332. Aerial Battle, Ground Zero

Daniel Song stood his ground as he saw the pillar of brown dust billow into the air. It was like a terrible sandstorm was coming their way. One that shook the earth with increasing violence.

Around him, the caravan of nobles and their bodyguards were falling over as their horses whinnied in a panic. Children cried as they lay on the ground as their parents rushed to restore order. Daniel drew his blade, bellowing in a clear voice.

“Everyone find cover!”

He narrowed his eyes as he peered into the heart of the approaching storm.

“Just what is that?”

Amanda appeared next to him, shaking her head.

“That’s a stampede. And it’s heading our way.”

“A stampede? That’s ridiculous. There’s no way a horde of monsters can cause this kind of a disaster just from their numbers alone.”

“But it’s not their numbers. Its their size and their magic.”

She pointed towards the dark dotted figures at the pace of the dust column. He frowned as she spoke simply.

“Those are [Oliphants]. They’re a branching evolution of [Gatho Mammoths]. And they seem to be their Level 100 [Goliath Oliphant] evolution.”

“That’s…”

His eyes widened. Daniel moved immediately. He couldn’t let them get close. Even if he could deal with a handful of giant elephant-like monsters, that didn’t mean he’d be able to do so while protecting the caravan.

He marched forward as Amanda followed behind him. She sighed.

“Are we seriously doing this? Don’t we usually, I don’t know, need a plan of action before jumping into battle?”

“Here’s the plan: we stop them.”

Daniel spoke simply. His body glowed as he activated [A Hero’s Rage]. He was wreathed in glowing armor. His Primordial Longsword grew in length, becoming a massive broadsword. Amanda stared at him.

“That’s… not a plan, you fucking idiot.”

“[Lesser Wyverns]. Danger.”

Willy spoke as I flew towards the Motharis Mountain Range. Below me, I saw Daniel and Amanda moving as well, while the rest of the caravan retreated away from the giant stampede.

“Come on, they can’t be that bad, right?”

Even from afar, I could tell that they were pretty big. Each one was about 50 feet long— some of them getting up to nearly 100 feet— but I’d fought many larger monsters before. Like the [Ancient Centinel]. And it wasn’t like size was everything.

Each one of the [Goliath Oliphants] towered on average about 200 feet. They were taller than some castles I’d seen. Bigger than most buildings and city walls. Yet, they were being chased and hunted down by the [Lesser Wyverns].

I watched as three [Lesser Wyverns] swooped down at one of the [Goliath Oliphants], felling it with their claws. Another [Goliath Oliphant] turned to help it, but the rest of the pack left them behind. The two were slaughtered by the flock of [Lesser Wyverns], forgotten by the rest.

The [Lesser Wyverns] continued giving chase. The pack of [Goliath Oliphants] made a trumpeting noise, and from their trunks, shot out more sand and dust into the air, kicking up the sandstorm around them. It was like they were trying to obfuscate the vision of the [Lesser Wyverns].

“Huh.”

I looked at the trajectory of the [Goliath Oliphants]. Even if I interrupted their advance, they would’ve still wreaked havoc to the caravan. I didn’t want that. Willy stared at me.

“Something?”

“Yep. I need your help.”

I created a Nebular Bow as the monsters approached. I turned to the [Will O’ Wisp].

“Can you use your flames to redirect the [Goliath Oliphants]?”

“Wyverns?”

“I can deal with them for now. Go get Daniel’s help too. We need to make sure they don’t stampede through the caravan.”

Willy stared at me.

“That… smart. Thoughtful.”

“I don’t want Saffron to be hurt from this. And I especially don’t want her to be upset at me if her friends die.”

I snorted as I loosed a single Nebular Arrow at the flock of [Lesser Wyverns]. I expected to see one of giant winged monster’s fall from the sky. But instead, there was a flicker. Like a sphere of ice temporarily formed and protected the horde.

I blinked. The ice barrier vanished.

“Huh. That’s…”

This was going to be harder than I thought it’d be. I turned to Willy for help, but he was already flying down to meet Daniel and Amanda.

“Good luck!”

The [Will O’ Wisp] called out. I furrowed my brows.

“Wait, I didn’t know they could do that!”

I fired another arrow. And another. I created a volley of projectiles with [The Primordial Spark]. I launched the salvo of attacks at the flock. But it was all repelled by their ice barrier. I narrowed my eyes.

“Just what is that?”

But my question wasn’t answered. Instead, the [Lesser Wyverns] turned their ire towards me. I created a pair of clones as I readied myself for the battle with the giant winged beasts. There was, altogether, over a hundred of them. And they posed quite a threat, even individually.

[Lesser Wyvern - Lvl 123]

…

[Lesser Wyvern - Lvl 135]

“Well, I’m not scared of you! Come over here!”

I drew their attention, unleashing another barrage of projectiles as they charged me.

“What is she doing?”

Saffron Merryster stared into the sky as she watched Salvos unload a volley of flaming projectiles into the sandstorm. She expected the flying Demon to attack the stampede of [Goliath Oliphants], but instead, she unleashed a flurry of flaming projectiles towards the dust cloud.

But Zin Norwood saw something Saffron couldn’t.

“There are [Lesser Wyverns] hidden there. Specifically, [Lesser Frost Wyverns]. A whole flock.”

“Wyverns?! Are you serious?”

Saffron’s eyes grew wide. She produced a spyglass and peered at the direction Zin pointed out. Indeed, there was a giant shadow moving within the dust cloud. One that glimmered with the faintest bit of magic. Salvos navigated around that dark smear, attacking it with a rapid firing of arrows as it drew closer to her.

“But that doesn’t make sense! Why are there… why are there Wyverns here?”

[Goliath Oliphants] were native to the Motharis Mountain Range. They were amongst the biggest threats there, alongside [Obsidian Scaled Drakes]. They weren’t numerous— if Saffron had to guess, that stampede amounted to all the [Goliath Oliphants] that were in Motharis.

But Wyverns weren’t even native to the Human lands. There were the occasional flocks that were caught migrating over the Human lands between the Beastmen Plains and the Kobold lands. However, it wasn’t the right season for it.

It made no sense to Saffron.

She just stared up at Salvos as, finally, the Wyverns emerged from the dust cloud. And it was more than the young noble even imagined.

“T-that’s… a hundred of them! And the [Goliath Oliphants] are still…”

She didn’t finish. Even if Salvos continued to keep the Wyverns preoccupied, the [Goliath Oliphants] alone would cause significant damage. One which wouldn’t be a pretty sight. Saffron wasn’t sure what to do. That was the main threat. And something needed to be done.

“This is going to be a problem.”

Zin pursed her lips. The [Goliath Oliphants] drew closer, the tremor grew stronger, and the fighting above grew more intense. Saffron watched as the various caravans hunkered down, activating protection spells to prepare for the worse. Like they were bracing for an impending natural disaster.

“We need to—”

Saffron turned to Zin. The [Druid] opened her mouth— but before she could say anything, a wall of blue fire fell from the sky. Both women paused.

“What is that?”

Daniel leapt atop the canopy of trees, feeling the reverberation of the earth. The branches shook. The quaking grew more intense. He saw the colossal figures drawing closer. They made a bellowing noise with their trunks— far deeper than the trumpeting of any elephant on Earth.

Amanda appeared beside him. She pursed her lips as they monsters were finally close enough to use [Identification] on.

[Goliath Oliphant – Lvl 112]

…

[Goliath Oliphant] – Lvl 119]

“Are you sure about this?”

The assassin asked in a hesitant voice. Even Daniel was worried— these weren’t swarm monsters. Each individual [Goliath Oliphant] equaled to the level of a Ghoul in the Plaguelands, but could probably take on a group of the undead on its own.

“We have no other choice.”

Daniel raised his sword— and paused when he caught sight of a flicker. The air sparked. A massive wall of flames cut down from the clouds above. It even sliced through the dust cloud. Like a giant blade.

It glowed blue, and at first, Daniel thought it’d been Salvos’ flame. But it burned cold. It wasn’t fiery and hot as Salvos’ would be. No, it was different. The air chilled, the landscape froze, and the flames raged on. It scared the [Goliath Oliphants] back, just from the jarring sensation.

“This is…?”

“The Grand Spirit’s magic.”

The wall of flames rose up a hundred feet tall, spreading out nearly ten times its height in length. It separated Daniel from the [Goliath Oliphants]. And while each of the giant monsters doubled the height of the flaming wall, it slowed their approach.

Daniel looked up as the [Will O’ Wisp] descended from the sky. Willy flitted between both Amanda and Daniel as they stared at him.

“No.”

He spoke simply. Daniel blinked.

“No?”

“Fight. No.”

“We’re not supposed to fight it?”

Daniel exchanged a glance with Amanda. She shrugged, as puzzled as he was. But Willy continued in a hurried voice.

“Chase. Protect.”

The Grand Spirit flew as if he was gesturing in the direction of the caravans. Daniel finally understood what he meant. The [Hero] nodded as he lowered his blade.

“Right. Draw its attention away. Good thinking. Come on, Amanda.”

“Fuck’s sake. We can’t make up our mind, can we?”

The assassin rolled her eyes as she followed Daniel. With a single leap, he threw himself over the hundred foot wall of flames. Amanda was right behind him. They ran adjacent to the [Goliath Oliphants] as the stampede began to curve around the wall, looking like they were going to navigate around it.

“They’re still going for the caravan.”

Amanda called out. Daniel waved his bright, glowing sword in the air, calling out to them.

“Hey you ugly, oversized elephants! Over here!”

They ignored him. Amanda scoffed.

“Did you think that would work?”

“No, but this will.”

The [Hero] plucked a tree off the ground and threw it like a javelin at the leading [Goliath Oliphant]. This was a stampede— herd. If there was one thing Daniel knew, it was that they adhered to herd mentality.

The pack followed the leader, and the leader was just struck by a giant tree from a tiny Human man. The main [Goliath Oliphant] turned to Daniel, clearly enraged. He grinned.

“Come on!”

He shouted, swinging his glowing sword once again. This time, the glint and the shouts drew the ire of the [Goliath Oliphants]. They swerved around the wall of flames, charging straight for Daniel. He felt the shaking of the earth. Their rage made incarnate. Dozens of [Goliath Oliphants] came straight for him like a swarm of mindless monsters.

And he paused.

“…uh, what do we do now?”

“Fucking idiot— run!”

Amanda grabbed him, and they vanished with a single use of [Savage Step].

Saffron couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief as the [Goliath Oliphants] swerved away from the caravans. Crisis averted. Daniel, Amanda, and Willy were working together to keep those hulking monsters away.

The shaking subsided slightly. But instantly, Saffron turned her attention to something else. Something that was clearer now that the dust cloud was gone.

Salvos continued battling the flock of [Lesser Wyverns] in the sky. And by the looks of it, it was a hard fought battle. One that the Dem— silver-haired woman was struggling with.

“She can’t pierce their barrier…”

Saffron whispered. She didn’t get it. No matter what Salvos threw at the [Lesser Wyverns], they repelled it with ease. A few of the winged creatures tried to swoop in close, but Salvos could deal with them individually. So, they were mostly grouping together as they were protected by their ice barrier.

“What is that? Some kind of combination casting?”

Zin shook her head.

“Combination casting? No. It’s not anything quite as sophisticated. It is simply strength in numbers. If a thousand [Mages] cast the same barrier at the same time, they’d be able to create quite a formidable shield, even if they were low-leveled. The same logic holds here.”

There was a pause. Saffron narrowed her eyes. She took in this bit of information as the fighting continued. It was mostly an even fight— one that was brought to a stand-still as Salvos attacked and the Wyverns simply defended.

But…

“But… if the Wyverns can pool their magic to defend, can’t they—”

“Yes.”

Zin closed her eyes as the Wyverns drew back. She raised her staff, preparing for battle as there was a shimmering from the center of the Wyvern flock. Saffron gaped as the air grew colder, even from afar.

“If the Wyverns can pool their magic to defend, then that means they can pool their magic to attack.”

A blast of ice shot out from the center of the Wyvern flock. Salvos zipped back as it shot straight at her. She was wholly unprepared for it. Saffron shouted as the blast of a hundred [Lesser Wyverns] struck the Demon, taking her out of the air.

“Salvos!”