Salo pushed all of the extraneous thoughts out of her mind as the black sphere wobbled and burst.
The hazy black particles cleared, and a tide of beasts rushed forth.
’Armor?’
That was the first thing Salo noticed as she spread her wings taut, ready to retreat.
"Reaper."
From her side, a small plu of smoke responded.
"On it."
Salo continued studying the foes and Mias began relaying the critical details.
Unlike the previous Levels, the beasts were not only ard, but also armored.
Well, the Nagas were.
The snake-human hybrids had chestplates and pauldrons made of scales. And each weilded a golden three pronged trident.
The Vilkas still wore no armor, but a few were wearing steel, clawed gauntlets.
As for how the foes were split...
"20 Nagas and 30 Vilkas."
From what Salo could discern, 20 of the Vilkas were Aberrants, and the other 10 were Monsters. All 20 Nagas were Mutants.
Confirming what she needed to, Salo began to retreat down the first hallway.
The ravenous beasts gave chase.
Not wasting a breath, Salo began to unleash Quillstorm upon the charging foes without restraint.
The magenta quills shivered, then peeled away from the leather canvas before pointing and firing into the horde.
A few quills found their mark and did a decent amount of damage.
But as expected of Ergents, mad ones at that, they shook off the damage and continued their pursuit.
She’d also directed a few of her quills into the serpents’ armor to test it. The conclusion?
’Durable.’
None of the crude weapons they possessed would be able to pierce.
Salo rounded the first bend and recalled her quills and readied the next volley.
She waited for the horde, then once again unleashed the quilly torrent.
’Damn! Not even one?!’
Salo had elite control over her quills, but the wolves were too fast, and the snakes had insane vertical movent — allowing them to dodge vital blows.
While Salo was definitely capable of killing Ergents, especially those of a lower class than her, doing so while fending off 39 others was impossible.
Her current aim was simply to weaken them down however she could.
Salo began to recall her quills, but suddenly a burst of venom shot from the nearest serpent’s mouth in a wide arc.
’An ability?!’
Salo didn’t know how deadly the ability would be if it hit, but she was quite certain it wouldn’t be an enjoyable experience.
Salo ducked the toxin spew, then flapped her wings and hastened her retreat just in ti to dodge as an Ashen Vilkas leapt at her, revealing the inside of its disgusting mouth.
It barely missed.
Salo rounded the next corner and spotted a pair of golden eyes peering at her from the far end of the hall.
’Kitten... good luck.’
Salo continued gliding back while sending another barrage at her chasing foe.
Even after what Awilix said about Toy, Salo didn’t hate her.
She was angry at the cat, livid even, but she didn’t wish death upon her.
Awilix was no Xina...
In fact, Salo liked Awilix’s presence in a way one likes a painting. She lends personality to an otherwise dull, one-dinsional group.
This place would be quite boring with Vale’s stoicism, Toy’s complacency, Reaper’s fascination lying elsewhere, and Salo’s own forced exterior of pragmatism...
’Ah, why am I even thinking of this?’
Salo reached the end of the hall and retreated past Awilix.
"Now!"
After she scread, a massive black cube took shape and cut off Salo’s sight of the horde. She could still hear the wolves’ snarls and snakes’ hisses as they closed in.
Salo yelled into the Eclipse.
"Careful for projectiles! And be sparing in full-frontal attacks! Rember, kill only if you can; buying ti is the main priority!"
Salo wished she could articulate a little more, but there was simply no ti.
’Hopefully, Mias could warn her about the projectile venom.’
Though that was a tall order...
Not because Mias wouldn’t talk, but because Awilix wouldn’t listen.
In any case, the beasts were two, if not three, tis stronger than Awilix, aning she had only her Trait to rely on to keep her alive.
A feat that would be exceptionally hard against a set of foes with keen noses and another that could potentially detect heat.
They had warned Awilix in advance that she should never put her back to an enemy, even within the Eclipse, but it was up to her to heed that warning.
Salo put distance between herself and the Eclipse, listening to the carnage within as she prepared for the next Quillstorm.
A few clangs of tals and pained snarls sounded, showing Awilix could land so hits, but it wasn’t long before one an enemy through.
A Naga erged from the black wall.
Salo unleashed all thirty quills she could control upon it.
The Naga stared in surprise as the spikes threaded their way into its skull, arms, and gut. Blood burst across the stone as it slumped and dissolved into the floor.
’That’s one. 39 left...’
Just as it finished disappearing, ten more ran out from Eclipse; imdiately, those ten multiplied to 30.
The remaining 9 stayed behind to go after Awilix.
Salo grunted quietly as she stared down the force.
They’d reached all the way to the maze, and yet only one had fallen.
Thankfully, Salo had dealt a aningful bit of damage to the rest.
Mainly focusing on the wolves, trying to keep the Naga overall healthier since they were Vale’s target, she’d managed to slice a few tendons and render either a leg or an arm useless.
Salo continued to jump through the maze, leading the pack down false paths that looped back around.
As she did so, Mias began to catch the attention of a select few.
He would appear and cause one or two to chase after him. Then, he’d lead them to the warriors and Toy to take care of, while Salo continued distracting the rest.
That’s not to say Toy and the others could handle one or two with ease...
It was almost certain that a few, if not most, would die; however, Toy, being Ergent herself, could definitely hold her own.
It seed odd that Toy could only handle one or two when stronger than Awilix, who was fighting 9, but Awilix had Eclipse.
As for Salo’s distraction task...
It was much easier said than done.
Salo finished the first loop, managing to pile up more injuries upon her foes.
But she sustained a few blows herself.
’Can they stop spewing this vile shit everywhere?!’
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