It didn't take long for Emery and the others to see a destructive scene as the Abyss creatures came rushing from several caves hidden beneath the mountains. A few even burst out of the ground - Crawlers, Lurkers, and Roaches.
They were numbered in tens of thousands as they rapidly headed towards the group like an unstoppable wave.
On the other hand, the three dozen saint fighters dressed in dark uniforms brought out their melee weapons. Swords, spears, axes, and so on made their appearances as their wielder separated themselves into groups of six and shot swiftly in six different directions.
Seeing how orderly and synergized these people moved, Emery had to admit that, although they merely possessed saint-level cultivation and were no match against him in one-on-one fights, they were indeed veteran fighters.
They cast simple, rudimentary body enhancement spells onto themselves, and all of a sudden a group of effective killing machines made their appearance on the board. In a matter of minutes, hundreds of Abyss creatures had breathed their last.
In the meantime, Commander Raynor just stood in the center while his assistants went into action.
Magus Bellaine cast a Tier 5 spell [Wind Blade], creating heaps of crescent winds that sliced through the Abyss creatures as quickly as chopping vegetables. On the other hand, the side where Magus Kenneth was at was extremely vibrant, as his [Lightning wave] summoned darts of lightning and roaring thunder, wreaking havoc among the creatures.
In seconds, the previously calm mountain atmosphere turned into a scene of chaos as fierce battles raged on across the mountains and the Abyss creatures relentlessly burst forth from the ground.
Spllaaatt!! Splaattt!!
All of the twenty privileged acolytes present swiftly followed the Magus Alliance's team into battle, unleashing a myriad of spells to their surroundings that were swarmed with countless Abyss creatures. Rocks, plants, and ices stopped the bloodthirsty advance, while fiery explosions and deafening blasts turned the creatures into ashes.
Not wanting to be left out of the party, Emery swiftly cast a spell from his repertoire that was very appropriate for this occasion.
[Ash Blast]
A cloud of dark ash suddenly appeared in the area where Emery was. It swiftly engulfed the Abyss creatures rushing towards Emery, but the only fate awaiting for them was a merciless slaughter. As the ash cloud subsided, an annihilation scene unfolded where dead bodies were scattered everywhere and not a single corpse managed to remain intact.
A few minutes later, when another wave of the Abyss creatures came, finally higher stage creatures made their appearances. They broke out and shook the ground upon their arrival, causing some of the acolytes and saint-level fighters to lose their balance and stumble to the ground.
Dozens of stage 4 Abyss creatures, the hulking Ravagers, emerged from the ground and started shooting poisonous spit from their mouths. In response, several defensive spells, walls and barriers were erected as protection.
"Stage 4?! Me! I want it! Give them to me!" shouted Arcana as he immediately used his third eye ability and successfully enchanted one of the stage 4 Ravagers, making it shoot its poisonous spit towards its brethren instead.
Seeing this, the kid-looking acolyte laughed maniacally. "Hahaha! Kill them all, my minion!!"
Alas, the laughter only lasted for more than a few seconds as Arcana's enchanted Abyss creature was suddenly split in half by a sword. As its two separated bodies fell helplessly to the ground, Zach;s figure was seen standing right behind it with his hand clenching the bloodstained sword.
Splaatt!!
"NO!!!" Arcana's hysterical scream resounded clearly in the air. Unfortunately for him, Zach completely ignored his scream and just continued killing the Abyss creatures that were nearby.
A few minutes later, even though the group continued to kill the Abyss creatures relentlessly, the valley was almost completely filled with crawling Abyss creatures. It was at this time that Atlas' figure could be seen shooting up into the sky before he unleashed his fire and thunder combined spell [Flare Tempest] onto the ground below, sending out a storm of extreme obliteration that instantly killed a large number of Abyss creatures.
The aftermath of the spell was so astounding that it temporarily distracted everyone's attention without exception. The bright flash produced by the spell shot high into the sky and could be seen from a distance.
Suddenly, a figure was seen approaching rapidly from the distant sky. A man standing on a golden disc slowly descended from the sky, seemingly oblivious to the chaos unfolding on the ground. He was the one Jinkan had been waiting for, Eesho Nephilim.
The man clasped his hand together creating some kind of a hand sign and Emery saw a blazing light emerging before turning into several powerful rays that turned everything in its path into dust.
[Sun Beam]
The rays of light wreaked havoc amidst the horde of Abyss creatures, so destructive that it managed to kill more Abyss creatures than Atlas had just killed in a matter of seconds. Moreover, dozens of deep ditches were made in the ground as a result.
The fierce battle continued for a few more minutes until finally the tremor stopped and no more Abyss creatures emerged from the ground. The battle finally ended and out of all fifty or so people who participated in the battle, only three were injured by the stage 4 Abyss creature's poisonous spit.
"Now that everyone is here, listen up!" said Commander Raynor in a loud voice.
The commander gave a brief explanation of what kind of existence they would be facing in the upcoming mission, and specific instructions for the acolytes to follow certain rules during the fight.
"Our mission is the successful retrieval of the lifeform. If you dare to mess this up, I will not hesitate to fail you or kill you if I have to."
After finishing his briefing, Commander Raynor immediately flew into the sky and made his way towards a certain direction. His two assistants followed right behind him and seeing this, the others swiftly followed suit.
As they went deeper into the Sacred Mountain and got closer to their objective, Emery could feel a much stronger aura of familiarity, making him sure where he was heading to.
A few minutes later, the group arrived at one of the largest mountains, and from its peak, they could see a huge crater that was about three miles wide.
Without further ado, led by Commander Raynor himself, the group started descending into the large hole deep into the ground. When they reached inside, they found that an even bigger open space existed.
There was no lava or any source of fire whatsoever, but Emery saw traces of trees and plants in the surrounding area that had recently been turned into ashes.
The object that immediately attracted his eyes was no other than the huge gray tree that stood in the center of this space. This tree must have been the same Tree of light in his vision. The previous majestic tree was no more, but even though it appeared to have completely dried up, it still exuded a powerful aura. ᴀll ɴ ᴏᴠᴇʟ Fuʟʟ.cᴏm
From afar, Emery recognized a creature he had seen before - the stage 5 Abyss creature Chrysalis. There were four of them, lying around the dead-looking tree and motionless.
Seeing this, Commander Raynor turned and said, "All of you spread out as planned, at least 100 meters away from that tree."
It didn't take long for the three dozen saint-level figures and 20 privileged acolytes scattered into six groups and surrounded the place. Meanwhile, Commander Raynor accompanied by his two assistants and, surprisingly, one Zach Talon approached the dead-looking tree.
As they got closer to the tree, Emery who was partially paying attention to them could surprisingly hear a faint whisper in his ear.
It said, "Go away..."