The creature was an insect. It only had half of its body out of the ground, but it already extended well over a hundred meters. The creature had a fusiform and plump yellowish body, which made Red think it might have been a beetle at first, but a few more seconds of observation proved him wrong.
First of all, this monster seemed to have a neck. It extended from its thorax and held a flat head, which bore a gigantic pair of sickle-like mandibles serrated with sharp spikes. What the boy found curious, though, is that he didn’t see any signs of eyes in the beast’s head. Then there was also the fact the insect’s body seemed to be covered in countless bristles, all of which were probably bigger than Red.
While this creature wasn’t as long as the snake, it was much wider, and it invoked the same feeling of pressure on them. The monster dragged the rest of its body out from the ground, revealing all its six colossal legs. The ground beneath the group shook at each one of its steps.
Suddenly, the creature raised its head towards the sky. Red held his breath and blocked his ears, expecting a roar comparable to the snake from earlier. It didn’t come, though.
Instead, the creature opened its jaw. It stood in that position for over ten seconds, leaving Red and the others confused.
However, they soon noticed something change around them.
“The wind is picking up.” Reinhart said.
The boy felt it too. It was blowing against their back and towards the creature, dragging a large amount of dust with it. Red even felt the wind start to pull him with it. Thankfully, Narcha grabbed onto him before he even needed to worry about being blown away.
The woman frowned as she stared at the monster. “It’s getting stronger!”
The wind was blowing towards the insect from all directions. Most of this dust was being gathered around the beast’s mandibles, spinning around them and forming a familiar shape.
‘Is it making a tornado?’
Red’s question was answered a few seconds later. The spinning dust tendril around its mandible extended towards the sky, and the clouds from above reached down to meet it. Then they connected, and the twister started to spin even faster.
The colossal insect, which was at the center of this phenomenon, seemed unaffected by the extreme winds. Once the tornado was fully formed, it detached itself from the creature’s mandibles and found purchase on the ground.
Then, as if satisfied with a job well done, the insect simply turned around and returned to its hole. The ground rumbled with renewed intensity, making Red stumble on his feet. The quaking soon died down, though, as if to indicate the insect had finally left.
The boy and his companions stared at the at the giant hole and the tornado the creature had left behind.
Reinhart was the first to speak up. “… I guess we found out what was causing these tornadoes.”
Narcha frowned. “What’s even the point of doing that?”
The knight shrugged. “Maybe it’s just instinctual? Or maybe it was ordered by the spirit to do it?”
“Why would it do that?” Narcha seemed unconvinced. “It’s not like these tornadoes are a threat in this giant desert.”
Indeed, even now, the tornado was moving away from them at a relatively slow speed. Although the surrounding winds had picked up in speed, it wasn’t as strong as they were in the beginning, and it didn’t seem like it would be much of an issue to avoid the tornado.
If anything, the dust getting into their eyes seemed more of an obstacle.
Eiwin shook her head. “We should not come to conclusions prematurely. The first few trials have already proven that-”
Her words were interrupted by a distant hissing sound. Everyone froze before turning around to look at the source of the noise. They saw nothing at first, but the sounds continued to get closer.
“It’s above!” Reinhart pointed out.
Red looked up, and he saw it too.
Countless shadows flying in the sky highlighted by the lightning filled sky against the dark clouds. The noises became clearer at that point and the boy noticed it wasn’t just one creature making them. Rather, it was hundreds of them, all joined in a terrible chorus that echoed through the desert.
And they were getting closer at every second.
Narcha screamed. “Run!”
Everyone obliged. The group started to run away from the flying creatures, but it became clear soon enough that the monsters were moving much faster than them.
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A few seconds later, Red was finally able to see their true appearance. These were large black vultures, roughly double the size of the boy himself, but with wingspans reaching over four meters. What seemed curious about these creatures was that while the rest of their body was covered in feathers, their underside was covered by reptilian like scales.
The monsters themselves didn’t seem too menacing - if it wasn’t for the fact there were hundreds of them flying in a chaotic formation. To their surprise, however, the birds didn’t seem to be aiming for them.
Instead, they were all flying towards the tornado. Once the horde got close enough, they all dove inside the twister, disappearing inside the storm of dust and wind.
After seeing this, the group naturally slowed down their run.
Narcha frowned at the sight. “What the hell?”
“There’s something happening!” Reinhart said.
As soon as the man said that, the birds dove out of the tornado one by one. This time there were far fewer of them, but those that came out seemed to be covered in a strange cloud of dust that stuck to their body. Their cacophonous cries echoed through the desert, even louder than before, despite their lowered numbers as they circled around the hurricane, unaffected by the strong winds.
Red watched this strange phenomenon with curiosity, when suddenly, one of the birds veered off, heading towards the group. A moment later, others joined it, until there were dozens of them all making a straight path towards the humans.
Narcha exclaimed in anger. “Fuck! Just run!”
They broke out into a full sprint again. These dust-covered birds, however, seemed to be even faster than before, and soon enough, they were almost caught up with the group.
“We can’t escape them!” Narcha grabbed onto her saber. “Get ready to fight!”
“There’s no way we can fight all of them!” Reinhart shook his head. “We need to find cover!”
Although there weren’t hundreds of birds anymore, they still numbered in the dozens, far beyond anything the group could fight against. Not to mention, these monsters seemed stronger now with their dust clouds covering their bodies.
“Cover?!” Narcha asked with an incredulous tone. “Where are we going to find cover here?!”
“Agh, goddamnit!” Reinhart took out his sword in frustration. “Don’t stop running!”
Red also took out his cleaver, while Eiwin stood by his side. Soon enough, the first vulture was diving at them.
It was swiftly cut down by Narcha’s saber, splattering on the ground, unmoving. Four more came in quick succession, though, and the woman didn’t have the time to raise her weapon to strike them down. Their large talons aimed for the woman, trying to tear through her leather armor.
Reinhart stepped forward and used his sword to bat one of them away. Red and Eiwin were also about to step up and help Narcha, but the vultures didn’t remain still for long, instead flying up again and out of their reach.
They hadn’t been able to wound Narcha with their talons, but her armor already had signs of giving way. Still, they didn’t have time to relax as even more birds swooped down - over ten of them this time around.
Some of them even tried to reach for Red this time. Eiwin struck two of them away, but one bird managed to grab at the boy’s arm. Thankfully, he was wearing his sect uniform, and although the blow tore the fabric away, it let the boy go by unscratched.
Narcha and Reinhart, though, didn’t have the same luck. Most of the monsters focused on them, and they even left a scratch on the woman’s shoulder as her armor fell to pieces due to their claws. As for the knight, who didn’t have an armor in the first place, he got away with even nastier cuts on his back.
They managed to strike down five of the birds this time, but the rest flew away as another group swoop down to attack.
Red was quick to notice the creature’s strategy. “They’re trying to wear us down!”
The birds could have all attacked at once, but they chose not to. Instead, groups of creatures were striking in volleys, while the others prepared to go next. Red knew bird monsters were strongest in their dives from the sky, as they gathered all their momentum from their flight to swipe down with their sharp talons and tear at their prey - and these creatures seemed to be aware of that. They didn’t stay long within the group’s reach and cycled between the attackers so they could gather momentum and strike again.
This way they maximized their strength and avoided unnecessary casualties, all while wearing Red and the others down. It was a simple and effective strategy from a group of unintelligent creatures, and there was nothing they could do to counter it in their position.
“I have a plan!” Reinhart said. “Get close and keep them off me!”
Narcha stared at the man with some hesitation, but as soon as Eiwin and Red stepped forward to help him, she also joined them. The birds’ next attack came, this time comprising a dozen creatures.
Red and his companions did their best to fight them off, but this time, none of them came unscathed. Eiwin’s uniform sleeved were ruined as blood poured down her arms, while Narcha seemed to get the worst of it, as one of the birds managed to swipe at her face, leaving a deep cut on her forehead. The boy was mostly unaffected, as his height meant few of the birds aimed for him as the group cluttered together.
In the meantime, Reinhart had taken out a talisman from his pouch and was in the process of activating it. Right before the next attack came, the talisman glowed, and a round translucent barrier appeared around the group. The creatures weren’t deterred by the appearance of this shield, though, and continued to dive to attack.
To their surprise, they seemed to clash against an invisible barrier, their talons unable to pierce through. The monsters cried in anger and continued to swipe at the shield, to no avail. More birds from above joined in after seeing their brethren’s frustration, and soon the group had been surrounded by birds all trying their best to pierce into this barrier.
Reinhart looked at Red and the others. “Remember - stay close to me and don’t stop running! I don’t know how long this barrier will last!”
Narcha gritted her teeth and nodded. She looked over at Red. “Kid, do you have any plans?!”
‘Why are you asking me?’
Red couldn’t imagine how they would be able to escape this situation. Perhaps they could stand and fight, and with all of their talismans' and pills’ help, they would be able to win, but even then, they would definitely come out with serious injuries from the battle. It wasn’t an optimal solution, much more so considering they still had the rest of the trial to go through, but it was better than dying.
Right as Red was about to make his opinion known, he felt something shaking in his pouch. The boy looked down in confusion before feeling for the item that was causing this. His hand grabbed around an object, dragging it out into view.
It was the compass they had gotten from the imperials, and it was now glowing in a faint white light.