Chapter 31 – Sometimes Things Just Happen Fast
Chapter 31 - Sometimes Things Just Happen Fast
The bugs that huddled across the ground began to shake. Wings slowly opened up, and a few jumped into the heart. For a moment, everyone’s heart stopped beating. There were at least hundreds of these bugs, a known disaster that had stolen the lives of many before today.
The large cave opening split into over fifteen different tunnels. People held their weapons tightly as the vermin began shaking.
Valmyst's eyes flashed over to Catcher for a moment. His expression hadn’t shifted, only a cold focus on what was in front of him. What stole her attention next was the surge of energy that occurred above.
A member of Henry’s party focused her spell. The girl who had a large bush of green hair that looked like foliage had already raised her staff, and Valmyst could feel the energy pulse from it. Then, a mass of red energy formed and slammed down right into the mass nest of the Iron Army.
A flash of red and the mountain shook.
Ergh! Valmyst had to hold back from instinctively casting her [Barrier].
People readied their weapons. The ideal scenario was that only a few survived the initial onslaught, and they could be dealt with before they escaped into the wider world.
With the energy gone, many of the swarm had been destroyed; a few that rested at the bottom of the stack had survived, their fallen brothers used as shields. These bugs immediately began swarming; however, below cracks formed, and a larger echo of the Iron Army’s sound leaked through.
That sudden fear people felt. The sound of bugs that didn’t fit the number seemed to be the firing pin for further devastation.
The ground shattered beneath the swarm, revealing a horror that none expected. A large ball of metal, a pile of the Iron Army that had far surpassed the numbers that were initially seen.
“Eeeh!” Valmyst heard the mage girl squeak at the sudden increase in numbers.
Don’t squeak! Fire another one of those spells!
Apparently, Henry had the same idea as he put his hand on the girl’s shoulder and ordered her to chant again. Quickly she began pulling in power to use the spell, but the swarm from below began to become active. Large amounts flew up and began swarming towards the various exits.
“Catcher.” Valmyst's voice was firm. Everything her tiny amount of experience taught was keeping her calm in this moment. The looming threat of physical damage was much easier to handle than other kinds. “Any suggestions?”
“Hehe… I would say run in a normal situation, but that would likely get us killed.” Catcher jokingly replied, but his expression contained no humour. A section of the bugs was beginning to swarm and move towards their opening.
“Valmyst shield!”
“On it!” Valmyst stepped forward, afraid, but trusting her experienced mentor’s words. Picturing the situation he planned. Ann enchanted [Barrier] appeared instantly, blocking the entrance of the tunnel, causing a large swarm of bugs to slam their bodies into the shield. Each one caused a small recoil feeling in Valmyst’s body that caused her to clench her teeth to maintain her concentration.
“Drop!” The expected follow-up arrived, Valmyst jumped back, dropping her shield. She saw a sour expression on one of the other adventurers’ faces, but now wasn’t the time to complain. During this moment, the bugs didn’t instantly fly smoothly towards them as they were unstable at the sudden loss of the surface they were trapped by.
Catcher’s sword shone bright, and with a mighty swing, his blade annihilated a large portion of the bugs in their way, however, the remains began their flight again. During this moment when the swarm cleared, Valmyst saw the various other tunnels being attacked by the large swarm, but there were still so many in the open area.
Catcher slashed, and multiple bugs were chopped into pieces with his rapid motion, however, the other person in their group was only able to deflect a bug and was unable to break the bug's exoskeleton.
“Can that girl jump back now?!”
“Valmyst, stay where you are and focus on your strength!” Catcher said loudly to ensure no one would have second thoughts. “I’m going to need you to use your strongest barrier the moment I give the okay, you hear?”
“Understood.” Valmyst didn’t need to ask why.
It felt like an eternity, but it really had only been twenty seconds of the people in front of her trying to hold back the swarm. Blood already began to fly as every successful hit tore chunks off the body. Catcher continued to push himself further with each second as the people around him got weaker by the moment.
“Now!” Catcher used his ability again to blow back the bugs, but it was far less effective this time now that they weren’t clumped as heavily. As if the swarm itself knew not to dive full force into this cave all at once, it had strangely fewer numbers than the other openings after Catcher’s first strike cleared the way.
“[Barrier] [Reinforce].” She focused on her skills as she could feel the energy pile up in the room again. Then not even a second later, a large birth of fire appeared, scorching her vision red. They were still in the tunnel, not even at the entrance, but Valmyst could feel the flames smash against her skill as she felt her energy drain as she tried to keep it up.
After a few seconds, the fires vanished, and Valmyst fell to the ground, but she kept her barrier up.
“Valmyst, retreat.” Catcher ordered. Grabbing the girl’s shoulder and throwing her back, which finally caused her to drop her shield. The people around her didn’t complain this time.
“Huh…”
“You are a newbie! I’ve watched you enough to know that would’ve drained you. Trying to use skills to protect us again could be fatal, so retreat out of this cave now!” He stood forward, and so did another adventurer.
“Thanks, kids.” Simple words, but Valmyst realised how powerless she was again.
No I’m…
He was right. She felt a deep ache in her head and knew what she could barely do now. “Stay safe…” What was most important was that she lived. She knew that. But leaving like this felt wrong.
“You too.”
Valmyst looked back for a moment to see so many bugs still around.
This hasn’t gone well…
She began to run through tunnels, but the mountain itself didn't seem to follow the paths she remembered. As if everything had shuffled around after entering. Having no time to consult with this mystery, she ran as fast as she could, following the shape of the tunnels and trying to rely on her memory and sense of direction to be moving away from where she came.
Crap! She noticed a small number of bugs flying around and immediately took a path in a different direction. She just watched one of those bugs in a single bite take a steak-sized chunk out of a person’s arm.
Valmyst ran up the pathway, escaping the swarm.
Ha… maybe a few points into NO! Come on, just grow an extra muscle or something!
The sounds of conflict could be heard everywhere. The sounds and dings of metal clashes almost sounded like a warzone. The tunnels were ominous as it became hard to tell where the conflict was coming from.
Is my sense of direction getting worse… She followed her current path and made countless decisions in branching paths, hoping to reach the exit and speak with the people outside the cave.
Reaching the edge of the tunnel, she found herself somehow back at the large nest of the Iron Army. However, much higher than her previous position, looking down on everything, the massive swarm of metal monstrosities.
Why is he here… Velasteros' body collapsed to the ground after the exhaustion of running and the sudden mental surprise at seeing the leader of the operation looking down at everything, for some reason alone.