Now that the mysterious butterfly had been secured, Emery focused his mind on casting Spirit Reading towards the chamber where he fought the tier 5 Abyss creature.
As he had been there before, he was familiar with the area and it allowed him to sense the place much more easily and was successful in casting his [Spatial Gate].
Entering the swirling portal, it led him to a tunnel just outside the main chamber. After making sure there was no threat nearby, Emery proceeded to use his new spell, [Undermaster].
The spell made it feasible for him to easily form the ground, especially to create space within. Without taking much time, he quickly came up with the notion to create a tunnel he could walk through. It took a bit of time and effort, but eventually, the dirt and rocks blocking his path were gone.
He went into the tunnel and just after a few dozen meters, a way was opened. At this moment, Emery found Micah's ice barrier, which had been created to protect them from being crushed by rocks.
"Someone is there! that's the commander!"
The trapped individuals instantly turned their gaze at Emery once he arrived at their location. Most of them were happy to see him. Arcana, on the other hand, appeared to have something more important to ask of him other than anything else.
The acolyte then quickly exclaimed,
"Did you kill the creature? You did…didn't you? I just saw your ranking rise up crazily!"
Emery had no reason to lie, so he just calmly responded, "Yeah."
Hearing Emery's answer, the kid-looking acolyte couldn't seem to contain his anger any longer, as he suddenly yelled, "You! You've promised!"
"No, I did not!" Emery interrupted, "Even if I did, there was no way to keep the creature alive for you," he added.
After hearing Emery's response, Arcana was barely able to keep his anger under control. In spite of his feelings of frustration, what Emery had just said at the moment made sense, but feeling he couldn't do anything about it only made him angrier.
Emery could only heave a sigh at the other party's attitude. However, he did not want this matter to distract him, so he went to check on the others. It was at this moment when he realized the bald acolyte was nowhere to be found.
The last time Emery saw him, he had been badly injured by the Abyss creature's attack. It was most likely the man had already been crushed by the falling rocks at this point. However, that wasn't what angered Emery.
Despite the fact the bald acolyte was a member of Arcana squad, his captain did not show any signs he cared at all. Hell, the man still glared at him with a hostile look. Seeing such an attitude only made Emery's hate towards the kid-looking acolyte grow even more.
Afterward, Emery immediately called Chiko out to help out searching for the man. He still had to at least try to find the corpse. That way, the man could be properly buried later.
Luckily, it didn't take long for the chubby creature to be finally able to locate the bald acolyte. The man was found in an extremely serious condition to the point where he was half dead with his limbs and chest being crushed by rocks.
Emery swiftly cast his [Nature Blessing] and [Regrow Limbs] to help the injured acolyte.
Fortunately, both spells were effective in saving the man's life. After a few minutes, the bald acolyte was coughing as he finally escaped death.
"Uhuk… thank... you commander. I am Yuri… I am now indebted to you," said the man, his voice shaky.
Emery only gave a nod as a response and continued to cast [Undermaster] spell in order to create a tunnel into the corner of the chamber.
Only minutes later, Emery found what he had been looking for, a boulder with a rune mark. The one that would give bonus points for a squad when destroyed.
The annoyed Arcana approached the boulder and was ready to destroy it. Seeing this, Emery quickly got in the way, raised his hand, and stopped him.
"What now?! Don't tell me you also want the point for yourself?!" asked Arcana in a raised tone, making Emery raise his eyebrows.
Emery maintained his composure as he turned to look toward Micah and the others. "No… Not me. I will give the honor to those who contribute the most." As he said that, his eyes scanned at the group of acolytes and stopped at one of them.
"Lodos!"
Emery's decision brought a surprise to all.
"Not only did Lodos work extra hard in this fight, Micah barrier also saved all your lives, and their captain, Rayne, killed thousands of creatures outside, so I say Lodos, this is for you!"
When Arcana heard this, the anger he barely managed to suppress finally burst out like a volcano as he let out a string of curses.
Unfazed, Emery calmly approached the kid-looking acolyte, "If you dare to cause any more trouble, I will tie you up for the whole test and make sure that you fail."
It was a burst of emotion that has been bottling up for a while. Although Emery wasn't sure that he had the power to hold Arcana.
He was not just tired, he was really angry at the man. In fact, he was ready for a rematch with the acolyte if needed.
On the other hand, the kid-looking acolyte stole a glance towards his elite members for a second. At that moment, when he saw not a single one of them willing to return his gaze, he realized none of them would stand by his side.
Once again, Arcana turned real quiet and did not dare to challenge Emery. Seeing the meek display, Emery didn't say anything and just continued to stare at the kid-looking acolyte.
"Listen to my command and I assure you I will help you and your men to pass the test," Emery stated.
Then, he shifted his attention to Lodos, who was currently showing a wicked smile. Receiving a nod, the Maniac swiftly cast [Obsidian Lance] and broke the boulder apart.
[Squad 29 - has cleared a Nest - 5000 points awarded to all squad members]
Now that the Nest was cleared, Emery created a [Spatial Gate] and headed toward the walls where the other acolytes had finished clearing up all of the remaining Abyss creatures.
Under Emery's calm yet oppressing gaze, Arcana freed Rayne from the spell he had cast on her.
"You fuking bastard!"
Once Rayne returned to her usual self, a fight almost broke out between the two as the blonde girl cursed and swore to kill Arcana for what he had done to her. Fortunately, Emery had already anticipated for such a thing to happen and the fight was averted.
After making sure Rayne was calm and wasn't going to do anything drastic, Emery started to explain the grand plan that had been prepared to the group of people.
The idea to save millions of people within 10 days, was once again not well received by the group. However, it was easier to convince the group this time, as the plan had been agreed by the other 8 squads and was already in motion.
There were also a hundred thousand points to be received if they could survive, hence, they had no option but to follow.
In the end, Emery was able to recruit 60 more acolytes to help him in clearing the Abyss nests and gathering survivors in the northern part of the continent he was assigned to.
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