Chapter 548: The monster in the fog
The dense fog didn’t go away even if they stayed stationary. They only exchanged a few simple sentences with each other. But, it didn’t take long for the fog to get thicker. They can barely make out the faces of their friends who are nearby.
“What now? Are we waiting for the mist to clear up before we move or…”
Fei Fei asked Bing Ling and Bishi for suggestions. Both of them shook their head bitterly. They aren’t sure what to do too…
Nobody expected a weather event like this considering how spontaneously this happened. They ordered their members to stay still. If they moved around recklessly then that would be foolish of them. They hosted another brief meeting to discuss their next moves.
Wu Yan saw the four leaders talking it out so he pouted his lips in boredom. He opened his item shop to see if there’s anything he can use to dispel this annoying mist. Suddenly, his hand stopped moving.
Their surrounding is very silent, yet, a series of scuttling sound came from a distance. It got close pretty soon and they thought it’s a trick played by the wind. But, they immediately perceived something odd. Rather than the wind rustling the branches of the trees, it’s like something is brushing rapidly past the branches, something sinister.
“We’ve got company!”
Fei Fei, Sylph, Bing Ling, and Bishi got into battle formation. They equipped their armament, the other team members also got into their respective positions, displaying their prowess as elites who were assembled for this expedition. They made sure there’s no hole in their defensive formation.
With their keen hearing, they heard the sound of something slithering on the ground although they can’t see clearly due to the fog.
Peeling their eyes open, they scanned the area for abnormalities. Time ticked on the weird noises stayed but there are no unusual movements at all.
Wu Yan frowned.
“Wind?”
“No!”
Mikoto shook her head.
“The wind isn’t something has a set rhythm, this feels organic, this is defnitely no wind!”
“Master…”
Ikaros’ eyes flashed red and she explained herself.
“My radar has detected lifeforms in the vicinity.”
“Yes, I can vouch for that, there is something else here.”
Shokuhou Misaki nodded.
“I can detect mental waves in the surrounding area.”
“You do?”
Wu Yan continued.
“Can you control them?”
“Not possible.”
Shokuhou Misaki shook her head without hesitation.
“It’s beyond my current abilities, most likely it’s…”
“Yeah!”
Hinagiku conjured her weapon in a flurry of sakura petals. A long crystal sword appeared in her hand, glittering faintly even with the low luminosity in this area.
“It’s a tier 8 demonic beast!”
When they heard the words “Tier 8 demonic beast” their chests tightened. The noise died down and something flew at the group while tearing the air in its wake.
“It’s here!”
Somebody yelled out loud and they saw black figures emerging from within the fog. What appeared was a bunch of floating water balls.
With around a meter in diameter, the glistening metallic-looking water ball came crashing down at the expedition team. It’s a ball of liquid but a ton of magic power imbued it.
Nobody doubted the damage it can bring, if anyone got hit then they would probably be mortally wounded or worse.
Bing Ling poured his douqi out and he covered the liquid balls with his energy. Soon, the liquid balls froze up and fell to the floor.
Bing Ling’s action was followed by others, they started defending against the water balls.
The armaments drew afterimages as they slammed against the water balls. The members are performing better than they did yesterday as they successfully destroyed or repelled the water balls.
However, there are just way too many water balls than they can possibly handle. Bing Ling neutralized a part of it and the rest also did a good job defending. They evaded if they can’t defend. Soon, some water balls slipped past their defenses, the trajectory seems to be heading towards Sylph. Sylph started giving off a blue sheen of magic power.
With a simple wave of her hand, she summoned forth a lot of ice shards, using the surrounding fog as material to conjure them. She also swiftly lowered the immediate temperature in this area.
The ice shards got engulfed by the water balls but the ice shards managed to slow the water balls down, giving the others an easier time to deal with them.
Fei Fei, Bing Ling, and Bishi defended the front while overseeing the other team members. In a storm of battle techniques, magic, and armament, they watched as the water balls got destroyed one by one. They felt a bit helpless when Sylph intervened.
To think she would have to bail them out at the start of their journey into the center of the Giant Beasts Forest.
A terrifying noise came as a fire-red figure appeared from within the mist. With its appearance, it called forth another wave of water balls that are larger than the previous ones.
The elite team members are ill-prepared for this attack. In a panic, they did what they could but they were forced back by the entity. It didn’t take long for another gap in defense to appear.
A water spear shot out from within the fog, it passed through the gap and would soon hit Kinuhata Saiai.
Kinuhata Saiai’s turned serious, she raised her right arm and a dense packet of air appeared around her fist, it’s like a glove made of air. She slammed her augmented fist at the water spear.
Another water spear, smaller but faster, shot out at her like a lightning bolt. This spear hit her fist, dispelling the condensed air she had on her hand.
Even Kinuhata Saiai didn’t see this coming, she gasped and tried to manifest a nitrogen armor around herself. Due to that, she only managed to conjure a thin layer of compressed air.
Boom
The spear slammed into Kinuhata Saiai, dispelling her nitrogen armor in the process.
Kinuhata Saiai breathed a sigh of relief when she discovered that she’s unharmed. She was about to say something when Mikoto & Hinagiku cried out in shock while Kinuhata Saiai tensed up.
“Watch out!”
A black sticky looking tentacle came thrashing out from the mist, the target, Kinuhata Saiai.