The Phaged Crying Cicadas all stopped crying at once as soon as Neil killed one of them.

It seemed they shared some sort of connection among themselves.

But suddenly, their wings began to move even faster, releasing a crying sound so loud that it would make one go mad.

The sudden change made the two beasts pause, as they looked at the Phaged creatures, they were even more dangerous than normal beasts.

And there was an entire army here, though only one of them could pose any real threat.

The domain got a little time to move out of the path as the four sides remained in a momentary stalemate.

Which was broken by the 4th Origin Cicada, it charged straight towards Neil, killing intent bursting out of its body.

Neil quickly glanced at the spikey beast and the turtle beast, then he spoke: "Freya, be ready, I’m going to transform."

"Hmm." Freya hummed, now it wasn’t just his battle, they were both involved and both would die if they lose.

Before the incredibly fast cicada could reach him, Neil activated his skill and also began to transform.

[Agility Lock Activated!]

That was the fastest creature here, so stealing its speed would greatly benefit Neil.

In the next moment, he could already feel a surge in his agility while the cicada got visibly slower.

But what surprised the Phaged even more was the transformation Neil underwent, his size grew suddenly.

Releasing an aura that made all three of the creatures pause and tremble a bit, as black fog rose high.

Soon, Neil had transformed into his Phantom Phase 3 form, an armor of fog around him, his eyes full of darkness that could swallow anything.

The most shocked of course was the cicada, even if it was mostly mindless but it clearly remembered the feeling of suppression.

The fear of the phantoms, even if it had only seen one once.

Though Neil’s aura was clearly weaker than those phantoms, still it was quite terrifying.

Freya had already sealed a big area around him, so no one would be able to notice that a phantom had appeared.

ROOAAAARRRRRR

A loud bestial roar rang out as Neil burst forth at a speed which matched the cicada’s, the two blades gripped tightly.

He loosened the grip and let the blades hang while he held the chains, while charging towards the Gold Cicada, Neil swung the two chains in a big circle above his head.

BANG

BOOOOM

The chains and blades struck dozens of cicadas, making their bodies explode or freeze, or just get cut apart.

In the blink of an eye, while the three creatures were a little dizzy, he killed so many of them.

[You have killed a 3rd Origin Silver Class Crying Cicada!]

[You have killed a 2nd Origin Silver Class Crying Cicada!]

[You have killed a 2nd Origin Gold Class Crying Cicada!]

...

One after another, messages kept flashing before him, killing these bugs was too easy.

But the king of these big bugs looked even angrier now, as if it could feel the pain.

Before it could react however, Neil poured out a bunch of essence into the Inferno chain as it got brighter and brighter.

The surroundings’ temperature suddenly rose, the trees caught fire and lava began to appear over the ground.

Then he gave a sudden twist, making the Inferno blade rise up straight and then it released an extremely powerful explosion.

BOOOOOOOOM!!

All the Crying Cicadas in the air were devoured by the flames that kept expanding wider and wider in the air.

THUD THUD THUD

Many were burnt to ashes while dead bodies of half burnt cicadas rained down, nearly all of them were killed by this one single attack.

Not a single 3rd Origin was left, thankfully Neil got quite a few gene potions he could use later.

Pulling back, he held the blade and looked at the king Phaged Cicada, it was buzzing as if feeling the pain they all went through.

’So they shared sensations among them...’ Neil concluded, he glanced back and sighed in relief to see the domain move without any hindrance.

Very soon it would be out of the forest and then move away from the danger, he could escape at that time too.

WHOOSH

The cicada shot forward, its speed increasing quickly which seemed related to some of its ability.

The fiendish figure of the phantom turned and shot towards the turtle, the two beasts seemed to have become nothing more than audience in this battle.

The giant turtle didn’t want anything to do with the fiend or that big bug, it just wanted to fight that spikey thing for territory and resources.

But the turtle had no time as Neil suddenly landed on its shell, he didn’t attack however.

The cicada charged towards him, roaring in madness, it had completely gone out of mind.

CLANG

The blade like arms of the cicada attacked Neil who dodged and the attack landed on the shell, which buzzed like a large bell.

ROAAARRRRRR

The turtle roared, trying to get away from the fight but the fiendish figure wouldn’t let it leave.

The spikey beast king was dazed, then it seemed to enjoy the misery of the turtle beast.

The spikes on its body suddenly straightened, and then they shot out in the direction of the turtle.

It was joining in on the battle and hoped to use this chance to kill the turtle and the other two.

The spikes which were like big heavy spears hit the turtle but it had already gone into hiding in the shell.

While Neil and the cicada had to quickly evade the attack, this could injure even them.

KIIEEEEEEEEE

The Phaged screamed at the spikey beast, warning it to not attack but the other beast wouldn’t listen.

Neil took out the spear given to him by Cynthia, and threw it with all his might towards the spikey beast.

Normally the spikey beast would have been able to dodge it but at the last moment the spear twisted and changed its direction slightly.

WHOOSH

The spear pierced straight through one of its eyes, not going too deep or rather, it couldn’t go deeper.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!

The spiked beast king let out a painful roar as the spear automatically moved out of its eye, strange liquid pouring out of it.

Neil caught the spear and put it away, then he quickly dodged the attacks of the cicada who was only targeting him.

The blade like arm cut through the air, scratching against the fog armor of the phantom, making sparks flow out.

But then it paused, understanding that killing this creature would be difficult especially with these two beasts interfering.

It released a strange noise, then did something that Neil couldn’t understand.

The large Crying Cicada tore one of its arms, then flew back and pierced it into the armor of the turtle.

It couldn’t go too deep inside but was stuck, yet it suddenly transformed into tiny grotesque bugs and vines, spreading into the shell rapidly.

The turtle panicked, releasing violent attacks, making Neil jump back up into the air.

’What is it doing?’ Neil frowned, he didn’t want to get involved in this battle and just wanted to leave.

It was too dangerous and might attract too much attention.

But the domain was not yet far enough for him to leave just yet, he had to keep the three creatures busy.

The cicada jumped back too as its arm quickly grew back, then it tore it again and this time charged towards the spikey beast.

Although Neil couldn’t understand, he knew for sure something dangerous was about to happen.

And just like he expected, this bastard turned the two into Phaged creatures, they underwent strange grotesque mutations.

And seemed to be under the cicada’s control, just like all the cicadas that had come with it, even sharing sensations among them.

Neil could do nothing as the two beasts underwent the mutations, their skin was torn, bones pierced out.

Strange rotten flesh covered them, it was all too disgusting but in a way it would certainly make them stronger and also mindless.

It was like they were turning into zombies, and might even gain new abilities or physical properties.

After a few long moments, as the transformation ended, the two beasts too glared at Neil, their eyes full of madness just like the cicada.

’Sigh, just what I needed...’ Neil alone stood in front of the three dangerous Phaged creatures, holding the blades, looking small in front of them.

THUNDERRRRR

A loud sound rang out from the sky as dark clouds began to gather above them, it was as if the sky itself was creating a stage for the battle.

And then, heavy rain began to pour down, drenching the four.

For a few moments, there was complete silence as the two sides just stayed there.

WHOOSH

Suddenly hundreds of spikes shot out in Neil’s direction, then a long tail from the back of the turtle shot out, spraying the black poison.

While the cicada moved separately, treating the two beasts as nothing more than distractions for Neil, so it could kill him.

In this battle even Magnar would be helpless, and would be killed quickly.

But Neil had several things up his sleeves.

[Phantom’s Imprint Activated!]

Instantly imprints appeared in the soul space of all three of the Phaged, though for them it wouldn’t be as effective.

Neil just hoped they wouldn’t activate that field ability of theirs, or he would be completely helpless.

That was a big disadvantage, otherwise he would at least kill one or two before escaping.

❖❖❖

Thanks for reading... adios