Chapter 397 - Giant Spiders
A giant skull shaped purple aura blasted from Ed's sword. It was widening its jaw and approaching the puppet at high speed, a menacing laughter following it.
The skull was trailed by a dark purple mist that had smaller skulls appearing in it like glitter. They would come from the skull and vanish after two seconds, endlessly pouring until the attack hit the puppet.
It created a giant mushroom cloud with a strong force, capable of uprooting the dead trees nearby. Ed knew that Connor couldn't deal effective damage against the earth puppet. It was made mainly of soil, an affinity that overpowers his flames.
"Did we get it?" Connor asked, hovering closer to Ed. "The beetle didn't seem to talk this time. What can that mean?"
"It sacrificed some of its abilities to enhance its power," Ed said. "At least, that's what I think it's doing. This puppet is way more powerful than the last one. Maybe the Earth Master did that. But I don't know."
"That's exactly what I did," a sharp high-pitch voice spoke from the cloud. A smaller beetle puppet came out of it. It was the size of a human child with features closely resembling a human rather than a beetle.
It also had a pair of wings that it actually uses. The other puppets had the wings behind them, but they didn't bother using it. This puppet seemed to be utilizing the wings by hovering in the air to compensate for its size.
"Another puppet," Ed whispered. "Are you such a cowars, Earth Master that you have to send your puppets? Face us with your original body and fight fair."
"Oh, I believe you can't handle my true form," the Earth Master spoke. "If I was here and not in another kingdom, I would've wiped you all out."
"Excuses, excuses," Connor teased. His formed a smirk and watched the Earth Master contort his face in anger. "If you're really brave, then you should come here yourself and not hide somewhere else."
The Earth Master's face calmed down and he shrugged, "Whatever. When we meet in case you could survive the enemies along the way, let's have a tea party before we fight. Our desert castles will welcome you with open arms."
"How polite," Ed snorted. "Are you really going to? But I'm pretty sure the tea will have a ton of poison in it, won't it?"
"I'm not that petty," the Earth Master smirked. His body slowly turned into sand while he waved goodbye. "I will be seeing the both of you. And when that happens, prepare yourselves for I will not hold back."
"Goodbye Beetle Master," Connor mocked with a clear fake smile. "I'll make sure you eat the sand you're so proud of when we meet."
With a smug smirk and a slowly fading face, the Earth Master left the battle. All the earth golems were deactivated, turning off and becoming sand that poured to the brick ground.
"Connor, where are they?" Ed immediately asked his friend. The people, where are they?"
In a dark and rather cold place, several people sought safety. They hugged each other to fight off the cold while feeling the shaking on the floor above them.
"They are fighting," Seitan said. "I hope the Avancians are safe."
"Let's not focus on their safety right now," a woman said. She raises her hand in the eye level and widened her eyes. Suddenly, a burst of flames ignited in her hand. She stood and mover her hand around to try and light the place. "Who else here is a fire elemental? We can light up the surrounding and create heat."
"I am."
"I'm also a fire elemental."
"Me too, but I can only multiply and control it."
…
All the people with the affinity of flame came up to the woman for instructions. They were tasked to go to the outer layer of their circle to light up the are around them while creating fire.
"Emperor Seitan, we have no more time to just wait for those people to help us," the woman said. "We have to take matters into our own hands. They are foreigners, and this is our battle."
"You are right, Rowena," Seitan sighed. "Everyone, this was a bunker made by our ancestors. I am pretty sure that they have hidden something around here. It may be weapons, supplies, or anything. Five of the fire elementals, I will assign to more people with you to explore the area."
Seitan grouped five of their most powerful fire elementals with three more fighters. Their task was to find something that could help them around the large bunker.
The emperor was positive that there was something around the area. It wasn't in his first time in the bunker, but when he went there for the first time it was only for a couple of minutes. He didn't get to explore the place nor did he know what lies inside it.
Meanwhile, Rowena was a high commanding officer in the Shyakan Corps. She was one of the first few female battalion leaders before she retired when she was annihilated in a battle against Malice's soldiers.
After her defeat, she could never bring herself back into the battlefield. She lost all hope of thriving in life until she saw how powerful Elliot and his friends were.
Their aura was very captivating and their will to fight for what's right reminded her of the time when she was in the army. Rowena then on swore to become a better soldier and to help her with more than she could.
"Help!" a voice from a fire elemental they dispatched called out. Rowena got out of the circle and threw a fire wisp beside the man to light up the area behind him. "Run!"
Following the man was a spider the size of a wagon. It was screeching while chasing the man with blood in its pincers and the white web that was wrapped around it.
"My group is dead," the man cried when he reached Rowena. "Help me."
Rowena pulled the man behind her. She slammed her palms to the ground to conjured a large dome made of flames. This made the spider screech and slowly back away.
"I'm finally safe," the man being chased by the beast sighed in relief. "Thank you."
"Do not thank me yet," Rowena said. "They're coming."
"They?" Seitan gasped in shock.
Then, more sound of footsteps approached them, only this time they were sprinting. Not a few seconds later, the spiders slammed itself in the burning dome. It burned the area in its face, and slowly back off, only for another spider to jam its face on the barrier.
This went on and on until Rowena was forced to kneel in exhaustion. She conjured a giant dome to protect all the people which was about a hundred. Her dome was huge that she already had trouble keeping it up.
"Everyone, join your powers to fortify Rowena's dome!" Seitan commanded. "Leave the mist and power her dome!"
"Right away, your majesty!" all the fire elementals chorused. They deactivated their flames and refocused their magic to the dome. They didn't need the dome to light up the place anymore since it was already bright enough.
When hope started filling their hearts, the dome suddenly shattered and Rowena fell to the ground, blood oozing from her lips.