Chapter 446: The Besieged Camp

“Riveria, everyone!?”

Breaking through the forest’s edge, the sight that unfolded before them made everyone’s face change color. The open clearing—a massive rock serving as their campsite—was covered in a swarm of gigantic caterpillars, clinging to the stone and crawling upward like a rising tide.

The monsters gripped the rock face with their countless prolegs, surging upward one after another. As they climbed, they continuously spewed a deadly, corrosive liquid at Riveria, Robin, and the others defending the summit.

At the cliff’s edge, the heavy shields used by the vanguard to block the corrosive fluid were quickly melting away, rendering them useless.

Only the barrier magic deployed by Jeanne stood firm, blocking every drop of the corrosive blood and securely protecting the mages in the rear.

“Fire!”

“Is this the last of them!?”

“It doesn’t matter, fire.”

At Riveria’s command, several archers unleashed their dwindling supply of arrows at the climbing monsters.

Many arrows snapped or dissolved mid-air, destroyed by the splashing corrosive liquid before they could even hit their targets.

Still, many of the struck monsters lost their footing. They tumbled from the rock face, dragging several others down with them as they fell.

“There are still so many…”

“I suppose we should be thankful the campsite isn’t completely surrounded.”

Lefiya let out a sound bordering on a wail, while Aiden, standing beside her, calmly analyzed their current situation.

Perhaps because the intelligence of this new monster species was generally low, they were crowded together, frantically and haphazardly climbing the rock face in the exact same direction.

It was thanks to this foolish behavior—concentrating all their forces on a single front—that Riveria and the rearguard were able to barely maintain the stronghold’s defenses under her command.

“—With memory as the pact, and the netherworld as the guide, following the order of life and death’s cycle.”

“Ancient dragon soul slumbering in the River Styx, break free from your eternal silent dream!”

“Brush away the decaying scars, and return to your true Titan form. Let the nether blooms blossom in the barren wasteland, let the butterfly’s fire illuminate the abyss.”

“I bear the mercy of destiny, bearing the karmic weight of your silent annihilation. I grant you dominion over this world.”

“Dead bones bloom, silent death finds new life. Break out from the abyss, walk with me, and embrace your rebirth, Pollux!”

Standing at the edge of the cliff, Castorice looked at the purple scythe in her hands, its surface now pitted and scarred by the corrosive liquid, and began her incantation with an expressionless face.

As the ethereal, strangely compassionate chant concluded, the space in front of her was violently torn open by an invisible force.

A massive, purple-and-white dragon head emerged from the rift.

Eerie purple soul-fire burned in its eye sockets. It opened its giant maw and unleashed a breath of purplish-white flames onto the densely packed swarm of monsters below, reducing everything in its path to ashes.

But there were simply too many monsters, nearly covering the entire cliff face. Even the mighty dragon’s breath could only clear a temporary defensive line.

At the same time, another figure actively charged into the sea of monsters.

Firefly had already switched to her SAM combat form, the silver-white knight armor gleaming brightly amidst the black smoke.

Wielding dual longswords wreathed in emerald flames, she dove down like a falling meteor. Every slash was precise and fatal, slicing the caterpillar monsters in half.

The splattering corrosive blood hit her armor but evaporated instantly in the searing heat, leaving her swords completely unscathed beneath the protection of her flames.

In mid-air, she locked onto the densest cluster of monsters.

Crossing her swords in front of her chest, the emerald flames on the blades suddenly surged. Then, extending her body, she swung down with devastating force.

Two highly condensed, emerald cross-shaped arcs of sword aura were unleashed like true magic. Tearing through the air with an unrivaled momentum, they crashed into the monster swarm.

—It was Lumina Slash.

Indeed, as a Level 4 adventurer, Firefly had already mastered this pinnacle swordsman technique.

Having learned many profound sword styles from Aiden and Astrea, her skills were a far cry from what they used to be.

Combined with her enhancement magic and the skill Complete Combustion, she successfully grasped a Lumina Slash rivaling high-tier magic, even at Level 4.

The intersecting sword auras acted as a grim reaper’s scythe, carving a massive “X” through the monster swarm.

Wherever the aura passed, both the monsters’ flesh and the solid rock they clung to were cleanly severed.

The struck monsters didn’t even have time to wail before splitting into pieces and tumbling helplessly from the cliff face.

Immediately after, the emerald flames lingering on the cut marks violently erupted, incinerating the severed limbs in mid-air.

In a single strike, at least dozens of monsters were entirely eradicated.

Witnessing this, Ais, who had just arrived at the battlefield, felt her golden eyes imperceptibly dim for a moment.

Then, almost without thinking, Ais dashed forward.

That emerald cross of light was branded into the back of her eyes.

She didn’t look at Firefly again, nor did she look at anyone else. She simply channeled all her frustration, gloom, and stubbornness into her legs.

Charging ahead alone, she shot forward like a golden arrow loosed from a bow, launching a resolute surprise attack directly at the flank of the densely packed monsters clinging to the rock face.

Wind was summoned, wrapping around her blade and body.

Ais’s figure blurred into a streak of golden light in mid-air, slashing straight toward a climbing monster.

“Ais!?”

Just as Ais shattered the monster along with a chunk of the rock wall beneath it, a shout rang out from the top of the cliff.

The members on the rock only snapped out of it after hearing Riveria’s voice tinged with worry. Soon, a glimmer of hope crept onto their exhausted faces.

“Sword Princess…”

Everyone looked down with intense anxiety at the figure whipping up a storm of destruction within the monster swarm.

Ais had already begun her fierce battle with the monsters.

“I’m going in too.”

Aiden said calmly, rushing out right on her heels.

He transformed into a streak of blazing fire, tearing into the monster formation with an even more brutal momentum than Ais.

“Wait for me.”

Tifa quickly followed suit without hesitation. Shrouding herself in starlight, she activated her enchantment magic and chased after Aiden.