Myriad Devils-Chapter 78: An illusory sensation

"He’s really daring, isn’t he?" Melissa muttered without much thought. Her words though, successfully pulled the others out of a trance-like state, resulting in soft grumbles that escaped Felix’s lips.

"Hmph, not impressive, not at all." He glanced towards Anon, muttering, "If Anon hadn’t stopped me, I’d also be doing the same."

"If you’d gone, I imagine that we’d also need to join in soon after." Andrew interjected, "But, although it feels slightly unbelievable, I can’t help but feel as if this fellow is even more dangerous than those fourteen put together."

Tsk!

A vein popped on Felix’s temple. But though he clicked his tongue with annoyance, he didn’t opt to refute Andrew’s words.

"But aren’t you also in the second world?" Bolan suddenly threw out a question. It was the first time he had chosen to speak in a while, and it was also the first time that his expression had shifted from his usual indifference.

He turned to Amon with a confused face, saying with doubt: "The feeling he gives off... I don’t know how to say... It feels..."

His words were clearly understood by Anon and the others. Shifting his gaze from the impending confrontation, Anon turned to Bolan, fixating his gaze on the black-haired boy.

It’s almost as if he’s much stronger than you?

In essence, that was what Bolan had said. At least, this was what everyone else heard. To which, Seth couldn’t help but chuckle, adorning a gloating expression towards Anon. However, Anon did not feel the least bit annoyed by such an obvious dig at his strength.

"If you could’ve retained consciousness when Felix was crazed, I’m sure you wouldn’t feel this doubtful."

"Is that so?"

Boom!

As if to interrupt this unusual atmosphere, an air-piercing eruption occurred right after. Not an explosion per se, instead, this sound originated from the cry of a particular figure amongst the thirteen.

Though the sound caught the others by surprise, whatever reached the group was only remnants as it was fully focused on Jacob in an effort to not just disorient him but even damage him.

More than eighty meters away, Jacob’s figure was under assault by a barrage of attacks based off a myriad of principles. Coupled with the sound attack, the formless attack also worked wonders to disorient him, allowing an opening to form.

At that time, three more figures suddenly exploded with strength, rushing towards him.

One held a scythe even larger than her entire body. Encompassed with blood-colored particles, when she swung it towards Jacob’s stumbling figure, it drew crimson lines in the air that rocketed towards him.

While that occurred, there was a young man with a burly frame and a bare chest. Above his head were multiple colors of energy particles including white, green, blue, gold, and more.

Taking a deep breath in, the pressure he exerted from his legs caused the earth under his feet to cave in as he hopped into the air. Thereafter, his upper body arched back whilst he drew in strength before he then rocketed towards Jacob’s figure.

Amongst the midst of many more attacks of varying degrees, there was a muscular girl with a spiked club in her grasp. Most notably, she had animalistic features like long, sharp nails, canines that poked through her lips, and a pair of vertical slits in her pupils.

Though she took twenty-three steps to reach Jacob, to an untrained eye, it appeared as if she flew towards him like a bullet, lashing out with her club.

All these attacks rushed towards him in unison!

From all possible angles, there was no way he could dodge.

Though Anon’s earring had already transformed into his staff, it was embedded into the earth next to him. At the same time, he stood with his arms folded, observing Jacob’s situation with an unbothered expression.

Similarly, Seth was just as relaxed.

In fact, his staff was still split in two halves strapped to his back.

Neither of them seemed to care to help.

Naturally, the others, much weaker, would also not help.

"The blood of a greater family’s child?!"

"This is your death!"

"Die!"

Jacob heard this.

His vision was encompassed by a multitude of colors, energies that each carried immense might.

Waves of heat splashed onto his face, but similarly distinct coldness washed his senses too.

Spine chilling dread.

Not that he was scared, but this was the effect some of these attacks held. The thirteen attacked together, in synchronicity. Before his eyes, the club, scythe, and fists clenched together, all approached him in a rather slow motion.

Similarly, the invisible attacks too. Though unseeable, as they approached, they caused changes in the air that were visible to him.

’Slow.’ He thought.

"Lightning Pulse!"

A low growl resounded in the vicinity followed by a single step forward.

A single step, that was all. Yet, this single movement was followed by the force of a thunderstorm. At that moment, a discharge of lightning suddenly erupted from Jacob’s body.

The three incoming figures were instantly swallowed by the purple light and their bodies were instantly lost in said light.

The energies that fueled the approaching attacks, visible or not, were all wiped instantly upon contacting the discharge of lightning.

This light continued to spread out, swallowing the nearby forty meters in a moment’s notice.

In a single second, the attack appeared before Anon and the rest, swallowing them whole.

In three seconds, it reached hundreds of meters away, traversing into the depths of the Crystalline Lake.

Only after five seconds did it begin dissipating.

What was left was a large opening near the lake, lacking any trees in an area of over two hundred meters as the sizzling sounds of hot steam rising from the lake resounded out.

Though they were swallowed by the lightning, Anon and Seth, along with the others, remained unaffected. Similarly, Catharina, who knelt next to an unrecognizable object, was also unharmed.

"Oh," Jacob tilted his head.

"Maybe I underestimated you guys."

Besides the group of seven, there were still at least eight others that were moving. The youth that had stepped forward to speak with Jacob weakly rose to his feet.

As for those that did not move. Their remains were still visible, somewhat.

Charred pieces of flesh that were scattered across the earth, soon to be nutrients.

Crackle!

Jacob only stepped towards the youth, but the streaks of lightning leaking from his body crackled in the surroundings before dissipating soon after.

His every footstep released lightning streaks that crackled as purple lightning dripped from his body.

When the youth regained his stability, Jacob was already standing before him, looking down on him with murderous eyes.

"W-Why?!"

The youth coughed up a mouthful of blood before angrily exclaiming, "We weren’t after you!"

His sudden rage-filled tone seemed to catch Jacob off-guard, earning a light chuckle from the latter.

"Well, this was the best opportunity to display myself." Jacob winked at the youth, whispering: "After all, I tend to showoff, a lot."

Crackle!

Cocking back his right hand, bolts of lightning trickled across his arm as his left hand slowly approached the youth’s neck.

Appearing to move slow, it gripped around the youth’s neck before he had time to react.

"Any last words?"

Though his grip prevented the youth from saying anything, he still asked.

At the same time...

"Hey now!" Anon’s voice resounded: "I still have questions to ask that one."

Shaking his head, Jacob sighed before defeatedly swinging his left hand, sending the youth’s body hurling to the side. As if he weighed nothing, he was sent skidding dozens of meters across the dirt.

Such a simple act, if he was not a stellar fighter, the trauma to his brain would’ve resulted in his death. And even the friction against the earth would’ve burst his skull. Anyways, he only stopped a couple of meters away from Anon’s feet before losing consciousness.

Seeing this, Felix scowled, "Is he trying to act cool?"

Ultimately, he did not like those from great families. As for children of greater families, it was only natural form him to detest them even more.

Melissa ignored Felix and looked towards Anon: "What do you want him for?"

Anon began to speak: "Fourteen inheritors...!"

But before he could continue, his words were brought to a halt as warning signals from his subconscious suddenly flared: ’Huh?!’

His gaze suddenly turned sharp, and his next actions were carried out hurriedly@

Though Melissa and the others watched confused, Anon grabbed the staff by his side before exploding with breakneck speed, instantly creating a distance between him and the others!

It wasn’t just him though.

Seth also followed suit, swiftly reacting to Anon’s movements and following him.

Andrew reacted swiftly.

In fact, momentarily confused, his face darkened almost instantaneously as he also seemed to sense something.

Reacting to Andrew, Bolan was the first to explode with speed, followed by Felix, and then, just barely, Melissa.

Melissa though, just barely...

Boom!

Where they once gathered, the earth immediately caved in once coming in contact with a projectile that descended from the sky.

Flesh and blood exploded into the surroundings as the unconscious youth experienced a distasteful end.

Jacob also seemed to have been warned by his subconscious just as quick as Anon and Seth, already appearing before Catharina before transforming into a bolt of lightning that whizzed across the field in moments.

EEE! EEE! EEE!

One sound resounded out.

Anon’s pores rose.

Aaaah-oo! Aaaah-oo!

A chilling tingling trickled down Seth’s back. His relaxed expression changed ever so much.

Melissa felt it.

An illusory sensation.

As if something, a demonic claw per se, had wrapped around her heart.

Puchi!

Blood sprayed into the surroundings.

’Huh?!’ Melissa’s pupils shrunk as the strength in her body slowly dispersed.

The speed at which she ran plummeted, and before long, she tripped on her own leg, tumbling to the ground.

She didn’t even realize being pierced, and as her thumping heart was pulled out from her back, she was none the wiser.

EEE! EEE! EEE!

Bolan’s heart thumped.

In front of him was Anon who had come to a halt. Andrew, Felix, and Seth too, stopped running. Jacob had caught up to them and similarly stopped.

Catharina was silent, her body trembling.

The view before them was like this...

Creatures that they knew very well, appeared.

A species that did not exist in the Blood-Drip Jungle, was now existing before their very eyes.

Such beasts had descended from the skies, entering the Blood-Drip Jungle whilst releasing bellows to the world, as if to signal their arrival.

One had landed where they previously stood, and another swooped down, sticking its claws into Melissa’s back.

There were over a dozen more that swerved through the skies, circling the two groups that had unknowingly closed the distancing separating them.

Indeed, the instance the single winged creatures made their appearance, it was quite instinctive. Forgetting the previous issues, all who were currently alive came together under the sky that held within, red winged flying beasts.

Seven inheritors.

Coupled with a group of seven geniuses, fourteen in total, the two groups now one, were encircled by a cluster of beasts.

These were beasts that appeared as monkeys, or monkeys that transformed into beasts, with a single wing protruding from their backs.

Their bodies were burly and towering, a single of them towering over Andrew who was already 6’3.

"One-winged monkeys..."

Andrew didn’t exclaim in surprise.

Instead, his tone almost felt like one that had touched on hopelessness. No life, no fear, it almost appeared as if he already accepted what was indeed an inevitability.

One of these creatures signaled trouble, and over a dozen revealed a most terrifying fact. That this was no random gathering of one-winged monkeys, instead, this was the coming an entire horde.

This was just the first wave!