Chapter – 145 - Attack of the Ice Flies

By now the Whamei group had entirely deviated from their original path, making way to almost the core of the Mystic Lands before coming to a stop. They had stopped in front of a large ice mountain, and were currently facing a thin, jagged crack in the mountain wall. It wasn't certain if they had been able to sense the presence of the other group waiting in ambush for them some way off the mountain.

The two trackers went in through the crack first, to check the situation inside. The narrow passage extended a long way inside, and it was ice through and through. A dim silverish light reflected from the silver-white ice, making the path barely visible. The trackers moved silently using the omnipresent dim light, not wishing to use their own lights and alerting any beasts resting in the passage ahead.

All the members of the challenge, both the Challengers, as well as their team members, were provided with an illusory recording bead, and they were required to merge this bead into the clan emblem embroidery on the front collar of their clothes. This could then be utilized by the spectators to see what was happening when groups entered caves and crevasses and pits.

Once again Rihanna was surprised at the similarities between the thought process of the two planets, though the method of actualizing these thoughts were a bit different. How was this any different from the cameras attached to the contestants of live shows and survival or adventure games!

Surprisingly, there was nothing waiting for the members as they entered the passage, and they even managed to reach the end of the passage completely unhindered. The rest of the team divided themselves into two groups. One kept watch outside, whilst the other entered to follow the same path as the trackers. Only, this time, the group members did not refrain from using light sources.

At the end of the passage was a small cave, and a person could be seen lying on a narrow ledge at one side of the cave. She seemed to be in deep sleep, or maybe was unconscious. The members searched around the cave, but could not find any beast or any other hindrance. Even the group members seemed surprised at the ease of this rescue mission. Though they didn't waste any extra time bringing out their target, a feeling of foreboding seemed to settle over all the members of the group.

The Conquest must definitely have planned something, and since it wasn't inside the cave, then it was bound to appear once they started making their way back.

As expected by all the spectators, who already could see the pincer attack waiting for the Whamei group, the Ye group already waiting in ambush attacked first. Both sides were strong and equally matched, and the scuffle was turning into a long process, with neither side caving in.

The second Ye group also reached just as the two groups had reached a stalemate. And almost instantly, the balance shifted. The Whamei group was still not ready to give up, and held on to their target. But more and more members of their group were getting injured as compared to the two groups from Ye, and it was looking like an obvious victory for the Ye group. People were only waiting for the Ye group to finally snatch away the target and declare themselves as the first sovereigns of the Challenge. Because with this snatch, they would become the first team to rescue a target.

"There is movement at the periphery!"

Ye Luo was the first to notice this. He had been keeping an eye on the groups still stuck inside the array, trying to wait out the time limit of the killing array before searching for the core again. Thus he was the first to notice a sudden movement in one of the Protected Spaces at the edges of the Mystic Lands. Hearing him, Rihanna and Artreya too shifted their focus to the periphery.

"Whoa! The entire group from one of the Whamei Team is making a move!.....Even the Challenger is making a move herself!"

Rihanna mused over this sudden change, still watching the large group speeding through the outer region, heading straight for their team still caught in the double sided attack near the core region.

"She must be worried that they will lose their first target. But that happens all the time. She should not get too anxious. This will cause them to suffer a great deal of damage! She should have called back the group instead. Even if they lose the first target, there are still a lot more to go!"

Rihanna was thinking too many things, and didn't hear half the things Artreya was spouting next to her. She had been thinking similarly to what the Whamei group had been thinking when rescuing the target...this was way too easy. She turned back to focus on the ongoing intense fight at the inner region. But this time she zoomed in, trying to see the terrain surrounding the groups.

"What are those?"

Though the area directly below the mountains was clear, the ice stalagmites started growing from the grounds just a little way off. And it was this which caught Rihanna's attention. Very tiny, almost invisible insects were swarming around these icicles. And the numbers kept growing. Almost like these insects were pouring out from the ground beneath them.

"Ice Flies! Oh no! They explode on contact with anything warmer than their own bodies.....and...."

"....And what? Why did you stop?"

Artreya looked at the two of them with a complicated look.

"They give off a very strange smell, and when they explode, they release a a liquid with the same smell. And the liquid gets attached to whatever it touches, and the smell doesn't leave for ages!"

"Hmmm.....Okay.....so? Why do you look this anxious? What is wrong with this smell?"

"It is a highly enticing smell...and it attracts all beasts and insects in the vicinity. Moreover, this scent has the power to mess with the minds of the beasts, turning them into hungry predators..."

Both Rihanna and Ye Luo felt their eyes growing wide, as their brows lifted in surprise and disbelief. Artreya scoffed at their looks before glancing at Rihanna once more.

"Remind me never to anger you. Even your tongue is as vicious as you!"

Rihanna squinted her eyes feeling puzzled. What did she do?!

"You don't need to do anything. You merely thought that the targets might not survive....and now we have this! That is why you should think less and sleep more. That way the world will be less chaotic!"

Rihanna watched speechlessly as Artreya huffed and turned his back to her. Ye Luo chuckled, then patted Rihanna on the head.

"Don't listen to his nonsense. He is just too excited from this sudden turn of events. He is too caught up with what he is spectating."

Rihanna rubbed her nose and nodded. Then grinned at Ye Luo to show that she was not affected. How could she not know this little boy...who was actually a big little boy mentally! He liked to give a sharp and thorny appearance, and indeed his experiences had given him a gloomy perspective and detachment from people and society. But inside.....oho! Inside he was not more than 5 years old. How could she be angry with a 5 year old kid!

The number of these Ice Flies were increasing at an alarming rate, and by the time the groups realized there was something wrong in the area around them, they had grown in numbers to tens of thousands. Their ice outer covering blended perfectly with the frozen earth and icicles, making them hard to locate.

By now both Whamei and Ye members were covered in injuries, with Whamei bearing the brunt of double sided attacks. The people were already exhausted and wounded to various degrees, but the sudden lull of the surroundings finally reached their senses, and the fights suddenly came to a halt. Still alert and wary of each other, they slowly turned around to inspect the surroundings.

"No wonder the whole rescue went without a hitch. This is the resting place of these Ice Flies. And all this movement and elemental energy collisions have woken them up. This is a dangerous place. Too close to the core region. Wonder if they'll be able to make it out."

The attack came suddenly, and the ice flies came upon them in droves. No matter how strong they were, it was impossible to kill thousands and thousands of flies attacking you from all directions. Because they not only attacked from air, but even crawled on the ground and came from below. The members were attacking blindly, sometimes hitting each other. as most other insects of these lands, these Ice Flies too were carnivorous.

Those which they managed to attack, exploded in the air, releasing a pink gas, sickly sweet and extremely enticing. Those which went past these attacks, crawled all over their bodies, sucking and biting into exposed flesh, ripping through their clothes and burrowing within their flesh.

The scene soon turned from chaotic to grotesque. Many of the members tried to escape the encirclement of these Ice Flies, but the icicles hindered their path, making their escape slow and painful.

"Aaowwwwwl!"

"Aawoooooo!"

Deep growls and howling filled the air. Even the air seemed to turn turbid, and breaths of many large beasts filled the vicinity. Even sitting so far away in the arena, the spectators could feel the bloodthirstiness radiating from these deep-throated threatening growls.

The members were severely exhausted. Some had already succumbed, and their unconscious bodies lay strewn all over the grounds, with the ice flies slowly devouring their bodies alive. Many were still trying to protect themselves with their various tools and armors. Different shades of poisons mingled with the pink gas, tuning the air toxic and non-breathable.

Amidst the pandemonium, the mountains around were slowly being cascaded by rising ice dust. The ground started trembling, making the people still fighting or trying to escape almost lose their balance. Sounds of heavy crashing and growling followed, filling the air like an ominous predator, ready to devour everything in its path.

Finally the trembling stopped. The ice dust settled. The air itself stilled, and all sounds dissipated. Only the sound of heavy breathing could be heard, piercing the nerves of the people as they looked around to see what had changed in their surroundings.