Master suddenly collapse.

His Mana flow surged and went rampant as the link that connects us all was cut off.

"You're making this too easy." The Void Demon remarked.

We are surrounded by enemies on all sides.

We took our usual defensive formation. Citra in the middle with Kirin as the battery, a barrier enshrouds us. We prepare ourselves for the monsters.

But the monsters were only staring at us. They were all awaiting orders.

"Steady now, everyone. Don't get intimidated."

Engrande has taken charge. This was the contingency plan we concocted before leaving Rising Valley. Angie and Nilin is tending to Master and the rest of us are the vanguard while master recuperate. That was the plan but I fear it wouldn't go smoothly.

The Mana flow within master is just in chaos. Just what is happening to master this time? Don't tell me the unison is taking place?

"I can make it even much easier for all of you here." The Void Demon told us.

"What?" Engrande snorted back.

"Surrender the Harbinger to us and you're free to go."

"And why would a depraved demon like you would do that?"

"To respect the last wishes of my host."

"Never!" Lady Senna snarled at Aedrox, baring her wings. Even Nilin was frightened by it.

"Mwu~!"

Aedrox turn to me and Engrande.

"No." Engrande promptly answered.

I threw a black flame dart at him. It was extinguished before it even reach him but that serves as my answer.

"Fine. Have it your way." He said and splayed his hand at us.

No, not us. At master.

The space around master rippled. It was being folded like cloth, it was closing in on master.

"Papa~!" Indara was fast. He turned back into his human form and rushed for them.

"Lady Senna! Lord Creator!" Djin who was the closest to Master and Lady Senna reached out to them.

As the space collapses, Lady Senna pushed Nilin away in time and prevented Indara and Djin from coming closer before it swallowed her and master.

And they were gone. The presence of master and Lady Senna has completely disappeared.

"What happened? Where have they gone?" Bartholomew asked as his eyes dart around.

"Master disappeared?" Cormac repeated the obvious.

"Have fun." said the Aedrox as he disappeared from the room in a similar fashion when teleported master away, leaving his enthralled ones to us.

The hole that was gushing out monsters persisted. Looks like the corrupted Luya was responsible for keeping it open.

"Forgive me, your majesty." Djin apologized and threw a red lightning spear at Corrupted Luya.

She raised her hand steadily, palm spread open, the lightning spear was absorbed into the palm.

"As expected, her abilities will provide the enemies with tremendous advantages." said Djin.

"Then concentrate on the monsters other than her. The dungeon collapsed. The Void Demon can't have possibly revived each monsters in the dungeon."

I would like to agree with Engrande but after seeing what he could do, I'm not too sure about that.

All at once, they came charging at us. They all crashed into the barrier but it did not mattered to them that they did not succeed. They are pressing their faces on the barrier, bursting open their flesh while doing so. One by one, they all followed they same suicide attempts.

They have zero consideration for their own well-being.

"Crap. This is not good."

I agreed with Engrande. Each monster here are already extremely capable in their own rights and now they have been imbued and corrupted with Void power, I don't see us emerging victorious, not without Lady Senna and master.

"Ah~! They came in! They came in!" Nilin yelled.

"Danger~!" Kirin pointed.

Five corrupted snake-like monsters with six eyes slit right through the barrier. They are the size of an average human.

As I was wondering how they did that, Engrande gave me the answer.

"They are Wyrms. They have the same legacy Arcane Art as the little one here."

My link with master was cut off so I wasn't able to use [Arcane Analysis].

One of them pounced.

"Watch out, they have [Poison Magic]." Engrande warned.

Before its venomous fang reached anyone, red lightning turned it into charcoal.

"Slow." Djin pointed out. I feel like he was referring to us and the Wyrms.

One of the Wyrms fire a black beam from its mouth at Djin. He took the beam without evading and guarding. The beam did not even so much as to scratch it.

Oh right, Djin is made of Onyx Steel, the same as Indara.

Cormac dispatched the Wyrm who was trying to fire the beam again with Seeker.

Bartholomew pulverized another after being immobilized by Nilin.

Engrande crushed one with his ethereal arms and incinerate the last one with [Forge Fire].

"Kyu~! Kyu~!" Citra gave out her warning cries.

"There, incoming." Cormac pointed at the direction of the danger Citra indicated. For some reasons, only Bartholomew and Cormac understood Citra's words to certain extent.

An Alpha Goliath broke through part of the barrier with a single charge.

"Broke!" Kirin gasped.

"Oh no, you don't." Cormac shot down any monsters try to take this opportunity to rush in. His arrows didn't do much against the Alpha Goliath though.

"Citra repair the barrier. Kirin concentrate fully on mending it." Engrande shouted.

The barrier was instantly mended, dismembering any monster who tried to get through. Although, the Alpha and four Goliaths got through.

"Djin, you take care of the Alpha."

"Understood, Lord Engrande." He complied and dashed towards the larger demon ape of the five.

"Ah~! Wait for I-Indara." Indara ran behind Djin. With a leap, he turned back into a sword and flew into Djin's hand.

With Indara in his hand, he swung, leaving trails of red light and sparks, but unlike usual, the blade stops right in the middle of the Alpha's flesh.

The Alpha grinned and brought its fist together, ready to slam it down at Djin.

I was about to call out to him but my caution was unnecessary.

"Fool." said Djin and he unleashed the magic power within Indara and turn the Alpha into ashes from overloaded with Mana.

Engrande easily turned one into splat. I cut one into pieces with [Rage Blade]. Cormac shot [Cluster Shot] at point blank, turning the Goliath into mass.

Bartholomew was the only one encountering difficulty. The Goliath corrupted by Void power is significantly physically stronger than him. It was a bad match up for Bartholomew.

"I won't let you." Nilin bind the Goliath in place.

I was prepare to finish it off but I didn't expect what happen next.

Thorns grew en masse from the roots binding the Goliath, impaling it all over. What a brutal way to go.

We all stared at Nilin.

"What~?" She tilted her head. "Anything to make sure I will be together with you forever." She looked at me with glittering eyes while emitting "praise me" aura.

For some reasons, I felt shivers down my spine when I thought of her future.

While other monsters are clawing and knocking at the barrier with nothing but the pure conviction to make us one of them or to maul us just for the sake of it, a few more Wyrms bypassed the barrier.

Nilin traps them in place and Bartholomew incinerated the intruders with [Forge Fire]. Djin, Cormac, and I, we are responsible for long range assaults, repelling any that looks to close for comfort. Engrande has the burden of taking care of the intruders and the monsters clawing at the barrier.

"Kyu~! Kyu~!"

I do not like the sound of that.

The barrier was assaulted by black lightning. They came like waves, crashing down onto Citra's [Maven's Veil] repeatedly.

Cracks were formed from those attacks.

Attack that came from an Alpha Serrator, clad in black lightning instead of the usual red. Rather than clad, it was more like the black lightning is spilling from its body wounds. If master was here, he would definitely be appalled at the sight.

For someone who had gone through a lot, he is still unused to a lot of things.

"Not good." said Kirin. She's referring to our situation not about herself. Even without appraisal ability, I can tell her Mana level is still healthy from Mana Vision. She's replenishing her Mana faster than her expenditure. No doubt this one of the abilities of [Floral Matriarch]. Divine Art sure is amazing.

The barrier's crack was quickly repaired. There was a slight shudder to the barrier but I passed it off as my imagination.

"Cormac, take care of that Alpha Serrator."

"Yes." Cormac answered and took out special-made arrows from storage ring enchanted with the spell [Vault].

Seeker don't need arrows but it can use arrows although normal arrow's strength doesn't match up to Seeker's default magic arrows. But the white arrows that Cormac just took out are crafted by Engrande and master. They are enchanted with [Sever] and [Fracture] ability.

Cormac released the first white arrow at the Alpha Serrator's head.

The Alpha grabbed a nearby Wight and used it as a shield. The Wight was distorted before being minced into pieces. The Alpha threw the mangle corpse at the barrier and it turned into complete splatter.

Cormac nocked the second arrow immediately but the Alpha has faster preparation. It bared its jaw at the barrier and bit down on it. The cracks reappeared from its fangs.

"Eat this!" shouted Cormac as he released the second white arrow. It went into the Serrator's mouth and came out from the back its throat. Affected by the [Spatial Magic]-imbued arrow, the head and neck imploded before exploding. Blood muddied by the Void spurted out like a fountain.

"Kyu~!" Citra pointed at a direction by mimicking her body like an arrow. She was pointing at a charging Alpha Goliath.

"Guh! Another one? Djin, go get em."

Djin nodded sent an aura in the shape of a blade with a swing. It cleanly tore right through the charging Goliath before it reached the barrier. The aura blade continued on its path and decimated any unfortunate monster behind the Goliath.

Djin unleashed more aura blades and mowed down the monsters in succession. His kill count might be the highest among us now. As expected of master's creation.

Immediately after, a Wyrm came from the ground right where Djin is standing. No, it came out from underground to be more precise. It crawled up at Djin like a snake climbing a tree.

Cormac moved fast and cut the Wyrm into two with a dagger handy.

"Earth Wyrm?" Engrade said.

Looks like it is some sort of variant.

"Wait....." Engrande paused. Looks like he realized something.

"Oh crap." At the same time, I realized the same thing as Engrande.

The ground underneath us shook. Something is coming at us from below the ground.

Besides Earth Wyrm, centipedes with humanoid upper body, Kalas also emerged from underground.

"Shit!" Engrande cursed.

Kirin screamed along with Citra.

I moved to secured Nilin into my arms and make quick work of the intruders.

"Eh~!?" Nilin gave out a cute cry as she was lifted. It was cute but now's not the time to be enthralled by it.

Bartholomew helped but he wasn't able to do much due to his speed.

Large whips of shadow flames conjured in my right hand, [Havoc Wrecker]. I swung it wildly but not without precision.

Engrande was caught off guard and swarmed by Earth Wyrms and Kalas alike.

"Primary directives." Djin said.

Without any words of command from me or Engrande, he dashed towards Kirin.

-- [G-g-g....get away from her~!!!!]

Indara screamed as he was swung at the monster that were approaching Kirin and Citra.

Hmm? Come to think of it, Indara was quiet despite the hectic situation.

No. If I think about it, he can't speak in his sword form and it's only because of master that we could communicate through telepathy.

But what was that just now?

[Indara, can you hear me?]

I tried to call out to him by thinking about it but nothing...... Was it a fluke?

Anyways, now's not the time for such trifle matters.

I sent [Night Javelins] at the monsters swarming Engrande. It wasn't easy. My ability grazed Engrande a few times but please overlook this.

When the numbers were shaved down to an amount, Engrande shook himself free from the monsters. "Good job, lad!"

I was thanked instead as he spin with his total eight arms in a circle. And he was free from the monsters.

Seems like Cormac was dispatching the remaining intruders. All's well, I guess?

"How are you guys holding up?" Engrande asked even though he was the one with the most wounds but the wounds healed up immediately he injected himself with both a health potion and Mana potion.

"Fine."

"Still at maximum function"

"I'm okay."

"Still fine."

Cormac and Bartholomew also took this chance to recover their health and Mana.

"I can still fight." I answered

"I'm alright too, you know?" A sweet voice came from my left arm.

Oh, it was Nilin. I forgot I was carrying her.

She blushed and looked away when she realized we were staring at each other in the eyes.

"Kyu~! Kyu~! Kyu~! Kyu~!"

Okay, what is it now? She seems to be crying much louder than usual.

"Hurts." Kirin said as she was pulled by Citra who coiled around her shoulder.

"What has gotten the little one so flustered this time?" Engrande mused while rubbing his chin.

It seems like Citra was trying to pull Kirin to somewhere.

No....

What if she's trying to pull Kirin away instead?

Wait... Oh no!

"Djin! Get them out of---"

My shout of warning was cut off as the ground beneath their feet crumbled.

In the ground's place, a large mouth emerged, large enough to fit the three in the mouth.

Djin wasted no time and moved away from that location. With Kirin and Citra, of course.

The large mouth continued to rise from under the ground. It is a Wyrm. A large Wyrm....

"Kyu~?"

A cry different from the recent ones came out from Citra.

"What's the matter?" Bartholomew who also seemed notice the unusual cry from Citra, asked.

"What....?" Engrande said.

"What's wrong?"

"Its titles. One of it reads "Citra's mother"."

"Really?" Nilin asked but she was ignored.

Engrande have told master and I something about titles before. When in the company of relatives or families, hidden titles will appear to indicate their relationship.

It appears this giant Wyrm is Citra's mother. Citra realized it too it seems.

The giant Wyrm continues to reveal its colossal body until it went through the barrier. If the barrier could be broken from the inside, this would be bad.

Suddenly, the barrier shuddered. It was definitely not my imagination this time. It was loosing power.

"Citra? What's wrong?" Cormac asked as he continues to shoot down the monsters outside the barrier.

"Kyu~...... Kyu~....."

"She's afraid and..... sad? I don't understand. She's distraught?" Cormac told us.

I see. She's in despair from seeing her mother's corpse being desecrated and defiled into a mere puppet right in front of her.

"Oh no, the barrier!"

At Engrande's warning, the barrier lost the source of its Mana and disappeared.

Damn.

Citra's mental condition is most likely in turmoil. She couldn't maintain the barrier in such state.

No time for consideration for anything now.

I unleashed [Demolisher] at the giant Wyrm that came diving its head at us. It didn't manage to kill it but it was held back.

"Kyu~! Kyu~!" Citra was screaming at me while pulling Kirin along.

"Mwu. Hurts."

"Citra. She's already dead. Stop that!" Bartholomew shouted at her.

But she wasn't listening. She continued her cries while pulling Kirin along.

"Guys. Watch out!" shouted Engrande as we are swarmed by the monsters this time as we are bare naked and defenseless without the barrier.

"Your highness, put Citra to sleep."

"Nn...." Kirin managed to nod and cast [Spirit Magic] to force Citra into slumber.

Once Citra was asleep, Djin once again carried them into his arms and darted around to avoid the incoming monsters. I did the same.

Engrande is pounded by monsters from every direction due to his large size. The Large Wyrm constricts him with its large body.

"Damn Wyrm!" Engrande could only shout as he slowly looses any advantage he has.

Other than Engrande, Bartholomew and Cormac weren't doing well too. They are attacked from all sides and the small scratches and cuts received from the monsters are accumulating.

A Kalas' claw caught a clean cut across Cormac's back. Due to their training with Engrande, Cormac was able to endure the pain and quickly launch a counter attack to stagger the Kalas who was preparing another attack.

"Get away from him!"

Immediately, the Kalas' head exploded from being hit by the full brunt force of Bartholomew's mace.

Cormac took Bartholomew's hand and dragged him into their shadows. The shadow portal closed too early and severed Bartholomew's arm.

I hope they are okay.

Without the barrier, we are attacked from every direction possible, even above and below.

"Nilin, climb on my back."

Without waiting for her approval, I forcefully threw her to my back. I relied on her dexterity and luck to latch herself on to me.

"Gotcha!"

She did it. Thank goodness.

Now, I have two free hands.

I continue bringing death to all that closed in on me.

I have yet to activate [Wrath of Oni] as I have no idea if it would hurt Nilin who was latching onto me. Now was not the time to try.

"Ah!! You pests!!" Engrande roared. All of his hands clapped together to form a praying stance. He muttered something in a low voice. "-- [Thousand Arms of Shura]!!"

His ethereal arms transformed into a large humanoid figure with only the upper body. It grew a few more extra arms but it is no where near fifty let alone a hundred or thousand.

The Giant Wyrm was unable to keep constricting Engrande in that size, it was tossed away by him.

With those extra arms attacking together, he was making the earth shook with every strike.

He could have used these earlier but I can understand why he didn't. Judging from his Mana pool with Mana Vision, it was draining fast. This skill consumes Mana to fast.

Perhaps Kirin who saw Engrande also realized that his skill would not last, she pointed at Engrande while pleading to Djin.

"Supply Mana." I heard her said.

"Negative, your highness. Primary directive."

Looks like due to some master's order, he can't let Kirin go. Sentience he might have, in the end, he values master's wishes first.

"Mwu~!" Kirin pouted.

"Ah~! Look out." Nilin shouted.

Oops. I was busy looking at the two that I was almost crushed by a rolling bug. It appears while it was rolling, it is impervious to magic. From the front only though.

I swung [Havoc Wrecker] from the side and smashed it to pieces.

"Your highness!"

I turned to Djin's scream and saw Kirin have gotten away from Djin's hold and is now running towards Engrande.

What is she thinking??

Djin desperately tried to make his way to her but the monsters were too much. Even with [Storm Rush], the monsters were just too much.

She was immediately surrounded. None of the monster cared if she was only a child. They attacked her all the same.

"Get lost."

Kirin spoke softly but somehow, I heard her voice like a tiny echo.

Mana surged within her. Spirits gathered around her, forming into telephone pole-size spears. Each spears are launched deep into the attacking monsters. They were all killed in an instance.

No.... what has she done?

Spirits of Nature are not allowed to do harm until a certain age. I do not know if it applies to her since she's something like a royalty among the Spirits and I can't see her title without an appraisal ability.

In addition, Nilin offered her assistance. She used the same spell that summons overgrown roots to act as a fence around Kirin's path. I also assist by firing [Night Javelins].

Bartholomew and Cormac jumped out of Kirin's shadow.

"I'm here." Cormac said and fire volleys of arrow.

Bartholomew let out a battle cry and dove into the monster crowd. I was worried for a second but they way he swung his mace like a spinning top is even scaring some of the monsters away. Looks his arm has grew back and Cormac's injuries are healed. No doubt the work of Elixir and potions master gave us.

Kirin reached Engrande in the nick of time. She wrapped herself on his leg and began supplying Mana.

"Thank ya, girlie!" Engrande gave his appreciation.

"Welcome!" She nodded back with a smile.

With a near-unlimited supply of Mana, Engrande went all out. He even put the giant Wyrm in its place.

"NGRUUU!!!!" The giant Wyrm roared, a louder and lower pitch version of Citra's cries. Magic circle forms in front of its mouth.

A breath attack.

It breathed out a dark purplish beam aimed at Engrande.

Engrande countered with a palm force from one his [Shura Arms].

The beam turns the force into nothing.

Engrande clicked his tongue and sent multiple palm forces this time.

The results were the same however.

"Shit!" Engrande was too large to dodge the beam.

"Go!" Djin spoke the word like an absolute demand as he threw Indara. He threw it so precise that it arrived exactly before Engrande and intercepted the beam.

The beam was nothing against Onyx Steel.

After that, Indara flew back into Djin's hands.

"Thank you, Tin-man."

"Your gratitude is unneeded. Pour those efforts into protecting her highness instead." Djin told Engrande as he decapitated six monsters at once.

Hmm.... Djin's Mana level is still in the green. Rather than relying on magic, he utilize his physical potential to the fullest instead. He only casts magic when physical response was not optimal. Truly a Mage Fighter after all.

"Ah!!!!" Engrande screamed

We all turned to his sudden cry. A giant centipede had managed to sink its fang into Engrande's left leg. At the same time the Giant Wyrm also attacked with a bite. He defended against the bite with his [Shura Arms].

Not just the venom from the centipede but the corruption also begun to spread within Engrande.

"Tin man! Cut off my left leg now!"

Djin was occupied. Too many monsters surrounded him. He is doing fine but moving anywhere from that position will be difficult.

"Let me." Kirin said.

"Wait, girlie. You shouldn't--"

Without minding Engrande's reluctance to have a child like her to amputate him, she summoned vines as thin as threads and wrapped it around Engrande's left leg swiftly. At her command, the vines tightened and sever his left leg off.

The leg was twitching by itself even after being separated from the main body as it got fully corrupted.

"Tom, above us." Nilin called out.

I looked up and saw quadrupedal reptilian monster crawling on the ceiling. A Hunter, if I remember correctly but..... aren't they bipedal?

It lunged at me.

I fire a [Demolisher] at it but the spell was nullified. The way it was dispelled reminds me off the Sentinels' barrier.

"How..." I want to ask but first, I dodge its attack.

It moves fast. It attacks again immediately after landing. I am repelling the monsters surrounding me while dodging the Hunter's attack. This is hard.

I don't remember it being this fast. Did it evolve too much when it got corrupted?

"You're mine." Cormac yelled as he fired an arrow. Did he just leaped out from a shadow on the ceiling?

The arrow missed and landed on the Hunter's shadow. The Hunter is really too fast.

Its eyes now on Cormac, it lunges again but it failed this time. Or rather, it couldn't move.

I remember now. Cormac has a skill that let him immobilize a person should he touch a person's shadow. [Shadow Bind] is the name if I recalled correctly. It was one of the abilities enchanted on his supplies of arrows.

Bartholomew came out from the same spot as Cormac and brought his mace down. The Hunter crossed its arm to block but Bartholomew's strength exceeds its strength by a huge margin.

"Behind!" Shouted Nilin.

I turned and saw three more Hunters coming at us.

Nilin managed to bind one with her roots but the two used the first as a scapegoat to escape the roots.

They are learning.

I saw Cormac trying to shoot another arrow enchanted with [Shadow Bind] but he was jumped by a Wight, larger than the usual size. An Alpha, again.

Bartholomew was caught in a dilemma of helping me or Cormac. He chose Cormac.

I fought back at the Hunters with my bare hands. It was a good thing that their physical strength doesn't exceed mine.

I felt a slight tremor beneath my foot. Acting on intuition, I got away from that ground but I was too slow. An Earth Wyrm managed to tangled my leg with its body.

Shit. Now I can't move.

All other monsters took this chance to pounce on me.

"I won't let you!"

Nilin did a good job of holding the monsters back with her magic but not the Hunters.

Acting on a hasty decision, I performed an [Aura Strike] at the ground below me.

An explosion ensued, clouds of dust are raised. The Earth Wyrm bound to me is swallowed by the explosion. Nilin and I were separated and thrown away.

I have acted as Nilin meat shield for the most part. I absorbed most of the splinters that came at our way. Now, I'm left on the ground with an all mangled-up lower body.

I lifted my head forcibly and saw one the Hunters is severely injured in the explosion too but the last was unscathed. It had used its own kind to defend itself against the explosion. How cruel.

Shit....

It wasn't coming from me. It went for Nilin.

"Nilin! Watch out!"

Nilin who was still in a daze is far too late to respond to my warning.

The Hunter pinned her down, stabbing its claws into her, one on her right shoulder and another her left palm.

"Nilin!!"

Her scream of agony pierced through me.

The Hunter tore apart her right shoulder and repeatedly clawed at her left arm. It was toying with her. I don't know if I should be grateful for not killing her immediately or angry that it's torturing her but I know what I'm about to do.

[Wrath of Oni].

My flesh and blood melted into dark flames. My injuries became non-existence when I'm in this state. I closed our distance in a second. I turn the Hunter into ashes.

"T-Tom...." She called out to me, her eyes are tearing up with her pain.

"The Elixir. Drink it." I told her.

While her trembling and heavily injured hands are working their best to take out the Elixir, I fend off the approaching monsters.

She managed to gulp down all the content of the Elixir unsteadily. Some were spilled but the important things is that she drank it.

It worked.

Her wounds are heal immediately. The lost parts regenerated. Not even a scar but.....

"It hurts....."

The pain lingers.

I unleash a radial burst of black fire and set a ring of shadow flames around us, keeping the monsters out from us.

"Thank god. Thank god." I said something I never though I would say as I tightly embraced her after I deactivated [Wrath of Oni].

"I'm okay, Tom. I'm okay." She was patting my head back.

"Everyone!" Engrande shouted, loud enough to reach all of our ears. He was still struggling with the Giant Wyrm and some large centipede. He had no time to drink the Elixir. "Whatever defensive spells you have, crank it up all the way to eleven!"

Engrande clapped all the twenty something hands together and began a long chant. Looks like it's a forbidden-level magic.

From the storage ring, I took out a scroll and Djin did the same. It is a magic scroll with the spell [Dimension Fort] enchanted with [Famine Shield] effects.

"-- [Furnace Chamber]!" Engrande shout the spell's name out loud. A red magic circle expand from Engrande and dyed the whole room in vermilion colors.

We are all covered with the [Dimension Fort] just in time as flames for forging erupted the huge circle. Looks like Kirin had also used the same magic scroll.

We braced ourselves while the monsters outside of the barrier are slowly turned into cinders and ashes. Even the Hunters are not spared. Looks like their magic dispelling or nullifying ability has its limits. Their sharp cries, screeches, and shrieks assaulted our ears but we endured --

-- until the flames died down.

"Is it over?" Cormac peeked his head out from a shadow of one of the burned carcasses.

"Yeah. For now." I answered him.

Everything around us are burned to crisp, as how master would have put it. Even the spatial barrier magic, [Dimension Fort] with [Famine Shield] effect is destroyed by the forbidden spell but it did its job at the very least.

"That was hot~" Nilin said as she clung tightly on me. I could feel a little bit of her modest chest.

"You all alright?" Engrande asked. He was breathing heavily and he was no longer in his [Shura] form. Despite still having some Mana, mental fatigue is not something that can be rid. Forbidden Spell took a lot out of him, not just his Mana.

"We're okay." answered Djin.

"Nn." Kirin nodded.

Bartholomew who have also got out of the shadow gave Engrande a thumbs up.

"Thank the whatever Divines that let us pull through this conundrum."

"You speak too early, Lord Engrande."

Our eyes followed where Djin pointed.

Corrupted Luya is unharmed. She surrounded herself with some sort of barrier. Strong enough to withstood a forbidden-level magic. At least, the space cracks are gone.

"Luya...." Kirin softly called out but Djin stood in front of her, obstructing her vision of Luya.

"She is no longer worthy of your eyes, your highness."

"Nn...." Kirin reluctantly agreed.

"She's doing something." Engrande said.

Mana within Luya surged. With only her surging Mana flow as a forewarning, the ground behind us burst apart. A large tree with red and black tinge emerged.

"No rest for the wicked, huh." Engrande remarked.

The roots were overgrown per the usual gimmicks. The branches were still growing out even after the tree itself has stopped. The branches soon grew out flower buds.

No, not flower buds. It was more similar to a cocoon in shape and size.

"What are those?" Engrande asked.

They looked awfully similar to something master told us before.

Something about Spriggans......

Ah. I was right.

The cocoons burst open, releasing the Spriggans inside. Instead of red, they are Black Crystal Spriggans.

Not even they were spared of the corruption.

Just how far and how much is corrupted by the Void Demon?

"[Light Drop]?" Engrande mused as Luya conjured up a [Light Drop].

It looked unstable with how its trembling. I have a bad feeling about this.

In addition, javelins made of dark energy are conjured up around Luya.

"So many....."

Cormac is right. There's too many. It will be overkill. Does she even need the Spriggans then?

And at that moment, the [Light Drop] exploded, turning into an explosion of blind flash of light.

"Not good! Fuck!" I heard Engrande's curse over the blinding lights.

"Primary directive." Djin said. Looks like he was unfazed by the blinding lights. Maybe because he's inorganic?

They javelins are launched at us and they were fast, faster than any magic attack projectiles that I have ever encountered until now.

That move had rid us of any chance to prepare for defense. There was no time for us to use any scrolls or potion. Not even ample time for us to cast defensive magic.

We have let our guard down due to our fatigue. We shouldn't have deactivate whatever magic we were using.

Engrande tried his best to use [Shura] but he was too slow. His [Shura Arms] blocked some but most of it pierced into his flesh.

Djin moves fast as always. He had left Indara in my care and went for Kirin like usual. He protected her by covering her with his body.

Cormac grabbed Bartholomew and dove back into the shadow but Bartholomew's heavy weight might have brought him his demise. The javelins impaled Bartholomew all over and separated their hands. Cormac ended up diving into the shadow alone himself but not before loosing the left arm he used to grab Bartholomew and his left eyes were gouged by the javelins.

I stuck Indara into the ground. Like Djin, I covered for Nilin with own body and have Indara blocked what he could. It was not enough. A few Javelins tore chunks of my flesh out.

"T-Tom....?"

To the worrying Nilin with teared-up eyes, I smiled wryly at her.

Master, I hope you're doing well at wherever you are because--

-- we need you here, badly.