The Squad continued to push further through the Myshkin jungle, but not directly straight in. They didn't want to accidentally stumble across Myshk's city wherever that may lie.

Now that Kumo knew what to look for, they picked a handful of Leaf Elementals that hid around them, but it took them a couple hours to find another enclave of them. This time closer to a hundred than two hundred.

Like before, they massacred them. With his Elites buffed stats, they'd probably have made a good show of it even without him, but Gi's Domain made it laughably easy.

The group continued onward, heading north and west to stay upriver even as they wandered further in. The little bit of light in the jungle dropped even lower as the day wore on and the group struggled to see.

Kumo was still ranging ahead, but not very far so they didn't split off in the darkness. She'd crouched beside a tree as she peered deeper into the jungle when a mottled brown snake dropped from the lower branches and wrapped around her.

"What the-" she started, but Gi fired off a [Divine Bolt] before it could snatch her into the air.

Noose Snake defeated!

1 Soul Orbs received. Current Soul Orbs: 355

The terrifying thing was that brief burst of light revealed hundreds of the snakes hanging just below the lower branches. Each of them the same mottled brown and all of them lacked any sort of eyes or mouth. Gi and his Squad all froze as they stared at the sheer number of monsters that surrounded them.

That instant of light faded, killing their night vision, and then the snakes dropped.

He sensed two coming just as they entered his Domain, but dodging to the right just wrapped him up in another. Cries from his Squad told him that they were all snared the same way as he was.

As the snake yanked him upwards, two more snakes wrapped around him, one circling around his throat and pulling tight. The fur on his throat sizzled as an acid that coated their scales started to burn him. Flashes of light lit the small clearing as Wax and Wane fired off [Divine Bolt]s at their own attackers, but other than the constant strobe light blinding him. He didn't think it was doing anything.

Gi gagged as the snake tightened again, cutting off his airflow, but his Heart was ascended and he wouldn't panic about something like this. First, he used [Concealing Light], the shimmering glow allowing them to see between bursts. Next, he spawned one of his summons hanging directly from the snake that still had one end wrapped around a tree branch. The summon pulled the simple dagger from Gi's waist and started to saw at the snake's scales that was trying to strangle him.

Five more summons burst into life and Gi set them to rescuing the Elites. Poe could easily avoid the Noose Snakes by adjusting his size so he moved in and out of their attacks easily. As his summon finally cut through the snake on his throat, a breath of air shocked his lungs and he yelled out.

"POE! HELP THE TWINS!" Gi's shout caused the dragonfly to blink before heading towards the struggling pair. They were each wrapped tightly in several of the snakes, only luck saving them from getting one around their neck, but they continued to wrap tighter and tighter and the smell of burnt fur spread through the clearing.

Their [Divine Bolt] attacks did better against the snakes than a mace might, but their Strength was the lowest out of all of them there.

Samba fared the best with his large size, but over a dozen snakes draped over him and even as he ripped one or two apart with his hands, they continued to tighten.

Gi's summons rushed over to him and the twins to help. Their [Divine Bolt] could knock a few out, but the snakes didn't relent. This wasn't some static trap. These were monsters.

More and more snakes slithered across the lower branches of the jungle, flooding the area in scaley bodies that continued to drop down from above, either directly on the Squad or pinning them in from all sides. Gi's summons were helping, but it was still far too slow against the unexpected onslaught.

Then Kumo broke free.

Rage lit up her eyes and the blood of the snakes painted her claws. Gi had long ago felt wrong when attacking with his claws, but if Kumo had any such reservations, they weren't present here.

Using [Quick Steps], she darted through the sea of hanging monsters and her claws tore the light from each of them as she passed. Watching her movement ability reminded Gi of his own.

He turned off [Concealing Light] just long enough to cast [Celerity], dropping himself into an open space. The snakes immediately started to grab him again, but he needed to provide the team light so he couldn't cast another [Celerity]. A quick [Divine Bolt] ended those in front of him and then he reactivated [Concealing Light] again.

He reformed his summon that had been helping him and pulled out one of his maces. It wasn't the best against these spongy targets, but with his Strength, a solid hit was enough to end one.

Kumo, meanwhile, had reached Samba and she used her [Commander] ability to drop her own all white summon, though this one mirrored her. It lacked the ability to use her skills, but it seemed to mirror her rage. She and her summon ripped through the snakes that had Samba tied up with a fury.

At the same time, Poe and Gi's summons had just gotten the twins free from their entanglement, meaning no one was currently in danger.

"To me! Squad to me!" Gi yelled and each of them took a fighting retreat towards the center where he'd carved out a small space. Thankfully, even the enraged Kumo had made it back after dropping her [Commander] summon to use [Quick Steps] again.

Gi's summons quickly formed a circle and all of them dropped to their knees. With a thought, Gi staggered their [Divine Bolt]s into the oncoming rush of snakes, blood and scales splattering against trees and leaves and brush.

Seeing his strategy, the twins joined in, splitting up their attacks to further the barrage against the incoming swarm. The few that dropped down above them were torn apart quickly by Kumo and Samba who protected their ranged attackers.

Other than Poe, they all had a D in Vitality so their stamina, both for Aether and otherwise, was great, but the swarming snake didn't stop coming and Gi's Aether reserves started to run dry especially with all of his summons using his skills.

From the grimace every time they cast, Gi assumed the twins were in a similar situation as they didn't have the higher reserves of a Classer to fall back on.

"My Aether is running out," Gi yelled.

Samba swung his giant two handed mace overhead, sending one of the snakes sailing far out of the small clearing. "What's the plan, boss?"

Gi glanced at the Noose Snakes that continued to slide along the tree branches as they sought to murder his Squad. They must have stumbled upon an entire clan of the monsters and this wasn't a young clan to have so many jobbies.

Gi's eyes widened as he realized that their Classers would be coming next.

"FIGHTING RETREAT!" Gi grabbed up one of the twins just as he'd started to droop and Samba grabbed up the other one. "Kumo, cut us a path!"

Kumo growled in response and she activated her [Commander] ability again and the two formed a vanguard of slicing claws. Gi abandoned his summons to get swarmed by the snakes, hoping their increased durability would give them a little bit of a head start.

One of the snakes tried to grab him as he ran, but just slapped him in the face instead. The blow wasn't enough to do damage, but it forced him to blink back tears. When his vision cleared, he saw that the way in front was open.

"CUT EAST! TOWARDS THE RIVER!"

Gi wasn't actually sure which direction they'd fled in, but Kumo must have had a better sense of direction than he did. She took a sharp left and their group followed.

Just as she did, the branches in the direction they'd been heading exploded and Gi felt a Domain envelope the group. A giant snake mottled red and black reared its head up and snapped down with the tip of its featureless head like a spear.

Samba instantly dropped Wax and blocked the incoming blow with the head of his mace, but this was a Classer. Its strength sent Samba barreling past Gi and rolling into the brush behind. Gi was confident he'd survive the attack with his skills being focused on durability, but none of them would live if Gi couldn't at least distract the Classer.

With a mental push, Gi forced the snake's Domain backwards. At the same time, Poe hopped from his shoulder, growing big enough to pick Wax back up. The exhausted Elite still forced out a [Divine Bolt] towards the Classer, but without his other half, it was a pitiful thing.

The Classer reared up again and Gi was forced to drop [Concealing Light]. A whistling of air was the only thing that told Gi he was being attacked with their Domains already battling as they were, but Gi activated [Celerity], blinking off to the right away from where his squad had run.

"Just keep going! I'll hold him off!"

"We're not leaving our Progenitor!" Kumo's voice yelled.

Gi wished he could activate [Concealing Light] again or better yet have a summon do it, but the meager bit of Aether that he'd gathered during their flight would be mostly consumed by activating the expensive skill.

The Classer Noose Snake reoriented on him and Gi noticed out of the corner of his eye that the more of the jobbies had caught up with them. Thankfully, [Archbishop] had become very Aether efficient when it became his Domain skill. He dropped six new summons; two wielded maces from his [Expanded Pocket] while the rest had a river rock.

His quick glance gave the Classer snake an opening. The monster must have put all its energy into its domain skill because Gi felt like gravity had suddenly increased by twice as much. If his summons had been in range instead of fighting the other monsters, they would have been dispersed. With him effectively pinned, the monster flexed backwards and brought its entire black and red mottled body down towards him. Only the size of the Classer made it visible at all in the barely lit jungle.

Gi used another charge of [Celerity], but that meant he only had one remaining before it went on cooldown and his Aether was in an even worse condition. He had enough left for a handful of [Divine Bolt]s.

As the snake crashed down where he'd been a moment before, he dragged his failing Aether through his body and forced out another [Divine Bolt] through his palm. Three bolts of light pierced the monster's side and gave just enough illumination to reveal the rest of his Squad.

They hadn't run like he'd told them. They'd been waiting for their target to appear.

Samba immediately used [Charge], and even slowed by the Classer's gravity domain, he barreled into the giant Classer before it could dodge. Despite the Stage difference, Samba's own strength couldn't be ignored. He wrapped his arms around the monster and twisted like he was trying to wrestle a tree to the ground. The snake bucked wildly in his grip, but he held it for just a moment and that was enough.

The twins had reunited and their twinned, empowered [Divine Bolt] took a chunk out of the Classer's flesh. It wasn't a killing blow to a Classer with a Unique Constitution, but that kind of damage was even higher than what Gi himself had displayed against Yom, the Iron Ferret.

And more importantly, it had made a hole in its scales.

"Die, you fucking bastard!" Kumo screamed. Using [Quick Steps], she leapt for the Classer's open wound. In the air, her summon became active and the two dove right into the bloody orifice. From the blood and gore spitting out of the hole, Gi assumed they were ripping out chunks with their claws.

With Kumo's continued assault, the snake bucked harder and strained to lift itself in the air. Samba ended up being pulled up along with it. Behind Gi, he could feel the last of his summons dying to incoming jobbies, but he ignored them, not willing to give up the opportunity that his Elites had given him.

Once Samba had grabbed the giant red and black snake, Gi had started charging his [Divine Bolt], moving all the Aether he had left into his palm and overcharging it far beyond what he'd been able to do before. The amount of power in it scared him and he aimed just to the right of the wound the twins had caused not wanting to accidentally kill Kumo.

It was a good choice.

Three bolts of light, each about half the size of a tree, impacted the same spot, dropping a deluge of blood to the jungle floor. Despite only being near the blast, Kumo's summon popped into Aether in the mere afterblast of his attack.

The snake who'd been trying to pull itself back into the tree suddenly couldn't support its on weight on the destroyed strip of flesh that connected its body. With a sound like someone ripping a piece of paper on a loudspeaker, the Classer broke in half. Samba, who'd still been clinging to it, fell with the part just above it, but Samba landed on his feet and even caught half of the Classer's body above his head.

With a herculean grunt, Samba took two steps and flung the tree sized Classer back into its own kind. It crashed through the trees and branches and mental screams were silenced just before it landed. Gi dodged under a grasping snake that had managed to make it to him and cracked out his last charge of [Celerity] to close the distance to his Elites.

"Back to the river! Let's go!"

The Squad sprinted out of the area, leaving the Noose Snakes behind which now seemed much more hesitant to chase after them. At their increased pace, it only took them an hour to reach the river and each of them dove into its cooling waters and let it carry them closer to home.

With a sigh of relief, Gi floated on his back and looked up at Poe following from the air. "Have Tiria send a healer to the river entrance."

"Aye aye, Boss Boss!" Poe said before flying off towards the Encampment. He hoped the little guy had a Wind Fern with him. Gi looked to his Elites who floated around him and called them all in, each of them clasping paws so they wouldn't float too far away. As they did, Gi quickly glanced at his Soul Orbs.

Current Soul Orbs: 639

They'd killed over two hundred of those Noose Snake bastards even if you didn't include the ten Soul Orbs from the Classer. That was six levels which would include a Skill upgrade. It was a good haul for a single day and even if the next couple days were less fruitful, they should still make their goal before the Assembly.

"All right, listen up. We're going to get a healer to handle some of the minor injuries we got in that last fight. We'll rest two hours in the river to get our Aether and stamina topped up then we're heading back in."