Chapter 26: Danger |
Even before the iron-ranked beast arrived, Ember felt the upheaval in the air. There seemed to be some kind of putrid scent in the ambient mana, announcing its presence as it rushed through the thick forest.
Without a sound or disturbance, Zephyr’s figure appeared before them, a shadowy cloak trailing behind her, her face solemn as she peered into the distance.
“Everyone, withdraw,” she commanded, before eyeing the guards. “Protect the kids.”
Their formation broke as they withdrew, with the two guards taking positions on either side, when a giant centipede with a dark scarlet carapace broke into the expanse. Standing over a metre tall, the monster was several metres long, its exterior rigid, and its maw horrifying, filled with jagged teeth. It let out a piercing cry, working its dozens of appendages to lunge at his aunt, as if to devour her whole.
Zephyr’s figure vanished in a blur the moment it drove towards her. With shadow tendrils swaying about her form, she appeared above it, crashing with her sword into its back.
With its tough exoskeleton, the blade was almost deflected, indicating the creature was well into its iron rank.
The demonic creature wasn’t fixated on her. After Zephyr evaded its advances, it ignored her to bolt towards them.
“Withdraw further,” she shouted. “This is going to take a while.”
Ember found himself holding his breath, mana surging, his palm clenched the hilt of his sword. The other kids were much the same, though their strongest attacks would do little against its thick carapace.
The Iron Class Assassin had perfect control of her body. She evaded the blow effortlessly. Ember couldn’t even glimpse how she moved; one moment she was on the ground, the next she was metres up in the air, driving her sword into the segmented body of the monstrous centipede.
Within seconds, she dealt a heavy blow. But unlike a common awakened beast, a demonic one didn’t know to retreat. Its movements grew more erratic. After a minute, it completely forgot about the easier target, with only the shadowy figure in its sight, until Zephyr severed its horns and blinded its eyes.
Completely blinded, the monster grew deranged, thrashing its body in all directions. She let it run wild for a few minutes, avoiding all its advances. But even when the giant centipede’s movement slowed down, its exterior remained as tough as cast iron.
Zephyr had to hammer her blade into the same spot again and again to penetrate its carapace. From there, it was merely a few more thrusts.
Once it was dead, she pried open its head to collect its iron core, though there was not a trace of satisfaction on her face.
Perhaps it would have been different if it were a common iron beast, but a demonic one didn’t bode well for them. There were supposedly powerful creatures deep within the wilderness of Desir, perhaps even silver-ranked creatures, well over level 200, but they had awakened enough intelligence never to wander out of their territory and come into a conflict with humans.
Demonic creatures weren’t all that intelligent. Additionally, there were supposed to be none of them anywhere here.
“Everyone, turn back,” Zephyr said, returning to the group. “We will withdraw right away.”
Sunny seemed like he was about to compliment his big sister for the masterful display of strength and skill, but he was still somewhat unnerved by the monster’s presence, despite its death.
“What about Gust?” asked one of the copper guards. “He went scouting over an hour ago.”
"He should know his way around the wilderness, being a scout.”
“But with the demonic creature, he—”
“No arguing,” Zephyr cut him short. “We will take the kids back to town before we discuss anything else.”
With her rank and standing, Zephyr had full authority over the group. Arguing with her would be insubordination. The guards could only bow their heads as they marched back with everyone. They moved at a brisk pace, enough that Sunny and Autumn were struggling to keep up after a few minutes. Perhaps his aunt was being overly paranoid, but Ember agreed with her sentiment wholeheartedly.
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If there were even two high-level demonic creatures instead of one, then perhaps they would all be running for their lives. Yes, he might contend with a high copper beast with his wands and Sprint Burst, but that was limited to copper rank.
There was a huge gulf between copper and iron ranks. Ember wasn’t delusional enough to believe he would have a chance against even a weaker one just because his race had reached Iron. His wands might still be able to hurt it if its defences weren’t as tough as the giant centipede’s, but he wouldn’t want to try something so suicidal on his very first outing.
They had barely covered a couple of miles when more chilling cries reverberated through the wilderness.
“Rotten skies,” Zephyr swore. “It’s worse than I feared.”
“You mean,” one of the guards asked, “is there a rift somewhere spawning monsters?”
Zephyr didn’t affirm or deny. “There’s no time to dawdle,” she said. “Come on, kids. We are not slowing down until we reach the town.”
Ember surged forward, maintaining his Breathing Art so that he didn’t burn off his stamina. He had already sheathed his blade, though he kept the wands close.
There had been no rifts near Desir for a long time. It wasn’t anywhere close to the northern plains either. Could they really be this unlucky?
The answer came swifter than he liked. The raucous screeches grew louder and louder. As if that weren’t enough, Autumn stumbled on the rugged terrain and fell, her slender form hurtling forward in a roll.
“Carry her,” ordered Zephyr.
One of the guards immediately picked her up onto his back, barely even slowing down. Even while carrying her, the trained warrior maintained his speed. He could probably go faster, but there were only two guards after Zephyr had sent one to scout. Well, she herself could carry two and reach safety with her levels, but she kept watch behind them for any threat.
The dwindling sunlight only added another hurdle to their escape. Ember could barely make out some familiar terrain. Within a couple of minutes, they would reach the valley and could see the town from there.
But an iron creature was clearly faster than them. The first creature to catch up was a six-legged reptilian monster, standing over two metres tall. Its dark, glossy hide stretched over sinewy, rugged muscles. It was almost like a skink, except for the half a dozen limbs and sheer size.
The monster lunged from one tree to another, breaking some of them with its sheer bulk to press after them. Its piercing cries made his hair stand on end, an uncanny fear gripping his heart. Sunny even froze on the path, his face pale as a sheet.
“Run!” Zephyr shouted. “I’ll distract it!”
Ember tore his eyes off the creature and focused on his sprint. The iron creature’s screech made it difficult. It seemed to have some kind of dreadful effect on the mind. He had no time to consider. The other guard had already picked up Sunny, who had fallen behind.
Meanwhile, Talon and Lark were already faltering, their Tier 3 bodies unable to keep up.
“Hurry!”
Ember cursed inwardly. With his Tier 4 advancement, he could still keep up for a while, though the guards were already picking up pace.
They surely aren't going to leave me behind, are they?
At least, the creature’s shrieks gradually grew fainter, suggesting they were gaining distance, but Ember remained steadfast in his sprint. If a rift had truly opened in the wild, there would be far more than just one monster.
The first flock to come weren’t actually demonic creatures, but a wild pack of hyenas. There were dozens of them, too many for his eyes to track, much less count. Ember already held up his wands, channelling his mana, only to find that the beasts weren’t after him. Instead of attacking on sight, they hurtled through them, as if running for their lives.
It seemed the demonic creatures didn’t distinguish between beasts and humans; they sought only to kill or devour anything in their path. While that was a little comforting, the hyenas weren’t civilised enough to give way for him.
Ember had already cleared himself off their path, but there were too many of them, and they were moving frantically. He would have already been trampled by a number of them. Good thing, he kept the Kinetic Wand charged and flung away any that came close to him.
Unfortunately, while he might not have a cooldown for channelling mana, the wands certainly did. There was about a second or more between each casting, so Ember either had to alternate between the two wands or use his Sprint Burst to shoot out of their way. He also kept his protective ward active in case any of his wands or skills faltered.
So far, his Wind Blade had probably killed enough for the system to grant him the Hunter title, but any notification now would only distract him, and the system seemed to have a protocol for that.
A piercing yelp echoed from ahead of him. Talon?
Rotten skies, why hadn’t Zephyr returned yet? He swore inwardly.
Lark didn't seem all that lucky either. Thankfully, their protective wards saved them from the stomping. Ember could pinpoint their location by the ward's flaring illumination, if their cries weren't discernible in the chaos.
With a dash of Sprint Burst, Ember crossed to the closest one, intent on pulling him out of the mess. The more time they wasted here, the worse the situation could get.
Flinging off a handful of beasts, he pulled the boy by the arm. Talon seemed to have had enough trauma for the week. In panic, he fought Ember, thinking he was in the clutches of a demonic beast.
"Are you alright?" Ember asked.
There was no time for an answer. He dashed off, pulling Talon along, before shouting after the guards for help.
Thankfully, they hadn't forgotten about Lark, one already coming to his rescue, while the other was reaching towards them.
"Watch out!" shouted the guard.
Something hard struck him blind, sending him hurtling off the track.
Ember barely managed to orient himself, sitting upright on his back, and found himself face to face with a towering reptilian creature, staring at him with inhuman eyes.
His ward was still active, yet he felt his breath caught on his chest. Ember held up his arm to defend himself, only to find he had lost his wand somewhere during the fall.
Hopefully, the ward can hold until Zephyr comes to my rescue.