Examining the changes in his enemies, Sage noticed something a little more positive. While Hei Bai, Whitestaff, the Artful Life Alliance, and the Fu Clan were riding on the tortoise’s back, the tortoise was not the same as it was before. Previously, the Living Disaster’s joints glowed with flowing magma, and only when it curled up into its shell did it appear like a normal mountain. Now, those burning veins and glowing stones were gone. It truly looked like a giant stone statue. If it wasn’t moving it would look like someone had decided to carve out the base of a mountain to look like a tortoise was supporting the peak on its back.

There was still a subdued flow of smoke from the peak on the monster’s back, but compared to the violent explosion a day ago it was just a light smoulder. Before the eruption, when the tortoise was in motion, the mouth of the volcano on its back was constantly spewing black smoke and the tortoise’s mouth was constantly dripping with lava like drooling saliva. Its eyes were like giant glass orbs filled with raging fires, but now they were like hard gemstones. The smooth spheres were now multifaceted like a cut diamond, and Sage really hoped that reduced the beast’s vision.

The huge tortoise didn’t stop rumbling towards him. In fact, as if to spite him, he caught sight of Whitestaff’s namesake and his gaze was drawn to the old woman beside her and a trio of powerful figures. They were staring right back at him and he knew that his escape had only just begun. With them having confirmed they were on the right track, Sage gave up on burrowing underground. The Warp Worm surfaced and disappeared, while the Soul Clone grabbed the Universe Ring and started to fly towards the swamp as fast as it could.

Sage was going to bring out another linked insect, but since he was in full view of the enemy he decided against it. Without a physical body his speed, and that of the Soul Clone, were drastically reduced, but he could also fly and pass through material barriers. As long as they could get somewhere with some obstructions, it would be a lot easier to lose their pursuers. The Soul Clone flew directly towards the Swamp, just the sort of place that would be crawling with insects for him to hide among.

The Living Disaster followed behind him, each step causing a dull rumble of the earth. As they neared the swamp, Sage started to see the leaves and limbs of the trees shuddering from each of the tortoise’s steps. Unfortunately, being in clear view of the tortoise had boosted its speed and it was now closing the distance between them. Sage was getting ready to start avoiding molten boulders, but was pleased to see that the tortoise was no longer spitting them out endlessly.

In fact, none of them came his way at all. The Living Disaster seemed far less terrifying when it wasn’t constantly breathing fire and spitting meteors. While the edge had been taken off its terrifying power, the sheer size and power of it was enough to make anyone feel small. Even when he was a hundred foot long giant cobra, he’d felt like little more than a baby worm against the beast’s mountain sized body.

As he entered the swamp, Sage felt his options opening up. The Soul Clone didn’t have to worry about being slowed down wading through the thick mud and waist high water. It continued on with the same speed as before, floating over the murky water and passing right through the many fallen trees and large bushes. Unfortunately, the Living Disaster was also able to navigate the swamp without a problem. Its immense size meant that the swamp was little more than a puddle to it. It was able to easily keep up its speed, the murky water only serving to dirty its shell with the large splashes its steps caused.

The poor swamp was subjected to similar devastation as the forest had been, but instead of fire it was an impromptu landscaping job. The tortoise’s huge legs crushed trees into the ground, islands of soft soil were smashed flat and turned into deep pools, and its footsteps shook the ground, causing half-dead trees to fall and the creatures that lived in them to scatter. The big turtle surely lived up to its name, bringing a calamity upon the previously peaceful swamp. Or at least as peaceful as the constant struggle of the food chain could be. A swamp was usually very dense with living creatures, the many rotting trees and other plant life created a fertile environment for many insects and water based critters to thrive in. They were places that looked overrun by the dead and rotting, but were actually filled with life.

This swamp seemed to be of a cypress style, with many tall narrow trees and jagged ‘knees’ poking up out of the water that looked sort of like wooden stalagmites dotted with moss. The water was dark and murky, but still had a clear high reflective surface. It wasn’t just brown mud, but thick with sediments. The blackish blue water was disturbed by the steps of the giant tortoise, causing large waves to wash over the nearby trees and plants, and also stirred up the mud at the bottom, leaving huge brown swirls in the water everywhere it lifted its foot.

After a few minutes of stomping through the water, the swamp was getting turned into a mess. The constantly splashing mud, waves of water, and constantly rumbling was causing all the creatures in the swamp to scatter. Many of the local wildlife fled as soon as the monster approached, but most of them froze in place, trying to hide and hope the disaster didn’t fall upon them. The disturbance continued to intensify which sent many of them scrambling to flee.

The Soul Clone continued to weave through the crowded trees, using them to obscure the tortoise’s vision. While the trees and water of the swamp weren’t able to stop the tortoise, they did slow it down slightly and as the swamp grew more dense, the tortoise slowed further. The puddle it was walking through was now like knee high grass, flooded deep enough to make your shoes squish with each step. Sage’s lead stopped shrinking and began to gradually grow instead. Unfortunately, it wasn’t by much. The rumbling ground was just as loud as ever.

How the hell am I supposed to get rid of Whitestaff when she’s riding on top of a walking mountain?

While he was busy trying to think of a way out of his situation, fate seemed to have more fun in store for him. He heard the motion of water in the distance and he saw water lifting higher than the trees. Not a spout, but more of a swell, like a mountain of water rising into the air. As amazing as it looked, he knew what followed would not be pretty. On the plus side, the Soul Clone had no physical body, so it got to spectate the show without much danger. The watery hill then resolved into a massive wave rolling out in every direction. By the time it reached him it was still twenty feet high, and surprisingly when it passed through the Soul Clone he felt some resistance. The water parted around him, creating a gentle pressure like pushing through a beaded curtain. The Soul Clone had no actual sense of touch, but it did drag on his Spiritual Sense. It started to carry the Soul Clone along, but when he pulled back his Spiritual Sense it passed by easily.

The wave was only the warmup, because when Sage caught sight of what caused it, he burst into another wave of cursing. You’ve got to be kidding me!

The source of the wave was a creature, an immensely large creature at that. One that was surfacing slowly from below and pushing all that water out of the way. The sheer size of the thing made him question the depth of the swamp he was passing through. Wasn’t it only a few feet deep, how could there be something that big coming out of it?

The dim light of the sunset reflected off the monster’s body and caused it to glisten, showing off the dark coloring of its exoskeleton. Many huge beady black eyes locked onto the mountainous tortoise and the beast released a shrill squeaking shriek, but with enough volume to burst a mortal’s eardrums.