Chapter 127: Team (5)

When everything was ready, they jumped from the airplane alongside Artiuno. At first, the girls were trembling like leaves, but soon they realized that Artiuno's flight was a lot more stable than expected… Luke could even stand on her back without any help, after all. The real problems were the freezing cold as the projectiles flew in the distance toward them. Amanda and Celia prepared to intercept them, but Luke raised his right arm and stopped them. Then, he swung his sword and fired Sonic Blade. Several of the projectiles were destroyed, and those that escaped that attack were stopped by Luke's sword. Although they looked rather frail, their power upon impact made Luke's sword tremble... even a scratch of those could cause more than small problems.

Crystal Avian - Lv 71

HP: 840/ 840

MP: 989/ 989

SP: 533/ 523

Active Skills: Sonic Beak Lv 06

Spells: Fly Lv 08, Crystal Arrow Lv 07, Crystal Reinforcement Lv 06, Crystal Spear Lv 05

Passive: Fire Resistance Lv 03, Wind Resistance Lv 08, Cold Resistance Lv 09, Earth Resistance Lv 05, Meditation Lv 05

Luke used Appraisal and opened his eyes widely… the power of those things was way above what he had imagined… They were rather durable and had a lot of mana to attack. The crystal avians were basically of the same size as Artiuno. Still, instead of an ordinary giant bird with ice feathers, they had feathers that looked more like armor, and just like Billy said, they looked like eagles with their beak and body posture. It was probably because those would help them increase their speed while flying... There are hundreds of them flying around… so, it would take a while to clear the area.

"I will lend you this for a short while…" Luke said and then passed to her his ring of intellect. "Don't lose it... or I will demand compensation and I won't be satisfied with little."

Amanda frowned when she saw Luke giving her a ring, but then she understood its effects and realized that he didn't have any hidden meaning behind that. He just wanted to raise her magic power. Nevertheless, the airplane was disappearing in the distance, and the Crystal Avians had forgotten about it now that they could see a new opponent. The soldiers began to jump and fall without being noticed… Meanwhile, Luke was blocking the many crystal arrows that were flying toward them. Once they realized that it wouldn't work, the nearby ones approached.

Amanda prepared her crossbow and began to fire, and then she clicked her tongue when she missed her three first shots. She took a deep breath and then realized that she had to consider the flying speed and the strength of the wind against them. When the first three targets were fifty meters away, she pulled the trigger again, and the bolts hit their necks in a quick succession. The monsters trembled in the air for quite a while before falling.

You obtained 20 experience points.

You obtained 20 gold coins.

You obtained 20 experience points.

You obtained 20 gold coins.

…

"Wait… this power is…" Amanda said, visibly surprised.

"Nevermind that, everyone knows that flying enemies are weak to electric attacks," Luke said. "You hit their necks and caused critical damage and even fried up their nervous system, so something like this is supposed to be expected. Just keep it up with the pace."

"The question is… why am I getting experience without doing anything?" Celia asked.

"Just focus on covering for her…" Luke said and then sighed since those two made the battles have too much conversation.

Other groups of monsters were quickly approaching, while some were using their long-ranged attacks, so Luke had to stay focused to repel all of those that Artiuno couldn't dodge. After a few dozen of them fell dead, the others realized that Luke's group wasn't easy prey… In any case, Luke gave Artiuno the order to fly around a certain area because they couldn't turn around and head for the airport yet and because he suddenly had a bad feeling.

The bad feeling confirmed itself when the monsters stopped advancing toward them. Even their Crystal Arrows couldn't fly from such a distance. Not even Amanda's bolts could, so Luke couldn't help but frown. Still, Luke felt shivers for some reason…

"From above!" Rina shouted. 

Dozens of Crystal Spears that were two times bigger than Luke appeared above them and began to fall. Luke destroyed some with Sonic Blade, but others still got them. Using earth arrows, Celia deflected some, but in the end, Luke still had to swing his sword to stop the others. He somehow destroyed three with a single strike, but the fourth scratched Artiuno's wings, making her grunt in pain. The power behind those was too high for Luke to deal with so many of them at the same time…

"Son of a bitch…" Luke said while seeing Artiuno losing some blood. "Rina!"

"You got it," Rina said.

In the blink of an eye, Rina healed the wound, but she succeeded in doing so because Luthi also helped. He didn't talk much when Luke was around… the same could be said to Rina and Shalia when Luke wasn't alone, though. Nevertheless, fighting like that wouldn't make things easy for them, so Luke gave the order, and Artiuno flew high to the sky. Thanks to Amanda and Celia's support, the Crystal Spears that fell on them were repelled until they disappeared in the clouds above. However, they stayed there only for a second. Those clouds were bringing a constant snowstorm in the region, so they could freeze them up in a few seconds.

"Cover me," Luke said and then jumped.

Amanda and Celia almost facepalmed since Luke wasn't used to working together, so he didn't give enough details. Still, Artiuno followed him, and soon they saw Luke falling toward a group of Crystal Avians. The monsters wouldn't have time to dodge, and attacking Artiuno would leave them wide open. So, they focused on Luke instead.