CHAPTER 420: AN EBONY BEAUTY (1/2)

With those two Metal Dryders taken down, I took the opportunity to charge into their formation which had fallen into disarray by now and began slicing at anyone I saw. In my wake was a trail of destruction, wrought from the incomplete corpses of any Dryder unfortunate enough to stand in my way.

Yet even with my Shadowfang brought to bear, it was still possible for my Shadow Demon to manifest itself. At the same time as I wielded Shadowfang, my Shadow Demon took the opportunity to return to its normal state, an ordinary Shadow Guardian. Should the need ever arise, I just had to call for it and it would respond immediately.

A Dryder managed to climb up to the ceiling of the tunnel amidst the chaos, and with a forceful kick of its multiple limbs, launched a diving attack right for my brains.

Because I only had Shadowfang to defend me right now, it only made sense that my defenses would be thinner than usual -occasional openings were only to be expected.

It was this exact opening that the Dryder was aiming for. Yet just when he thought that success was in claws, my Shadow Demon sprung from the shadows like a snake, coiling around it and binding it in an instant. I quickly reacted by slicing it apart with a swing.

Now that its job was done, the Shadow Demon returned back to dormant shadow state.

Having lost so many of their brethren already, the remaining Dryders finally realised that the odds were stacked against them in a melee fight. Thus, they took up formation together and began firing at me from a distance. Countless projectiles flew towards me in a shower. From behind, I could vaguely make out the silhouette of their remaining nine Metal Dryders forming a defensive wall for the long-ranged attackers. Even though they knew that they weren’t a match for my weapon, they still took up the charge without any hesitation.

Facing down a rain of projectiles was nerve-wracking to say the least. My first instinct was to quickly erect a barrier of Nether Flames around my entire body, burning off the incoming projectiles just in the nick of time. However, that also meant that my mana had plummeted rapidly from this successful defense.

I needed to fight back, just standing there and defending wasn’t going to work at all. But no matter how I looked at this situation, there was no elegant solution in sight. Helpless, I knew there was no other way now.

In just the short span of ten minutes, I swore I killed over a hundred Dryders. Even the ugly things knew to run away from me at first sight.

Finally, the Dryders had been routed. Their weird cries filled the tunnels as they frantically retreated. But I would have none of that. I yelled at the top of my lungs in excitement as I chased down the survivors with my Shadowfang raised high into the air.

Their souls had a rather peculiar taste to them. To be exact, every living being had a unique taste to their soul. Even human souls had varying tastes according to their physical differences. If I had to describe the taste of the Dryder souls, it would be a deep, penetrating, depravity -most likely because of the environment they grew up in.

Barring everything else, the Dryders were honestly a good source of nourishment for me. Whatever I had expanded up till now had been topped up by the souls of those hundred Dryders.

Furthermore, the death of those hundred over Dryders had fully instilled the fear of death into the survivors. Their uncontrollable fear only fuelled their speed further, to the point where even if I wanted to chase them I couldn’t. Yet just when I thought all was over, they suddenly turned around and ran in my direction.

What’s happening?

I reflexively summoned a wall of Nether Flames to block them. Yet who would’ve thought that they would actually rush ahead anyway. In fact, their speed seems to have increased?!

They ended up being burnt to cinders as I had expected, but their numbers were just too many. With how they seemed to be rushing at me like a swarm of angry bees even unto their death, to say that I was afraid was an understatement. It had gotten to the point where even my Nether Flames wall wasn’t able to keep up and had stopped burning for a split second. Yet that split second was enough for the horde of Dryders to trample over the sputtering wall of flames and smother it with their sheer numbers…

Even so, the wall collapsing didn’t mean that the first twenty or so Dryders had managed to escape death either. Anything that touched my Nether Flames was doomed to a loud, painful death.

Ironically, this rushing horde only served to stir my spirits… Come at me then! Whether it be dogs, cats, chickens or Dryders, I’m not budging an inch unless I die!

I gripped down hard on Shadowfang then charged into the fray. Yet the anticipated battle to the death never happened. Instead, it somehow ended up being a strangely one-sided massacre… Those Dryders seem to be ignoring my Shadowfang. In fact, they are avoiding me as well. Have I turned invisible or something?

Seeing the horde just pass me by like that, even my rush of hot blood was instantly doused by this gap in reality. I didn’t even feel like swinging my sword anymore.

Such an occurrence had happened before; the last time this happened was with those spiders. Back then, they were just as desperate as these Dryders to escape.