I looked back at the small army of people I now lead, a big difference from the small group I had been leading these few days.
Well... I’ve already done this before in the previous rift so it’s not like this is completely new to .
Everyone was looking at expectantly so I figured I should at least say sothing before we head into the rift.
"Everyone! I’m going to be straight with you all... The rift up ahead is dangerous and I’m counting on your support to clear this out so that we can eliminate the threat it might bring! Watch each other’s backs and focus on keeping yourself and your team mates safe! I will do my best to support all of you! Fight knowing that I am here to back you up!"
A cheer ca from the group.
Seeing that everyone was ready, I turned and led the way into the portal.
As soon as I stepped in, I got ready for battle as I was fully expecting Anomalies to be on the other side, especially since we had to escape from the Commander Class Anomaly that was trying to kill us the previous ti we were here.
I was not disappointed as several of those orc type Anomalies were standing right in front of the portal and they imdiately charged towards the mont I appeared.
I could have charged them myself but all I did was release the purple aura around and stood my ground.
A mont later, several figures rushed past to lunge towards the Anomalies.
Olivia smashed one of the Anomalies into pieces with a single punch while Jia Lian ramd another one stumbling back from . She then spun on her heel and her sword glowed, allowing her to slash the creature horizontally into half.
Kris slashed his sword down at the larger creature and cleaved through it, slashing it into two.
The three of them looked down at the dead Anomalies at their feet before turning back to .
"Did your aura get stronger, my Lord?" Olivia asked.
I shrugged, "It does seem that way I guess."
"Is it because..."
"Probably."
Obviously, Olivia was referring to our dual cultivation session the other day and I’m pretty sure that that was indeed the reason why I got stronger.
In fact, I can sort of feel the slight difference in the air around , like there’s so kind of invisible energy that was just hovering around .
Now isn’t the ti to think about that though...
I pointed to the side, "Heads up."
They turned as a mob of Anomalies charged towards us from the entrance of the tunnel, trying to overwhelm us with their numbers.
Too bad for them though...
"Fire!" Soone shouted behind .
Bullets flew through the air as the Vanguards and soldiers started shooting at the Anomalies with their ranged weapons and spells, obliterating the entire group in a hail of multi coloured projectiles.
The rest of my Guardians joined and I nodded at the group, "Portal group, set up a periter and secure this location! Everyone else, stay in your groups and stick to the plan!"
A chorus of affirmatives rang through the cavern and I took the lead to charge towards the entrance of the tunnel.
Following close behind was a small group of four soldiers that were no doubt the people assigned to follow to relay information back to their superiors.
Moving out into the tunnels, I found one of the first Anomalies that I encountered when I first ca here.
It was the giant, legless Anomaly with the small head but big mouth and hands, completely armoured with rocks from head to torso.
The last ti, I could barely even hurt it but sohow I figured that it would be different this ti.
As the Anomaly roared and started crawling its way towards us, I charged up a lightning in my fist and focused on it to condense it as much as possible before I punched my fist at it.
The lightning exploded into a shower of sparks as it struck the Anomaly’s head, blasting the rocks apart into tiny pieces to scatter around it.
A burnt mark also appeared on its head but aside from that, there was no other damage to the Anomaly.
Well... I guess the fact that I managed to break its armour was already a step up from before... And also proof that my compatibility with Olivia’s power has increased.
I was going to finish it off when shadow spikes ca shooting out from the walls of the tunnel to pierce through its now vulnerable head.
The creature spasd for a mont before it went still, dead.
Unfortunately, the path forward was now partially blocked by the large Anomaly that took up almost half the size of the tunnel.
As I was thinking if I should sohow try and clear the path, one of the soldiers ca up to .
"Sir... There’s no need to worry. The others will take care of this. We have a detachnt that is specifically here for dealing with these things."
I assu what he ant was that they have people here that are specialised in dealing with Anomaly corpses... Probably to take so of them back as research or materials I guess?
I think it’s better for not to know...
I nodded at him and continued leading the way forward, moving past the corpse of the Anomaly to head deeper into the tunnel.
Unlike the last ti where the path was clear, it felt like there were Anomalies every step of the way and we had to cut our way through them, leaving behind a path of dead creatures in our wake.
I was half expecting the Commander Class Anomaly to show up but it did not, either because it could not or for another reason.
Of course, there’s also the possibility that it would teleport back towards the portal and try to cut off our route of escape by attacking the people there, but I already warned the Major and the other Vanguards about it so even if it did appear, they would be able to deal with it.
As we reached the next junction, another group of Anomalies was waiting for us there and they charged towards us the mont they saw us.
These were all small fries however, so I didn’t even need to do anything as my Guardians and the soldiers attached to us dealt with them pretty easily.
I figured this was a good ti and turned towards the back to shout, "Switch!"
The two Vanguard groups that were following behind us quickly ca forward and took the lead, relieving us to deal with the Anomalies ahead of us as my group took a break.
As they passed us, I noticed soone wearing full plate armour and carrying a large shield walking at the very front of the group which made do a double take.
Dan?! What the heck are you... Oh right... He’s a Vanguard too... So of course he’s here.
But the fact that he ca here without even ssaging nor getting invited by ... I’m guessing he knew I would already be here and wanted to surprise or sothing...
When he walked past, he eyed our group pointedly and I realised he was searching for but he gave up when he didn’t see .
He didn’t figure out... Did he?
Damn... I don’t know if I should just reveal myself to him or continue to keep it a secret...
Whatever... I’ll et with him at a later date and see if he says anything...
We followed behind the two Vanguard parties and I kept an eye on them to make sure that they were fine.
I was a little worried that they might struggle but Olivia ca along to assure , "My Lord... The Vanguards that are following us are ranked at C ranked at the very least. They should be able to handle the mobs inside this rift."
C ranked huh...
That ans they should be able to fight one of those human sized Anomalies alone pretty decently but would have to work together to take down one of those orc sized Anomalies at the very least.
Speaking of which... I believe each of my Guardians are at least A or B ranked if I am not wrong...
Our progress slowed a little as the Vanguards needed more ti to clear out the Anomalies as compared to us but it was fine for now since we wanted to prioritise on safety instead of speed.
We eventually reached the colony again where the rock wall that Olivia had placed there was still intact, aning no Anomalies had managed to pass through here.
We took over the lead once again and Olivia very carefully moved the rock aside, revealing an empty passage.
I went in first and frowned when I found no Anomalies there, since I was expecting the Anomalies that had been chasing us to still be here.
But when I reached the top of the chasm inside the colony, I realised why there was no one at the tunnels.
The entire colony had been taken over by Anomalies and every single floor below us looked like it was filled to the brim with Anomalies scurrying about.
Well fuck... We have to fight through that?
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