Chapter 461 - Clearing
Mage Veers had divided the S Rank and the A Rank mages into groups of three to four, with one S Rank and two to three A Rank mages per group. The only group that was different was the one Damion was assigned. It consisted of the three SS Rank mages, Donald Harris, Kieran Moretti, Julia Levine, as well as the S Rank mage Axton Veers.
Right now, Damion’s group sat in the air waiting for the SS Rank guardian to make its move. Below them the various teams were combatting the army of Demonic Beasts assembled by the guardian. Everything was going according to plan, so far. Each team would lure away a Demonic Beast or two, defeat it and then return for another once they were rested. The process was slow, but effective.
As Mage Veers had theorized, the guardian was keeping the majority of its army from charging out and fighting the mages to prevent the SS Rank mages from directly attacking it. However, eventually the guardian would either release its hold and let its army do what it wanted, or it would direct them to assault one of the teams. Which choice the guardian would make was hard to predict. Luckily, the longer the fight went on, the easier either scenario would become, since the army of Demonic Beasts was being slowly reduced.
“Not the glorious battle you had in mind?” Mage Veers asked, turning to Damion.
“I’m usually down in the thick of things,” Damion replied. “I have identified three strong S Rank Demonic Beasts. See those three Stone Bears staying close to the center of the formation, each of them has over 4 million magic power.”
Damion pointed to three imposing Demonic Beasts that were situated in roughly the center of the guardian’s army. Surrounding them were a multitude of other creatures, but none were quite as large as the Stone Bears.
“When the guardian makes a move, those three will most certainly play a role. Have you identified any other strong Demonic Beasts?”
“Those three are the strongest below the guardian. Spread out around the area are a few other strong Demonic Beasts. Those spider looking ones are all around 3 million magic power, I’ve identified nine of them.”
“The Metal Hair Spiders?” Mage Levine asked, taking a closer look at them. “I didn’t realize those could even reach S Rank, let alone be mid S Rank. Those will pose a problem to the lure teams.”
Before anyone else could add anything, Mage Levine had pulled out her communication tablet and was relaying the information about the Metal Hair Spiders and the Stone Bears. Since those Demonic Beasts were likely going to be troublesome for any one group. If the current combat strategy lasted long enough for the lure teams to reach those creatures then, with the new intelligence, multiple groups would tackle each of those stronger Demonic Beasts.
“Are those all the S Ranks that pose a risk?” Mage Harris asked.
The majority of the guardian’s army was made up of A Rank Demonic Beasts. Still, aside from the few Damion had pointed out, there were a number S Rank beasts.
“From all the Demonic Beasts I have been able to identify as we’ve moved around the area, those are the only ones that will be a challenge to the S Ranks. The other beasts are all low S Rank, none exceeding 1.5 million in magic power.”
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“Well within the capabilities of the groups fighting. More than a few of the S Ranks down there are mid and high Rank,” Mage Harris said.
“This platform isn’t too taxing for you is it, Mage Wells?” Mage Moretti asked.
Once again Damion was providing the services of his Summon Ice spell to maintain a floating platform for their team to operate off of.
“I’m fine.” Damion answered. Most mages had become more than a little aware over time of his unusual stamina but sometimes seeing it firsthand was eye-opening. Still, he did not want to have an idle conversation continue along this course. “What should I do once the guardian makes its move? I know I won’t make a bit of difference in that fight.”
“Feel free to aid other teams where you can. Once the guardian makes its move, all the other Demonic Beasts will likely join the fight as well. I suspect the guardian will release them from its control and they will lash out widely,” Mage Harris said, then added. “Though, it is also possible the guardian will direct them all at us.”
“What makes you think it won’t throw them all at its greatest rivals?”
“Because it hasn’t yet. My guess is that it is forcefully making them remain where they are and it will take a much greater effort for it to order all those beasts to attack us because doing so goes against their instincts.”
"Well, it looks like we are about to find out,” Mage Veers suddenly said. “Damion move to a safe distance and then find somewhere you can help out.”
As Mage Veers spoke, the three SS Rank mages and the S Rank Mage Veers sprang into action. They leapt off Damin’s ice platform and used their own artifacts to move towards the SS Rank guardian, which had begun to move.
While the guardian was moving towards a group of mages, all the other Demonic Beasts in the area that had moments before been doing nothing also flew into motion. Damion watched for the Stone Bears and the Metal Hair Spiders, wanting to avoid whatever area they headed towards, but Mage Levine dropped a Storm spell on top of both of their groups. The spell made short work of most of them, but at least one of the Stone Bears was able to move away only slightly injured. He would have liked to have known if the others had survived or not, but he had moved out of range of True Sight and could not identify them anymore.
The closest group to Damion was being overrun by a group of A Rank Wind Serpents. The dozen or so 5-meter-long snakes moving quickly through the other Demonic Beasts and striking out at a team that consisted of Mage Addison, one of the newly advanced S Ranks and Zachary Phinn and Lois Abney.
Abandoning his ice platform, Damion converted it to a hail of ice spears and shot them all into the charging horde of Demonic Beasts while getting his Ice Sword under him. The hail of ice he sent out cut down several of the weaker Demonic Beasts in the area and managed to injure a few others.
‘Phil, it is too chaotic for you to come out,’ Damion quickly told the Blizzard King when he felt its desire to join the fray. ‘Nys, only leave my shadow to kill, then quickly return to it, so no one mistakes you for an enemy.’
His familiars quickly gave their affirmatives while Damion cast another Summon Ice and shot a hail of jagged ice crystals at the Demonic Beasts.
Flying had its advantages, but it also made him a target to more Demonic Beasts. To avoid being targeted by more attacks than he could handle, Damion flew close to the ground and reverted his Ice Sword to its smaller combat form and took it in his hand. He quickly cast two more spells Ice Shield and Ice Armor. Instantly he became a gleaming blue-white figure on the battlefield wading into the fray.
The Wind Serpents that had managed to survive his hail of ice attacks were quickly finished off as he effortlessly sliced them in two. Mage Abney threw out a giant ball of water that dosed the next wave while Mage Phinn hit them with a lightning bolt dropping the wave before it could come closer.
“Thanks for the assist, Mage Wells,” Mage Addison called out as he began sending Whirlwind Spheres into the next line of Demonic Beasts heading his way.
With the initial wave handled, Mage Addison appeared more than capable of taking care of his team. Damion nodded his head and then rushed towards another group of mages who were getting overwhelmed by the sudden shift in tactics by the Demonic Beasts.