Chapter 3101: Jumps

With that, Emery set out with his party of five.

The five flew across the grassland with extreme caution, keeping their speed low enough to avoid attracting attention. Ilvorn wove a slow-drifting cloud of mist around them as cover, using his mastery of Wind Law to make it blend naturally with the surrounding sky.

One dwarf carried an artifact shaped like a small clock. Its ticking hands distorted perception, disrupting the senses of anyone who might otherwise detect their presence. Another dwarf had transformed his body into the shape of a Ridgeback Tiger, aura and all, making him almost indistinguishable from the genuine beasts roaming the grassland. The last dwarf moved through the earth much like Soltz did, though considerably slower.

Each ability served a different purpose, allowing the group to cover one another’s weaknesses.

The clock artifact disrupted the senses of nearby creatures, making it difficult for them to detect the group’s presence even if they passed relatively close by. Above them, Ilvorn’s cloud of mist provided visual cover, concealing their movements from anything watching from the sky.

The dwarf traveling underground acted as an additional scout, moving ahead beneath the grassland and checking for danger from a different angle. Meanwhile, the transformed Ridgeback Tiger served as their final disguise. If any creature became suspicious and approached them, the dwarf’s appearance and aura would make them look like nothing more than another ordinary beast roaming the Crimson Steppes.

Together, the four abilities created several layers of protection, allowing Emery and his companions to move through the dangerous grassland with considerably less risk.

They traveled in careful bursts after that, with Emery riding atop the transformed dwarf while Ilvorn’s cloud trailed overhead. Emery also maintained a subtle thread of mental influence, gently pushing the attention of lesser creatures away whenever they came too close.

His remaining Khaos Legion clones fanned out ahead and to the sides, covering hundreds of miles in a constant sweep. Through their connection, Emery could observe the terrain far beyond what his own Divine Sense could reach and quickly identify areas where no powerful creatures or Scourge forces were present.

Once he confirmed that the destination was truly safe, he established a spatial formation. The formation quickly stabilized, and Emery opened a portal connecting their current position.

One after another, the dwarves and High Elves entered the portal, crossing the enormous distance in moments. Within a short time, the entire group had been reunited at the new location.

There was no time to rest.

As soon as everyone had arrived, Emery closed the portal and set off again with his party of five. The five continued ahead, repeating the same process—scout, select a safe location, establish the formation, and then bring the rest of the group forward.

A second jump followed.

Then a third.

Each time, Emery and his small scouting party moved ahead first while his Khaos Legion clones searched the surrounding territory.

Along the way, his clones passed the bones of settlements long since abandoned. Some were little more than scattered ruins, while others were entire towns reduced to empty shells, their streets overgrown with weeds and their buildings slowly being reclaimed by nature.

What had once been the proud, contested Crimson Steppes had become, in the space of a decade, nothing more than a ghost land stretching in every direction.

The fourth jump went as smoothly as the rest.

Once again, the entire group crossed safely before Emery and his five companions continued ahead.

Then came the fifth jump.

The sixth.

Luck finally ran out.

The Khaos Legion clones had been sweeping the surrounding territory for hours, constantly searching for a safe path forward, but one by one, they began encountering groups of Crimson Grassland riders.

At first, Emery thought it was only a single group.

Then another clone reported the same thing from a different direction.

Then another.

Soon, multiple clones were reporting groups of riders positioned along different paths, spreading across the grassland and effectively sealing off every route toward the Southern Isles.

These were not ordinary groups of Crimson Grassland riders either. Emery’s clones could clearly sense powerful spiritual signatures among them. Each tribe had at least one Three-Cosmos cultivator leading its forces, with numerous Grand Magus-level warriors accompanying them.

Trying to pass through them undetected was no longer realistic.

The moment Emery’s clones attempted to search for alternative routes, more riders appeared, forcing them farther away before another group emerged to block the new path.

Battle, in the end, proved unavoidable.

Every detour Emery tried only led them toward another waiting group. After several failed attempts, he finally forced himself to accept the truth.

The Scourge hadn’t given up the hunt all along.

They had lost the trail once, but only temporarily. Somehow, the enemy had predicted their general route toward the Southern Isles and deployed its forces across the grassland, creating a massive net that was slowly closing around them. Now, with powerful cultivators stationed along multiple paths, the last stretch before the Southern Isles had effectively been sealed.

"What do we do?" one of the dwarf asked.

Emery gathered the whole party, and they discussed their options. Different strategies were proposed. But with so many Three-Cosmos cultivators spread across the region, none of the suggestions offered a reliable way through.

Eventually, Bragnir cut through the growing noise.

"No need to overcomplicate this."

He turned toward Emery, his expression calm and resolute.

"We’ve come this far without being caught. Now we fight."

Emery didn’t argue.

Privately, however, he couldn’t help wondering whether the sheer effort the Scourge had poured into surrounding them meant something more. Perhaps survivors truly did remain in the Southern Isles, important enough that the Scourge was willing to deploy so many forces simply to prevent anyone from reaching them.

But it was only a thin guess, built on nothing solid.

Emery saw no reason to give the group false hope.

They made their final preparations.

Unlike the aerial battles aboard the Floating Tortoise, this time the confrontation would take place on open ground, face to face. There would be no ark’s barrier between them and the enemy, no narrow vessel allowing them to escape at a moment’s notice.

Emery decided there was no longer any reason to hide what he carried.

He took out a small bottle filled with crimson-colored pills and passed them around.

Superior Parasite Suppressants.

The dwarves accepted the pills without much hesitation once Emery explained that he was a Grand Master Apothecary from Skyroot Palace. Most of them accepted the explanation outright. After everything Emery had done for them, few had any reason to doubt his words.

Bragnir, however, remained quiet.

He remembered what he had been told—that Emery had spent the last two decades in seclusion.

How could he have prepared such suppressants while he was in seclusion, long before the Scourge infection began?

Still, two weeks of watching Emery fight, risk his life, and bleed for their people had earned him more trust than the dwarf lord was willing to spend questioning now.

Bragnir simply kept the thought to himself.

The three small vessels surged forward, leaving the concealment of the forest behind and moving toward the edge of the grassland.

There was nowhere left to hide.

This time, they would have to fight their way through.