map tightly in fear that it would fly out of her hands.

Sophie's high speed made it difficult for her to speak but the princess tried her best to get the message across.

The hybrid girl nodded and then followed Cleo's instructions. She could feel strength flowing through her body and it felt good.

Ever since that day, Sophie knew that she had been transitioning to the void stage but it was still surprising just how powerful she was becoming.

Despite running at full speed for several minutes, it didn't seem like she had put a dent in her qi reserves.

The hybrid girl put more strength into her legs and after twenty minutes the massive beast became a mere dot in the distance.

A triumphant grin flashed across Sophie's face as she saw a large building in the distance that was surrounded by a heavy metal fence.

The extraction point.

Finally, the first stage of the tournament was over.