"Let’s go!"
Killian told the tendrils, as he jumped down the cliff.
His shadow ford below him, under the cliff, tendrils sprouted out that reached for him mid-air.
They lowered him to the ground and he rolled to a stop, stood up, and quickly moved towards the large boulders scattered around the graveyard.
CRASH!!
A whole pack of beasts jumped down the cliff more easily than they should. The human-rabbit wasn’t with them, and that worried Killian a bit.
He could still feel that she was alive because the Umbral Override was still active, so he guessed she made use of her small body to hide within the trees.
"Trap number one."
Strands of tendrils were still rooted above the cliff, and linked to him. They were faint so only focused eyes would see it. The beast growled slowly, looking around the place for their target.
There were about seven of them, and only one noticed the grass bed trap but wasn’t bothered with it. It was bigger than the rest and the one Killian bet was the leader.
He had already understood in his fight with the realm’s guard that these beasts didn’t have the sharpest eyes or ears.
Their massive size, strength and ridiculous speed to match was the major factor for their survival.
As well as this natural affinity to the Earth Elent. Yet, not all of them would be able to wield it. "I wouldn’t even give them the chance to think of it."
He slapped his hands on the ground. The tendrils connected to his wrist lit up with fire, burning voraciously as he forced more mana through them, enlarging their size and flare.
A beast stood under them and set on fire instantly, startling the rest that were standing entrapped in the chaos of fisting the ground in attempts to quench the flas.
’One down. Six to go.’
Amidst the chaos of the flas, Killian directed the flaming tendrils to move further causing confusion with the beasts who couldn’t understand why part of the earth burned and the fire danced upon the surface.
Killian fisted his two hands, pressing the thumb over the small hole at the sides. Fire gathered around each palm, densely forming heat that made his insides redden.
’I need twice the output and equal the intensity.’
He converted more oxygen to fire, strengthening the intensity in both hands. He glanced at the next boulder beside him, and sprinted to it.
As he moved, he released his thumbs from both hands. .
Fire shot out from both palms, the force pushing him backwards. The shot pierced the air in a swift air-slicing motion, and stabbed two beasts head-on.
He curved his hands together, clasping the active fire together, despite his numb palms. The intensity doubled, shooting down another beast running towards him.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The beasts slamd the ground continuously, yet there were no cracks or signs of the Earth shifting.
Killian panted heavily, hiding behind the boulder. He retrieved the dagger from his inventory and curled his fingers around it.
"Four down..." he exhaled. "Three more to go."
Using both elents at the sa ti was exhausting, but since piercing scorch needed less mana and more oxygen to burn, it was easier to concentrate his mana usage on the void.
The higher the affinity to an elent, the less mana consumption, so he knew he could hang on for longer.
"Trap number two." He said, spotting the human-rabbit above the cliff.
He didn’t tell her that the tendrils wouldn’t protect unless they were in his line of sight to not scare her, but she had already placed herself at vantage point as he expected.
The beasts roared at her, noticing her above them. One quickly leaped in the air, its arm raised to slam her.
Her hands shook just before they shot up, and vines grew out of her finger-tips. "Get away from !" She yelled. The vines tightened around the beast’s neck, causing its arm to fall.
In one quick movent, Killian flung the dagger at its neck. A clean strike. Blood splattered over the vines and the beast fell face down.
"Their neck is their weakness." Killian nodded to himself.
His tendrils retrieved the dagger, and grabbed the vines growing from the girl’s fingertips.
"Wait, what are you doing—"
She was pulled off the ground by the tendrils, even if the vines that connected her to them quickly darkened.
"Ah, yes, vines also have ambient mana that the Void would affect." Killian said, as he calmly stepped forward, waiting for her to drop.
She scaled the cliff, and managed to dodge the beasts jumping to grab her. The tendrils shot out from her shadow, stabbing at the beasts but easily being overpowered as they were few.
Her eyes shook in fear at being many feet off the ground, held by a few strands of tendrils, and underneath angry beasts.
The tendrils dropped her over Killian, who caught her and started a sprint towards the flower beds. The beasts chased, letting out roars that sounded like curses.
"Five down. Two to go. Good job." he said while running, ignoring her being pale from what she just experienced. "Also, it is ti for the final trap, number three. Are you ready?"
"No." She said in a small voice. "I just saw death."
"Let’s do it!" Killian ran through the vines she had laid down. They were sturdy enough to carry a teenage human but he’d hope not for beasts their size.
They followed him through the path. It was the leader left with a smaller follower.
Killian dropped the girl, and faced them. "Imagine." The tendrils shot out from his finger tips, mana oozing out of his hand in dark shadowy forms.
They soared over the beasts, netting them and slamming their bodies to the vines. The vines gave up, swallowing them under it.
The beast leader let out a painful cry as it reached for the tendrils, only to be burned by the cold shadows. Yet it grabbed onto the tendrils, sacrificing itself to pull them down.
"Argh!" Killian groaned as he was pulled with the tendrils that connected to him. He pulled back but compared to a beast’s strength, he couldn’t free himself.
"It’s trying..." he was pulled further towards the graveyard.
The two beasts joined effort, pulling harder to themselves, and slowly Killian’s feet slid towards the crater despite his efforts.
He couldn’t also let go of the tendrils that ca out of him.
’This is bad.’
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