Blood dyed the dark and cracked ground, giving the soil some fluid to drink. Murai smiled, chuckling in a torrent of storm and mana. Then, half some dozen seconds later, he had to stop when his mana started to destabilize. Stopping his tactics came with rapid change. He grasped his courage and went all in, brandishing his glowing beak with Blitz forward.
Then, he began to dance for real. Sometimes he backed, backstabbing those large Grand Rhinars, intercepting their flow, crushing their necks, and using his beak as the finest tool. He swiped his wings as well, letting its defensive feathers shine. He couldn't cut with them yet, and enemies didn't seem to ever stop, yet he never stopped either.
Bagus stopped putting more effort into lower-level targets for one reason alone. His fight with the tougher beasts and Beast Master had started. Murai noticed increasing numbers of foes and more corpses. A lot of corpses.
He didn't mind it.
Grand Rhinars were savage in their tactics like wild beasts. There were also Vectorians, large lizards with two feet, and nasty heads with sharp teeth. There were also other beasts, but Murai had seen blood and steps and some different growls didn't make much difference.
And from above followed some flying owl-like beasts, and even some little crows, and birds with sharp beaks. With numbers, they used whatever tactics to get closer to Murai than before, so he either ran or began to use tactics and guerrilla warfare. Some horn reached him in time and range, giving Murai pokes of pain when he couldn't defend or dodge in time.
Starting to lose his edge, the only good remedy was his hoodie that provided paramount, yet unknown protection. These spikes felt like pokes of sticks if a stick was a dull sword instead It still hurt even when it dissipated the majority of their sharp tips and even impact lessened. When too much pressure came forth, a lot of force continued, striking the feathers where it dispersed or went inside.
Unfortunately, Murai had no time to care about his clothes. He had his beak full right now, mind flaring, and his magic turned from long-term solutions to quick-witted madness. Recharging wasn't a term he experienced that many times in this life.
Five minutes had passed since the first Grand Rhinar died, and now, there were almost a hundred corpses.
Lisa counted around ninety of them, floating from the safety of her air. when she touched upon some of her benefits.
In her grasp, a little owl-like demon squeaked. She squeezed her fingers, ending its life in misery when her fingers dug deeper and froze or cracked. Lisa didn't even flinch or look at its End. Her hands already found their way into dozens of pestering flies because Murai had clear issues following them. He was busy thinking about his core surroundings, and Lisa had no intention of putting her hands that far. Murai could handle it.
Which she didn't expect.
He handled this many enemies far better than she thought. And these were wild beast packs above Level 40. It was true that they had no specialties besides some rare magical attack, and their master was far away. Most were beasts through and through, acting with savage nature and attacks meant for blood. Most of them couldn't do much to his hoodie, and if they could, his flesh and feathers took it with a mild hit, allowing him to fight. Some dogs with pencils sticking from their silly heads should back down and get lost!
Murai began to falter after his research and experiment. His mana ended up drying up, and most of his trials and errors gave him some answers. His Insta Cast was truly savage in expenditure when he couldn't recall mana. In that case, Surge should be much greater, yet he didn't even use it. It required more time and care. Nothing he could afford right now.
Mana Potions would be useful as well, or this place where his Replenishment worked in a boosted manner. Whenever he wasn't Conjuring any mana, it felt like he was shouting and his lungs were bleeding, but his mana space was fine, and Beast Core kept doing its things. Murai didn't have to wait that far for a noticeable increase of mana. The problem was his usage of Heavenly Shaping and Insta Cast which increased his expenditure by a large margin.
Murai wasn't too annoyed at that because he knew if it weren't for his changed Shaping, he would have some trouble with such a swarm.
He wasn't sure how fast or efficiently his Replenishment functioned, but he bet with this Gate in mind, and secrets down below, it wasn't far from giving him dozens upon dozens of some mana-points a minute. In terms of more convenience, he had to wait less than a minute to have his core in a passable fighting condition.
Which was essentially insane when his level or his past came up with new or interesting calculations. Murai had a small Replenishment not that long ago, and his magic struggled. His level wasn't even that great, yet some numbers were high and tight. He was changing magic like a foreign painter working with an already-established masterpiece.
It wasn't as if they should remain faltering, for there was a sin to think of it as a blessing. Lisa would agree with this sentiment; she had seen Murai gobble mana like a hungry beast and it hardly changed a thing. Sometimes, she wondered what would happen if he absorbed all of those essences he hoarded, or if he got other things. It seemed this place couldn't give Anatidae what they deserved, or it was exactly that, but in the opposite direction.
Murai watched the growling beasts with passion and Blitz under his eyes. He turned into a little monster and didn't want to feel pain one way or another. He wanted to give it out.
Three Grand Rhinars pounced at his back. One by one, they attacked at the same time. Murai only used his beak to hit one of them, letting the closest beast attack him, which ended up pushing him away. The third came for his face, which wasn't under his hoodie, but his neck was flexible so he could dodge.
He didn't have to. He swallowed his pride and used Surge, letting rough Sharpblades appear from the azure mist that was Heavenly Manifestation. It still looked like the blade grew from mana, so it wasn't anywhere near the real Surge that Pillage talked about; where mana and blades would fuse and speed and accuracy acted like shadows or natural exhibition of mana. Surge was about a fixed state of spells where one could use them for prolonged periods of time. It was both useful for performance, Shaping, and Replenishment.
Murai's use was lacking considerably, but it was still enough to slice those legs, change angles, and aim at their necks, where the hide was less dense.
As for the others that stormed him, Murai stumbled by their weight and felt their spikes or jaws. Begrudgingly, his Blades found and slices their targets. Murai didn't like how he couldn't help some things. Aside from him, dozens more beasts growled, continuing in their hunt, regardless of the fallen kin.
Lisa's presence no longer worked that great because most beasts that felt her scream long turned to corpses. Let alone being beasts, they had Beast Master's training behind them, followed by instincts. They didn't care about the blood of each other. There was a law of the jungle in their blood.
Unfortunately for that, they won't succeed.
Minute by minute, Murai directed his Blitz in the toughest situations, flipped his wings in a try to defend or redirect some beasts, jumped in tries to dodge, cut them with his Sharpblades, and danced. He used his speed and weight to his advantage, hitting those pesky beasts while his hoodie helped him more than he even assumed.
It never showed any cuts, damage, or any sense of activation. It remained pristine in its light brown appearance. Murai used every opportunity to feel his progress because he doubted such an opportunity would arise with Lisa around.
And their trip was closing on the Scorching Light.
A quarter of an hour had passed since the start. Lisa kept her fingers close and flying beasts under her grasp. Since her powers weren't really up to the standards, she decided to be useful in her own way. Murai was almost certain she was playing with him. If she could scream and put fear to foes, he bet she could do it again.
She could; Lisa was close to that point numerous times and went down personally after he began to fight at close quarters, but she chose not to do some silly ideas. It wasn't worth it. As long as Bagus fought above, there might be no end in sight.
So she waited.
Interrupting and killings were a far cry from remedy. For that, Lisa knew what she needed. Way too many things, such as opportunity, time, and change of heart might help a lot as well.
She would prefer not this passive lacking strength, and for as long as she could remember, bearing with this little was straining her mind.
Blood and corpses were around every corner.
Far beyond the hundred fallen beasts, others appeared from the edge and pounced down. Murai was bloody, Sharpblades wavered, but his Blitz was still strong.
Most of the blood wasn't his. His hoodie was almost spotless, and it had no blood-absorbing powers like Ultium's suit. Most mess usually slid off from the fabric down, which either worked passively, like his feathers, or by mana that flared around him from time to time, either repairing his Sharpblades or creating new ones after Grand Rhinars shattered some of them.
The fight was reaching its apex.
What was crystal clear in blood was his beak, which was dripping wet, while two Sharpblades of meter and half floated alongside his beak and above his head. He opted to disregard his Surge and started to use a new spell that he decided to pursue after entering this Gate.
They were like reapers' scythes, ready to end the life of anything that came too close. They were also thick, flowing in strength, Sharpness, and mana. This was his most recent innovation for his arsenal and nothing stopped it.
Blades were his favorite side of the mana-based fighting tactics.
Called Twin Mana Blades, it was a simple name, filled with simple benefits. It focused on only two blades, so their advantages were in much denser sides, clashes, and stabs, followed by large control and momentum. Their weight and mass could also be bigger, while their usability was supposed to be better than having dozens of them around. It worked a little bit worse with Surge in mind, but Murai had plans for everything.
New upcoming Grand Rhinars didn't care about death or the butchered kin. Their eyes were splintered with chaos and crimson color, growling as if they were possessed.
“This takes forever, but then, why should I complain?” Murai quacked, noticing that Lisa wasn't around. He wasn't even aware that she wasn't taking care of him like a nanny for a couple of minutes. She went to see how Bagus was doing.
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“Hm. Using the blood to quench my frustration away seems like a great time. Leaves me glad that some things won't change. I've got plenty of readings myself, so let's end this madness. Good. I'll allow your measly presence to move through my Blades. Feel honored.” He smirked and pounced at them, creating a laughable, yet insane picture of a crazy duck in a pit of corpses.
Time moved on. Many Ends transpired in a dark chasm. Beasts and demons moved, died, and fought. Murai didn't know how many fools he had killed, how many other beasts came down the chasm, or why there were some demons and soldiers as well. He slowly stopped caring about who or what to kill. He quenched his thirst in their blood. It was all red anyway, so he didn't care. Ground, his beak, or eyes. He fought, huffed from breath and mana, and wished he would take some break, but he couldn't stop. It wasn't happening. Beast growled and his blood was boiling.
He was pleased for a chance to do what he often did best: being free in the Chaos of butchering those who wanted to kill him.
It was too simple, for there was some truth in Chaos and death, even if it was full of absurdity and going against what was alive.
At least it was honest.
Two hours into this madness, the plains above the chasm were the same as the chasm down below. Littered with hundreds of corpses, it was as if war wiped the surroundings, and most of the corpses were almost unrecognizable, for they were in pieces or crashed.
Many beasts and demons supported the Beast Master, who unleashed his small army. Then, an hour before, he was no longer alone. There were groups of new Hunters who arrived, and Lisa saw other parties that were unwilling to come to this bloody location.
As Lisa stressed, the travel across the sky was like an invitation and she failed to recognize how this chasm locked them in a terrible spot. Thankfully, she had no doubts David and Itrosh had their share of battles, similar to Ultium, Bagus, and Murai.
Perhaps Murai was the most satisfied, but when she looked at Bagus, she doubted she had ever seen a happier Grifhart. David took care of those that cared for him a lot and there was a sense of duty, camaraderie, and trust among them.
It put a weird feeling in her heart. Was she like that too in the past? She doubted that. She didn't trust it. Could she even do that with Murai? Was it her influence that changed David to be better than her past self?
Was she even that different from them? Lisa doubted that on so many levels, she wasn't sure if trust or benefits were the same thing or not. Lisa wasn't naive. She observed different circumstances altogether because there was no going back.
Thankfully, she had Bagus, who did the most work above the chasm. He killed the Beast Master after two hours of a battle of attrition, where many fools, demons, and beasts went between their fights, nagging him.
There was even some infighting later on, but Bagus didn't care, nor did Lisa. A war later, battles gave winners and losers some new time, and Bagus crashed anyone annoying who closed upon that chasm, killing them with his beak or wings.
It seemed the Beast Master prepared a lot for the consequences of going against this Hunt, yet it wasn't enough against a single Bagus.
He wasn't weak. Many miscalculated their choices and options, not realizing that none of Murai's Helpers were some weaklings. Lisa was the same. She underestimated them a little—especially Bagus, whom she never met.
In this place, power reigned supreme, and Bagus was like a killing machine against those who relied on large numbers and less quality like this Beast Master who fell to his End, surrounded by his beasts. It was a fitting end if Bagus was honest with himself.
After a fine battle, he went back, remembering Lisa's words.
But lo and behold, that sight over that edge left no small impression. Murai was there, huffing in blood and corpse, and Lisa was close, perked with slowly cracking arms, yet still killing things in her own ways.
“Are you fucking done?!” Lisa immediately noticed a large beast overhead and pointed at Bagus. It was about the damn time those fools were dead. Without it, Lisa had no doubt Bagus would fly around the chasm and kill everything in sight. But there was no need.
Even when new arrivals should be more powerful than starting ones, there might be good news instead. They might've changed their minds.
Unfortunately, Lisa thought otherwise. She calmed herself, letting thoughts linger and looking at the bigger picture. She wouldn't succeed in that with Murai, who was much more stubborn and crazy right now. At least Bagus listened to her words.
Murai wasn't able to do much against those above Level 50. He wasn't able to injure Knights wearing armor and carrying swords, and a bunch of mages utilized magic and spells. Not long ago, they attacked Murai from the top of the chasm, almost breaking him. When the knights came after the mages met dread called Bagus, things got feisty at the bottom of the chasm.
It was a weird party when knights met a pit of corpses, a crazy ghost, a crazier duck, and many struggling beasts. Knights were demons, however, and most of them saw weird things all the time. None were above Level 60, so they reached their target after Bagus was distracted with finishing the Beast Master.
It was a deadlock when Murai suffered the consequences of too many battles in his mind. He met a wall of Levels that he anticipated sooner. It didn't change anything. He just struggled to reclaim his mana and thoughts, until the status quo called Bagus wiped the group out in a couple of swings of his wings, arriving down when Lisa demanded it.
“You in one piece?” Bagus chortled a laugh, looking at struggling Murai who breathed heavily and his mana was in shambles, Twin Mana Blades included.
“Never...” Murai didn't even finish his sentence and quacked some blood from his beak. “Yuck... I feel like puking.”
“More killing, less talking!” Lisa ordered, flying up and hiding her hands behind her back.
“Roger that! I love this Hunt!” Bagus was the beast, his beak cleaved things apart like an exploding sword a handful distance away, and his wings glinted like the finest of Blades. Murai was almost a child in comparison, which was a correct assumption.
Nearly everything was a weapon on a Grifhart. His tail was hard to perceive or dodge, and when it flickered without sound, a head or two turned to a pulp.
Another hour later, the situation turned to a new light when the beasts stopped coming and no more groups arrived.
With great pleasure, David and Itrosh reached this meeting place, followed by Ultium, who Lisa didn't expect to come. He had a bunch of injuries, and blood seeped from some holes in his suit, which might be his blood or not. Going through some nasty battles made a weird picture, as Murai was no better, and he had trouble standing straight.
Ultium was fine, standing, mumbling, apologizing to David, and he constantly patted his suit in a try to fix it yet it never did. He felt wonderful, however. His horns grew a little, and there was some pride in being bloody for most devils after a fight. But the openings in his suit left one wondering if he was mentally fine. Lisa expected something else, or worse.
Soon, the group recouped beside the chasm's edge. Murai was no longer willing or caring after he realized the situation around the chasm calmed down after Hunters fled or died.
“I told you I should have rode alongside Murai!” Itrosh argued, hissing and pointing to Bagus in annoyance.
“You?” Bagus raised his bloody beak far above her, looking at her as if she was an idiot. “You are heavy like a statue of Titans. No way I would be able to fly with you at all.”
“What did you just say?” She hissed, stomping toward him, and brandishing a bunch of random bloodied weapons. Similar to him, she had her battles and blood over her clothes, though she had almost no injuries whatsoever. Bagus was no longer that colorful, but red in most of his feathers. Especially his head looked menacing, making his eyes pop off.
“Now. Now. No need to be angry.” David clapped, stepping between them with some difficulty. He fought with Itrosh for most of the past hours, so his appearance was kind of... slimmer and different. His face was toned down, his clothes were loose, his tone sharper, and most of his body bulged in different ways. Their enemies went between this chasm and the surroundings, and a lot of Hunters were unable to reach Bagus, let alone the chasm because of them.
David had to go overboard and give his work some justice, helping Bagus a lot with the upcoming troubles, so he wasn't overwhelmed. Murai and Lisa got a massive help alongside it.
After this, they realized it was a good idea that Itrosh and David teamed up because troublesome opponents were much more complex in this Sector. Not many were at the upper height of the rules, which was fortunate. One reason David ended up accepting Lisa's proposition of sending Ultium away was the bait. Stronger forces would come at him instead. Perhaps it worked, but David couldn't tell it. He didn't get a single great answer from Ultium.
At least he had his guess; no Extremes will get involved.
“I am glad that nothing happened to anyone. All red and all, we fought and some of us bled, but through blood, we live, and through life, we bleed. There are no arguments when fools are gone.” David said with a smile that was different on his current face.
Lisa almost doubted he was David. He was almost... charming, but not pretty for sure. Her standards were way too difficult.
“Than cheers and cakes for you, but the situation is worse than normal, isn't it?” Lisa asked, floating closer to him.
“Yes. I lost my long-distance construction method, while my... interrogations were more or less successful. Who knew that when you offer death or voice, demons choose to speak?”
“Weird indeed, right?” Murai grumbled some quacks, glaring at Lisa from the top of Bagus.
She ignored his remark because David wasn't over.
“I got some good and terrible news. First, Ozeki is on the move with his army, followed by some rumors that Razmund is under his direct protection. That is weird. Why protection? His level isn't very high. Just around the limiters of Level 75 at best.”
“Mind you, he forced and battled Ozeki himself?” Itrosh reckoned as she calmed and put her hands around her hips. “That man is insane, I tell you.”
“Says you. That's hilarious.” Bagus laughed, almost stumbling Murai from his head.
“What I mean is simple. It's not going to be nice. It won't be clear either, because so far, fewer forces from Scorching Light have come closer. Bagus said there was Master Bao against him, which left fewer Lawful foes around, and we have encountered a few but killed none. What about you, Ultium?” David asked, looking at Ultium who was sitting on the ground, trying to mend his wounds by some weird blood spell.
“Nothing worth mentioning. Met some troubles. That is all. I never intended to come here, but I smelt too much blood so I figured to come. It's not like I was wounded or anything.” He barely looked up as he spoke.
David figured out his reasons before he even spoke. His heart and insanity were brewing and whatever he had met left its mark. It might've not been pretty. “Never mind that. We have a full regroup before Scorching Light, so what's next?” He argued, turning to Lisa, sighing, and patting his jacket from blood, dirt, or whatever else. He looked like a warrior, apart from the fact that his clothes were far from some combat uniform.
“We should've solved this more directly. Go for that Ozeki and Razmund guy,” Ultium said, unsure if his own opinion mattered, but not like it mattered to him.
“And how do you want to manage something more direct than fight against hundreds of fools? Wanna die a sorry death when you fled with a tail between your legs?” Lisa retorted with an annoying look.
Ultium shrugged his arms, looking away in disinterest. “I have no tail...” He mumbled, knowing he hadn't fled. It was a tactical retreat because he killed and fought and killed again and again. At some point, his attention skyrocketed and it was better to smell and see some opening than craziness. Either he sensed a change, clarity, or his heart changed.
“Hmph! Like a man-child.” Lisa chuckled and looked at David again. ”I think going to Scorching Light is now our priority. We are the losers right now if what Ozeki is about to do is up to my tries. Some groups are yet to move either. How about other rumors? Found anything? I've got a feeling we are missing something important.”
“Are we losers though? Doesn't feel like it when I put my beak to it.”Bagus said, appearing majestic in a plain full of corpses and blood. He gestured to his work of art because he had no time to collect any essences.
“You are annoying... and correct,” Itrosh said, waving her hands as she began collecting the essence in his stead. She took her badge, looking like a black circle with silver lines. It was her citizenship and accomplishment of her whole life around this Hell. It wasn't only about this temple.
She will collect all essences before cutting them into each part by unique percentage or business that they will decide later. For now, getting them was more important than deciding on each cut. Itrosh won't get any. She already had her share from her battles that were with David, so each got half of their loot.
In the next battle, someone else would collect essences next, cutting them, before someone else would do it next time. That was the usual procedure and politics of such parties. Few would complain when fairness was clear, or one could gamble with dice, and when the bigger number won, the loser had to collect loot.
Everyone should be happy, apart from Murai, who wanted to have all essences for himself, but he wasn't alone. Not anymore. He wasn't even inclined to think of himself as all that important if what he heard was fine and coming at them.
He shouldn't be arrogant against forces that were enough to wipe the cities on the Surface.
Right. Ozeki and his troops had enough mass and time to amass dangers and create true small-scale wars. Obliterating some Tier C powers was also up to their possibilities, but such powers were usually part of much bigger forces for protection. They had to have that, otherwise, they wouldn't survive a year in this world.
So what to think of the future next? Murai was wondering where his choices were. It wasn't so hard to think of that. He turned to Lisa, hoping her ideas were still pending or changing because he relied on her right now.
For now, he wondered what Lisa wanted to do with the upcoming Scorching Light and guaranteed interception from more fools.
He might regret his hope for battles, for there was some tiredness in that as well as a lot of insanity.
In a way, Murai loved that and looked forward to what was before him.