After the protective barrier provided by the vest was completely destroyed, Emery could only depend on his [Jade Skin] spell to withstand the attacks of those crawling and flying creatures.
Fortunately, the crystal green layer of rocks that covered most of his body was strong enough to hold the creatures' jaws, preventing them from biting a piece of Emery's flesh off.
At first, Emery's strategy, or should he say 'thought', was to close up on the beast tamer and incapacitate him, before the creatures could break through his defenses. In short, Emery planned to subdue the commander.
Emery of course expected the process would have some alterations, as the things happening during the fight could change to anything. But he never expected that the matter would be so difficult.
Knowing Emery's signature spell was [Blink], Molt had held and prepared most of his flying ants to protect his close surroundings. Therefore, whenever Emery got close to him, instead of landing on an advantageous position, Emery was actually in a more dangerous situation.
"Let's see how long you can hold under my creatures!!" Molt shouted, flashing a nasty smirk. "My precious boys, attack! Don't give him any mercy!!"
As if the creatures understood their master, they rapidly increased their speed, as they went at Emery like a crashing wave. Dozens of crawlers and flyers rushed towards Emery at great speed.
Clank! Clank!
Emery kept getting cornered, as his attacks were not strong enough to cut through the creatures' rock hard carapaces.
Even though the ant-like creatures were not fast enough to completely obliterate him, Emery was currently fighting inside an arena with limited space. Moreover, there were just too many of them, they could have fillled a third of the arena if they spreaded apart.
With every passing minute, Emery became more and more disadvantaged. He knew that if the situation didn't change, he would be defeated eventually.
Alas, Emery's fighting choices were limited, as he only had one arm that could be used to fight. It was fortunate Emery had some prior experience fighting with his left hand using the sword. However, with his only arm holding a sword, Emery was unable to cast any spell that needed the use of one free hand.
At the moment, Emery was truly in a pickle. Most of the spells in his repertoire were useless and he didn't have enough strength to kill those annoying creatures. And, as if the situation wasn't worse enough, Emery began to feel the wound on his chest, the one caused by Zach, started acting up again.
Emery had to find a way out, a solution, and he needed to find it fast!
'Use your brain, Emery...! There must be a way...' Emery thought inwardly, as he avoided another wave of attacks with [Blink].
Suddenly, Emery remembered something buried deep within his mind, some facts about animals he acquired during his childhood life in the woods. Even though the creatures before him were different from the ones in his memory, Emery bet they should have the same case.
He observed carefully and finally believed he had found the way to beat Molt. If his plan succeeded, Emery would leave the arena with a win in his pocket.
Now that the plan was formed, Emery just needed to make sure he had the capability to pull it off.
Making up his mind, Emery immediately proceeded with his plan.
This time, Emery teleported further away from Molt and the creatures, to be more precise, to the area located almost at the corner of the arena.
Seeing the place where Emery teleported over, Molt shouted, "Where do you think you can run?!! Hahaha!"
Emery swiftly stored the sword into his ring and knelt down to the ground, causing confused reaction from the audience. Ignoring them, Emery proceeded to take out a bottle. Inside it, a bluish paste could be seen; [Strength Paste - Tier 2] Emery quickly spread it all over his legs. As for his arms, he could only pour it altogether.
Noticing Emery's actions, Molt frowned, "What are you doing? Huh?! My Durantz, quickly kill him now!!"
Emery continued dodging the creatures around, as he waited for the paste to take effect. Moments later, he finally felt his two legs and arm starting to warm up due to the paste's effect.
[Battle power increased by 4 points]
[Current battle power : 47]
Previously, Emery felt his body was at his limit, as his speed had decreased quite a bit. Luckily, it was apparent the bit of boost given by the paste earned Emery the extra speed he needed to dodge the incoming creatures.
With his sword stored in the ring and his hand free, Emery began to proceed towards the next step of the plan. He casted his long-range attack spell, [Enfeeble Blade].
Clank! Clank!
Familiar sounds resounded in the air. The spells were able to knock the creatures they hit, but they were still not strong enough to end the creatures' lives. Realizing he would not be getting nowhere if this kept up, Emery finally decided to take out the most potent weapon from his arsenal, a spell he recently learnt.
[Dark Matter]
As the spirit energy inside his body churned and materialized darkish energy on top of his left hand, Emery could feel his already painful chest became even more painful. However, Emery gritted his teeth, as he focused his attention on the spell, ignoring the excruciating pain wrecking over his body. Emery understood that, if he failed this attempt, he would most probably lose the fight.
While his only arm held onto the pitch-black sphere, Emery proceeded to cast [Blink]. But instead of heading directly at Molt, Emery randomly teleported over the arena, doing this continuously. The ants who saw where Emery was gone swiftly followed him, causing them to be misdirected and split apart.
When Molt realized what Emery wanted to do, it was already too late, as his creatures already spreaded out apart over the arena.
The moment the opportunity presented before Emery's eyes, he swiftly took action. Emery casted [Blink], appearing right outside the swarm of flying ants surrounding Molt and threw the baleful sphere towards them.
Molt could only stare, as he saw the sphere landing on the swarm.
BOOM!!!
The explosion caused by the sphere knocked the creatures and broke their tight formation, leaving Molt right in the open. Finally, the opportunity to finish Molt arose.
Emery knew he had no time to cast another [Dark Matter]. So, he decided to use another method he had thought of.
A bottle with green-colored fluid inside it rapidly flew through the air and landed on Molt in that very second.
[Acid Potion - Tier 2]
Splash!
The bottle broke and the green liquid splashed over Molt, quickly burning the acolyte's clothes. Molt started screaming in pain, as his skin was corroded by the acid.
Emery knew his acid potion was not enough to defeat Molt. His main purpose was to burn Molt's clothes and force the appearance of another ant-like creature he was sure was hiding beneath it.
In the end, Emery's plan paid off, as his vision was greeted by the emergence of a new ant-like creature. At first glance, this particular one only looked like the larger version of the flying ant, but it had golden stripes on its back.
It was the ant queen.