Just like Liam had noticed this anomaly, others also saw how Derek was struggling and were shocked.
His performance should have been right up there along with Mia and Alex, or even better than them both, so how was his health dropping?
Maybe he came across stronger elite demons? Perhaps he got caught amidst a huge group of demons?
Or maybe he even encountered the boss of this whole thing?!
This odd occurrence immediately gave rise to several questions and concerns, but before anyone could react, Liam quickly settled it.
"Everyone, carry on with what you are doing. Stick to your task. I am heading over to Derek to take care of this."
He sent the message to the group and then bolted to the part of the desert where Derek was currently fighting.
In between, a couple of demons crossed his path, but surprisingly Liam did not stop to tango with them.
Though it was a low-hanging fruit, he did not hesitate and side-stepped, continuing to dash towards Derek.
This was because he knew the gravity of the situation. They needed to act fast.
Otherwise, just like every other guild that was wiped out, they would also suffer the same fate.
Liam used mana to enhance his speed and rush forward without holding back.
When he arrived there, Derek was standing in an awkward form. There were a few demon corpses scattered around him.
But there was nothing else. There was no one else present near him. However, he was still taking damage.
There was only Derek, and yet he was struggling as if he was fighting against something invisible.
More specifically, he looked as if he was being electrocuted, and he was receiving quite a lot of damage.
"This is bad, but luckily I am not too late." Liam let out a small sigh and directly jumped into combat.
As soon as he reached Derek's vicinity, one of the attacks by chance landed on him and broke his stealth.
But Liam was not too concerned about this because no one else was there. Or rather, there were no demons around them.
Derek watched Liam suddenly appear next to him, and he immediately tried to warn him. "Sir! It is too dangerous here. Something is here."
"Yes, I know." Liam frowned.
The crackling, sizzling electricity in the air now assaulted him as well, quickly chipping away his health.
This was exactly what Derek was concerned about. Now not only was he affected by this strange phenomenon but Liam was trapped as well.
"Did you try running away?" Liam asked.
"Yes, but if I move my health is dropping faster. I don't understand their attacks."
Derek tried to use his shield and block something, but it was useless. He had tried everything by now, and there seemed to be no solution.
"Sir, what should we do now?" Derek asked with a steady tone.
Liam was amused. He was clearly struggling but there was still a stability and calmness in the man's demeanor.
Liam himself was also quite calm. "Mmm… we need to find a way to defeat these guys." He replied as if he was talking to himself.
"So there is something that is attacking us?"
"Yes, and these some things are called voidlings. They are beings that appear in places associated with void like these spatial rifts."
Liam's gaze carefully observed his surrounding while the purple sword in his hand tried to parry the crackling bolts of lightning.
But how could a sword match the speed of such an attack? Or rather neither Liam's nor Derek's abilities were that advanced.
Liam's mind spun as he quickly tried to think of something. He was also almost in the same boat as Derek.
Of course, he knew about voidlings, but that was where his knowledge stopped.
There were a million different types of voidlings with million different attack patterns.
They were truly strange, bizarre creatures with an unknown background.
They did not bleed. They did not leave behind a corpse. They also did not give out any experience points.
Due to this, some people even debated whether or not they were living beings.
This was also why Liam did not bother warning the group beforehand. He did not know what type of voidling they might be encountering.
It was impossible for anyone to know something like that, not just him.
So much so that there was a theory that the voidlings were born instantly in spatial rifts. It was impossible to be prepared for them in advance.
And it looked like, the ones they were facing were these invisible energy-type voidlings.
BZZZT ZAP!
Even as Liam was trying to find a way out of this mess, the voidlings did not give him a break and kept zapping both him and Derek.
"Damn it. What are these things?"
No matter how much he tried, he could not think of anything to counter these things and fight them.
"Well, since there is no other choice, I should just try attacking the air with everything I have?"
Liam gritted his teeth and circulated the mana in his body. He then started with fireballs, sending out six balls of fire in six different directions.
Coincidentally one of them hit a node that was sizzling with energy. However, the result was nothing good.
For some reason, the sparks produced by that node looked even more powerful.
"Derek! Watch out!" Liam shouted.
Thankfully, his warning was just in time.
Derek swiftly blocked the huge blob of crackling lightning with his shield, very narrowly preventing the rest of his health from plummeting.
However, Liam did not look relieved after seeing this. He still had a grave expression on his face.
They might have avoided this disaster, but they were still sitting ducks. This time, the hurdle in front of them was truly big.
Clearly, they had drawn the short end of the straw, having to face this kind of a complicated voidling.
But Liam was not ready to give up just yet. Not even close. They were no longer in the beginning stages of the game.
As their levels increased and they began to explore more and more of this world, leaving the comforts of the cities and towns in their Kingdom, this type of unknown opponent was something that had to be expected.
Even for someone like him, with adequate knowledge about the future, these kinds of situations were unavoidable.
"So fire type is out, then lightning magic is also out. I cannot use my sword. This only leaves out…"
Liam gazed at the empty purple desert around them that mysteriously crackled with energy, and suddenly an idea struck him.
"Luna, come out. Blast this area completely."