Chapter 1196 Pursuit (Part 2)
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Shin was running through the jungle while mounting Whitie. Their figures were like a blur that kept on advancing toward a certain direction. One hundred meters away from them, the other elemental spirits were currently scouting the path ahead while looking for traces of their target.
Not long after, Shin finally came across a clue that might lead him toward the other party. It was traces of multiple people running in the direction that Shin was following. Upon closer inspection, he was able to roughly guess their numbers and how organized their group was.
"There are a least 4 groups who pass here. And based on the footprints that they have left behind, it is pretty clear that they are well-trained troops," muttered Shin as he sat on his feet and looked at the traces left behind on the round.
He trained in the Springfield Family, which was a military family. With his training, he was able to gain some pathfinding and tracking skills. And since most of the members of the family were closely related to special forces, his knowledge in this area was also very high.
Shin studied the traces on the ground and could not help but frown deeply. From what he could see, it seemed like those people were currently traveling by foot. They were neither using a mount nor a carriage during their escape, which him Shin a little.
If they were really not using either of those two traveling methods, then it was hard to imagine how fast they were. And given that they were currently moving with a large group of people, and maintaining their traveling formation, their speed should be much slower.
But from what he could see, and based on the information that he was getting from the compass given to him by Archbishop Ronald, the other party was moving with great speed. It could almost rival the traveling speed of Shin while riding Whitie.
Shin continued to frown since this could clearly indicate that the speed of the opposing side was completely out of his imagination.
Based on his calculation, this was only possible if they all were spending their allocated stats to AGI and constantly using haste scrolls and speed potions on top of that.
But even that could only barely make up for the speed of this group.
"It looks like this is going to be more troublesome than I expected," Shin clicked his tongue as his frown continued to grow deeper.
This could only mean that they were currently in possession of high-quality tools that could give him a lot of trouble later. If his estimate was right, then their tools were most likely to be comparable to what the Hand of Midas Trading Firm could provide.
Well, he was not afraid of them because he also had similar tools, potions, and scrolls in his possession. They could rival, or even surpass, what they had. The problem was their numbers, if those people were using them together while fighting him, then he would surely be in deep trouble.
He paused for a moment as he shook his head. He then turned to his Elemental Spirits before mumbling. "Let's just hope that the initial attack can deal serious damage to their forces."
After that, he gave his signal to the elemental spirits, telling them to move before continuing their pursuit.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Everyone moved according to his signal. They went in different directions, getting back in their respective positions before advising forward while maintaining a certain formation.
Shin and his elemental spirits still needed to travel for a couple of hours before they finally caught up with the opposing party. They still took that long because the latter side was able to notice their pursuers and took a couple of detours to try to shake them off.
Because of that, Shin had to think of another way to catch them. He opened his virtual map and read the travel path of the opposing side, trying to predict their main destination. The moment he realized their general destination, he quickly gave up on the idea of chasing after them and instead went straight to the place that he had predicted.
He was planning to intercept them in that place and launch an ambush. But despite his perfect plan, he still underestimated the speed of the other party, which made him barely miss them.
Fortunately, the opposing side could not move as fast as Shin and his elemental spirits due to their numbers, so he was still able to catch them, albeit a little too late.
Realizing that they could no longer shake off Shin and his Elemental Spirits, the people from the Demonic Churches went according to their plan and left two teams behind to delay their pursuers and buy enough time for the others to escape.
"Get in position and set up the magic formation! Make sure that they can't break through us so that the operation leader and the others can escape!" shouted one of the team leaders while abruptly stopping and swiftly turning around.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Hearing his words, his team quickly halted their steps and immediately turned around. They then maintain their current formation while taking out a stack of talismans from their inventory bags.
They quickly activated those talismans, which produced crimson lights that shrouded their entire body. Their respective aura also rose accordingly, signifying a huge boost in their stats.
They were expecting that there was a group of top rankers chasing after them, or even titled rankers, so they had to be in their best form when facing the opposing side.
Right after the talismans were fully activated, they quickly used their berserk skills alongside the release of their demon forms. They were not planning to hold back this time, which was why they wanted to go all-out from the very start.
In the meantime, the other team that stopped alongside them quickly spread out, heading toward a different direction. At first, their destination looked a little random. But upon closer inspection, it was obvious that they had a clear destination in mind.
When they thought that they had created enough space, they quickly turned around before taking out a metal rod from their respective inventories.
They stopped and channeled their contaminated mana on those metal rods before stabbing them on the ground almost simultaneously.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Right after the black rods pierced through the ground and stood erect while vibrating intensely. The corrupted mana that they currently had become agitated and started sucking the surrounding mana and contaminating them.
Swoosh!
Not long after, the metal turned crimson alongside the contaminated mana from their surroundings. Then the crimson mana was suddenly channeled onto the ground before spearing in a different direction.
They moved so fast that the mana coming from the metal rods met and started merging with one another, forming a huge demonic circle on the ground.
The demonic circle was covering a radius of five hundred meters, making it obvious that it was a territorial formation.
It was only noticeable when someone was inside the formation, but anyone who was outside of it would never be able to notice its existence.
However, its camouflage effect was nothing in front of Supreme and Monarch Elemental Spirits on Shin's side.
Before they could even step on it, Hanzo, who was heading first was able to notice the demonic formation. He immediately informed Shin about it through a telepathic message before he could even reach it.
Shin wore a deep frown when he heard about it. He then thought of something before quickly instructing. "Old Spirit, avoid it and head straight to the location that I indicated. You have to stop the other team from reaching it or at least prevent them from doing whatever they are trying to do."
"Bring Solus and Astaroth with you-…" he was just in the middle of talking when he was suddenly interrupted by those two.
"But my liege, how about your safety?"
"I apologize for this, my lord. But I also do not agree with this!"
Aside from cringing from the way those two addressed him, as well as their tone, Shin felt a little helpless at the current situation.
Given what he had seen so far, he could roughly guess the strength of the opposing side. With that, he could only send his best partners to make sure that they stood a chance. Even though he was confident about the strength of his Reaper's Retainers, he still could not underestimate a player who could kill an Archbishop Rank NPC.
Elemental Spirits like the three were the only ones that Shin could think of who would be able to stand a chance against that person.
He turned his head at the two before saying. "You don't have to worry about that. These guys shouldn't be too much of a threat since the main leader is not with them."
"Moreover, Grimrace and Vladimir have also grown stronger, so I will be fine. Blackie and Whitie are with me too, so we have a low chance of taking risks."
Astaroth seemed to not hear the latter parts of his words as he could only focus on the names of the first two elemental spirits. "Those two idiots are the reason why we can't leave you behind, my lord! We can't entrust your safety in the hands of this clown and vampire!"
The corner of Shin's mouth suddenly twitched when he heard that before shaking his head. "I have already made up my mind. You can't change it now."
He then turned to Hanzo and Solus before continuing. "Bring this guy and move. We don't have much time to waste. You have to stop those guys from reaching that place, or else this mission will be a total failure."
Solus hesitated for a moment before quickly nodding her head. She formed a flaming whip that she wrapped around Astaroth's body before dragging him.
Hanzo also summoned spatial cuffs that bound the hands and feet of the Obsidian Earthen Spirit, making it easier for Solus to drag him around.
After that, the three of them disappeared, heading toward the location that Shin had indicated.
In the meantime, Shin quickly dismounted from Whitie and ordered the latter to transform back to his humanoid form.
After that, he ordered the four to take the lead before following closely behind.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
They just stepped on the field when the four elemental spirits immediately sensed the strong suppression powers of the demonic formation. The strong suppression from it was greatly affecting their strength and overall performance.
They might still be able to fight in this state, but their battle prowess was greatly restricted. Their movement felt a little sluggish, making it hard to showcase their full capabilities.
Realizing that this was going to be a much tougher fight than they had expected, the four elemental spirits quickly entered their transformed form.
'Elemental Spirit Transformation (Light): Divine Ruler'
Whitie was the first to make his move. A third eye with a golden pupil suddenly appeared at the center of his forehead and a translucent crown was suddenly manifested above his head.
His furs grew a little thicker as the black stripes around his body grew longer.
His claws also became longer and sharper as he transformed into a streak of light that charged forward, crushing everything in his path.
Swoosh!
"They are here!" shouted one of the team leaders, warning the members of his team.
As a response, the players around him quickly assumed a battle position while getting ready to fight.
At that time, Whitie finally arrived in front of their team leader and swung his claws like a savage beast.
Bang!
The team leader, who had Knight Class, quickly raised his shield and blocked. The collision quickly produced a strong impact that pushed him back, forcing him to go skidding backward.
Seeing that, their team leader was instantly put in a disadvantageous position, the rest of the group quickly charged forward, providing some assistance.
Their teamwork was top-notch, making it hard for Whitie to continue his assault. He was instantly forced to take a defensive position due to the flawlessly coordinated attack of the group.
When they formed a trapping formation, they suddenly made a grabbing motion in the air. And when they pulled back, black chains suddenly appeared and wrapped themselves around Whitie's body, completely binding him.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
But before they could even celebrate, spears made of crimson blood suddenly fell from the sky, breaking the black chains and freeing Whitie from their bindings.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Bang!
Then Vladimir, who was currently holding a crimson rapier in his right hand and had a pair of bat-like wings made of blood behind him, suddenly landed on the ground.
There was also a glowing crown over his head, making his appearance more dignified and majestic.
'Elemental Spirit Transformation: Blood Sovereign'
Not waiting for the other party to recover themselves, Whitie and Vladimir quickly went back into action and started attacking everyone.
In the meantime, within the woods, Blackie and Grimrace were also engaging an intense battle against the other team of the opposing side.
The two of them were also under their Elemental Spirit Transformation, yet their strength could barely match the opposing party.
Shouts and screams could be heard in the mountain forest as the battle continued. The clanking of metals and clashing of weapons could be heard reverberating in the entire place, signifying the intensity of the battle.
It was already too late before the people from the Demonic Churches realized that they were currently facing a group of Elemental Spirits. And it was even more useless since none of them had a 'Spirit Awe' skill that could forcefully unsummon them.
And before they could even make some adjustments, the Grim Reaper suddenly made his appearance.
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