Chapter 50

“This is bullshit.” Henry muttered as he kept killing off D.E.D. as they erupted through Varkoth’s portal. He was keeping track of his D.E.D., ensuring they didn’t take any damage, and making sure they slaughtered anything appearing before it had time to materialize. Currently, it was working, and they’d climbed to level 24. However, he wasn’t sure they would be able to hit level 25 in time, and even if they did, from what JJ had said, it wouldn’t matter.

It is almost time Awakened One. His Evil Eye mentioned to him. The floating eyeball appeared as apt at keeping time as his own cell phone, and the creature was doing a great job of analyzing the battlefield, while offering support to the Drakeling and Storm Crow. If he could reach level 25, his Drakeling would evolve. And the Storm Crow should be close to evolving as well. Even so, they wouldn’t be able to do anything.

“I know.” He growled, directing his murder squad to another D.E.D. as he did. JJ had flat out told him his idea wouldn’t work. Even as an Ultra Rare type D.E.D., the Chimera was too weak. At best, it would be able to keep the icy essence away from any D.E.D. within a 10-meter radius of itself, but it would still be killed within a few strikes from the essence tendrils.

We must leave soon. The Evil Eye continued. The Rift is Growing stable.

The worst part about this, was JJ had mentioned if he did have his Chimera out, and it didn’t straight up try to murder him, that the tendrils would be drawn towards it. Varkoth’s essence, it seemed, naturally sought out any and all fire type D.E.D. and tried to kill them first. Mainly because they were natural elemental enemies.

I agree with the weakling for once. His Drakeling growled in his mind. While I enjoy the free food, I’ve no intention to stand against my great kin. That’s right, Varkoth was an Ascended Ice Drake. Eventually, Henry’s Bladed Drakeling would have potential such as Varkoth’s, but that, was a long, long way off. He’d seen mentions of D.E.D. ascension but didn’t know what it entitled. It hadn’t been on his immediate need to know research list.

THE FIRST HARBINGER COMES. THE FROZEN STORM SEEKS REFUGE FROM THE ELDER GODS. His Storm Crowed screamed. Even as they finished the next D.E.D., their experience getting dangerously close to leveling up, Henry felt a shift in the air. The Greater Rift seemed to flash once, then changed colors, becoming an icy, almost white, blue. From it, a mist slowly started to drift out. That wasn’t right…their timer showed they still had just under 10 minutes. BEWARE THE GRASP OF DEATH.

Henry growled and started to pull back. He didn’t really have long range attack D.E.D., meaning he couldn’t contribute all that much in this fight. Not if that icy air was as dangerous as JJ mentioned it was. Looking around, he saw more than a few Exorcists fighting. As he surveyed the scene, he could tell JJ had been right. Those who seemed to have weaker D.E.D. were mostly staying put, some even teaming up with each to bring down the level 20+ D.E.D. coming through. Those with stronger D.E.D., had started moving further back through the crowd, away from the immediate vicinity of the Portal. It left a bad taste in Henry’s mouth.

If nothing happened, the Exorcists were about to lose a lot of D.E.D. He remembered the pained look of loss on Cassie, that cosplay girl’s face when she’d lost her fire Kitsune. He’d only had his D.E.D. for a week, but he could image losing one, especially if you actually treated them like living things, would hurt. And he didn’t want these people to feel that pain. At the same time, he knew if he did anything reckless, he’d get his own D.E.D. killed, and he couldn’t risk that either. After all, there was an even bigger threat than this out there.

He scanned the group of Exorcists still near the portal. The mist was moving extremely slowly, thankfully, and hadn’t reached any of their D.E.D. yet. However, he winced as he caught sight of Cassie and Caleb. Cassie, sure enough, had the ice Kitsune out that Henry had allowed her brother to pact with. She’d even changed up her cosplay to an ice themed cat character to match it.

As he looked at the two, he realized, thankfully, that Caleb was working to move his sister away from the conflict. Her Kitsune was launching icicles at a D.E.D. coming through the rift, while Caleb seemed to have summoned a large D.E.D. made purely of fire. It was an uncommon fire D.E.D. known as a Cinder Orb, but at the very least, he was guessing Caleb was using it to keep the icy mist away from them as he moved his sister backwards. He, obviously, knew what was going on, and Henry figured Caleb having only a B- resonance was why he was out here.

He finished his scan, noting that there weren’t any other Exorcists he immediately recognized, and started moving away from the crowd. There just wasn’t anything he could do, and he hated that fact. Hated it so much, that for a moment, he’d considered fusing with his Chimera, but JJ had definitely shot that one down as well. His best friend told him doing so would likely not only get Henry killed, but also set fire to the area, as failed fusions with fire type D.E.D. were where stories of spontaneous combustion originated. And that was for weak, low rarity type fire D.E.D.

Put trust in your friend, Awakened One. His Evil Eye said as he fought his frustration. He was pulling his D.E.D, and himself, back. Just like JJ had recommended to him. According to JJ, Varkoth’s tendrils and mist would make short work of any of the nearby exorcists, and then turn to focus on trying to reach those launching long range attacks. As long as there was enough fodder, the tendrils, Varkoth’s essence, would ignore the normal, everyday people in the area. After all, it was working to gather as much essence and power as it could on this side of the portal, to stabilize itself and pull its form through. The faster it could do that, the faster it could attempt to leave before the Away team did enough damage to send it back to its own realm.

“As much as I want to,” Henry said, wincing as he watched the first allied D.E.D. fall to the icy mist. “This really isn’t the time to be cutting it close.” The poor creature seemed to freeze, confused for a moment as the mist touched it. Then, all of a sudden, it just crumbled into mist. The Exorcist that the D.E.D. belonged to, let out a cry of surprise, before closing his mouth and moving rapidly away from the area. All the normal people in the area were so caught up with the countdown timer, and the special event, to even notice the strange activity. Henry was a bit envious of their ignorance.

I am sorry Awakened One. The Evil Eye said apologetically. I wish I could do more for you. The voice actually held a deep level of disdain. Everyone told Henry how weak Evil Eyes were, and hell, now even the creature itself was acknowledging that fact. Still, Henry had made up his mind. And he wasn’t going to let the creature doubt his resolve.

“You-“ Before he could continue speaking, the timer hit zero, and massive, dense tentacles erupted from the portal, instantly killing multiple D.E.D. With the tentacle’s arrival, the rift stabilized more, and Henry saw a lot more of the mist begin to roll out. This was it. Where the hell was JJ?