The higher we float upward, the fewer birds there are circling here. Once we make it to a certain point, they stop soaring higher. We approach the slowly swaying chains, and I watch one of the highest-flying awakened birds glide peacefully through the sky between two of the massive metal links. As it flaps its long graceful wings glowing red with ethereal threads, another creature comes rocketing toward it, jumping with strong dark green armored insect legs. It's almost a blur in the sky how fast it moves. Two sets of transparent wings unfold from its exoskeleton as its powerful jump pushes it forward, and it cuts through the air with a bright orange aura trailing behind it. Its long antennae and beady black eyes sense the air around it while a sharp outstretched limb cuts the scavenger bird's head clean off before it even knows what hit it. The insect, with the body of what seems to be a cricket mixed with a praying mantis, rockets through the air, perfectly landing on the chain across from it. The creature's body is far smaller than the bird it just killed. Possibly 3 to 4 meters from its antennae tips down to its feet, but the strength and speed it just showed outclassed anything I've seen inside this construct. To my surprise, out of the corner of my eye, I watch Ember transform into his hybrid human-dragon form, growing in size and giving himself scaled armor, a long spiked tail, and clawed hands and feet. In reaction, I take out my flame emperor's sword and activate my greater form. If Ember is showing this much strength right now, it's better not to hold back. His words right after my transformation confirm my thoughts. "Don't take our orange-cored guests so lightly. Their strength may surprise you." The blur of orange comes my way while the red strands of energy intertwine themselves with my dark greater form. I take a moment to concentrate and focus, channeling mana into my blade, creating an attack powerful enough to subjugate many double-ranked-up opponents over level 2000 I've faced in the past. The divine energy coursing through me increases this power's attacking force drastically, but the closer my opponent gets, the more its power becomes clear to me. My greater form's blade collides with the insect's front leg, and the resulting clash sends ripples of red and orange thread-like energy waves to scatter from our point of contact. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I'm surprised when our strength is almost matched. My brute force, powered by my fully unleashed mana control, pushes the insect backward, but an incredibly tough outer layer of its exoskeleton is coursing with dense orange threads and completely nullifies my attack. My eyes widen as the creature is sent flying backward, but not a scratch is left on the impact point once the energy fades. The only thing I held back during this exchange was not using soul energy... My vision shifts to my left as another massive cricket comes soaring Ember's way and he doesn't hesitate to cover his body in soul energy-imbued flames to thrust a clawed fist forward and shatter the creature's orange thread-imbued shell. There are rippling waves of gravity that hit me even from hundreds of meters away. Ember thrusts his other clawed hand forward and tears off the insect's head, trailing millions of orange tendrils of energy behind in its wake. His eyes are laser-focused on his enemy, and he doesn't hold back, tearing the creature to shreds with everything he has. My gaze moves back to the monster that attacked me, and it has already recovered from the blow I gave it. Ember and I both look at each other with surprised expressions, then start air-stepping away as fast as possible. There's an end in sight at the edges of this enormous falling rock, but the closer it falls, the further away these edges become. More cracked and grinding sounds fill the air as more and more locusts scatter away, screeching and chirping as they do. None even try to attack us as they pass, sensing that whatever is falling toward us is a far greater threat.