Destruction of the prison and the compound (9)

"How many times can you cast ghost glare again?" lance asked, with distressed expression.

Having believed that Ramie was dead amidst the chaos, and now seeing him here, Lance had no idea on how many times had ramie used the spell to safely get here.

One mere cast of this frightening spell had extracted him from unsalvageable situation, enabling him to take down a formidable enemy.

Giving that there were many other equally difficult opponents, Lance hoped that ramie had enough magic energy for at least another cast.

Ramie laughed wryly in response.

Having casted ghost glare twice now, 40 magic energy points had already been expended. Also, being forced to cast green vine spell thrice, another 15 magic unite was spent.

So, and coupled with him utilizing his vines to escape and kill few bugs on the way, he was now left with less than 10 magic energy points.

Seeing ramie shake his head to him, Lance's expression darkened.

"You should stay in the middle of the formation. The moment we deal with the tier-2 beasts, we can break through this encirclement."

Finishing his words, and picking up another spear, lance dashed toward the tier-2 beast that was running amok between the several peak Lv.1 warriors that were stalling it.

Scanning around, Ramie's expression was ugly to behold.

The situation was exceedingly terrible.

The strongest asset they have, the azure gazelle king, was under a heavy siege by two astoundingly fast bugs. Gregory too was engaged in a heated confrontation with a bug. His missing hand was impacting his ability to keep up with the bug to a large degree.

Lance on the other hand charged to face another bug, alongside few peak Lv.1 warriors.

As for the rest in the formation, they were engaged in a nonstop battle with the charging bugs. These bugs were attacking relentlessly, and charging at them like suicidal maniacs, without any care or self preservation.

Few hills of bug's corpses were already forming around the formation perimeter. However, still, this didn't impose the slightest deterrence to the charging bugs, or slow them down.

"Kill, Kill, and Kill these damn insects!"

"You have to preserve…! The moment the Mr. Lance and the gazelle take care of the stronger ones, we'll break out from the compound! So, hold on…!"

Many within the formation were shouting nonstop, in encouragement, to themselves before the others. It didn't take a genius to figure that if not everyone here gave it their all… then living past this situation was farfetched dream.

The moment the perimeter is breached, the formation will crumple in no time.

The lv.2 fighters already have more than they could handle on their plates, so, no one should expect any help from them.

The tragic fact was that fighters in the formation were at their limit by merely defending, so, breaking through the bug swarm without Lv.2 warriors leading them was unrealistic idea.

However, and giving that the Lv.2 warriors were already fighting the tier-2 beasts, to prevent them from massacring everyone in the formation… it meant that the fighters in the formation had no choice but to hold on and hope that the gazelle, Lance, and Gregory manage to deal with their respective opponents before the formation is completely overwhelmed with the bugs swarm.

In the middle of the formation, there was no small number of warriors that had completely run out of energy. Gregory's son, the earth magician could be seen among them. The water mage woman was nowhere to be seen.

Moving toward the warriors that were part of his team, Ramie averted his eyes, to avoid making a direct eye contact with others, to avoid impacting anyone with the residual rippling soul force that was being emitted from his eyes, due to using ghost glare just few moments ago.

Walking toward the warrior, Ramie asked in urgent tone:"Ricky, where are Brian and the rest…?"

Ramie noticed that no small number of warriors was missing, including Brent, the scholar mage. Surprisingly, some of the strongest warriors that had come with the survivors' convoy, and were sort of Brian's lackeys, were nowhere to be seen.

Upon hearing the inquiry, the man's eyes turned bloodshot, as a mask of intense hatred and rage clouded his face. Spiting on the ground agitatedly, he answered in hoarse voice:"that bastard…! He told us that he's going to gathered the scattered warriors in the compound and bring them here, however… he took the chance to steel our armored vehicles and flee the compound along with his entourage…!"

"HE DID THAT…!"

Hearing the answer, Ramie's expression darkened, anger welling up in his heart.

Lance and the rest of the team had spent days in fortifying these vehicles using the bones from the hunted tier-2 beasts. They had even built bone cages around the vehicles to ensure maximum security. They prepared to use them in the trip to the capital. Yet…!

Someone else stole the fruit of their efforts, and left them alone to suffer the wrath of the bug swarm.

"When did that happen?" Ramie asked coldly.

"Not too long ago! But don't worry, they didn't manage to get far before being ambushed and surrounded by a huge swarm of bugs…! According to Ms. Reem, her summon sensed that they are engaged in a heated battle with three tier-2 bugs at the northern side outside the compound…! I bet that their situation is far worse than ours. Serves them right, these low lives…!"

The warrior spat with a ruthless tone. It was obvious that he was taking pleasure in their misfortune.

Ramie's ugly expression didn't ease up at all; instead, it turned even graver.

'If they didn't manage to escape from the swarm even with the fortified armored vehicles… then, doesn't that mean that neither can we…?

Also, doesn't that mean that that there are three more tier-2 bugs out there, and another large swarm of bugs…?'

Ramie brainstormed the all the possibilities, trying to come up with a way to salvage the situation. However, the more he thought, the gloomier his heart became.

The azure gazelle king was already in an obvious disadvantage, he was suffering to keep up with the two jumpy bugs that were assaulting him. Also, and seeing Reem's pale face as she observed the raging battle meant that her magic energy was running low.

Gregory's situation too wasn't looking good at all. His missing arm was causing him to fall behind the bug; he was suffering just to maintain his life, much less defeating his opponent.

Lance's situation was a bit better than the two, as he had the help of few warriors that were stabbing with their spears at the bug and throwing arrows at it. Unfortunately, with the lightning inscriptions in hand running out of energy, it was out of question that he can kill this bug.

Adding to that, Ramie can no longer cast any ghost glare spell, due to his insufficient magic energy, which meant that he can't help the others with their respective opponents.

The situation was beyond disadvantageous for them, and was still deteriorating by the minute.

However, and even with all that, there were another swarm of bugs outside and another three tier-2 bugs to be added into the mix.

Calculating the overwhelming odds, ramie reached a terrifying result.

ARE WE ALL GOING TO DIE HERE…?

The key to salvage the situation was to defeat the tier-2 beats here. However, the three heavy hitters in the compound were all at a constantly growing disadvantage.

Ramie felt bitter inwardly. He and the rest had decided to leave the compound the day after tomorrow, where his and Lance's injuries were supposed to heal a bit.

But now… this happens…!

'I'm I not fated to reach the capital alive…?'

"NO, I can't think like that…!

I have to help the warriors in the formation to maintain the perimeter, and deal with things as they arise!"

Standing in the middle of the formation, ramie discarded the third vine, as his control over two vines was way better and finer than three. The trainings he went through for the past few weeks had increased his degree of control over the vines by a noticeable margin.

If he had more time, he estimated that his control over the vines will reach a terrifying level. Unfortunately, he only had short time to train.

Calming his heart, Ramie sent out the two vines at the bugs and started whipping at the bugs heads like crazy.

Surrounding the formation, were many types of bugs. The most numerous among them were the car-sized slow moving bugs, and the football-sized, jumpy, and fast moving bugs.

The former were the easiest to deal with, while the latter was the main cause of casualties among the defenders. There were jumping around all the time and launching sneak attacks at the warrior while they're busy dealing with other bugs.

These small bugs were very cunning, and hard to deal with.

Ramie targeted this specific type of bugs, as the two vines had fast speed of movement and were very good at dealing with small and fast types of beasts.

Also, another reason why Ramie targeted these small beasts was that they were fast, but had weak defense, which meant that he could eliminate them without having to exert too much of energy, meaning less expenditure of magic.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The two vines slithered like nimble snakes as they crushed the jumpy bugs one after another.

Whistle!

The wind whistled as the two vines whipped in frenzies, slapping the leaping bugs away as headless corpses.

The defenders were both shocked and elated at the pace at which the sneaky bugs were being killed at.

The violet dust had cost ramie his perception to auras, and even slowed his body a bit. However, the two vines moved via spending magic energy, and weren't depending at his physical constitution by much. Hence, their speed was affected by only a negligible margin.

Thuack!

Splash!

Ramie maintained his pace of attacks, causing the yellow blood of the small bugs to splash all over the place, dying the ground.

All of the sudden, Ramie's expression changed. He had just sensed a sharp killing intent sweeping at him.

Throughout this battle, this was the very first time that he feels a killing intent at all.

Quickly facing the direction where the intent originated, Ramie's eyes fell on small shadow, hiding itself among the figures of the bugs. The small creature moved its six thin legs nimble, making sure to hide itself from the discerning eyes, while continuously surveying the battlefield, with an assessing gaze.

As ramie locked his yellow shining eyes at the small shadow, the creature glared back at him, with its eight, yellow-glowing eyes.

…