Swarm

Aldric readied his blade and slid down the body of the statue towards its chest. The viscous darkness wrapped around his feet slowed down his descent and gave him a grip.

The disgusting creature came into view. It was glued to the chest of the statue with its tentacles suckling the surface like a newborn infant. 

Noticing its prey descend, the beast chose to meet him head-on and climbed upwards with its large tentacles propelling its body forward.

Now in the groove of the giant's clavicle, Aldric waited for the beast to get closer as it climbed. 

Inhale.

He knew that he could not fight this monster that was the size of a train in such a small space along with its dangerous mouth full of rows of sharp teeth. He chose to use his all in this first exchange. 

After all, he who attacks first always wins.

Aldric focused all his attention on coalescing his darkness to his palm. His increased control allowed him to condense the ball into the size of a cue ball. The hard part would be maintaining control of the "Black Sun" once it left his body. Beyond a 5 metre range, it would lose its shape and begin to unravel. 

So he bid his time until the creature came close enough.

SLICK

A wet tentacle slapped itself just below him. 

Catching the beast in the middle of its manoeuvre, Aldric released his attack.

The small spark of darkness darted downwards. 

Like a tear in existence, the sun exploded and dealt critical damage to the body of the eel-like creature. A large cavity was opened near its chest and most of its tentacles were obliterated. Its body was dangling over the edge with just its large tentacle holding it in place.

Aldric jumped down and landed on the flailing creature. Withering in pain from the previous attack, it did not register his landing. 

Placing both hands on the hilt of his sword, he painted his sword deep into the core of the creature. 

"Dark Spear"

A spear of darkness extended from the tip of his sword 5 metres deep into the creature. It reached deep enough to crack the withered skull. 

With a look of indifference. He ordered.

"Fall"

As the last tentacle let go, he removed his blade and jumped back onto the collarbone of the statue. 

He silently watched the fallen creature fall back into the abyss it came from.

[You have slain a Fallen Demon, Depth Crawler.]

[Your soul grows darker.]

Aldric climbed back up with a series of jumps. Making his way back to the platform, he could now see that Cassie and Kai were fully recovered. Sunny was staring at him baffled. 

'I guess he was the only one who could see the fight in the darkness.'

Aldric thought.

Sunny was second-guessing his initial assessment of Aldric being close to Nephis but still weaker. His sheer destructive ability was on par with or even stronger than her soul flames.

'If that hit me, I would be dead.'

The sight reminded him of how powerful some aspects could be. All but his. He looked at his shadow with an annoyed expression. 

The group came together back at the stone platform. Left with nothing but exhaustion from the long submersion, the cohort fell asleep after setting a schedule for keeping watch.

----------

The next day was busy. The camp was reinforced and partitioned using the iron plates from the spider carcasses that Effie kept in her storage bag. 

Nephis was making meals as she was voted to be the best cook in the group.

After setting up the shelter, everyone was left to their own devices. Some chatted to each other while others were just watching the crimson coral pass them by. 

Aldric was thinking about his situation and what was coming next. He had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. Whether it was his instinct or his attribute, he didn't know.

Suddenly, he heard Nephis speak.

"Cassie, do you feel something?"

"I think... I think a storm is coming."

"You heard her. Prepare."

The group fell into individual thought. But she was not done.

"I can hear something strange, like a rustle."

The group stared at the cryptic oracle. Trying to understand what she was talking about. 

Aldric's instincts shouted at him to look up. He summoned his blade. 

Kai also reacted in a similar fashion but he attacked immediately with his bow. Not a second later, a dark shape crashed onto the stone surface.

The horrifying creature was like a small locust magnified to the size of a human. It might have been one of the most terrifying things Aldric had seen. Insects have always been a bane to him. 

He kept his eyes focused on the sky.

Kai shouted in panic.

"Swarms! These fiends hunt in swarms! Get ready!"

Everyone summoned their weapons and prepared themselves. Cassie summoned her wind staff and began releasing massive gusts that knocked a dozen down. 

Effie used her spear as a javelin to kill them in the air. Once killed, she would resummon her memory. On top of the delay, her essence would be lost after summoning her memory back when it was too far away. It was a matter of time before she was forced to face them head-on.

Caster was using a strange sling to hit the locusts from afar. His face was calm and grim.

Chaos erupted on the statue as they faced an almost infinite wave of flying abominations. Their manoeuvrability made it difficult to injure them on the first attack. So Nephis ordered them to aim for their wings. The attack debilitated them and saved them a lot of time.

Aldric used his darkness to release extremely thin slashes. Only powerful enough to damage their wings.

The wave continued until Sunny spoke.

"Down below, there are a couple hundred creatures climbing up to meet us."

Nephis nodded and took Sunny with her to fight them below. 

"Aldric, Caster. Kill any creatures that make it up here and support the rest."

She ordered. 

Aldric had stopped using his aspect to coat his blade and fought with pure swordsmanship. He needed to keep a reserve available for what might come next.

Only a few minutes had passed but it was pure hell. 

Aldric had a few cuts and was exhausted from being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of creatures and from supporting Cassie and Kai. [Insight] did not work well against numerous opponents.

Occasionally, he would have to fight these primates like creatures that were clearly hosts to some sinister parasite. He fought them at a range, avoiding the clear miasma of pores emanating from their wounds.

The situation was only getting worse and worse. More Blood Flowers were reaching them and the Flesh Weavers did not stop their assault. 

Something changed at the height of the battle. One locust charged straight for a primate that reached the ledge of the shoulder. With a bite, it chomped through the throat and was covered in a red mist. 

This sparked a complete upheaval in the battle. More Flesh Weavers descended past the shoulder of the statue and met the Blood Flowers head-on. The two tribes of nightmare creatures focused their attention on each other, giving the cohort much more breathing room.

But they were still stuck between two warring tribes. 

Sunny and Nephis resurfaced, covered in blood. Their arrival caught Aldric's attention. 

A lone Flesh Weaver had descended on Cassie. With its abnormal size, it batted away the flying rapier and dove straight for her.

On pure instinct, she turned around and used her staff to try to block its massive mandibles. With the staff already being damaged from the fight, she was not hopeful that it would protect her.

The locust gripped her staff and was about to break through it in a split second. 

All of a sudden, Cassie had felt its heavy weight vanish. Leaving only the light mandibles still around her staff.

'Death Thrust'

The body of the locust imploded like a balloon and showered Cassie in its green blood.

"Sorry about that." 

Aldric spoke unapologetically.

With a forced smile on her face, Cassie spoke.

"Don't worry about it."

Just as she spoke, the attack seemingly stopped. 

It was as if the world froze. The locusts hovered in the air and the Blood Flowers stood still. 

"BZZZZ"

"STOMP"

Both tribes returned back to where they came from in a frenzied rush. Even though they fought to the death just earlier, they ignored each other in favour of their retreat.

Aldric saw Sunny and Nephis looking South with grim expressions.

A raging depth of dark clouds was approaching their position. The wall of darkness was illuminated by ominous bolts of lightning.

The storm was here.

 **********

Thank you for reading!

I hope you are all doing well. 

Can you guys help me think of some attacks that are feasibly on his level? The ones I'm thinking of are way too technical or need some other ability to do.

In other news, I am leaving on holiday soon. I will be back writing on the weekend. Do hold out as long as you can before I can grace you with my words once more.

Jokes aside, Till next time.