As Edward was analyzing the situation, the runes floating in the sky glowed with energy once more. This guy is repairing them once again. At least it means he is not chasing Ignis and Adotinus anymore. But the insistence to which he is repairing this structure is worrying. I doubt its role is limited to controlling and producing the mist. I mean sure we won’t be able to disperse the mist again if he summons it once more, but he doesn’t know that. Besides at his power level, if he simply spent his time hunting us with the help of his monsters, there is a good chance that he would be able to kill us or at least force us to escape the capital. What is he up to?

I can’t let him repair the runes but I think I still have some time, the damage is not limited to some cracks and holes, entire sections are missing. It won’t be fixed so easily.

Edward focused back on the situation at hand. He may have been more cautious before, but now that he was on a time limit, he had to take some risks. He began by conjuring a small cloud of aura needles. He kept control of them and stealthily dispersed them unbeknownst to the monsters. Then, all at once, they rushed at the flying eyes monitoring the city from the sky. All of them that were hit died just like that, leaving but a few alive. The monsters naturally grew agitated, the Manticores standing up, and the giant snail deploying its tentacles, but they weren’t able to spot the culprit. Edward gave them a hand.

He summoned a clone that he made run away in a direction opposite to him. The last surviving flying eyes followed it, and the two Manticores took flight after him as well, leaving the giant snail alone with the centipedes. This wasn’t enough to stand up to Edward. “Rèng khwāmrĕw”, he used his acceleration and dashed out of his hideout straight toward the snail. At the same time, he produced two more copies to hold off the centipedes. His copies couldn’t use his powers so they didn’t beneficiate from his acceleration but that was enough to confront the centipedes.

As tentacles swept toward his position Edward simply teleported right next to the snail where all the tentacles were originating from, he was able to cleave them all in one powerful swing. Giant snails were a lot easier to deal with when his teleportation wasn’t limited by the mist anymore. The monster shook in pain and Edward finished it off, sending one aura spear after the other spike through its body.

The next instant he called back his clones fighting the centipedes and produced an expanding aura ring with him at the center to deal with the remaining monsters. Only half of them died. Right, they might be weak but I forgot how tough those monsters’ bodies are. Before he had the time to do anything else he sensed that the connection with the clone he had sent running away had vanished. The two Manticores had managed to destroy it and were already coming back. No time to deal with the surviving centipedes. It's fine, it will be an aerial fight anyway.

Edward jumped upward, leaving behind a groove in the ground, aura steps manifested under his feet supporting his ascension. He was still in his accelerated state and went immediately on the offensive firing out two aura blades at the incoming monsters. At this distance they felt that they had enough time to avoid them but when they flew to the side the blades followed them as Edward hadn’t given up control of them. The two monsters were hit, leaving behind a minor injury.

They retaliated in fury, waving their paws, three parallel lines of energy leaving from it with each swing. Seeing the crisscross of attacks coming his way Edward chose to avoid it. He teleported above the monsters. I would have liked to teleport directly onto them to pummel them, but their scorpion tail looks like a mean thing. If this thing carries venom, it could end very badly very quickly if I got hit.

Edward still remembered the weakening venom from the Murlocs, they were weak monsters but by the time Edward noticed the venom it had already been too late and it had almost cost him his life. When he was fighting against the spiders, the tarantulas also had their own venom, a much more potent one that had been able to paralyze him. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice, especially since he fought alone. If he got incapacitated nobody would be here to help him.

He kept his distance from their tail, only sending aura blades at them. He tried to condense his aura as much as he could without delaying his attacks too much. The monsters that had invaded Pescara had unusually tough bodies. In the same way, if he wanted to deal with Nephelin he would have to be able to produce high damage attacks in a short time frame. Since Nephelin could teleport, Edward wouldn’t have the occasion to charge his attacks, and his normal attacks weren’t enough to bypass his defense.

In his accelerated state, Edward was faster than the Manticores. Their attacks, although powerful, were only hitting empty air or unlucky centipedes that got turned to shred. In contrast, each of Edward’s strikes was hitting them, and even with strong bodies, they were still getting injured. In a short amount of time, the accumulated damage was too much for them to sustain and they collapsed dead. Edward didn’t waste any time and rushed to absorb their energy. He manifested a few clones to eliminate the few centipedes that had survived until now so that he could absorb the defeated monsters’ essence in peace. The flying eyes are somehow linked to each other. More of them must be coming with another cohort of monsters. I don’t have too much time. I have to eliminate all the monsters residing with the capital but if I don’t have to deal with all of them at once it would be for the better.

Edward swiftly vacated the area before more monsters reached this place, he didn’t want to end up surrounded by angry and hungry monsters. He only managed to flee two streets away before he sensed some movements. He used the shadow cloak spell again, sticking to the base of a collapsed wall. While staying immobile within the shadow, the spell allowed him to turn invisible.

The first to arrive were the scouting flying eyes, they fluttered in the sky, staying in place for an instant before suddenly changing direction and searching for Edward. They were followed by Manticores, since they were able to fly as well, they were one of the most mobile monsters. Five of them flew over the area before landing on high ground, spots where only half a mansion had collapsed, letting them oversee the area. The centipedes came later, lagging behind. No giant snails show up, they had fast attacks but their displacement speed in itself was lackluster.

I’m glad that I learned that shadow spell. I could still have fled with my teleportation otherwise, but then it would mean I would have to leave the city and come back after each ambush which is rather cumbersome. I wonder how Ignis and Adotinus are faring. Are they staying low after Nephelin attacks or have they started to hunt monsters as well?

Edward was ready to leave when he saw a six-legged panther appeared amid the monsters, one moment there was but empty air, and the next it was there, he hadn’t sensed it coming. It was impressive, towering above even the Manticores. So, there is indeed at least another one of those. I’m not confident I can deal with it with all of those other monsters nearby. I was planning to leave anyway, with so many monsters rushing in this area I bet it left a vacuum behind them. It will be much easier on me if I can isolate them. In the end, I will absorb their essence all the same.

In a way, it is mind-blowing to think that monsters at or above the predator level are supposed to be rare. I have lost count of how many I have killed, and with so many of them here I’m far from done.

He didn’t dare to scan the whole capital with his aura for fear of attracting Nephilin’s attention. In order to avoid teleporting straight to a monster he kept his shadow cloak spell active and used close teleportation, teleporting from shadow to shadow. Since he was teleporting and his body wasn’t actually moving, the spell kept him invisible, maintaining his stealth while the cooldown for his teleportation was resettling. Edward was able to leave the area while staying undetected.

It didn’t take him long for him to find a suitable target. A five-meter-tall Cyclops was rummaging through the smoldering ruins of a mansion with what looked like to be a broken decorative marble column. The column in itself was two meters long and probably weighed several hundred kilograms. The monster was tall and had bulging muscles, there was no doubting his strength but that didn’t impress Edward. By now he was a veteran at fighting monsters and he wouldn’t be easily cow. Its single massive eye was a massive weakness, and Edward didn’t need to think about how to reach it.

Edward checked the surroundings, no Manticores were nearby and only a few centipedes were in the area, even the flying eyes were missing, probably looking for him at his last known location. I couldn’t ask for a better situation. It’s time to shine.

He let go of the shadow cloak spell and teleported in the air right in front of the Cyclops’ eye. A javelin manifested in his hand from his aura and Edward threw it with all the strength he could muster, even using his ten-meter domain to accelerate the spear while it was still inside of it. The strike flew like a meteor, at this distance, it couldn’t miss its target and the monster had no time to react before it pierced its eye, blinding him.

The giant monster bellowed in pain and rage, blindly swinging his makeshift weapon around. Impressive whistles and wind currents were created by his swings but there was no way Edward would be hit by attacks of this level. Aura steps formed under his feet and he charged closer to the giant, aiming for the jugular. Knowing full well the impressive resistance displayed by the Andherians monsters he superimposed one dagger above the other, joining them in one massive aura blade. This attack alone would have been able to cleave a Wyrm in two.

Edward cut through the Cyclops’ flesh, blood pouring out in droves. However, the monster was still alive, it put a hand on its injury trying to somehow stop the blood flow. It stumbled awkwardly but refused to fall. Edward sighed. Seriously, how tough are those monsters? I don’t have all day, others will show up before long with all the racket that it’s making. Edward dived through the air, cutting its other jugular. With no blood flowing to its brain, the monster finally collapsed dead but not before managing to take three more steps. Edward looked at the body that was blocking a whole street by itself. Well, that was easier than I expected. This monster is big but honestly, Manticores are harder to deal with.