Myriad Devils-Chapter 72: Crystalline Lake

"Now, that is something."

There were still many flesh-ripping ants chasing Anon, but their numbers had been reduced by almost half since Felix underwent a slight transformation.

The ease brought from the lessening of his pursuers allowed Anon to easily notice Felix’s state.

’In these few days, I’ve yet to see the limit of this...’ Anon mused inwardly as the group left Felix to fend for himself.

It wasn’t that they were being ruthless or abandoning him; among the seven, Felix, thanks to his principle, was the most suited to successfully escape the swarm with his life.

’But it is a principle, and like any other principle, the spirit is its limiter,’ Anon concluded.

Just then,

Boom!

A muffled explosion echoed in his ears.

Felix had stomped his feet against the earth, launching himself into the distance and leaving a massive crater several meters wide and deep, filled with the corpses of flesh-ripping ants.

A bubbling pool of black fluid sizzled within.

A small army of ants emerged from it, rushing toward Felix’s figure as he chased after the group of six that appeared to be abandoning him.

"Ah!"

Melissa suddenly widened her eyes. At the same time, her nose twitched.

In one fluid, agile motion, she dodged an incoming acidic attack before lifting her forearms to block a second acidic strike rushing towards her face.

Preventing the black fluid from potentially ruining her face, it allowed the attack greatly affect her skin, flesh, and even the bones in her forearms as they took the brunt of the assault.

What did it feel like?

It was as if hundreds of fine needles pierced her flesh and gnawed at her bones. It caused her to grimace in pain as blood spurted from her wounds.

’It isn’t just normal acid,’ she deduced inwardly. ’My wounds are bleeding too much... The principles of blood must be at play here.’

The injury to her forearms bled profusely, yet her eyes brightened as stellar cosmic energies churned above her head.

Melissa’s principle?

At that moment, she was directly responsible for restoring Felix’s health. In fact, she could do the same for herself, so the injuries to her forearms weren’t too concerning.

More than that, she could enhance not only her regenerative abilities but also her physical capabilities, including strength, speed, and stamina.

However, her principle was not limited to just these aspects.

The principles of Fleshcraft encompassed a wide variety of unique and profound abilities, making it one of the more mysterious principles.

Though she had a limited number of abilities as a first world stellar genius, making the existence of these flesh ripping ants quite troublesome to her, this principle, Fleshcraft, allowed her to smell it...

’Nine... No, seven hundred meters...’ she thought excitedly.

"Guys, we’re only six hundred meters away!" Her voice rang out to the group. Hearing this, a relieved smile stretched across Catharina’s face.

On the other hand, Andrew released a loud cackle.

The longsword in his hand trembled as he spun around, stomping his feet into which caused him to skid across the dirt ground.

The ants in pursuit lunged at him, but as he skidded seemingly uncontrollably, he swung his longsword with excitement, it, enveloped in a devastating aura of destruction.

The five others, Seth, Anon, Catharina, Bolan, and Melissa, moved like dark shadows.

As they darted past the battle-thirsty Andrew, there were black tails which trailed behind their forms.

These tails belonged to the flesh-ripping ants that pursued them.

Many of the ants abandoned this pursuit, instead homing in on Andrew’s figure, which had crashed back-first into a large tree trunk, coming to an abrupt halt.

To this, Andrew’s heart raced with even more excitement as he blocked incoming acidic attacks with his shield and countered with his sword.

Sometimes, the ants lunged at him with their mandibles, but he was prepared. In fact, he was quite relaxed while fending off their attacks, clicking his tongue every few seconds.

Clicking his tongue... It was an intended action.

Why?

Because he was waiting.

Waiting for what?

One click... Two clicks... Three...

The earth beneath his feet trembled.

Andrew smirked, a ruthless intent gleaming in his eyes as his spirit harnessed the power of his principle.

In that moment, a grand and overwhelming aura radiated from him, washing over the nearby flesh-ripping ants and spreading out into the distance.

It quickly enveloped an area of about seventy meters, freezing over a hundred flesh-ripping ants in their tracks.

One hundred?!

Indeed, that was the swarm of ants that had been pursuing the eight-foot monster, Felix.

As the ants crossed into the perimeters of Andrew’s ability, their bodies came to a sudden halt, in shock, they instinctively feared their own destruction.

In just a few seconds, that brief moment was enough for Felix, in his transformed state, to cover a significant distance, catching up to Andrew as the duo then raced towards the other members of their group.

Moments later, the hundred or so flesh-ripping ants regained control of their bodies, but they did not pursue the escaping duo.

Instead, they stood stupidly, looking around at their surroundings as Felix and Andrew made their way towards an expansive opening...

As the density of the forest’s trees thinned, a resplendent light became increasingly visible. Finally, a brilliantly glowing body of water appeared before their eyes.

Andrew inhaled sharply, sighing in wonder at the sight.

There, Anon and the rest were afloat.

A frown immediately crossed Andrew’s face—not due to his companions, but because of the flesh-ripping ants that patrolled the edges of the lake, intently staring at the group of five.

As Felix and Andrew approached, the attention of these ants naturally shifted to them. In response, Felix exclaimed before bursting forth with sudden speed.

Toward this human behemoth, a majority of them rushed toward him, rocketing off and nearly instantly achieving their full speed.

Just before Felix could reach the water, the ants blocked his path and lunged at him.

But in that moment, right before he clashed with them, he abruptly leapt to his right.

His eight-foot frame completely obscured the movements of Andrew, who was right behind him.

A grand aura of destruction enveloped Andrew’s blade as he brought it down from above.

Its descent created a powerful gust of wind that, wherever it passed, caused the flesh-ripping ants to see their bodies rot at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Boom!

His longsword struck the earth, crushing several ants beneath its tremendous weight, sending debris flying in all directions.

The explosion masked the sound of Felix’s second burst of speed as he charged toward the remaining flesh-ripping ants that blocked the duo’s path, dispatching them with powerful strikes.

In the face of the overwhelming prowess of this duo, the ants appeared as weak as, well, ants.

In no time, the pair took three swift steps before leaping several meters into the lake, splashing water onto the rest of their companions.

...

Moments after Andrew’s spirit commanded stellar cosmic energies to harness power from his principle, the swarm numbering over a hundred flesh-ripping ants some distance away sensed the ensuing commotion.

Before long, the lake where Catharina and her companions sought refuge was surrounded by flesh-ripping ants.

The lake was simply too vast to be completely encompassed, but whichever direction they tried to swim, the flesh-ripping ants followed.

As for stepping into the water, the entire species of ants were quite lacking in the ability of swimming.

Even the fearsome flesh-ripping ants would drown.

As members of the military academy, the group naturally knew this, so the moment the ants appeared, their goal was naturally to locate a body of water and take refuge within it.

Only,

"How long are they going to observe us?" Catharina asked with a scowl, displeased.

Melissa shook her head, replying dispiritedly, "There’s a chance they may not move for several hours, or even multiple nights. Once they see us, they’ll observe us."

"Once they see us, they’ll observe us?" Seth turned to Anon, amusement evident in his tone.

At this, Anon’s eyes lit up as he asked, "Are you feeling adventurous?"

"You two aren’t serious, right?" Catharina’s scowl deepened as she muttered under her breath.

"If they’ll continue to observe us as long as they see us, then we only need to disappear from their sight," Anon’s words caused the rest of the group to raise their eyebrows in surprise.

"This is a vast lake," Seth added, continuing Anon’s line of thought. "Its depths are just as expansive as its surface."

The lake stretched into the distance, as far as the eye could see.

It didn’t help that it was night, making it inherently difficult to see far into the distance, even for stellar fighters. Still, it was evident that the lake was enormous.

Its depths would be unfathomable.

"You do know which lake this is, right?" Andrew interrupted. Even a battle-hungry man like himself had his doubts. Crystalline Lake was home to a particular species with devastating destructive capabilities.

It was only natural for him to feel apprehensive.

"I don’t see why you guys are so worried," Bolan’s indifferent voice broke in. "As a stellar fighter, I want to see how long I can hold my breath. I want to see how deep I can go."

"You do realize that the deeper you go, the harder it will be to return to the surface," Melissa cautioned, shaking her head.

Before she could continue, Felix let out a loud laugh.

"What are you guys waiting for? I’ve been itching for a proper fight." He cracked his knuckles and proclaimed, "There’s no end to those ants, but all I want is a proper fight with a powerful opponent."

His heart thumped loudly as his blood boiled with excitement.

Andrew froze for a moment.

What Felix said sounded just like how he usually spoke.

Immediately, a fuzzy feeling swelled in his chest.

Forgetting his previous caution, he grinned and remarked, "In fact, I haven’t gone all out since entering this oh-so-dangerous Blood-Drip Jungle. I also need to experience a proper fight."

It didn’t take long before all five male youths sank into the thick waters, leaving Catharina and Melissa to exchange glances, nearly speechless.

"For fuck’s sake," Catharina cursed aloud, but she too followed the group of five deeper into the lake.

Melissa shook her head, sighing, "Once more, I’m the only sane one."

Yet she had no choice but to follow along.

Whatever dangers they faced together would always be better than confronting the threats lurking in the shadows alone.