The glemorax chief bellowed in the sky as he realized the severity of the situation. Under normal circumstances, there was no way he’d made such a blunder.
*BANG*
*Shatter*
The glassy ground shattered with a single stomp of the glemorax chief. He observed the battlefield with his eyes filled with fury, and what he saw did nothing else but add salt to his injured pride.
“What!”
“Where is that bastard?”
The captains hurriedly checked their surroundings, but alas, it was too late.
The chief spoke and started pummeling the ground as well. Booms and cracks echoed across several miles.
Normally, the squad leaders and captains wouldn’t do such menial tasks, not to mention the chief himself.
However, the situation was different this time.
‘Malediction’ was a domain that affected the physical and mental stats of those trapped within. Unlike the visible changes caused by the power of abyss, the mental effects were less potent and therefore hard to notice.
Even the chief wasn’t able to detect the subtle effects the domain had. Although he was a mighty warrior who led an entire race, his level was still within the second ring’s limit.
Arcanists' domains were effective even in the sixth ring. And since it could affect those whose levels were above 200, what could a chief possibly do?
The turning point of this battle was timing and the utilization of the battlefield. From his first attack to his escape, barely 10 minutes had passed.
At the cost of his equipment’s durability, Zyrus had gained a boost in the infernal tread skill. Sand, when heated at a high enough temperature would become crystalline when it is cooled.
It was a combination of basic science and magic.
Zyrus had managed to kill a captain and a dozen squad leaders as a result of that. At least, that's what the glemorax chief concluded.
Neither he nor anyone else discovered the dark mana that had seeped into the survivors' bodies.
…
Zyrus felt like he was swimming in the mud when he used the earth movement. His trait was slightly different than the burrow rats.
The burrow rats relied on their large numbers and other species of rats to survive. Thus, their version of earth movement had the ability to create temporary tunnels.
For example, if 100 rats were placed in between 500 other rats, then all of them would be able to travel underground. Not only can they create an underground cavity to travel, but they can also maintain the cavity created by others of their species.
Zyrus didn’t have such ability. He could only open up a small pocket of space to travel underground. He couldn’t even travel with an object, much less a living being.
‘I guess I’m far enough by now,’
*Puchk*
Zyrus kicked the ground beneath him and shot up to the desert. After a lot of trial and errors he had figured out the best depth to travel in.
He could go as deep as 100 meters below the ground. The farther the distance, the more pressure he would feel. In terms of efficiency, the best distance for him was 25 meters below the ground.
*Ssshkk*
‘Phew… this is much better,’
Zyrus popped out his head from a pile of sand and breathed the not-so-clean air. His goal wasn’t to just escape. He didn’t use the teleportation for a reason.
It would be better if the aliens thought that he was always traveling underground. His mobility was no longer a secret, so this was the next best outcome for him.
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“Summon”
*Crack*
5000 ophidian warriors walked out from the crack created by Zyrus’s mana. After giving them a black cocoon, he didn’t wait any longer and immediately teleported 5000 miles away.
“Summon”
*crack*
.
.
The same scene repeated over and over again. Zyrus had obtained a very important piece of intelligence in the past battle.
The reason the glemorax army was able to charge straight towards his location was due to their ability to detect his presence. However, that ability wasn’t absolute.
It worked fine enough when both sides were far apart, but when they came closer to him, their situation was reversed.
He had no idea about the method they were using to detect him, but one thing was for certain: It wasn’t effective in the presence of the cube.
This didn’t mean that he could hide from them forever. Even if it was possible, he wouldn’t do such a cowardly thing.
One thing to note was that the glemorax chief was able to pinpoint his location even with the cube’s effect. They only knew two things about Zyrus, he was a summoner and he had the power of abyss.
And he had the perfect plan to make use of that fact.
He wasn’t the only one who had the power of abyss on Earth. The ophidian warriors also had the seed of abyss implanted in them.
‘Huhuhu…Since that chief thinks that I’m a threat to their lord, there’s no way they would take the risk to let me slip by,’
…
On the last day of the month.
Zyrus was stalling for time these past few days. He had a lot of research to do about his source of origin and the Balaur summoner class. He succeeded in some theories while some proved to be wrong, but regardless of that, his strength remained the same.
'Guess there's nothing I can do today,'
The red sky was redder than usual, and even the roaring wind had calmed down on this day.
Thousands of four-armed glemorax flew in the sky surrounding a vast mountain range. They ranged in groups of hundreds and thousands, each surrounding gigantic golden stakes in the middle.
This was the day of the final battle.
In the past few days, things went according to Zyrus’s plan as the glemorax army was forced to take detours to hunt down the scattered ophidian warriors.
He could’ve brought the cocooned warriors back via the warehouse. However, doing so would make the aliens more suspicious and guarded.
Thus, he detonated the abyssal seed whenever the glemorax squads were about to wipe out his summons. Of course, these were the normal ophidian warriors who were infused with his abyssal mana. The seed was nothing more than a lump of mana, it was far cry compared to the seeds formed by his mana circulation method.
He also ambushed the dispatched troops in this hit-and-run tactic. Even when he had the chance to kill more of them, he didn’t do so and retreated.
Zyrus knew that annoying the enemy commander beyond a certain limit would be harmful to him. Although his original plan of launching 5 suicidal attacks was no longer feasible, he was able to harass them quite a bit.
As a result, he had killed nearly 10000 aliens in the past week.
Yes, it was Zyrus who was on the losing end of the battle.
The glemorax chief wasn’t idle when Zyrus was wreaking havoc amongst the army.
“Hoh! You’ve bought out some interesting toys.”
The glemorax chief looked down at the peak of the tallest mountain. His target was there, a blue-scaled monster who was staring back at him.
“Well, I am rather surprised that you found out my identity,” Zyrus probed the glemorax chief while observing the golden stakes.
They didn’t have any offensive or supportive power, but for Zyrus, these things were like a death sentence.
While the two were having the conversation, the yellow stakes were getting brighter and brighter. At the same time, the countdown was also going down in front of Zyrus.
“What’s with that look? These things don’t belong to you, do they? Did you have to ask for help to fight against a single person? How pathetic.”
Both sides were buying time for their next move.
The chief ignored Zyrus who was spatting on the ground with a disdainful look. He had to resort to using the realm anchors against a single enemy. It was an utter humiliation to not only himself but to their entire race.
On the other hand, Zyrus was very much enjoying the situation.
When else would he get the chance to trash-talk against an army without any repercussions? Although he was wary of these weird stakes, it wasn’t that big of a threat for him since they took too long to activate.
He could somewhat guess their purpose from the fluctuations of their energy. They locked down the space around them, and this meant that he could neither teleport nor use the Earth movement.
Most importantly, he couldn’t use his summoning skill.
Forget about a toothless tiger, he would be a toothless, clawless, and crippled tiger once the stakes were stabilized.
He would have to fight nearly 90,000 glemorax on his own. Indeed, it was no different than a death sentence.
Zyrus could’ve summoned his subordinates beforehand, but he didn’t want the enemies to make any more moves.
And ironically, the glemorax chief also wanted the same. He didn’t care whether Zyrus knew about the stakes effect or not. Once they were activated, his victory was certain.
Zyrus knew that as well. He had observed the glemorax army with his summons and he knew that there was no way he could defeat them in a head-on fight. Even without these stakes, he could at most kill 20-30 thousand of them and escape.
Then, both of them would have similar numbers and in the battle after that, Zyrus would win by a landslide.
This was the scary part of his class.
‘Unfortunately, the enemies aren’t stupid enough to let me win just like that,’
The glemorax chief’s order thundered in the sky. Glaring lights surged out from the stakes, painting the world in a golden glow.
Zyrus clicked his tongue in annoyance and looked at the timer.
[Remaining Time: 00:00:09]
A lot of things didn’t go according to his plan, but his overall goal was achieved. He had created the domain and gotten used to the powers of abyss.
The earth was also safe for the time being, so there was nothing for him to worry about. Now, he could focus on the sanctuary with all his heart.
“Indeed, it’ll be the end when I return.”
[Remaining Time: 00:00:00]