Chapter 499 Clear Winner and Grateful Loser
The citizens of Gilga were also caught up in a furor, as the flash of purple light caught the city by surprise. It didn't take long for word to spread and for everyone to notice the city that had now appeared just outside of Gilga's walls.
To quell the excitement, Vixus stood atop Gilga's city walls as the guild members spread the announcement crystals for Gilga to hear.
"Everyone, Frostburn City has been temporarily relocated. Moranti, the God of Space has placed it outside of Gilga until we claim a territory for King Wilheim and the rest of the former citizens of Aazoon. They'll be joining Trodar as the fifth territory."
"No, as the sixth territory!" A new voice shouted. Choron rushed to Vixus's side and continued his shouts, "Choron has agreed to meet with Trodar and discuss terms for allegiance and possible subjugation!"
Glad he could finally announce it, Vixus played along, "Wonderful! Just as Choron, the Ninja God, has stated, we've been trying to reach out to Churstin. Now, we've finally confirmed their willingness to discuss the matter. With Churstin joining us, Trodar will once again claim the entire southeastern corner of Kartonia and be the largest of all nations!"
Cheers and shouts spread across Gilga! Their recent excitement has been at an all-time high ever since the Leisure Guild too the spotlight, and it's only grown with each passing week.
"After Churstin joins Trodar as the fifth territory and we claim a sixth territory for the former citizens of Aazoon, the guild will hold a national festival to honor Trodar!" Vixus added, riling up the people to the limits.
While the crowds spread the news, Vixus returned to his duties. The gods all admired his ability to handle the situation and laughed along with Moranti for his decision to bring the city with them.
*****
"Almost! Come here, you pesky rats!" Kori howled as he chased after the pack of wererats.
Lorwynn laughed, flying past the hell-flame Fox with more incredible speed and finishing off the burning rats with a rain of lightning.
"Hey! No fair!" shouted Kori.
"You did it first! I can't let you beat me so easily!" replied Lorwynn.
Both men had bonded during their few days of training. Each of them was at the edge of lv. 89 now but Kori still had the lead as he started the expedition at lv. 89 and not the peak of lv. 88. They were constantly competing and racing to kill each other's prey. And with Kori only a few kills away, Lorwynn was more focused than ever.
Kori didn't say another word, only smile. Instead, Kori darted in a new direction on the second floor. He could sense a breeding ground nearby and didn't dare admit it aloud.
Lorwynn followed, of course, letting Kori do the leg work and locate the next batch of foes. There didn't appear to be anything around them, though.
After Kori stopped he dove into the ground full-force. The earth collapsed and created a giant opening. With his full-size hundred-meter flame body, Kori scorched the entire space before Lorwynn understood what was happening. Clicks and cries of various insectoids echoed within the buried hive.
Up above, Lorwynn spotted a few long, wriggling bodies escape the hell hole that Kori had created. He smiled and shook his head, "Earthen Centipedes… Of course he wouldn't tell me that…"
A powerful burst of lightning bolts fell upon the escaping centipedes, not letting any of them escape with their lives.
"Finally!" Kori's voice echoed out of the centipede hive.
At the same time, the black fire grew a shade darker. The flames grew in size and nearly attempted to attack Lorwynn.
Speeding back, Lorwynn had no trouble evading the sudden explosion of pitch-black flames. "So… I lost?"
However, the mage had no time to feel bad. The raging flames attracted all sorts of life. Many different species of insects swarmed the fire with eagerness. First to arrive were Monarch Moths with wingspans roughly ten meters long, followed by King Beetles with hard bodies that typically measured longer than six meters.
"Since you're busy with evolving, I'll just use you as bait!" Not hesitating, Lorwynn hovered in the air around the black fire to challenge the incoming insects. "Likes see what smells better roasted, moths or beetles!"
A rush of green energy inundated the area. Out of the ground burst a wall of trees and greenery, forming a perimeter around all of the rushing insects. And now that those insects had no path of retreat, Lorwynn charged through the air with holy swords and lighting bolts.
The Monarch Moths were the first to attack the mage. They spat acid through the air to stop the mage's charge but ultimately failed thanks to wind buff that Lorwynn learned from Rikko. However, Lorwynn never gave them a chance to do anything else.
While the moths evade the hasty lightning bolts, Lorwynn hid the holy swords behind them. While the lightning would streak past, the holy swords nimbly readjusted their course midair to cut holes through the wings of the many moths. This disabled many of them and forced them to skitter slowly across the ground.
But the King Beetles were tougher to face. Their exoskeletons made them harder to kill.
While Lorwynn was thundering over the crippled moths, the beetles charged him head-on. Each of their front horns aimed for the mage, some aiming to the sides in order to keep their foe from evading. They didn't mind charging headfirst as their natural defenses easily outclassed the moths which relied on tricks like acid to stun their opponents.
Lorwynn was ready, though. He maintained his flight while the King Beetles blew past him one-by-one. When on beetle almost drilled into Lorwynn's chest, Lorwynn was unfazed and used his holy swords in defense to deflect the horn.
After killing nearly all the moths, Lorwynn shifted his main focus to the relentless beetles. His holy swords clashed with the beetle's horns, winning an advantage bit-by-bit. After a few minutes, Lorwynn managed to create some tiny cracks in the sturdy exoskeletons. As a finishing blow, Lorwynn hurled the holy swords directly into those cracks while lightning coursed over the holy swords.
More clicks and hissing sounded out as the sturdy beetles died from internal electrocution. They eventually all fell, leaving Lorwynn panting within his cage of greenery and at the very cusp of lv. 90.
A long howl sounded as well, getting Lorwynn to look back and smile.
The black fire was dying down and there were no more cries of dying centipedes, as all had been reduced to cinders. Out of the dying flames arose Kori, smiling and walking confidently on the air.