Chapter 2017 2017. An Ancient Monster
As much as everyone wanted to ask if they had heard Walker right, they all knew that he was not joking or messing with him in any way. It was very clear that he had already used the all around appraisal skil. When Walker had called even more fire balls and started to attack the blood kin bats, it caused a chain reaction. The other forces nearby had begun to attack as well. Worse off yet, the bats had begun to make loud and sharp pitched sounds. Everyone knew that this was just how bats could see. They made sounds that would somehow make an image for them to see in their heads. Echolocation. It was a common fact when people who lived anywhere near forests or caves would see bats and learn about them. The different elemental attacks that went in to the air causing many of the blood kin bats to fall were also being disrupted by the sound attacks. They vibrated the air and even snuffed out one or two of Walker's fire attacks. This was a surprise since he was able to better control the fire than most people. Even some of the fire mages were struggling to attack. The only ones that appeared to really give a decent counter to the sound based attacks by groups of bats were wind mages and others that used wind skills. The sound based attacks needed the air around to be able to carry their attacks. That was just how sound traveled in general. Therefore, when the wind would be compressed in to blades or gusts, it stopped the sounds entirely from vibrating through the air to the ears of everyone. "There's a larger blood kin bat above us!" Walker managed to spot a larger one. He even used the all around appraisal to see that it was a colony guardian. One of the bats that had lived the longest and received the most attention from a vampire master. "No, it won't be there much longer." Gil's sharp eyes did not fail to spot the pitch black and red eyed blood kin bat colony guardian. Ten arrows fired so fast that it was nearly impossible to count them without the stats high enough to comprehend it flew upward. Multiple flashes of light from light arrows caused many bats to suffer due to the light that further hurt their nearly blind eyes. They might use sound to see, but they did in fact have eyes that could understand light to a degree. That was how bats could understand what time of day it was in general. The other arrows all hit their target causing the bat to fall. Its wings pierced along with the heart beating right in the middle of its chest. Well, not beating any longer. Gil had ensured that it would not be the cause any longer. "Weak little things!" an angry growl echoed through the sky as Ignus became annoyed. Before anyone could say or do anything, Ignus had breathed a vast spread out fire breath. Hundreds of blood kin bats fell and did not move. Some even turned to ash right then and there. It was a sign of his strength. Even though he was very low on mana and would need days to accumulate the right amount to fight at full strength, this level of attack was nothing to him. "I expect a full explanation of why my rest was bothered." Ignus's anger showed right away. He was not a changed dragon by any means when it came to temper. He had just been holding himself back because he had many more important things to focus on lately. "Vampires. That must be what was brought up." Walker tried to explain more, but there were others still fighting. Ignus though, recalled the tales of ancient monsters that had existed. He knew well that there were records of these monsters existing once upon a time. A race that was more akin to monsters since there were more gruesome and evil ones than world loving ones that could actually be recognized as a race. "When I was younger, I was taught that ancient blood like that was only passed down to certain bat species. Incredible darkness affinity could be found in them and that they would make a good meal to strengthen my own darkness affinity." Mordant also spoke up. It was clear that he had sensed the bats and attacked many from the shadows in his own anger. He had been resting as well. "But we have no idea how to fight them and we can't decide what is correct or fairy tales." Su saw a few more bats and watched carefully as the nearby elven archers handled them. While many had been defeated, she did not believe that an ancient monster appearing would be an easy event. Along with this, she also knew that it had to be a goal or a step for the demon king's plans. This would not just happen out of coincidence. Things were too perfect. A ruin gets dragged from the ocean with clear signs of sealing skills, then these blood kin bats appear out of nowhere surveying the area and causing general annoyance in their group attacks with sound waves. "There wouldn't be anyone that knows about them for real though. Everything is a story and old records for a reason. There hasn't been a member of the vampire race or vampire monsters for lifetimes." Remey was very annoyed with this. But that was a fair reaction. It was the same for Onyx. When Onyx had been found and hatched, he was a monster that was thought to not exist but for in extremely small numbers or not at all. Therefore, information about him was sparse to say the least. Yet, they had managed to discover it in ruins and through lots of help. "No, there is someone. Brother, sister and I can take the time to go. Sister wants some revenge. She has told me about the thing that he did to her with a fake gift." Onyx had listened to Midnight about the adventure to the undead ruins. The gift that had allowed Midnight to strengthen affinities but actually forced her in to a nightmare of undead and death related mana when she could not comprehend it. But that had indeed strengthen her because she comprehended the skeletal armor skill that she even used at all times now. Regardless, Onyx was willing to go somewhere that no one was really allowed to go in general now. Especially since the party had discovered the literal source of all the undead in the area. "No, you won't go there alone. It would be better to go there together as a party. But I thought that he was watching us. He used that skeleton to speak to us once. He didn't do anything, but he said he could do that more times." Su recalled the skeleton that had dug itself from the ground and spoken in the immortal king's voice.
As an elder lich, he had been trapped, but that didn't mean the other undead he controlled were not. But he had no reason to create an army. He was not free to leave his prison, why take over a world he could not roam?
"We can't just leave here though. There is clearly something happening. The longer we are away, the worse things will get." Gil knew that this split second choice in the midst of chaos could make or break everything. Time was a very big factor. That was why everyone was rushing this idea and trying to make sure information was found. "It's that or we keep waiting for information. Just in the time that we waited while researchers dug through everything, we managed to get attacked by hundreds of blood kin bats. It's sure not to be the end of them too. There will be more attacks." Mordant's calm and precise response made it clear that time mattered, but also in the sense that they needed correct information. "When we saw the immortal king, he did tell us that his people, no matter how twisted they were, had wars with the vampires. If the demon king is working with them or something, then the immortal king might become an ally. If not only temporary." As a hero, Walker did not wish to see any chance for an undead powerful enough to literally fight him and the dragons combined to be released. It was why he had pushed the elder lich from his mind. There was nothing to do with that trapped evil. Yet, if that evil could somehow save many and cleanse the world by sharing information… it might not be the worst choice. No matter the disgust Walker felt going to this monster, it was a monster he knew against monsters he did not. Monsters that had been strong enough to fight against other ancient monsters that Walker couldn't fathom. "We will go. The dragons and forces can gather here. Prepare and set a camp. Whether we can take that ruin or not will be up to us. If the demon king has to do something here, it can not be simple. Look at how low the corrupted city is floating. It must have lost a lot of mana. So we will take the chance to use this time to get the right answers." …
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