Chapter 1208: Blue demon (4)
Chapter 1208: Blue demon (4)
No one knew what the creature was going to do, but everyone was waiting with bated breath.
The Cerulean Bird towered over Erik, channeling more and more mana. At that point, that the creature was targeting Erik was the last of the problems, because it looked like it had just decided to kill everything, at least in theory.
[ERIK! YOU HAVE TO STOP IT! IT'S RAISING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF MANA!]
The Biological Supercomputer System had never shown such alarm before, and that alone was enough to make his blood run cold.
<HOW THE FUCK DO I STOP IT?!>
[THEN GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!]
But both Erik and the biological supercomputer knew the Cerulean Bird would chase Erik, so there was no point in fleeing. Erik and the biological supercomputer weren't the only ones noticing the abnormal amount of mana being released. The Chimaeric Demons did too.
For them, their master's safety was the absolute priority, hard-wired into their very bodies. They had to do something before the beast did something irreparable.
[Allied Chimaeric demon killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]
[Human enemy killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]
[Allied Chimaeric demon killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]
They had already tried using their brain crystal powers against the creature, but these proved ineffective.
Their attacks bounced harmlessly off the creature. Even their most mana-charged blows, which could tear apart everything else, felt like mere pinpricks against the Cerulean Bird's feathers.
This forced them to resort to more direct methods. There was one thing the clones hadn't tried yet. Something that would most likely result in their deaths. Physical attacks. Maybe they would not be strong enough to deal with the creature, but thousands of attacks were bound to have some kind of effect.
Erik's Chimaeric Demons shapeshifted. Their shapes changing rapidly. Bodies expanding while their bones reconfigured and dark scales emerged from their skin, turning them into powerful battle creatures.
Each clone took on the form of the black wyvern they had seen in Erik's memories-the same creature the Cerulean bird had slain with ease.
Where once stood humanoid figures, now towered massive lizard-like bodies, large wings, long tails, and black scales.
Erik watched the clones transform, hoping their plan would succeed. However, he had his doubts. Any action they took would likely only enrage the creature further, possibly hastening its mana, channeling, and stepping up whatever it planned to do.
[Allied Chimaeric demon killed: mana-absorbing process starting.] [Human enemy killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]
[Allied Chimaeric demon killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]
[Human enemy killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]
The sky darkened as thousands of black wings unfurled. At that point, most of the clones abandoned their battles with the remaining blackguards, prioritizing their master's safety over all else.
They rose, massive wings moving the wind and casting shadows across the battlefield below. Even the Cerulean bird paused, its head turning to see this unexpected development. Thanks to the Instability brain crystal power, Erik felt a flicker of something new from the creature- not fear, exactly, but uncertainty.
While the bird had easily killed a single wyvern, facing thousands was outside its experience. The Cerulean Bird didn't have an ability that allowed it to gauge the enemy strength like Erik did, so, for it, those were all real wyverns.
Yet it was still confident that, despite the army of wyverns, it could come out of the situation relatively fine. However, it wasn't simply playing anymore at that point. Seeing those many wyverns was bound to make the creature go on edge.
The clones surrounded the Cerulean bird, creating a blanket that covered the sky. Then they dove toward the monster, who turned to look at the newcomers.
Even the strongest creature would think twice when surrounded by thousands of enemies of similar power to his.
That was what the creature did, because the first thing it did was to release hundreds of wind blades toward the wyverns.
[Allied chimaeric demon killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]
[Human enemy killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]
[Allied chimaeric demon killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]
[Human enemy killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]
[Allied chimaeric demon killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]
[Human enemy killed: mana-absorbing process starting.]
The Cerulean Bird met their charge with its wings spread wide, each one larger than the sails of a warship. Having feasted on wyverns before, it remained unintimidated by the swarm of creatures.
The air pressure from a single flap of those enormous wings sent ripples through the clouds above. Even in their massive form, the Chimaeric Demons look small in comparison.
The clones then arrived at striking range, and the Cerulean Bird acted once more. The closest wave vanished under the barrage of hundreds of wind blades.
For the clones, there was nothing to do. Despite using all their powers, even healing ones, their bodies were torn apart by the creature's blades.
Blood rained, and huge carcasses fell to the ground, bisected, decapitated, or simply because their wings got cut in halves.
Not all the clones died, but certainly many got out of the fight.
<Shit! Do you think they have some hope?>
[Not at all,] the biological supercomputer said.
Unfortunately, experience flowed into Erik as each clone died.
[ALLIED CHIMAERIC DEMON KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]
[ALLIED CHIMAERIC DEMON KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]
[ALLIED CHIMAERIC DEMON KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]
[LEVEL UP.]
While the experience points were a fine addition, he didn't like the source at all. Each death notification represented one of his clones-a part of himself-being killed violently. The system treated these deaths as mere statistical gains, but for Erik, it was like experiencing his kids being killed in front of him.
The deaths of his Chimaeric Demons weren't just personal, but also tactical losses. The blackguards were still there fighting, and the more of the clones died, the more undead
ceased to move.
Despite them trying, the Chimaeric Demons were having trouble reaching the Cerulean Bird. Some of them did and were currently using their talons and maws to injure the creature. The problem was that most of the clones that tried to get close died. Those who couldn't and who were still alive launched massive Starlight Fireballs.
Countless fireballs streaked across the sky in a deadly barrage. The raw heat transformed the Cerulean Bird's defensive winds into searing currents. All this concentrated power made the air shimmer and warp around the creature.
The temperature skyrocketed, turning the battlefield into a scorching inferno. [ALLIED CHIMAERIC DEMON KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]
[ALLIED CHIMAERIC DEMON KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.] [ALLIED CHIMAERIC DEMON KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]
[LEVEL UP.]
The Cerulean bird's feathers remained unscorched, but its movements became more hurried, less precise. It was feeling the heat, and the wyverns around it trying to maul him didn't help
either.
Erik stood frozen, watching the battle in horror. His fists were tightly clenched as he saw his clones being killed one after another. The sight of such massive destruction left him unable to move or act; he could only stare at the fight happening in the sky.
[DO SOMETHING, YOU IDIOT!]
Then, as if waking up from a dream, Erik channeled all his mana into a single attack, one of fire, hoping it would synergize with the clones attacks.
Though he knew the creature's air currents would dissipate much of the attack's power,
channeling all of Erik's mana meant the blast would still wound the beast. Maybe not grievously, but something was still better than nothing.
The ball of fire surged forward like a crimson meteor, its flames reaching the battlefield below as it grew larger with each passing moment.
Below, the blackguards felt the heat. It was scorching, as if the sun had got a few meters from
the planet. It was scary.
Some of them decided the best thing to do would be to leave the battlefield, but it wasn't easy, considering the undead. However, there were fewer now, so it was possible. The Cerulean Bird shrieked in rage. It spun in place, generating a tornado that shredded hundreds of Chimaeric Demons.
Then Erik's fireball arrived. It collided with the Cerulean Bird's body like a meteor striking Earth. Given the creature's size, which made humans appear as mere specks in comparison,
the analogy was fitting. The impact released a blinding flash of orange light and a thunderous
explosion.
The bird unleashed another piercing screech.
Through Instability, Erik felt both the beast's agony and the excruciating pain of his Chimaeric Demons as they were caught in the blast.
[ALLIED CHIMAERIC DEMON KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]
[ALLIED CHIMAERIC DEMON KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.] [ALLIED CHIMAERIC DEMON KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.] [ALLIED CHIMAERIC DEMON KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.] [ALLIED CHIMAERIC DEMON KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.] [ALLIED CHIMAERIC DEMON KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]
[LEVEL UP.]
The attack must have finally overwhelmed the Cerulean Bird's resolve. With several of its azure feathers charred and smoking, the creature beat its enormous wings, creating powerful gusts of wind that scattered the remaining wyverns, and retreated into the distant clouds.