Chapter 243: Chapter 243 - Desert Vultures
WHOOSH!
Like a falling star, Feng dove straight down.
Theo leaned forward, his gaze locked on Iris.
Behind him, Owen held onto Feng with one hand and Lyra with the other. Even his legs were tightly wrapped around the unicorn.
Only Jim seemed to be in trouble, his legs fluttering in the air as he held on with just his hands.
The desert below rapidly began expanding beneath them.
Iris continued plummeting through the sky, desperately trying to slow herself down.
’’Feng!’’ Theo shouted. ’’Faster!’’
Feng didn’t need to be told twice.
Emerald green mana erupted around his body.
BOOM!
A violent shockwave burst through the air as his speed increased dramatically.
The distance between them rapidly shrank.
Just before they reached the massive white clouds below, Feng finally caught up.
A wave of emerald wind enveloped Iris’s body, slowing her descent.
Finally, Feng spread his wings and calmly dove beneath her.
Without hesitation, Theo pulled the stunned Iris down onto Feng’s back.
’’Are you alright?’’ he asked, quickly looking her up and down.
Iris looked completely disheveled, her black hair wrapped around her face while her clothes had become a wrinkled mess.
Even so, she slowly nodded.
Just like that, silence settled atop the massive unicorn.
Feng slowly leveled out, his massive wings beating steadily as he glided just over the sea of clouds.
Theo let out a long breath, glancing up at the sky in relief.
Only now did he realize how violently his heart was pounding.
’Fucking hell,’ he thought, forcing himself to calm down.
Behind him, Owen gradually loosened his grip on Feng’s mane.
Now that the unicorn had leveled out, he could finally check up on Lyra.
Just then, she seemed to regain consciousness as she stretched her arms toward the sky.
’’Is this heaven?’’ she muttered quietly.
Owen let out a sigh of relief before shaking his head.
’’Nope, you’re still here,’’ he answered lightly.
Lyra’s brows furrowed slightly.
She tried to stand up, only to stumble as she saw the ground miles beneath them.
’’Careful, little one,’’ Feng’s calm voice rang out as he enveloped her in a thin layer of wind to keep her from falling.
Lyra’s eyes widened.
’’What is this?’’ she asked immediately.
Her eyes took in Feng’s entire body, only widening further in the process.
’’A... unicorn?’’ she whispered quietly.
The others slowly turned toward Theo as well, equally speechless.
Now that the initial shock had faded, countless questions popped into their minds.
Theo scratched the back of his head.
’’Well,’’ he said with an awkward smile. ’’Surprise!’’
’’The fuck do you mean, ’surprise’?!’’ Owen exclaimed, pointing a trembling finger at him. ’’What the hell is going on?!’’
Theo chuckled as he patted Feng’s mane lightly.
’’It’s a bit of a long story,’’ he said. ’’But I recently gained this summon.’’
Owen’s eyes widened even further.
’’Huh?!’’ he practically shouted. ’’You gained another affinity?’’
Shaking his head, Theo couldn’t help but smile.
’’It’s nothing like that,’’ he said. ’’But I’ll explain it later.’’
Just then, a sudden realization flashed through Iris and Jim’s eyes.
’’So this is what you bought those cores for,’’ Jim said slowly.
Theo nodded once.
’’Yup.’’
Jim stared at Feng for another moment before letting out a low whistle.
’’I’ll admit,’’ he said slowly. ’’I wasn’t expecting... this.’’
’’Neither was I,’’ Iris added softly.
Before any of them could say anything further, Feng slowly turned his head.
’’Contractor,’’ he said calmly. ’’We’re no longer alone.’’
Theo’s gaze shifted to the front immediately.
’’What do you mean?’’
That’s when he spotted several dark dots far in the distance.
With each passing second, they grew larger and larger.
’’Several flying beasts are approaching us at rapid speeds,’’ Feng’s voice rang out. ’’They seem to be of similar power to us.’’
Theo’s expression immediately turned serious.
’They must’ve been attracted by all the noise,’ he thought, clenching his fists.
’’Can we outrun them?’’ he asked, glancing down.
Feng remained silent for a few seconds.
’’Perhaps.’’
’’Then do it,’’ Theo replied without hesitation.
Having listened to the conversation, the others pushed their thoughts aside and grabbed on tightly.
Just then, Feng folded his wings once more.
WHOOSH!
His massive body dropped straight through the clouds.
Wind roared around their ears as they kept falling faster and faster.
For several long seconds, everything seemed fine.
SCREECH! SCREECH! SCREECH!
Several ear-piercing cries echoed out behind them.
One after another, large sand-brown vultures burst through the cloud layer above.
Each possessed a wingspan well over thirty feet, with brown-green mana swirling around them.
’C-rank Desert Vultures,’ Theo cursed internally.
He immediately glanced down at Feng.
’’They’re dead set on following us!’’ he shouted over the roaring wind.
Feng’s eyes rolled back and narrowed slightly.
’’Persistent creatures,’’ he said.
A wave of emerald mana shot off his wings, soaring high above them.
The moment the vultures passed through it, their formation instantly fell into chaos.
Two vultures slammed into each other, one even tearing a long gash through the other’s wing.
The injured vulture spiraled helplessly toward the desert, while the other quickly recovered its balance.
The remaining vultures let out furious screeches.
Instead of slowing down, they spread apart.
Within moments, the flock had split into several smaller groups, approaching Feng from different directions.
’’They’re adapting,’’ Theo muttered, his eyes narrowing.
The lead vulture suddenly flapped its massive wings.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Dozens of wind blades arced toward them.
’’I’ll take this!’’ Owen called out loudly.
A broad earth shield formed in the air above them almost immediately.
Without hesitating, Owen punched upward, launching the shield toward the wind blades.
BOOM!
The earth shield exploded into countless fragments.
But it had done its job.
Most of the wind blades were gone, while the remaining ones had lost most of their momentum.
Feng followed up immediately.
A gentle green wind drifted through the sky.
The weakened blades immediately veered off course, whistling harmlessly past them before disappearing into the clouds below.
’’Nice!’’ Owen shouted, grinning.
But the vultures had no intention of giving them a moment to breathe.
SCREEECH!!
Theo’s expression darkened.
Each of the nine remaining vultures had started gathering wind or earth mana.
And solid ground?
That was still well over two miles beneath them.
’’Feng, level out,’’ Theo called out coldly. ’’We’ll have to take them down here.’’
The unicorn nodded once and spread his wings open.
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