Is That A Wisp?

[Layer 2: Demon Invasion]

[Killed one Demon Soldier]

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Krune couldn't help but curse out loud. "That strong beast was just a fucking Demon Soldier? And how come I got a notification but didn't receive any Godly Point?"

Even though his Monster Gecko skin armor filtered out most of the miasma, some of it still got inside as the burning sensation in his body continued to increase. Krune hurriedly looked around using his Sonic Radar, noticing numerous beasts, or as mentioned in the tablet, demons in the valley. 

There were at least hundreds of them that made Krune flinch upon sensing them. He dared not even peek with his head as he immediately backed away from the cliff, using his Sonic Radar to notice a hill located far away. 

He jumped and landed on his two-meter-long Cloud Whale, riding it towards the hill as he noticed the density of the miasma decrease the higher up he went. He arrived at the peak of the hill, breathing in relief once he noticed the air in the area was breathable. 

He looked below, noticing faint miasma circulating a couple of centimeters below his feet. Seeing this, he could not help but think to himself, 'Thankfully, I am barely above the reach of the miasma.'

"Now, how should I reach a city?" Krune wondered as he looked in one direction, emitting his Sonic Radar at its maximum strength, unleashing it at a sound level inaudible to the ears. Like a radar, Krune continued to scan in one direction alone, continuing as such by turning his head little by little. 

This way, he covered the maximum reach for his Sonic Radar. Unfortunately, despite everything, he was unable to detect any city. Rather, the valley continued for as far as his Sonic Radar's range. And above the valley, there were only some crooked trees scattered around. 

Everywhere he looked, there were demons marching about. Worst of all, the Demon Soldier he had killed had actually gotten up as its head finished healing. Then, it shook its head a little, looked around in confusion before jumping into the valley. 

"What kind of phantasmagoria is happening here?" Krune was flabbergasted. The Demon Soldier he had killed by going all out revived within a couple of minutes and began to go about as usual. If he wasn't flustered by something of such scale, then it would be odd. 

"Then again, where are they heading towards?" Krune wondered as he had been observing that all the demons in the valley were marching towards one direction. They seemed endless and were like a river. 

"Wait…the title of this Layer…" Krune was just about to summon his tablet when an intense sense of danger enveloped him. He could see a figure flying towards him at tremendous speeds.

"Damn it!" Without any hesitation, Krune summoned his Cloud Whale around him and flew away, noticing another demon appear. It had a pair of wings and seemed many times stronger than the Demon Soldier he had faced. 

It swerved through the air and closed in on him. Krune aimed his palm towards it, blasting forth a cold beam, intending to slow it down when he realized that the demon was hardly affected. 

'Well, this sucks. Unless I go all out, it probably won't be injured. Then again, even if I attack and defeat it after using Ocean Turbulence, there's no guarantee another demon might not show up. With that, there's only one way.' Krune thought, increasing the size of the Cloud Whale to a length of 8 meters, his current limit. 

Instantly, the air currents generated around it increased in quantity, propelling it forward as the Cloud Whale fully spread its wings, increasing its flight speed as it quickly expanded the distance from the demon. 

Though, the demon had also flapped its wings and continued to chase after relentlessly, keeping pace without being thrown off. Krune was startled because he was traveling in a straight line. In a straight line, the Cloud Whale was incredibly fast. 

So, he was confused as to how it was able to keep up. Not only that, but he noticed that it was still at ease, looking like it wasn't overexerting itself. Krune directed cold beams on it or the regular Neon Radiance to blind it. 

But after the first two times, it simply closed its eyes and followed him. It seemed to possess high resistance against cold, so no matter what he did, it wasn't harmed. As time passed, Krune noticed that the reason it was able to keep pace with him was due to the miasma. 

Even if he focused a heavily concentrated beam of Neon Radiance on its eyes the moment it opened them, it swiftly fell into the layer of miasma below and surfaced soon after, perfectly uninjured. 

'Does the miasma have healing properties towards the demons?' Krune thought, realizing that it might very well be the case. He was just shocked at the intense speed of regeneration the Demon Solider he killed had shown. 

It meant that unless he killed them in one or two hits, he wouldn't be able to kill them. Also, a prolonged battle would only tire him out. On the contrary, they would be fully healthy and brimming with power in such a case. 

Krune constantly maintained his Sonic Radar, scouting through his surroundings, keeping his senses alert for a wide range so that he wouldn't be ambushed. Even though it was taxing on his mind to take on such a toll, he had no other choice but to do so right now. 

He was in enemy territory. And since the name of the place was 'Demon Invasion,' it meant that the enemies were in superior numbers. Then again, the name also gave him another clue. It was the word 'Invasion.' 

For an invasion, an army was needed. And, the horde traveling through the valley was just that. Considering the fact that they were brimming with power without any sign of injury or fatigue, it meant that they were heading in for an invasion. 

So, as long as he followed them, Krune would be able to reach a city. That was his plan. It was what he had hoped for to be the truth. Krune soon noticed the demon chasing after him give up on its chase and enter the dense miasma in the valley. 

Just when he thought it had given up on him, Krune heard numerous shouts traverse through the valley. Immediately, he understood just what was happening, "Oh no, they're signaling those at the front to probably take flight."

Ocean Heart!

Krune no longer had any other choice but to use all his strength. He hurriedly took out four Blood Essence Crystals from his backpack, hesitating for a moment before swallowing them. Unlike the ones he used while on the Primary Landmass, these Blood Essence Crystals were condensed using the bodies of Motor Fish Kings. So, their backlash would be tremendous to the extent he wouldn't even be able to remain conscious once the effects wore off. 

There was a prompt on the tablet whether he would like to obtain the passive ability. Krune declined it as he could feel the rush of energy enter his body. The energy was tremendous, boosting the speed of his Cloud Whale, causing the air currents around it to become stronger. 

As many demons took off to the air, the Cloud Whale sped past them even faster. Upon seeing his figure, they hurriedly retreated into the valley, causing the shouts to travel even faster. Soon after, demons began to take to the skies 10 kilometers before him, getting ready to intercept him. 

"As if you can stop me!" Krune realized that if he was hindered for even a moment, he wouldn't be able to evade their superior speed. The Cloud Whale was only good at traversing straight lines. So, once the path on his front was blocked, it would be difficult to move. 

Moreover, it needed time to accelerate, unlike the Seamstress's Great Dipper that was great for accelerating from zero to top speed within a second and swerve around in the air without any trouble. 

So, after a moment of thought, he took out another Blood Essence Crystal, swallowing it as the energy circulating in his body further increased. If he hadn't upgraded his physique to the limit of Layer 3, he wouldn't have been able to handle the energy. 

Krune then took out a bottle from his backpack, drinking some of the Healing Extract. This was to prevent him from dying due to the side effects. The Healing Extract would keep his body well maintained and healed to a certain extent. 

He had taken a mouthful of the concentrated version. So, the effects were great. Krune then took in a deep breath before the image of five crimson rings flashed in his mind, fusing into one.

Dreams of the Heart—Ocean Turbulence!

Neon Radiance King, Frozen Blood, and Moving Ripple, Krune fused them all into his Cloud Whale's ability to generate air currents, causing the area around it to freeze and turn moist. And, this moisture was acted upon by Moving Ripple, generating currents to make the Cloud Whale move even faster. 

It then began to suck in a tremendous quantity of air into its body before compressing it by more than a thousand times, almost turning it into a liquid state as Krune fused the effect of Frozen Blood and Moving Ripple into it, building up pressure further before accelerating it through the horn as the Cloud Whale unleashed it. 

The air needle was viscous this time around, but it was faster than normal. It was also bigger and had more power. The quantity of air was also enough for the air to continue exiting the horn for at least five seconds. 

The air needle spiraled in the air, turning into a larger vortex as it pushed the demons to the side from the impact as a faint layer of ice formed on their wings, making it difficult for them to flap it, prompting them to return to their positions. 

By the time they managed to flap their wings, the Cloud Whale had already passed by them, speeding even further as the currents around it had become tremendously powerful. Using Moving Ripple, Krune sucked in more air even while the Cloud Whale was unleashing its attack. 

And when it sucked in the air, it was able to fill itself up at least twice as faster than usual, allowing it to attack once again and send the demons flying away.