Versatile Mage c1-2021, page 397
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"Damn it, not even a magic ore after spending so much effort to come here. Who was the one that said this place is an unexplored area?" cursed Zhao Manyan.
"Such a waste of time, I told you we shouldn't have come here!" said Zu Jiming.
"Let's take a rest and search again tomorrow. If there really isn't anything, we'll need to make our way back," said Nanyu.
Mo Fan was not too bothered. He did find his loot for the adventure, a piece of Fundamental Crystal. As for the thing that the Essence Orb was pointing to inside the storm, Mo Fan simply pretended he had not seen it. The strong wind and scary lightning were like the claws of a demon, which would tear any person that came too close to pieces!
Mo Fan did not waste his time. He proceeded to cultivate as the team went to rest, and practice the control of his Shadow Element.
Three hundred and forty-three Stars were still waiting to be Awakened. Such a huge project was not something a lazy person could possibly complete. Time was of the essence here!
Keeping his eyes closed, Mo Fan leaned back against a huge rock. His focus entered the Shadow Element Galaxy. The dark Galaxy was not necessarily elegant, but full of mysteries, and definitely had lots of things waiting to be explored. The more familiar Mo Fan was with it, the better his control of the Shadow Element would become!
"I should enhance the Stars of the Shadow Element first; I think I have enough."
The Little Loach Pendant had collected enough Soul Essences when he was killing the Forbidden Moon Rock Demons. Mo Fan was now able to enhance the forty-nine Stars of the Shadow Element to grant him access to the fourth-tier Giant Shadow Spike.
The process was fairly smooth. Mo Fan had the urge to try out the effects of the fourth-tier Giant Shadow Spike, if not for the fact that he could not find a single creature in the ancient ruins. Besides, his Shadow Element had also reached the Advanced Level recently. He still had not tried it out...
Suddenly, piercing cries like thunder came from high up in the sky. There were only a few at the start, but soon, a lot more peals joined in. It was so noisy that Mo Fan could not meditate any longer.
His eyes sprang open, and he looked up into the sky!
It was almost time for the sun to set. The orange light of the setting sun dyed the clean sky red. The sky to the west was a beautiful mix of layered orange and red.
The land and the walls were orange to begin with, so they perfectly matched the color of the sky as the sun was setting. However, with this vast painting of orange and red came lots of uninvited guests. They had green bodies as beautiful as jade, but wings that were totally blue. The feathers on their wings looked incredibly compact and elegant.
As they were flying in flocks, it felt like green clouds and blue veils were covering the sky slowly. They were slowly approaching the team's location!
"Damn it, it's them again! There are even more of them this time!" Jiang Yu suddenly screamed.
"Are you kidding me? We've already come this far; did the other demon creatures simply let them fly across their territory just like that?!" Zhao Manyan protested at the top of his lungs.
"We're done for, we're finished, look at how spacious this place is. There's no cover at all, how are we going to fight them!" said Li Kaifeng began to panic.
Mo Fan was utterly confused after hearing their screams. -What the heck is going on? Why are there so many strange birds in the sky all of a sudden?-
Somehow, Mo Fan was not totally unfamiliar with the bird, as he had encountered one a lot bigger than the ones in the sky that had trespassed into the path of his flight, and almost caused a tragic flight accident!
"My Heavens, they are coming from this direction, too!"
"Same here! Crap, we've been surrounded!"
Mo Fan looked into the sky and saw every direction was full of the strange birds with green bodies and blue wings. If they were migrating as a group, Mo Fan would simply treat them as some color added to the sky. However, judging from their flight paths, the birds were obviously heading toward them!
"Damn it, why didn't anyone tell me what happened?" cursed Mo Fan.
The numbers of the strange birds were utterly shocking. There were at least eight thousand of them, if not ten! It was as huge as an army of demon creatures! Even though Mo Fan had seen some great things before, he was not hoping to see something so epic so often, as it was too scary!
"Around a month ago, we had just arrived in Peru. We carelessly entered a place that was referred to as a forbidden land by the locals. Since then, these strange birds have kept ambushing us. There were only a few dozen of them at the start, so we managed to eliminate them with ease. The number then increased to a few hundred, and we managed to get rid of them too. After that, when we were in a city, the strange birds still came after us, and were eliminated by the city's defenses. It did trigger an orange alert… after that, oh, it's what is happening now!" Zhao Manyan explained to Mo Fan.
Mo Fan's face fell dark after hearing the words.
What kind of tough luck did he have, the team had only encountered a few ten, a few hundred, a few thousand… and yet as soon as he joined the team, there were almost ten thousand of them! They were so far away from the city, it was impossible to rely on the city defenses to get rid of the birds!
There were almost ten thousand of them, and these strange birds did not seem weak, either. They only had around ten people, and one had just died not long ago. It would be a miracle if they could handle such a huge army of birds!
"Why didn't any of you tell me before?!" demanded Mo Fan.
"You didn't ask! Besides, we seriously thought the previous attack was the last one. Who would have thought...my Heavens, what did we do wrong to deserve being chased around by these things?!" wailed Zhao Manyan.
"What should we do now? Someone think of a plan!"
"Even if we dig into the ground, I bet they will dig us out. There isn't any cover nearby, we are all going to die!" wailed Zu Jiming.
The strange birds gradually got closer. They were looming over the team like clouds.
Mo Fan felt incredibly annoyed, looking at the countless creatures in the sky. It was true that he had complained about not having any demon creatures nearby to try out his fourth-tier Giant Shadow Spike and Advanced Shadow Element, yet were the Heavens so crazy as to send an army of demon creatures after him?
Ai Jiangtu had a grim expression, as even he was not confident he could survive the ambush.
As a matter of fact, the team had no chance of defeating a thousand of the strange birds. They had only managed to survive with the help of the city's defense.
"What can we do now?" Nanyu had totally run out of ideas. She looked at Ai Jiangtu helplessly.
"If I let you choose between fighting the army of strange birds or entering the storm, which one will you choose?" asked Ai Jiangtu with a serious face.
"Captain, are you out of your mind? This storm and lightning are as powerful as a Super Spell. We're dead for sure if we go inside!" yelled Jiang Shaoxu.
"We won't be going too deep inside it. Frankly speaking, we have to reach a distance where we can still stand against the storm, but the birds can't… it's the only way I can think of now. If you don't want the birds to tear you to pieces in five minutes, just follow me into the storm," said Ai Jiangtu.
The others were left with no choice. As Ai Jiangtu had mentioned, the storm was full of uncertainties, but they would surely die if they decided to stay and fight the army of birds!
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While making their way toward the storm, Jiang Yu noticed Mo Fan had a dull expression, as if he had been kicked while lying down. He could not help but ask, "Are you thinking that it was better for you to give up back in the canyon?"
"Screw you! It's the nest that you guys poked; why do I have to suffer together with you?" cursed Mo Fan.
"You can try telling the birds that you aren't with us, and see if they are kind enough to let you go..." Zhao Manyan added.
"..."
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In the end, the team had no choice but to enter the storm. However, Mo Fan really hated the feeling of being forced to do something. He always thought that the point of getting stronger was to give him the power to choose. He could say no to something he thought was dangerous and was unwilling to do. He could fight the things he disagreed with bravely, instead of being chased around without any sense of dignity!
That being said, when his life was at risk, dignity was just like integrity, something he could throw away at any time!
Chapter 934 - Advanced Shadow Spell, Nyx Regime
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
Lightning arcs surged fiercely through the air less than twenty meters above Mo Fan's head and landed on the footprint that he had just left behind. The area around the footprint immediately turned scorched black, with blue smoke rising from it.
The wind was so strong that his face was hurting as if it was being sliced by knives. The wind even cut off the tips of his hair and blew them into the air!
Frankly speaking, Mo Fan had not thought going into the storm was a brilliant idea. They had come so deep that even if they stopped moving forward, the wind would still drag them forward now!
The only thing that he was grateful for was that the light of the Essence Orb was actually growing stronger, implying that he was getting closer to the source of energy that could fill it up.
The cries of the birds felt even closer. Even the roar of the strong wind could not hide their cries. As they ventured deeper into the blurry storm, Mo Fan noticed several green figures beating their wings hard to resist the wind while diving at them.
How deep was the grudge the birds had against them, that they were willing to enter the storm just to pursue them?
"Prepare for battle!" yelled Ai Jiangtu.
"Are these sons of bitches out of their minds?"
"The birds that are weaker won't be able to come this far, meaning that their numbers aren't as overwhelming!" claimed Jiang Yu.
However, even as Jiang Yu's voice was still spreading in the storm, a huge group of strange birds with green bodies were diving right at them. They were fierce and agile, and knew how to control the airflow, too. The creatures were a lot stronger than the team had imagined!
"Don't get separated, maintain the formation!" commanded Nanyu.
Visibility in the storm was extremely low. The communication devices were not working due to the interference of the lightning. The loud cries of the birds and the rumbling of the wind simply meant that the team could only communicate by shouting at the top of their lungs. That being said, Nanyu was a Sound Magician, and could easily transmit her voice to the team.
"Maintain the formation and go a bit deeper. There are simply too many of them, we don't stand a chance here," ordered Nanyu.
The team continued to move deeper into the storm, hoping that the storm would form a boundary and quarantine them from the birds...
Unfortunately, the strange birds were adept at controlling airflow. They continued to pursue the team relentlessly.
"Mo Fan, behind you, watch out!" Nanyu released her awareness and listened to the surroundings.
Visibility in the wind was simply too low. The team could not even see one another's faces. They could only rely on Nanyu's commands.
Mo Fan turned around and saw five strange birds with green bodies and blue wings flying close to the ground. They reached out their sharp claws as they were approaching Mo Fan, trying to lift him up into the air.
Many strange birds in the air had already placed their serviettes and were holding their knives and forks. They were prepared to enjoy a grand meal once the humans were lifted into the air.
"Choosing me as your target, have you asked my needles for permission?" Mo Fan spread out his fingers. The presence of the Shadow Element circled around his fingers...
Giant Shadow Spikes in the form of pocket-size swords appeared between Mo Fan's fingers. They were as thin as needles when they were between Mo Fan's fingers, but as they sprang forward, each sword immediately split into twelve in total, forming a dark star formation rapidly!
The five strange birds were too focused on their coming meal. They did not notice the trap of Giant Shadow Spikes on the ground. As they passed above the Giant Shadow Spike Star Formation, several Giant Shadow Spikes sprang up and nailed the shadows of the birds while unleashing a strong binding force to immobilize them right above the star formation!
"Fourth-tier Giant Shadow Spikes, brilliant!" Zhao Manyan could not help but exclaim after seeing Mo Fan's move.
As a fuerdai, Zhao Manyan was always embarrassed whenever he saw how resourceful Mo Fan was, despite being just a commoner. As he expected, the guy had enhanced all his Intermediate Spells, too!
Mo Fan smiled. He could feel that his Shadow Element was a lot more responsive than before.
"Help me attract the attention of the strange birds, I'll give them a big one!" Mo Fan told Zhao Manyan.
"Don't you play with fire!"
"Trust me!"
Zhao Manyan followed Mo Fan's instructions. He began to use all he had to attract the attention of the birds.
Zhao Manyan was stacked with defensive spells. Even when more than ten birds were surrounding him and attacking him for several rounds, he would still be perfectly unharmed.
"Plummeting Rays!"
Zhao Manyan controlled the light arrows and fired them in all directions fearlessly. There were lots of light arrows, so even if he was not aiming at the birds on purpose, he could still attract their attention of the birds.
As he thought, the Plummeting Rays were too dispersed, and he only killed some of them. However, a huge group of them began to fly toward him. Their wings almost filled up the entire sky.
"Did I attract a bit too many?" Zhao Manyan started to lose confidence.
The Plummeting Rays had immediately attracted over a hundred strange birds to him! Zhao Manyan suddenly felt like he had just poked a beehive.
"How are these enough?" Mo Fan was not satisfied.
Meanwhile, Jiang Shaoxu, who was closer to the two showed up. When she saw Mo Fan and Zhao Manyan trying to gather the attention of the birds, she immediately donned a cunning smile and said seductively, "Trying to get their attention? Isn't that simple enough?"
Jiang Shaoxu closed her eyes and spread her spiritual wave rapidly. "Spirit Ripple: Enrage!"
In the Psychic Element, blue ripple meant pacifying, while red represented rage and anger!
As the red glow spread far away, the birds that were holding back in formation suddenly left their designated spots,their eyes dyed red by the Spirit Ripple. A massive number immediately dove at Zhao Manyan fiercely!
In just less than a minute, Zhao Manyan was surrounded by a tornado of strange birds with green bodies, blue wings, and yellow claws. Most surprisingly, these birds were like a school of fish. Despite how close they were, they never crashed into one another. They were attacking furiously, yet they managed to keep their places all the same!
"My Heavens, are you trying to get me killed, Jiang Shaoxu!" Zhao Manyan was stuck in place. The team could hear his voice coming from the communication device with lots of interference.
"Isn't that what you wanted?" Jiang Shaoxu giggled.
She was the calmest on the team, as the Psychic Element allowed her to pacify the strange birds that were trying to attack her. To them, Jiang Shaoxu was just a harmless little creature. As long as Jiang Shaoxu did not take the initiative to attack them, they would simply leave her be.
"Mo Fan, help me!" Zhao Manyan was devoured by who-knew-how-many layers of strange birds.
One defensive spell after another was cast. The Light Protection, Water Barrier, and Light Scales Armor were enhanced by a blue seal, which made Zhao Manyan's defensive spells even sturdier than other Magicians with Soul Seeds.
"I'm almost ready, just hold on a bit longer. It's my first time using it, so I'm still not familiar with it," said Mo Fan.
Zhao Manyan felt like crying.
-First time using it? Is that idiot seriously entrapping me? If you aren't familiar, why didn't you kill the birds one at a time instead?-
"Here it is, Nyx Regime!"
The black Star Constellation hovered around Mo Fan. His hands seemed to be lifting a small curtain. The pitch-black curtain rapidly surged toward Zhao Manyan's position.
Darkness fell like a black waterfall. As it loomed over the place, the strange birds had no chance of escaping despite their overwhelming numbers. It was the same as trying to chase after the sun when night came...
The darkness devoured all sources of light in the area. Zhao Manyan had trouble seeing his own fingers in the dark. Meanwhile, the strange birds suddenly turned into headless flies crashing into one another.
The darkness not only blinded the creatures, it also inflicted great fear upon them. The birds uttered despairing cries, trying to fly away from the darkness.
However, the area was like a maze. No matter how fast or how accurate their sense of direction was, they were still trapped inside it...
"Nyx Giant Shadow Spikes, time to turn you all into samples!"
Mo Fan unleashed the dark energy once again. Countless Giant Shadow Spikes appeared around him and flew continuously into the area filled with darkness.
The Giant Shadow Spikes were not aiming for the strange birds. They simply entered the darkness and stayed in their position. It looked like the Giant Shadow Spikes were flying randomly, but they were actually constructing an enormous, three-dimensional Giant Shadow Spike Star Formation encapsulating all the birds.
Dark energy was surging wildly inside the area. It felt like the whole place was under the control of the God of the Night. Any creature that tried to move had to obtain permission from him!
This God of the Night was Mo Fan, who was casting the Advanced Shadow Spell!
The strange birds were all immobilized. Hundreds of Giant Shadow Spikes in the area landed accurately on them...
