Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 30 - Jade Beauty

"Shit!"

Sakura thrust herself through the dense foliage, swearing profusely as she did. Her composed demeanor had all been stripped away. In the end, it happened. The thing that she feared the most.

"Come out now, Sakura! You can't hide from us!" Viviane cackled. "We're everywhere!"

It was the absolute worst possible situation.

Sakura leaned against a tree, sacrificing a few seconds to rest her aching muscles. She knew she wouldn't have long to rest. The thing that looked like Viviane would be coming after her soon.

It's not too late. I can still fix this... She's not a complete Jade Beauty just yet! Sakura held onto that thin thread of hope as she pushed herself off the tree and continued to run. She couldn't help but think that if Riku had been present, they probably could've taken care of this already.

But he wasn't. All Sakura had was her half-drained body and her wits. She ducked into a thick underbrush as she heard the sound of Viviane's approach, only to stumble as her foot was pulled back.

Struggling to stifle a yelp of surprise, Sakura peered down to find herself stuck in a quagmire of mud. She risked a quick glance behind her back, but Viviane was nowhere to be seen. After pulling herself free, Sakura gave herself a quick sigh of relief before rolling into the bush.

It can't complete its transformation without my ki, so as long as I manage to find an opening... Sakura nodded to herself as she rapidly devised a plan. And a very risky one, at that. ...That's the only way I'll be able to do this. Shit!

Again, Sakura moved, not allowing herself to stay in one place for too long. The possessed Viviane hunting her was one thing, but she feared that she might lose what little hope she had if she stayed put and prayed for the best.

The one saving grace was that Jade Beauties didn't always have the intelligence of the body they were possessing. Born from an amalgamation of life force overdrawn from different sources without being refined in a timely fashion, the Jade-Beautified Viviane's current level of intelligence was a jumbled mixture of her own as well as the sources of ki currently circulating within her.

In other words, the trees, grass, and other plants that had been within Viviane's vicinity when she had begun absorbing ki. It was no wonder why the partially-formed Jade Beauty possessing Viviane wanted Sakura so badly. Other than completing its transformation, it desperately needed Sakura's intelligence to pilot its stolen body properly.

The Jade Beauty crashed through the foliage with Viviane's body, tearing her expensive dress in various places as it continued its hunt for Sakura. Its viridian eyes flickered around wildly, but to no avail.

Sakura held her breath as she watched from above, perched upon a particularly thick branch of a tree she'd managed to scramble up while the Jade Beauty had been stumbling along.

Just a little more... She thought as she gripped the tree's trunk so tightly that her fingers began to bleed against the rough bark. It hurt, but she knew it was nothing compared to what Viviane must be feeling right now, powerless to do anything as a foreign entity rampaged around with her body.

"I can smell you..." The Jade Beauty's voice rasped, a disgusting mockery of Viviane's soothing sound.

Sakura shivered. For a moment, she considered fleeing, and with each passing second, the feeling of mounting dread grew stronger in her heart. Still, she refused to allow fear to cloud her mind.

No. It shouldn't be able to... Its sense of smell isn't any better than Viviane's, Sakura thought. Regardless of what the truth was, the Jade Beauty had reached the position that Sakura was waiting for.