Chapter 524: Loss (1/2)
Ilea saw the thought in her mind, a barren wasteland with nothing but skeletons sticking out of the frozen sand.
She understood the emotions better now. Whoever sent them was warning them, both her and the mantis before her.
I think she’s beyond reason, Ilea thought.
Too late, she tried to send back but wasn’t sure if her own thought could be carried over such a long distance.
The mantis seemed to agree as it watched them with its spear at the ready.
Movements became visible in the distance, creatures called here by the loud screech of the mantis warrior.
Ilea thought they wouldn’t arrive for a few minutes but she was wrong.
A powerful aura exploded from below as all three fighters moved away.
She found her blink didn’t work and instead displaced both herself and Hector away as far as she could.
The ground shook and split, ice cracking before frozen chunks of sand exploded upwards and an armored black worm broke through the surface. The diameter of the creature reached at least ten meters.
[Spirit of Death – lvl ???]
Close to eight hundred, Ilea thought, trusting her Veteran assessment.
It opened its massive four part maw before a spray of purple flames rushed upwards, coming down again as they enveloped the whole vicinity.
The flames spread out and followed all three living targets.
Ilea didn’t try to dodge, instead facing the energy head on as soon as she felt the mana and confirmed the damage with her precognition.
True to the name, the spirit used death magic. The spell decayed parts of Ilea’s armor and skin but she was back in top form a moment later. It would have to keep up the flames for much longer than that to create an actual problem for her.
Hector flowed away from the fires, creating water that slowly neutralized the incoming barrage.
The mantis on the other hand simply used her spear to cut through the approaching flames before she charged the worm.
“She wants to gain health from them!” Hector shouted as he finished off the last flames.
Ilea rushed at the mantis. She didn’t think Hector’s assessment was true, not after the long battle with the creature. Her powers however remained and she could certainly regain her health from wild creatures.
What life is there to get from a Spirit of Death? she wondered.
A blink brought her close when a powerful surge of death magic expanded out from the worm. The energy slammed into all three of them.
The mantis dug its spear into the ground and held on, the steel scraping against the frozen sand as she was pushed away.
Ilea dug deeper with her ashen limbs, her armor withstanding the powerful area attack.
Wouldn’t she have recovered just from our flight here? With all that blood magic, her regeneration should be better than normal at least, Ilea thought, trying to make out obvious injuries on the mantis but finding nothing.
She held up a hand against an incoming beam of purple energy. Four more projectiles followed in quick succession, her precognition letting her know about the enemy power.
The mantis was targeted too, deflecting two of the blasts before she turned and rushed the worm again.
She glanced at Ilea but kept her focus on the worm.
I should use this soon, Ilea thought, seeing the deformed vultures flying towards them. Dozens of them, all brimming with power and shooting their death projectiles from kilometers away.
She saw hundreds of creatures move on the ground, some of them jumping through the frozen ground as if it was made of water, others running or slithering.
Some kind of corruption?
Ilea was interrupted when another death spirit broke out from below, a second worm creature with similar power as the first.
Eight hundred and such a big mouth, she thought and looked at the mantis cutting into the worm before she teleported back, the warrior’s assault continuing as she cut away decayed flesh with her devouring spear. Her movements were fast, erratic, furious.
That’s not the same warrior I faced. No, Hector, you’re wrong. She’s not here to get health.
Ilea found the pirate moving through the desert in the distance, his beams of water cutting into ten approaching vultures.
I can’t risk leaving now, she thought, seeing the mantis continue her battle.
Not until she was sure. She just had to trust the others to finish their opponents, or to escape should they find no way to win.
The worm had spewed out its purple flames and now turned towards her, its ten meter mouth opening up to show thousands of serrated teeth and a stench that would warrant a resistance on its own.
Ilea watched the glow of its building death magic and charged.
Her health was restored with a third tier heal, the flames coming out from the beast’s body displaced in chunks or burning into her defenses.
She pushed on and flew into the beast’s maw, her sphere providing vision as the worm’s large mouth closed behind her.
Ilea held her breath and sacrificed three thousand points of health, the flames of death burning around her.
Heart of Cinder activated, flashing out with brilliant light and fire deep within the creature’s body.
The vulnerable flesh and organs were burned away by the powerful energy. Splatters of rotted blood and flesh were ripped outwards, dim light and cold air coming in through several open holes.
Ilea charged her wings and formed an ashen drill in front of her. She pushed her control and density to the limit as the worm reeled to the side.
A deafening roar resounded as more flames formed, the first creatures clawing their way into the massive beast’s throat from the many holes that led inside.
Small fry, Ilea thought with a smirk, crossing her arms in front of her as she sped up.
The drill dug deep, cutting through the blackened flesh with all the momentum Ilea could build. She had aimed for the head and kept pushing. As she slowed down due to the sheer mass of the worm, the drill started spinning faster, her reverse healing and a few limbs behind her cutting through everything in their way.
She screamed and finally punched through on the other side, flying a few hundred meters before she slowed down and turned around in the air.
The first beams and flames were already hitting her, ashen shields forming to slow the projectiles as she watched the worm slowly fall to the side.
‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [Spirit of Death – lvl 782]’
She ignored the rest of the messages for now, enjoying the view of the creature falling, crushing a few critters in the process.
Ilea was only a little annoyed about how easy it was to kill this one compared to her last solo seven fifty kill.
She flew back into the fray with her limbs lashing out around her.
There were scorpion like creatures, mantises, ants, even squid like beings, all spirits of death.
Some were as low as level two hundred, many at five hundred or even beyond. They all rushed at the three living beings.
The living mantis had turned the worm into mincemeat but the creature still remained alive, spreading its purple flames through hundreds of pores. Pulses of magic pushed at both the mantis and the many monsters now present.
Ilea made sure to keep an eye on the warrior but mainly focused on making a few hundred meters of distance between them. She was busy herself, cutting through the many beasts that kept on coming, trampling over each other to get to her.
Whatever had taken these creatures had made their bodies decay and rot, leaving only husks of what they were before.
All color and individuality were gone from the dark sea of monstrosities. Their screeches and roars came without a sense of tone nor purpose, their eyes remained lifeless and cold.
Ilea ascended, watching the dozens of monsters below, many of them burning with her pale fire.
Corrupted, cursed, death spirits, it all seems to lead to the same all devouring instinct, she thought and sent down Heart of Cinder.
Many of the creatures were killed instantly, the others fought to climb the corpses for a chance to face the living one among them.
The second worm had fallen but a third had taken its place.
She displaced a few projectiles and beams, finding Hector’s water sphere flying in the distance. A horde of creatures followed him, corpses left behind creating a line of rotten flesh in his path.
The mantis was surrounded by hundreds of creatures, her spear cutting through flesh with each move, her movements broad and aggressive.
Ilea watched her suddenly run through the air, upwards to meet one of the many flying creatures.
This one was different.
It’s body looked pale blue and smooth, more humanoid than nearly all the other creatures. Six limbs without hands extended from its back as it floated in the air.
Ilea couldn’t see any discernible features on its head or body. It had two legs but no feet.
Another major difference was the fact that the death spirits attacked this creature too.
Those who could attack at range shot their death magic at the creature, all projectiles hitting a multicolored shield.
Astral
Ilea recognized the element immediately.
Beams formed at the tips of its six limbs, the energy hitting various approaching creatures, disintegrating them near instantly.
The mantis dodged the attack as expected. She drew the creature’s attention and soon had to dodge six beams at a time, some even moving while active.
She reached the being and vanished, a pulse of astral energy extending outwards in a sphere. The mantis appeared at the edge of the spell’s range and pushed forward, her spear cleaving through several shields before it was stopped.
Ilea couldn’t help but be intrigued. She didn’t exactly want to join the mantis but there were two more of the pale blue creatures in the vicinity.
Her ash slashed through a few flying Death Spirits before one of them managed to claw into her ash, taking her down into the waiting horde.