Chapter 1274: Rescue trip (18) |
Erik scrambled down the tree, though the thaid must have seen him, because then the system gave him very bad news.
[Warning. Hostile Detected.]
<SHIT! Not now, for fuck's sake!> Erik thought, dropping the last few feet to the ground.
[What did you expect, you dumb fuck?! You're exposed on top of a tree, and the clearing offers no cover!]
<This doesn't fucking help!>
[What are you going to do?]
<I'm not fighting it. I don't know what this thing is, and we need to reach those caves.>
[Good choice, but if this is really what you want to do, I suggest you get the hell out of here.]
<Guide me to the caves, ok?>
Erik sprinted across the abandoned campsite. The packed earth where his companions had slept gave him firm footing as he ran.
[Take the gap between those two large trees. There's a natural path that leads toward the rock formations.]
More screeches echoed around, closer now, followed by the sound of massive wings beating.
<A flying thaid… Shit…>
[What did you expect? You were on a tree!]
<Stop saying this! I know where I was!>
[Then you should have thought about it before going up!]
<I don't recall you telling me not to do it! Quite the opposite, it is you who said I would have had more visibility up there!>
[I can't see the future! How was I supposed to know there was a thaid if it was outside of my detection range?!]
<Then shut the fuck up!>
Erik channeled mana through his neural links and activated his brain crystal powers. He quickly turned into a steroid-enhanced fly—slightly larger than normal and with modified aerodynamics that allowed him to fly faster.
[Why are you so obsessed with flies?!]
<They are fast and hard to notice, plus they are pretty annoying!>
Then he did the same with Phantom Veil. Only this time, coupled with his small size, he was also invisible.
Yet that wasn't the only thing he did. Behind him, illusions sprouted from nothing—copies of himself running in different directions, each one perfectly detailed down to the way his hair moved in the wind.
He couldn't allow the flying thaid to understand who the real one was, the fly, and to avoid that, Erik poured a lot of mana into them.
[The tunnel system starts two kilometers east. Follow the ridgeline once you reach it.]
<Understood.>
The forest blurred past as Erik flew between ancient tree trunks. He darted through gaps in the vegetation that would have been impossible to navigate in human form.
That made everything easier and faster to do.
The canopy above him shook as something massive passed overhead, sending shadows dancing across the forest floor.
[It spotted one of your illusions. The decoy heading south has its attention.]
<Good.>
Erik kept up his breakneck pace—slowing down would have been madness. His wings brought him through the maze of vines and branches, while his illusions drew the monster in the wrong direction.
The phantom versions of himself ran, dodged, and weaved through the trees with grace, sometimes going right through them since it was impossible to go past them the normal way, drawing the predator further from his true position.
The sound of splintering wood cracked through the air as the flying thaid used its brain crystal power to attack one of the decoys, but the illusion remained unharmed, spurring the creature into greater fury.
[Warning! Hostile detected. Another flying thaid joining the hunt!]
The first one must have attracted the second.
<Do you have any idea if they are the same species?>
The system knew why Erik asked. Different species of thaids were more likely to fight each other, though even members of the same species could clash. The odds of conflict would be higher if they weren't related.
[No. They are outside of my analysis range. I can only detect the amount of mana they have, and it is a lot.]
Mana levels weren't a clear sign of how strong a creature was, but it surely played a huge part.
<How far to the caves?>
[One point five kilometers. The ridge rises ahead. Your illusions have them completely fooled, but more are coming.]
Erik knew because they were making a lot of noise.
More screeching filled the air as new flying thaids showed up, attracted by all the noise. Their huge wings blocked out the sunlight, making the forest flash between light and darkness.
[Five more hostiles detected,] the system said.
<Can you tell me now if they are from different species?>
[I can't tell again, but it looks like they aren't.]
The surrounding noises made it clear they weren't. It looked like a scuffle had already started.
[They're not friendly with each other.]
<Great news for once.>
The scuffle quickly turned into a battle and involved everything in the surroundings. From trees to bushes to land thaids.
The newcomers clashed with such violence that their aerial collisions sent shockwaves through the forest, splintering trees and unleashing bursts of mana.
A creature shot out purple light that burned through the tree leaves. Another one fired back with a powerful sound wave that broke tree branches and sent pieces of wood falling everywhere and killed anything unlucky enough to end up on the killing wave's path.
Erik was glad he'd chosen not to fight the flying thaid. He wasn't sure if he could defeat it, and engaging would have made it impossible to shake the beast's pursuit. Even worse, the combat would have drawn more creatures to the area, exactly like it was happening now. But at least the thaids weren't focused on him.
<This is getting out of hand,> Erik thought, zigzagging between falling branches.
[Keep moving. They're too focused on each other to notice you now.]
<Any idea why there are so many flying thaids in this area?>
[We're near the sea. These are probably thaids that hunt and eat fishlike thaids.]
The battle raged overhead. Claws raked against feathers and armored scales. There were a bunch of flying lizard-like creatures, but they weren't wyverns. The first two thaids fought back-to-back against the newcomers, but they were outnumbered.
A particularly violent explosion then rocked the forest. Through his eyes, Erik saw one of the combatants spiral downward, smoke trailing from its wings.
The creature crashed through the trees, hitting the ground only meters from his position.