Chapter 235: Killing in the Killing Fields

Chapter 235: Killing in the Killing Fields

Rather than launching the typical explosive ball of fire from her hands, it seemed that Eranis new and Upgraded Firebolt Spell caused a meteor to fall from the sky. It hurtled to the ground, set to collide with the closest group of monsters charging at me, and Id be lying if I claimed I didnt stare in awe a little bit.

It looked like a lesser version of another famous Spell, Star of Extinction. That one was much, much larger in scale and cost so much Mana that Erani would probably be physically incapable of casting it, though, so I wasnt worried about it killing everyone nearby, at least. In this case, the Firebolt itself had transformed into a mass of flames falling from the clouds, like the gods themselves were showering us in burning oil.

The inferno crashed into the ground, spreading chunks of fiery mass across the desert sand and killingor at least severely injuringanything it touched.

In that instant, I also got a good few kill notifications letting me know of my contribution to some of those deaths and the XP rewards that came with them.

I stood in shock for a moment, staring at the mess Erani had made of the battlefield using a single Spell.

...What the fuck?

But I was pulled back into my head the next instant by a Sand Sifter bursting from the ground near me, aiming itself for my leg. I hurriedly hit it with Gravity Well, throwing its arc through the air off-course, and stepped away.

Right. This fight was far, far from over. I wasnt sure what in the hells Erani was capable of right now, but I needed to focus myself on killing as many of these things as possible before they killed me.

In the few seconds thatd passed, any of the monsters thatd been killed had been replaced by twice as many arriving on the scene, having started beelining for us the moment the battle started.

Another few Sand Stompers charged in, alongside several of the winged Stingers. I hurried to cast Crippling Chill on all of the Stingers as I dashed to the side to avoid the Stompers attacks, while at the same time trying to keep aware of the fact that my movements could be interrupted by the worm-like Sifters at any moment.

In the background, I could vaguely hear the sounds of combat between Ainash and the horde of monsters, as well as distant Explosions from Erani thinning the pack and keeping herself protected, but for the most part, I was fighting on my own, separated from my allies by a wall of enemies.

At this point, so many had arrived from off in the distance that it would be impossible to flee even if I wanted to. And not just because theyd outrun me, but also because there was literally nowhere to go. I was fully encircled by thema circle that was closing in rather quickly.

More and more Sand Stingers kept flooding in, and while Crippling Chill made them easy to deal with, that didnt mean knocking them out of the sky didnt cost me anything. With each one I paralyzed, I had to spend another 35 Mana on Crippling Chilla cost that added up much faster than Id have liked it to. And it didnt seem like a single cast of the Spell would actually kill them, either. Theyd recover from the Spell after 15 seconds, meaning Id need to spend another 35 Mana to hit them againsomething I was just now beginning to face, with the first waves worth of the things taking to the skies once again, rushing for me.

Another Sand Stomper came at me and I just narrowly avoided getting trampled beneath its feet, throwing myself to the side, then getting back to my feet only to find another charging in my direction, where I somehow managed to dodge to the side once again. Then the first one turned around and charged right back at me again, and before I could even think about dodging, two Sand Sifters burst from the dunes and aimed for my head. I hurriedly moved to curse one of them and dodge the other, but then the Stompers foot kicked into my chest, throwing me back and tumbling across the ground.

You have been slammed into something. 132 damage.

Your Health is 221.

Several more explosions echoed through the desert, fires lighting the battlefield. Erani had been casting her meteor-like Firebolts to try and control the Sand Stompers, but she still had to spend a lot of time just making sure they didnt kill herespecially the Stingers, since she didnt have nearly as much of a helpful Spell as I did when it came to protecting herself from them. Seemed like I needed to figure out a solution of my own, especially with the Sifters coming up to interrupt me any time I was in trouble.

Your Bond with Level 34 Draconiad has been severed.

Due to your Bond being severed, you have lost the following effects:

-Your Strength, Endurance, and Dexterity are no longer increased by 22.

-Whenever Draconiad gains XP, you no longer gain 11% of that XP.

-You no longer have 49.4% Resistance to all heat-based damage.

-Your Mana is no longer increased by 110.

-Your Mana/Minute is no longer increased by 8.1.

-You may no longer transfer memories between yourself and Level 34 Draconiad.

Instantly, I felt a massive portion of my Statsparticularly Strengthleave my body. The shock combined with the pain from my wound caused my grip to loosen from the Sand Stomper just enough that I slipped off, tumbling to the sand.

Fuck, I thought, did Ainash die?

But before I could even consider what the answer to that question could be, I felt a shadow cross over my face, and watched as a Sand Stomper did what its name implied.

You have been crushed. 189 damage.

Your Health is 0.

You have died.

In the in-between space, I took a moment to shake off the post-death jitters.

Well, that seemed like a pretty good run, all things considered.

Time to see the spoils of war.