Chapter 1109 Swarm
Seeing their most powerful spells had basically no effect upon the cloud of unknown creatures, Emery and Zach immediately turned their tails and ran as far as they could using their respective orbiter.
Alas, the ominous black cloud is still constantly gaining distance between them.
They were bat-like creatures that ranged in size from a finger to the size of a palm, with sharp fangs and tails like that of a bee.
[Vesps]
[Legendary Creatures – Rank 10]
[Battle power 150]
The information that entered Emery’s brain was something unbelievable. He couldn’t believe that there were millions of such creatures.
“They are all legendary beasts!”
The two of them flew swiftly through the air in search of safety, but the black cloud chasing right behind them was vehement. Soon enough, the latter caught up to Emery and Zach, forcing them to cast offensive magic spells to escape being swarmed upon.
Zach’s fire spells and Emery’s darkness spells colored the sky with their presence, bombarding the massive black cloud and culling down hundreds of those creatures from the skies. However, things were not looking good for the duo.
To their dismay, these creatures were apparently very resilient. Most of the ones that were burned and injured by the attacks of the two appeared to be able to regenerate themselves.
This was very bad news for Emery and Zach, as coupled with their numbers of million, it was only a matter of time before the escaping duo ran spirit pool emptied.
At this point, the black cloud had already dawned upon the two acolytes. Being attacked from every direction from which they were fleeing, Emery and Zach began to be overwhelmed by the creatures.
They tried their best, but the sheer number of Vesps they had to deal with was simply impossible to take care of flawlessly. As a result, a few of those creatures managed to slip through the gaps and squeeze in their attacks. Their razor-sharp fangs tore a chunk of the flesh of both of them.
Swisshh– Splaatt!!
Arrghh!!
“Dammit! Those fangs are lethal!!”
It was only a few minutes of fighting, and the two realized they could see neither the ground nor the sky anymore. Everything around them was filled with black as they were completely surrounded by the swarm of flying creatures.
Zach, who was out of breath after releasing [Mega Flare] non-stop since their escape, turned to Emery and said, “your teleportation spell!? can you cast it!? do it now!”
Emery realized that was probably the only thing that could help them escape from their current predicament. Without further ado, he concentrated upon the spatial element in his surroundings as it was needed for one to utilize space magic.
Thanks to his unexpected gain upon the Law of Gravity from his continuous streak of devouring, Emery managed to break through the invisible veil that interfered with his Spirit Reading and sensed the closest land to them.
“I can sense it! just a few miles away!”
An immediate response came from Zach.
“Just do it! Anywhere is better than here!!”
Receiving the approval of the Dragon protege, Emery’s right hand immediately made a circular motion and a swirling portal swiftly manifested in front of him.
Seeing their pathway to escape, Zach unleashed one last [Mega Flare] before shooting for the portal. Emery also did the same to stop the swarm for a moment, but the two were still being attacked by the other creatures as they went into the portal.
When they reached the other side, both Emery and Zach were stupefied by what they were seeing.
Instead of a piece of land filled, they were greeted by another identical swarm of Vasps, albeit smaller.
“Dammit!”
“They are everywhere!!”
Even though he was exhausted, Zach once again fired his [Draconic Flame] and cast his [Mega Flare] to clear the many Vasps around them. The dragon-shaped flame soared and swallowed a sizable chunk of the swarm, giving the two of them space to breathe.
However, not until a minute later, the sky was covered again by an even thicker swarm of the flying creatures. They both received several painful bites every few seconds. They were bitten all over their bodies until they were covered in their own blood.
At this crucial moment, Emery realized that not all of these creatures were focused on them. Most of them were just passing by, and only a few thousand in the vicinity attacked them.
An idea to survive this peril immediately popped into his mind as Emery swiftly closed in on Zach shouting, “Stay close!!”
Right after Emery started to cast his strongest defensive spell.
[Aegis of Void]
In a split second, a distortion appeared in space and a bubble-like protective zone was created around the two of them taking in the form of a translucent barrier of darkness energy that materialized into reality.
The spell was strong enough to stop the hundreds of Vasps charging at them from all directions.
Just a minute after they were in the clear, Zach was trying to do more offensive spells but Emery quickly stopped him.
“No, save your energy! I will be depending on you when mine runs out.”
Zach looked at him with a mixed feelings before eventually nodding his head and agreeing to the plan.
While the Dragon protege conserved his remaining spirit pool and replenished those he spent, Emery focused his attention fully on this divine spell of his, giving his best to maintain it as long as possible.
Five minutes…
Ten minutes…
Fifteen minutes had passed since Emery and Zach were trapped and tossed around in the black cloud of millions of Vasps. However, their surroundings were still dark as the swarm was still passing through.
There must be at least several millions of these creatures flying through the land.
When the wait reached half an hour mark, Emery began to feel a strain on his spirit core. Maintaining this Divine rank protection spell was indeed dozens of times harder than maintaining the [Spatial Gate] spell.
Noticing the situation from the expression on Emery’s face, Zach who had been recuperating prepared his sword once again. He waited for the moment Emery couldn’t hold on anymore and the barrier protecting them disappeared.
Suddenly, when Emery was about to force himself to maintain the spell a bit longer, he sensed foreign energy gradually affecting his spell without his control. He was about to expel the energy when he realized what it was.
‘It’s the gravitational pressure.’
The exact energy that had been pushing him into this place now started to interact with his space magic, enhancing it. Taking advantage of the unforeseen golden opportunity, instead of resisting, Emery let the gravitational force enter the space bubble he created, and surprisingly it made him able to hold the barrier with much less energy. Making him require much less effort to maintain the spell.
“What happened?” Zach asked in confusion as he watched the barrier that had started to destabilize earlier return to normal once again.
Emery only smiled wryly in response to the Dragon protege’s inquiry, as it could be answered later. They were, after all, still not out of harm’s way yet.
However, thanks to the unexpected boon, Emery could now definitely maintain his [Aegis of Void] spell for another hour. And thankfully, before it went that long the swarm had finally passed through, only leaving a few hundred who were still attacking the barrier.
Seeing that great danger had passed, the two moved in unison. The moment Emery dispelled his spell, Zach immediately released his flames once more, turning what remained of the large swarm into charred corpses.
With that, the two searched for a place to rest as they were truly exhausted by the disaster that had befallen them today. Moreover, Emery needed to figure out what it was that he had just comprehended today.