With Emery's help, the sand plains that were crowded with the bloodthirsty Abyss creatures were quickly disposed of in just 30 minutes. There were a few hundred Abyss creatures still alive, but such a number wouldn't be able to pose any danger to the group.
At the same time that Emery finished exterminating the Abyss creatures, Chiko, the Chizpur plant creature who stayed with him, had successfully found the location of the particular Abyss nest mentioned by the elite acolyte member of Arcana's squad.
It was actually not that hard to find, as the only thing that needed to be done was to follow the trails the horde left behind.
Before leaving for the so-called special Abyss nest, Emery warned the fifty acolytes to not let the bewitched captain in any form of danger. After making sure these people ingrained his words in their minds, he grabbed his orbiter and dashed north following the trail Chiko had determined.
It would be faster to use [Spatial Gate] for sure, but right now, Emery's Spirit Pool barely had any spirit energy left. Half an hour of killing Abyss creatures ceaselessly had successfully spent all his spirit energy away.
Evidently, having only a third of his original Spirit Pool capacity brought him many inconveniences.
As he went deeper into the north of the continent, Emery was surprised when he discovered an unusual feeling lingering in the atmosphere that gradually increased in intensity. Up ahead, about 1,000 miles away, was where the so-called Sacred Mountain supposedly was.
The closer he got to it, the stronger the peculiar feeling was and the more Emery became curious about what lay in it.
The information he got from his device about this particular mountain simply labeled the place as a restricted area. From what it was said by Commander Raynor and his team - the official Magus Alliance team - they would be the ones in charge of handling any task in the area, while strictly prohibiting all acolytes from entering.
After a few minutes of flying, just as he was about to arrive at the Abyss nest, Emery was surprised to find a different kind of result from Spirit Reading. Knowing what it was, he quickly changed his course and rushed towards it.
There, in the distance, above a native settlement that was surrounded by wooden palisades, was an enormous cloud of black smoke. It seemed to be a settlement that had recently been ravaged by hordes of Abyss creatures - Emery had come too late.
The distinct iron smell of blood and the rotten stench of decaying corpses wafted and mixed with each other in the air, creating an extremely repulsive odor. Despite that, Emery didn't look affected as his figure slowly descended into the village.
In various places in the settlement, there were still at least a hundred Abyss creatures busy shredding and tearing apart dead human bodies. Emery saw with his own eyes the corpse of a woman holding a young child lying dead among hundreds of others.
From the looks of it, the massacre that took place in the settlement only started about an hour ago. Realizing he was only minutes away from preventing a disaster, brought an inexplicable ache in his chest.
A dozen of abyss creatures realized his arrival and came charging at him and it was the perfect time for him to unleash his rage.
With a slight motion of his hand, Emery created little crescent blades and threw them toward the incoming creatures.
[Enfeeble Blade]
He walked across the devastated settlement and cut all Abyss creatures he encountered apart. At the same time, he desperately wished he could find a survivor. Even one will do.
"Is there anyone still alive here?!"
"Anyone?!"
There was actually no point in shouting, when he could sense any sign of life with his Spirit Reading. Even so, Emery kept shouting for survivors, hoping for a miracle to happen.
Moments later, Emery had almost circled the entire settlement but still to no avail. Just when he was on the verge of losing hope, his Spirit Reading finally picked up a very faint life sign akin to a candle on the verge of being extinguished. Immediately, his figure rushed towards the sign.
What Emery found was an elderly man crushed down by piles of rocks. He was no longer breathing, but there was still a sign of life within him.
Without further ado, Emery cast [Nature Blessing] on the dying man. The spell quickly worked and healed his broken bones and torn flesh. A moment later, the elder seemed to come back to his senses. Seeing Emery, he began to slowly open his mouth.
"T-they… Came… the shrine… god… mercy."
The man woke up, but only had a chance to speak a few words.
Then, Emery watched as what happened to Gennette repeated itself once again.
A frail mortal body naturally couldn't stand the potent effects of [Nature's Blessing]. It swiftly crumbled apart and the remains turned into ashes that were carried away by air.
Once again, Emery was distraught.
What good was a powerful spell if it couldn't even save the weak.
"Arrggghhh!!!"
His emotions were in turmoil, Emery wanted to scream all his helplessness.
At this moment, the ground shook violently and the wooden wall on one side of the village collapsed, revealing a huge Abyss creature staring at him.
Rooaaarrrr!
This time, it was a 6-meter-long slithering creature with its front scalded body raised like a cobra and it had two large sytche arms alongside its menacing fangs.
[Brutalisk]
[Abyss creature stage 4]
[Battle power - 210]
The Abyss creature seemed sluggish at first, but after it let out a piercing roar, it slithered at extreme speed and swung its massive scythe at Emery.
If any of the regular or elite acolytes encountered such a creature, they would definitely be in a lot of trouble. However, not with Emery.
He instantly pulled his savage blade from the spatial space and parried the huge scythe.
Clankk!
While his right arm which was holding onto the Savage Blade perfectly stopped the scythe, his other arm already had a dark, swirling orb hovering above it.
[Dark Matter]
Emery calmly used the strength into his sword arm, pushing the scythe upward to create an opening. At the same time, he took a step closer to the ugly creature and, without the slightest hesitation, unleashed his rage through that one powerful explosion.
BAAMMMM!!!
The stage 4 Abyss creature instantly smashed apart into two pieces when the powerful spell landed on its body.
SHRRIEEKK!
Surprisingly the creature was still alive and Its upper half tried to crawl away, however, Emery approached it calmly and stabbed his sword into its head.
Splaatt!!
After confirming that the Abyss creature was dead, Emery turned around and looked at the ruined settlement once again. Scenes of destruction and death filled his vision, and he let out a deep sigh before leaping into his orbiter.
There were hundreds more abyss creatures that came charging into the village especially after hearing the huge creature shrieking call, but Emery had no time to kill them all. Without looking back, his figure shot up towards the Abyss nest where Arcana was.
Seeing the trail on the ground once again, Emery realized all the abyss creatures that destroyed the settlement were part of the ones that came out of the nest. It was Arcana's action that became the reason for the settlement's destruction.
Even though Emery knew such an event would inevitably occur during a calamity such as this, he still couldn't help but blame Arcana's selfishness and negligence.
As he arrived at his destination, Emery took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.
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