Chapter 388: Savage Hoard
The group were rallied as the two halves of the surviving division finally reunited, merging into a cohesive force.
While Elaine formed ice-sculpted carriers and gently placed all four unconscious figures into them.
Then Uriel activated his second class skill, Astral Summon, glittering sparks of astral essence congealing into the atmosphere and forming clones of his steed in the hundreds.
A mass-application-type class skill that allowed the soldiers to sustain the clones with their own energy, sparing Uriel the burden.
Though this would make the steeds’ quality not quite up to par, by any margin, the speed boost would still be very much noticeable.
Elaine strapped the ice-sculpted carrier containing Jack and Brandon onto her simmering steed, as she patted its mane, her essence pouring from her fingertips into its body, its form growing more realistic.
Uriel strapped the ice carrier with Seth and Zoan to his, as his combat mount’s hooves scraped against the earth, ready to ride the wind.
The captains patiently waited for all the soldiers to settle on their rides, some having to carry members of the shackled realm crew, after all these guys were so weak, hoping for them to be able to power an awakened-grade mount, even if it was just a watered-down version of the original, would be slim.
And even if they could activate it, the speed the clone would be able to display would only drag the others down.
Everyone sat mounted on the glowing astral constructs, they could all feel their essence seeping away, funneled to sustain the existence of the steed beneath them.
The four captains nodded among themselves, each signaling for their men as Dorian’s voice echoed, "We move now! To the shore! Do not let any obstacle stop you, for we’ve found a way home!"
There couldn’t be a greater motivator than this!
The soldiers straightened in their saddles at the sound of the word home!
Their shoulders sagged under a fatigue that was not only physical but mental and emotional. These soldiers had watched so many die, they had been moving without a solid moment of reprieve, heck if not for the brief moments of being knocked unconscious during the storm and being washed to the shore of this damned place, most of them hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in days.
Though the mental resilience of an evolver might be great, there was only so much they could take regardless.
They longed for civilization once more, their homes, the thought invigorating them as the steeds flickered brilliantly, flooded with unrestricted streams of essence, and took off tearing through the wind like arrows propelled from a bow.
Their frames turning into blurring streaks, their eyes focused forwards on the path ahead, the forest around them so silent and gloomy it was eerie.
For a moment the group traveled without catching a single sight of a corrupted, the zone quiet but the tension at an all-time high.
Everyone knew something was wrong, it just wasn’t right yet there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.
Steady at alert, they were quick to catch the sudden ripple of a faint, almost unnoticeable tremor running through the steeds’ frames as their hooves pounded against the earth.
At first it was almost negligible... until it quaked again, the ground rattling with a higher intensity.
As a dense bank of fog rose behind them, a soldier squinted, getting an intense scan of the looming haze, and realized.
"No, that’s not fog... it’s rising dust," they whispered, the color draining from their face as they realized... a stampede!
This lone soldier wasn’t alone in discovering this, as the evolvers spurred their mounts, pouring reckless amounts of essence into their steeds, their speed rising with an intense capacity.
Now it became clear where all the corrupted had gone, hearts hammered from fright, blood pumping, thrums ringing as their frames leaned forwards in order to draw less wind resistance as they fixed their all into fleeing.
No one wanted to be caught in a horde of defiled and charmed beasts, even the all-mighty division captain level figures not confident in their chances.
The group’s palms went slick on the reins as they were reminded in the worst way that the system never gave easy quests.
Tasks worthy of being assigned as quests were those with dangerously low chances of completion, this time their quest was to survive and they could understand why.
The soldiers were forced to witness the true threat of what it meant for a horde of corrupted to be guided by a singular will.
Speeding through space with furious efficiency, the corrupted marched with a level of cohesion their feral natures weren’t meant to allow.
Not a single clash despite their varied sizes, abilities and specialties, a glint of controlled madness in their stares, directed by the will of their zone boss, their instincts were repressed and their existence was wired for a single purpose: kill everything non-corrupted and retrieve the prize that was lost.
The humans really tried, they put their all into speed, but inevitably the enemy caught up, claws striking at the hind legs of their steeds, some monsters outright pouncing on their prey.
The humans were forced to slow and engage, as the tide of darkness clouded with the storm of rising sand.
The nightmarish horde poured upon the humans with a relentless, savage frenzy, many soldiers dying to the first tide, while the others at the rear remained lucky enough to survive.
The captains heading the crew could sense the mayhem, the mental wave covering their forces, and they could feel lifeforces being snuffed out and drowned by enemies they couldn’t resist.
Lucas and Dorian glanced at one another and nodded, they couldn’t just let their men die like dogs, the next wave should have a few charmed beasts within their ranks, the mounts of the two slowed for a moment.
As blurry bursts rang out, the wind whined and whipped against their frames while figures sped past them, so fast that within seconds they were at the rear.
Uriel and Elaine couldn’t sink to the rear on account of being in charge of the safety of Seth and the others.
But they still slowed down just enough so that a good number of the human soldiers could be within their cast range.
While holding a live mental projection of everything happening at once in their minds, Elaine and Uriel cast their support skills, Elaine casting Cryo Bind at crucial moments, Uriel using his temporal manipulation with a scary level of application.
Dilating time zones between them and the enemy, and making the corrupted a step behind in time flow, slowing down the speed of their attacks and reactions drastically.
Doing everything to keep as many soldiers alive as possible...