The death of one of their comrades only infuriated the Mare Irae even more. They began thrashing their tentacles widely, sometimes not even bothered by the fact that Edward was elsewhere. They were dishing out so many attacks and aura blades that they were literally cloistering the space with them. Seeing the deluge of attacks, the Regal wolves and other monsters had no choice but to fall back lest they became struck by the Mare Irae’s fury as well. The Mare Irae’s actions proved to be effective in a limited way.

Blocking all ways of escape with numerous attacks or areas of effect was a good tactic against a faster opponent. However, Edward wasn’t just faster, he also had far better mobility. Even while in the air he was able to use aura steps to maneuver around the attacks. When he was in a pitch due to the large number of attacks, he was still able to teleport away. And thanks to his domain, his teleportation had no cool down within a ten-meter range. If he wanted, Edward could have teleported to another part of the battlefield to avoid the Mare Irae completely, but the truth was that he was enjoying himself.

Having opponents just at the right level of power to push him while not being that dangerous was a nice change of pace after having to fight the spiders for so long. It was also a way to test his limit and capacities. He had only tested his new powers by himself and it wasn’t as effective as a real situation to demonstrate what he was able to do.

After two minutes of swirling in an area fraught with attacks Edward teleported away while laughing loudly. The Mare Irae seethed in anger but stopped their attacks after seeing that it was ineffective. The Regal wolves heaved a breath of relief and came closer now that this madness had stopped. Edward glanced at the battlefield around him. The monsters are regrouping, the weak ones died in droves but the Wyrms are being a problem. They can only be fought by someone at the predator level, meaning only Acanthio and Strobilus can deal with them, and there are more than two of them here. As for the Harpies, they were able to avoid my attacks and are still pestering the walls. I can’t let the situation go on, people will die uselessly.

“FALL BACK TO THE WALLS! I WILL TAKE CARE OF THE SITUATION HERE! JUST FOCUS ON THE HARPIES!” Edward urged. I don’t have the heart to tell them, but it’s also easier for me if there is nobody on the battlefield. I won’t need to be careful about where my attacks are going.

The defenders were astounded as they looked at Edward standing alone in the sky above the army of monsters. However, they had also realized that their charge forward had stopped and that things were started to become dangerous. Besides, the ones in charge of changing the block runes plates had already finished their job and were in the process of retreating back to safety. With no reason to hold back the monsters anymore, they fell back inside the safety of the ramparts.

Edward analyzed the composition of the monsters below him more carefully. The vast majority of the monsters were Murlocs, then came the wolves, Lusus naturae, and Harpies. The relatively feeble number of Harpies was the reason why Gobéliard was able to repel them. As for Wyrms, which were more territorial, there were about two dozen of them, which was already quite impressive.

I thought that I had exterminated all the local monsters, but it seems they are growing back like weeds. I wasn’t expecting them to work together as well, it’s not their normal behavior. He shook his head. Anyway, let’s clear the stage before focusing on the big ones. The reason why they gathered together can wait for later.

Edward teleported right into the middle of the army, leaving the stronger monsters behind. Now that there was nobody nearby he could go all out. He unfurled his aura, tendrils leaving his body in search of prey. All the monsters nearby got pierced by them, Edward’s sudden teleportation hadn’t given them the time to react. The tendrils sucked them dry of blood essence before being drawn back to Edward supplying him with a nice chunk of energy. Within thirty meters all the monsters dropped dead.

Well, almost all the monsters. Edward thought with surprise. Now that the area was cleared, he noticed that some one-eyed creeps were mixed with the other monsters and had somehow avoided his tendrils. There weren’t that many of them, maybe one for fifteen monsters. Edward flicked his dagger sending a single aura blade, the blade beheaded one of the creatures before homing for the next as Edward kept control of it.

However, the monsters didn’t let him do as he pleased and already Regal wolves were rushing at him. Edward clicked his tongue in annoyance. He had only been able to kill two more one-eyed creeps before having to focus on the new threat. He blasted his aura preventing the Regal wolves to turn into mist form.

As a Regal wolf jumped at him, entering his domain, Edward teleported it slightly above its original position, messing with its trajectory and presenting its throat right to Edward’s daggers. The blade reached its throat but its aura armor protected it from a lethal blow. They really are annoying. Can’t they have the decency to just die? He had to double down with his other dagger to rip its throat, copious amounts of blood gushing on both Edward and the ground. It may have taken him two moves, but he had killed a Regal wolf in a single exchange.

The next ones chose to send aura blades rather than stepping inside his range, but Edward was able to easily avoid the different attacks, stepping into the air with aura steps to increase his wiggling room.

The monsters were overwhelmed by Edward’s abilities, not able to deal with his speed nor with the incredible amount of damage he could deal in a short time, overwhelming even aura armor. However, their behavior suddenly changed, and they grew more organized all at once. The lower ranks of the monsters moved apart, leaving paths for the Mare Irae to reach Edward more easily. The Regal wolves formed a circle around Edward’s position, sending aura blades and not attempting to come any closer. Even the Harpies stop harassing the walls to fly high above Edward, sending wind blades raining on him.

Edward frowned. They have a leader. This much is obvious, but where is it? How did it manage to send orders this broadly all at once, and how did he manage to make the other monsters listen to themselves? Wait…this last part may be on me. They were acting a lot more independently before I showed up.

With the deluge of attacks pouring on him, Edward realized that he wouldn’t be able to avoid all of them this time. This is getting a bit dangerous—time to get out of here. Formations are nice against isolated powerful enemies, but they are pointless when your opponent can teleport.

Edward smirked before reappearing thirty meters above a Mare Irae. He brought both of his daggers together, gathering as much aura as when he formed a forty-meter-long aura blade, but condensing it so that it was restrained in the ten-meter range. He fell down on the monster just like lightning, his blade shining bright and cleaving its head in two, cutting right through its armor in one powerful blow. The Mare Irae collapsed, joining the rank of the dead.

The monsters reorganized their formation with Edward in the center. I wonder where their leader is. To be able to communicate with the whole army instantly one would need powerful abilities. It makes me think of a certain type of monster but I’m not able to remember it. It’s so frustrating, I have the answer right on the tip of my tongue.

He absentmindedly chopped a Lusus naturae that had come too close in two before reactivating his acceleration. “Rèng khwāmrĕw”. He slalomed between the monsters, cutting any without aura armor on his path. He climbed on a Mare Irae that had tried to hit him with a tentacle, running on it while dragging his blade behind him, scraping at the appendage, and weakening its armor. By the time he reached the head, the armor was weakened enough that he was able to behead the creature with a single strike.

A Harpy almost crashed into him and Edward sent it flying away with one kick, breaking its thoracic cage from the force of the impact. There are too many of them and to make it worst, most of them are weak and worthless monsters. At this point harvesting their aura is a waste of time if not done on an industrial scale.

Edward teleported high above the battlefield to the level where most of the Harpies were. He spread his arms and a concentric aura blade formed around him, expanding in a horizontal plane and cutting any Harpies that weren’t fast enough to move out of the way. Broken pieces of Harpies fell on the monsters below accompanied by a rain of blood.

What a waste of aura. Taking care of this many monsters repeatedly is quite taxing. And I didn’t get the time to drain the stronger monsters of their blood essence. Are they trying to exhaust me, just like they were trying to deplete Gobéliar’s stock of rune bombs?

Edward looked around him. The sky was now mostly cleared of Harpies, only a handful had stayed alive. If this is what they are aiming for, it will cost them quite a lot. And I still have the city to fall back to if I have to, though I doubt the walls will hold for long against an assault of enraged Mare Irae.

Regal wolves and Mare Irae sent aura blades flying toward his location. Look at them, they have so much energy. I’m sure they won’t complain if I borrow a bit of it.

Edward teleported above a Wyrm in the periphery of the battlefield. He joined both daggers together and gathered a five-meter-long condensed aura blade. With one mighty swipe, he chopped the creature in two, the condensed aura overwhelming its armor. Even in death, the monster continued to spasm on the ground. Edward leaped and hang on the bleeding section, with his domain he teleported all the organs within range behind him and made himself a path inside the Wyrm’s carcass. Drenched in blood and surrounded by the creature’s still-warm flesh Edward greedily absorbed its blood essence.

No strong monster was nearby, and the weaker ones like the Murlocs couldn’t pierce through the thick Wyrm’s scales. The fastest way for them to reach Edward was to crawl through the pile of discarded organs that he had left behind him. That gave him enough time to refill his aura reserve.

The Regal wolves finally reached him, firing aura blades blindly, not knowing where Edward was within the Wyrm’s body. Without aura armor, the Wyrm’s scales yielded under the attacks, but Edawrd simply teleported elsewhere. He hadn’t absorbed all of the Wyrm’s essence but it had been enough to compensate for the cost of his attack on the Harpies.