Expedition (IV)

"Woah…."

Yeah, I agree with Taylor here. I look around and see a massive amount of crystal coming from the ground and creating a crystal garden around the mountain in front of our eyes. There are many kinds of colors, from blood red to void black.

"Scáthach, do you know anything about this crystal?"

I look at Scáthach, who is touching the crystal with her hand.

"No… But I feel a familiar feeling coming from the crystal."

I raised my eyebrow a little bit before coming to the nearest crystal and touching it. As my hand touches the surface of the crystal, I can feel a rush of wild mana coming from the crystal. It was the same feeling when I touched the…

"Mana core from the shadow beast."

Scáthach nodded at my answer before saying.

"Yes. This crystal has the same feeling as the Mana Core coming from the corpse of the Shadow Beast."

"Do you think this crystal is the source of the beast?"

"No… I don't think so. If it was the case, then there should be a thousand upon thousand of beasts guarding this place."

That makes sense. Then how the shadow beast gets created?

"What do you want to do with these crystals, Scáthach?"

"We will leave it here for now. The reason we come here is to kill the giant blood beast, so when the other gods come here, it does not cause any problem for them."

That is true. I don't know how much of the blood beast is in the Land of Shadow, but Scáthach says that the only place where many blood beasts are roaming around in this area, and I can see the truth in this information. We have already killed more than two hundred of the blood beasts coming at us. However, as we kill the blood beast coming at us, I can see their number decreasing the next time the next beast wave happens, unlike the Shadow Beast that keeps increasing.

"Do you know the location of our target?"

"The last time we fought it, it was in the cave under the mountain."

"You fight it with the help of the gods, right?"

"Yes."

"Then why cannot you and the gods kill it before it can become more powerful?"

"It cannot be killed as long as there is a divine being near them. They keep regenerating even when Nuada obliterates it into nothing. As long as there is a presence of a divine being near them, it cannot be killed."

Then Scáthach's presence here is a problem.

"Then, your presence here is a problem, right?"

"I'm not a divine being. I'm an immortal, not a divine being. I don't have any divinity inside my body and soul."

"I see. So that is the reason why the Gods let you guard the Land of Shadow."

Now the only problem left is the Good Hunter, but yesterday, he could kill the Blood-starved beast. That means the Great one is not a Divine Being.

"Shall we continue?"

"Yes. The quicker we get this done, the quicker we can get back home."

We follow Scáthach, who walk toward the mountain that is not too far away from our current location.

~Ten Minutes Later~

After walking for about ten minutes, I look at the massive cave under the mountain surrounded by the mana crystal.

On the way to this location, the crystals around the area increased in number to the point that it was not a jungle anymore but rather a crystal forest.

"Scáthach, You said that you and the other fight against the beast in here, right? Does this place always like this?"

"No. We are not fighting the beast in this exact place but rather a few kilometers away from here. The last time Nuada, Mac Lir, and I fight the beast; it was located near the place where we take a rest last time."

"I see."

So they did not know about this Crystal Forest in front of us.

"Why don't you fight the beast alone? I thought that you should be strong enough to fight against it."

"There is a reason for that. The reason is…"

Before Scáthach could finish her sentences, I heard a roar coming from behind the mountain.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▄▄▅▅▅▅!!"

I look up and see the Cleric Beast leap away from the mountain and land not too far away from us.

However, it did not stop there as I saw more than three hundred beasts coming at us from the mountain.

"That is the reason. There are too many enemies to fight against, and my troops cannot hold their ground long enough for me to finish the job. Also, the beast becomes stronger than before."

Stronger than before? I don't know about the power this beast has previously, but I can feel that this beast has reached a High tier Ultimate class being.

I don't know if I say it out loud, but Scáthach answers my question by saying.

"Before it was barely an Ultimate class being… Now it is already in High Tier."

I order the troops to create the formation and order Medea to create a barrier around us.

While we are busy preparing for the incoming blood in front of us, I hear another roar coming from behind us. I look at my back and see a wave of Shadow Beast coming from the back, and I wouldn't say I like the number of the shadow beast coming at us.

"Alright. Mordred, Carol, and Kushina take care of the shadow beast for me, will you?"

"Finally!"

"With pleasure, My Lord."

"Yes, Dattebane!"

I nod at them before seeing them begin to fight the horde of shadow beast behind us. I then look at the rest of my guardian and say.

"Now Medea, Amelia, and Taylor. It is our job to exterminate all the beast in front of us."

"Of course, Master."

"Yes, Lexian"

"En"

I then look at Scáthach and says.

"Scáthach, you can go take care of the big guy. Help the Good Hunter fighting the big guy."

The Good Hunter is already charging at the Cleric Beast when it first appears in front of us, and by the look of it, Scáthach is eager to do some rematch against the Cleric Beast.

"I will leave the other in your care."

"Roger that."

After I say that, I see Scáthach leap toward the Cleric Beast with her spear in hand.

Seeing the Cleric Beast will be dealt with, I raise my gun and create a holy sword using the Black Blacksmith before joining the other, killing the beast that is coming at us.

I shoot my gun at one of the blood beasts, and when I see that it did not die from a single shot, I create ten and impale the beast with it. When I see three blood beasts coming at me, I create twenty Holy Swords and impale them one by one. When I see one of them still alive, I use my gun to finish the job.

While fighting the enemy, I can see the barrier Medea created begins to crack and begin to fall apart. When the barrier has been breached on one side, I order the vanguard to create a formation to protect the long-range fighter in the back.

Seeing the front is secured, I lead some of the close-range fighters to do some flanking. With my force attacking from behind the enemy line, we slowly were able to kill all the beasts.

I look to my right and see Taylor controlling an insect she brings to the Land of Shadow, as there is no insect in here, and use her lightning flame through her insect to create a barrier or to attack the enemy. I also see an Angel mosquito flying around, healing the troops when they are in their last breath.

To my left is Amelia and Medea working together to kill all the beasts and rescuing the one that got injured. Medea currently on the air bombarding the enemy with her magic while Amelia uses her Sacred Gear to rescue the one that is almost dead and transport it toward her location. Her animal partner, Popol, also appears to defend her from the beast that successfully breaches the formation.

After fighting for about ten minutes, I see no more Blood Beast coming at us, so I look at the Mordred group situation. I widen my eyes when I see a giant fox wreaking havoc to the shadow beast, a flash of crimson lightning creating an explosion right and left, and lastly, a golden woman blasting any shadow beast on her path.

I guess they are doing just fine.

I then look at the battle between the Good Hunter and Scáthach. I widen my eyes once again when I see Scáthach jump high in the air and throw Gae Bolg at the Cleric Beast. The spear then split up and created a root-like pattern before impaling the beast and killing it.

Poor beast.