Mythshaper-Interlude IIIB

At once, everyone's eyes flashed upwards as more light flared, igniting the whole channel in glaring illumination. That wasn’t all. Immediately, Jinn became aware of the contrasting aura and the weight of essence permeating the stale air.

Then came the scream of a man on his left.

“Wards!” shouted Quintus Septimus.

A force shield flared up, obstructing the dozens of corpse flies from zeroing in on them. Regrettably, they only had three Shapers—two at Noble Class, whereas the third, Guildmaster Rowin, despite being of the Prestigious Class, was clearly far from his peak. Needless to say, their cumulative effort was not enough to shield all thirty-odd fighters, even for a couple of seconds.

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Thankfully, they didn’t need to. They were here to clear the rift, not hide from the suncursed creatures. Within a split second, all the augmenters pulled themselves up, shields raised and weapons drawn.

Even the adventurer who had screamed seemed to be all right. He had merely been beaten to the ground by a corpse fly crashing into his chest. The members in his formation managed to pull him back in time. Gulping down a nervous breath, he, too, mounted his shield.

Jinn sliced through the first corpse fly that shot at him. It was about three metres long—not the largest, but definitely a sizeable one. Yet his blade, Ouroborus, had no trouble slicing through its rough exterior, cutting it clean in half without him needing to employ any of his power or aura.

Purple and black gooey ichor sprang into the air, about to smear onto his body, but his aura obstructed it.

Unfortunately, not everyone was having as easy a time. A soldier on his right was caught off guard by a couple of those corpse flies. His shield protected him, but before he could deal a significant blow, the creatures evaded him and attacked someone adjacent.

That wasn’t even the worst of it. Most of the combatants had to battle defensively, obstructing the attacks of those aerial creatures with their shields. Only Quintus Septimus and a select few were dispatching the monsters in quick order.

Although the Shapers had failed to form a barrier that shielded them all, they still managed to create large blocks of ward overhead. Not only did this ward off the large number of packs, but it also channelled the tainted monsters through specific directions. Although this didn’t nullify all their aerial advantages, at least all the augmenters had an easier time keeping up with their attacks and flight.

Quintus Septimus stood protectively between the two young Shapers as they worked their magic.

Tuli, the Karmel-born Shaper, took on the lion’s share of maintaining the ward. Meanwhile, her partner shot fire arrows and fireballs at the creatures sliding through the channels.

Fire was one of the more potent elements against the blight. But for fire attacks to be effective, their intensity had to be high—akin to molten lava—to char these creatures into sordid charcoal in an instant. What the Shaper managed hardly weakened them, as the corpse flies could mostly evade or extinguish the flames by flapping their wings. Not to mention their inherent power of Devour, which was not limited to consuming flesh and raw essence.

Mostly, physical assault and Kinetic Force held a significant sway against these wiry flies.

From the look of it, the battle was going to be a long one. Unless Jinn decided to do more than spectate.

Well, he was felling the creatures coming at him rather easily, barely taking one or two swings of Ouroborus, but he could do much more than that.

Although warped existences, these tainted creatures had a semblance of intelligence, enough to avoid him, finding their measly ways were futile to harm him.

Jinn would have to go out of his way to kill them now. But there was no need for it.

Guildsman Septimus had it all under control. And so did Arata, though his old colleague was not showing off all his tricks. While the Guildsman was hurtling his flaming lance around, pushing back the creatures, Centurion Arata stood in place and dispatched those in his close proximity.

Nobody had received any grievous injuries yet, only scratches and some tumbling over, although the constant expenditure of essence, will, and weight on the barriers was taking a toll on the Shapers.

Even the aged Rowin was no better, as he was splitting his focus between reinforcing the barrier and shooting down the monsters.

He was already being targeted by a large flock of corpse flies, with his essence weaving glowing like a beacon to the senses of the flying monsters. Jinn took care of most of his safety because they needed the old man to focus more on warding.

The local Guildmaster was one of the rare existences among Shapers, born with only transference-type essence, but that only pushed him to pursue Kinetic Force Shaping and Telekinesis harder. He had mastered them both, and manipulated them so fine and precise that the other two shapers could only dream of reaching such mastery in their lifetime.

The tide turned further in their favour as the number of corpse flies dwindled to the point that it was almost manageable to deal with them without the wards. Some fighters even grouped up, singling out the tainted creatures.

Severed sinewy forms of those hideous creatures littered the ground as time stretched on. If things continued this way, they would be done within a few minutes, without taking any serious blows.

It was then that a spine-chilling screech reverberated through the channel.

A massive shadow broke through the barrier, shattering it like clear glass. The weave of the barrier barely dissipated into mist and flickers of light before the cursed corpse fly was already shooting towards the Shapers.

Jinn’s eyes locked onto the monstrosity as he prepared to move if they needed him.

He was, of course, not alone in this opinion. Even before the Shapers themselves could react, a voice shrieked from behind Jinn, followed by a figure dashing towards the centre where the Shapers stood.

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“Tuli!”

It was none other than Delric, the young instructor, who jumped in to help, with the single-minded thought of protecting his friend.

The pyromancer acted first, surging with all his flames to thrust a beam towards the monstrosity. But the creature had already reached Cursed rank, its strength easily equal to a Prestigious Class fighter. Evading the fire didn’t come as a problem for it. It only needed to twist its form in the air and glided down towards Tuli.

Despite not being battle-hardened, Tuli was battle-ready. With her old master providing a kinetic shield around her, she utilised all her capability to tear earth from beneath their feet, moulding it into large chunks of stone and hurling them at the monstrosity.

But the issue remained the same. Though the creature was over nine feet long, it was still fast and nimble like its counterparts. It evaded most of the stones with ease, letting out a psionic screech that froze most of the Common Class in place. Yet its path remained the same, fully absorbed in ending Tuli.

Delric reached Tuli before the monstrosity, though he was not alone in that endeavour. Promptly joined by Quintus Septimus, who barely had to traverse half the distance. Delric paid him no attention, standing a mere two paces away from Tuli, his sword held high.

He faced the creature head-on, in contrast to the Guildsman, who took up a strategic position attacking from the rear, his flaming lance at the ready.

Lunging forward, Delric swung his blade at the monstrosity. It didn’t even flinch, nor change its trajectory. Before the sword could strike, the creature retaliated, flinging him backwards, crashing into several soldiers and disrupting their formation.

“Blighted Plebian fool!” cursed Quintus and had no other choice but to attack the monstrosity. Showing his skill, he plunged on top of it, drawing its attention away from the shapers.

Fire and stone rained down upon it. The creature flapped its wiry wings, scattering the flames, but the stones posed a greater problem, especially when the flaming lance tore through its wiry wings.

Quintus Septimus mutilated the left pair of wings with three bold blows. Though not as precise as he wanted them to be, he rendered high flight impossible for the cursed monstrosity. It still attempted to fly and barely rose a few metres in the air before crashing down, screeching in a blood-curdling cry.

Delric had already regained his footing, fending off smaller creatures as he once again made his way towards his friend. His Uncommon Durability had protected him from any serious injury, though the same couldn’t be said about the others he crashed into.

"Shield it!" Quintus Septimus commanded. "Tuli, Ao!"

At his command, the Shapers wasted no breath to employ all their essence, weaving it onto the fallen creature's limbs, and then its hindered wounds, binding it to the ground. Even still, it was a cursed creature, its physical prowess beyond fault. It managed to break through the restraints with its claws and snapped its maw open, its long palp tongue twisting to devour the weave restricting it.

It was at that moment that Jinn surged with a large part of his aura and thrust it onto the creature, pressurising his externalised weight into it. Immediately, its body collapsed, a devastated wail escaping, its palp flapping. The very next instant, Quintus Septimus leaped onto it, driving his lance through its skull and ending its struggle all too easily.

Jinn had already withdrawn his aura and wasn’t sure if the Prestigious Class Guildsman had even noticed, occupied as he was with dealing with the monster. But noting the serious gaze pointed at him from the back, Jinn was certain that the other Prestigious Class had noted what he had done.

Not that it was a problem. People might come from noble houses and guilds to recruit him, but they couldn't force him into anything.

The rest of the fight proved rather unremarkable. The creatures dwindled as they were swiftly dispatched. A dozen or so managed to flee, but they were too few to pose any real threat to them.

As the aura and weight receded, the disgusting stench of corpse flies filled the air. Many of the fighters were smeared with the sickening ichor all over their body, though they refrained from cleaning themselves, since the battle had barely ended.

"Voice out if anyone needs any medical assistance," Quintus Septimus’s voice echoed. As the healers moved to take care of any injuries, his sharp gaze swept over the group to find Delric.

"You there," he called. "What's your name? Actually…" He stopped himself. "I don't want to hear it, nor any of your excuses."

Delric stiffened.

The veteran continued, "I don't want to know how you do things out here in the backwoods, but if you're under my lead, you'll listen to everything I say."

Delric could only nod, glancing downwards at his feet, but Quintus Septimus hadn’t finished.

"You recognise your reckless behaviour not only put your life at risk, but it also jeopardised my team?”

“Yes, Dominus,” said the young man, fist clenched tight.

“We hadn’t even entered the rift yet," the guild leader sneaked a glance towards the legionaries. "The expedition ahead will be far tougher than this. I don't want any complications… which reminds me, the men we left at the gate may need more help. How about you join them?"

Delric frowned and set his jaw. Even if the phrase was worded like a suggestion, the intent was more than clear. The commander didn’t want his presence anywhere near.

"Sire," Tuli interjected, biting her lower lip. “Delric was just trying to help.”

Quintus Septimus silenced her with a pointed look. "And help he will provide. There are more ways to help. With the corpse flies flying around, I’m sure the men at the watch will appreciate his help."

Delric clenched his teeth and nodded. Turning, he headed back the way he had come, too quick to hear any more chastising words. Tuli approached him, patting his shoulder, but he departed alone without even caring about his safety, stammering a curt, "I'm fine."

He certainly didn't look fine. With his head lowered, Delric trudged back, his figure fading into the dark. It was humiliating to be sent away before the expedition had even truly begun.

Jinn sighed and shook his head, catching a similar expression on Oldman Rowin’s face.

Delric did make a mistake. Instead of trusting the people, though unfamiliar they were his comrades in this expedition, he broke formation. Even if his intention was good, and nothing had gone wrong, most commanders wouldn’t want an unfamiliar wild card like that among their ranks.

The company spent a few more minutes collecting themselves before once again trudging their way forward. Along the way, they encountered more flocks of corpse flies, dispatching them swiftly without any problem.

There were also a couple of curse-ranked creatures among them, although none as powerful as the first they had faced. Jinn handled one; Quintus Septimus and the Shapers took care of the other.

If they hadn't noticed his work before, many of them came to congratulate him, as though it was the first Cursed rank creature Jinn had slain.

Finally, summoned by a terrible force of power, they approached the destination.

A swirling vortex of energy hovered in the air, pulsing with flickering hues of purple, orange, red, green, and blue, and many more of negative flares. The dimensional law vibrated around the vortex, as reality itself bent in that small crack between space.

That was the issue, though. The crack was too small—smaller than Jinn and everyone else had anticipated.

Even if they hadn’t found it out here, and even if it had gone unchecked, the dimension laws would have corrected themselves in due time, fixing the little crack in mere days to let any more corpse flies sneak through it. Dimensional laws out here were, after all, not as fragile as they were in the frontlines, at the astral gates.

"Well, you didn’t want us to enter that, would you?" Arata asked with a small quirk in his lips, knowing he had the final say in this.

Quintus Septimus stared at it for a moment before speaking. "If we had a good runesmith or Portal mage with us, we could have extended its durability long enough to deal with it."

"But looking at it now… I don't fancy myself, or anyone else, getting stranded inside that rift."

That wasn’t as uncommon as people believed. Jinn himself was a prime example, having been stranded inside rifts on more than three occasions. The last time had been the most devastating, although he had chosen it.

It was rare, certainly, but not as rare as the birth of a heroic or legendary-class awakened.

"So, what do we do now?"

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