Chapter 253: Round Two with the Desolation

’Good, they seem to be getting into formation.’ Magna watched the camp ahead while flying slowly enough for the swarm to follow him.

The Witches and Shadows were preparing their spells and weapons, so they must have understood what he was doing.

There were too many bugs, but he was quite sure Renna’s group could handle them. Still, he wanted to hear it from her before bringing the swarm any closer.

Having flown slowly until now, he beat his blue wings forcefully to push himself forward. The sudden increase in speed quickly widened the distance between him and the swarm.

He glanced back to make sure they were still following before speeding up a little more to reach the camp ahead of them.

Once he was above the camp, he descended quickly, landing in front of Renna, who stood ready with her hands raised.

Even while watching the approaching swarm, the others glanced at the masked man descending from the sky.

His outfit already looked intimidating, but now, with his mask covering his entire face and those enormous blue wings spreading behind him, he looked even more dangerous than the swarm following him.

Renna’s lips curved into a small smile as he landed. Her eyes moved from him to the swarm behind him before returning to his masked face.

"Where did you find these?"

"They came out of the ground when I approached the Desolation," Magna answered without removing his mask or canceling his wings. "Their bodies aren’t that tough. Even a basic fireball is enough to shatter their shells."

He quickly shared what he had learned before asking the more important question. "Do you think you can handle them?"

He was fairly confident in them, but he still needed to make sure bringing the swarm here had been a good idea. If Renna said they couldn’t handle it, he would draw its aggro back to himself and lure it somewhere else.

Fortunately, she nodded confidently. "Don’t worry about us. You did well."

Knowing that the bugs’ defenses weren’t strong seemed to give the others more confidence too. Seeing their reactions, Magna felt relieved enough to take the pouch of pills out of his pocket.

"I’ve used some of these. I’m taking another 20."

He took out the pills before handing the rest back to Renna. She was about to enter a fight that could last who knew how long, so she would definitely need them.

Renna accepted the pouch without arguing. Meanwhile, Magna gave the group one last look before turning toward the swarm, which was already close to entering their attack range.

"If you don’t need me here, I’ll head back to the Desolation."

He hadn’t been able to keep an eye on it while flying toward the camp. For all he knew, it might have started moving again, so he needed to get back and check as soon as possible.

"Yes, we’ll be fine." Renna’s gaze was already back on the flying bugs as she counted down the seconds in her head.

With her attention on the coming fight, Magna didn’t distract her any further. He pushed off the ground, beating his wings to rise into the sky.

’Man, if only I could gain experience or something from this.’ Seeing all those monsters and leaving them for someone else to kill left a bad taste in his mouth.

Still, he didn’t leave immediately. Despite Renna’s confidence, he wanted to see for himself that they could handle the swarm before flying away.

He only had to wait a few seconds.

At Renna’s command, a huge pillar of fire erupted from the ground, rising straight into the swarm.

It wasn’t just fire, either. Its force carried ash, soil, and rocks upward, the intense heat melting even the earth before throwing it into the sky in chunks of molten rock like burning meteor fragments.

The pillar hit the swarm from below with enough force to seem solid. Together with the chunks shooting upward, it crushed at least a hundred bugs caught in its range.

Even then, Renna wasn’t finished. The spell remained active as she moved her hands, guiding the huge pillar through the swarm. More bugs were caught and crushed wherever it passed.

Magna recognized the spell from her spellbook, but reading about it hadn’t prepared him for seeing it used like this.

’She’s good.’ He couldn’t help but admire how skillfully she controlled it, turning the ground beneath the swarm into a weapon.

As he watched, she gave another signal, bringing the other Witches and Shadows into the attack.

Soon, spells and projectiles were bombarding the swarm from below. Renna kept giving instructions, timing their attacks and calling for barriers whenever the bugs tried to get closer.

Watching her coordinate everyone while controlling her own spell, Magna could see that her leadership was just as impressive as her spellcasting.

The swarm couldn’t even reach them, let alone fight back or hurt anyone.

Only then did he feel sure they wouldn’t need his help. He beat his wings and took a detour around the swarm, flying back toward the Bleeding Desolation.

Once he returned, Magna landed before canceling his wings.

A quick check of his mana reserve showed that the wings alone had consumed 32%, leaving him with 166%.

It hurt to see how much mana the spell used. Still, considering how quickly it had taken him to the camp and back, he couldn’t complain too much.

With his wings gone, he turned his attention back to the Bleeding Desolation. To his surprise, it was still waiting where he had left it, its head raised toward the same spot in the sky.

’Is it actually dumb?’ He had already gone to the camp and returned, yet the monster was still staring at the place where he had disappeared.

It was like those cats whose owners hid behind a blanket, then slipped through a doorway as they let it fall. Even after their owners came back, some would keep staring at the spot where they had disappeared.

Either the cat was too dumb to understand the trick, or it knew something we didn’t. Maybe we were the dumb ones, laughing because we thought it was still looking for us under the blanket.

Realizing his thoughts were wandering again, Magna brought his attention back to the monster.

Whatever it was looking at, he was glad it hadn’t moved toward the camp. That didn’t mean he could leave it there, though. Its aura was still reaching the camp and the farms, so he needed to lead it farther away.

"Hey, where are you looking? I’m over here," he called out while slowly walking toward it.

At least he knew it reacted to sound. What worried him more was whether another swarm would come out of the ground the moment he got closer.

Keeping his senses focused beneath his feet, he watched for the monster’s reaction.

Once again, it began turning its head toward him, painfully slowly.

’Ah, right. This again.’ The familiar sight gave Magna a sense of déjà vu, but he stayed where he was, waiting for it to turn its head all the way toward him.

This time, he wasn’t planning to run away immediately.