Leon felt a wave of shame bubble up in his empty chest cavern as he realized that he had been too gullible. He had known that the Orc Shaman would be in the cave, yet he had let himself be captured by the beauty of the illusion earlier. He should have first suspected that it was a trap!
“I would like to add you to my collection. It will make things much easier for me in Divinity’s Bout, and also in my future activities.” The Orc spoke to Leon, its face still twisted in a horrid grin that exposed its tusks for all to see.
The chains around Leon suddenly tightened, and he felt the mana within his body being suppressed.
‘I need to figure out a way from this!’ He thought to himself and quickly thought of how to do that. ‘Nedra!’ He immediately recalled the white millipede that hung around his neck like a thick bead necklace.
‘Finally remember me?’ As if she had been waiting, she replied with a smug tone.
‘Are the chains affecting you?’ He asked, making sure to keep his aura under control. Right now, he looked as if he was not willing to entertain the Orc and kept up a stiff exterior.
‘No, I can move around.’ She replied.
‘Good, I have a feeling this guy is at the very peak of C rank. You are also Peak C rank. Distract him enough for me to break free.’ He told his Spirit Companion as he simultaneously activated the Spell Weaver skill.
The makings of the mana chains instantly became a complex web of magic that threatened to split Leon’s head. From what he could see, the chains were much more complex than the wall from earlier. He could also tell that it was also slowly siphoning away his mana.
When he turned to his allies, he saw that their mana was being drained at a much faster rate than his.
‘It must be because they are too weak to resist it. Heck, even my mana is being drained.’ Leon thought grimly. He could not count on them for this fight.
“One thing I do not understand, is why a Necromancer is going around with ‘living’ companions. These low lives behind you should all be your summons.” Grokus said in thought. His eyes flashed with power as he stepped closer to Leon.
When he was only about three feet away from Leon, Nedra suddenly sprang forward, turning into a white shadow that instantly sunk her claws into Grokus’ left arm.
“Argh!” Grokus grunted and moved back, his right arm blurring as he slapped at the white millipede that curled itself around his arm.
Before he could smite Nedra’s small form, she expanded, instantly overshadowing him as she reached her full size. She quickly used her element of surprise to launch a furious wave of mental attacks at Grokus’ mind to disorient him.
“Insolence!” Grokus yelled and his body swelled with power as he rolled away from Nedra. His eyes were ablaze with rage as he stared at the giant millipede queen and Leon. “I will smite you and your pet, then I will drink wine with your skull!” He growled and mana swelled within him.
“Buffalo Sigil!” He yelled, and his body swelled with power and his tattoos glowed brightly. He grew a couple of feet taller, and his muscles grew so thick that they resembled green trees! Instantly, his life force grew by a third!
“Insolent fools! You would have at least lived if you had submitted to my control.” He growled as he stepped forward intimidatingly.
Nedra also postured herself in an offensive manner as Leon summoned as many millipedes as he could. He held back on summoning James as it would be best to wait until Grokus was occupied with Nedra before unleashing him in a deadly pincer attack.
As a hundred millipedes appeared behind Nedra, she linked herself to them with her Hive Mind skill that she hardly put to use. As Leon was the one in charge, he usually took control of them when he wanted to. Because of that, she had not used the skill a lot apart from guiding a few movements and formations of the millipedes, and the occasional mental attack. This would be the second time that she was directly taking charge of such a large group of millipedes. The first time was when they were fighting against the centipede queen long ago.
“Oh? You can still use your mana?” Grokus was surprised that Leon could summon so many creatures still. He thought that his chains would have restricted Leon’s mana flow on top of draining his reserves. “Matters not. I shall still use your soul.” He smirked wickedly.
There was nothing more to say between both sides. Grokus’ slaves had already begun preparing themselves for battle long ago. Multiple totems had been placed around the cavern, and they activated simultaneously as mana was channeled through them.
Whoosh!
The influx of mana made the mana crystals in the cave flicker wildly as mana was drawn from them to facilitate the better working of the totems. One totem glowed brighter than the rest, and it was firmly tied to Grokus’ waist.
“Bear Sigil!” The already large muscles on his arms bunched up and swelled as his tattoos glowed again, imbuing him with greater physical strength.
Nedra was not swayed. She commanded the millipedes to charge ahead at Grokus without a hint of hesitation.
Grokus’ arms glowed red as he made a sweeping motion, instantly killing a dozen millipedes. His strength was at the peak of C rank, and the millipedes were only at the peak of D rank. As for the only millipedes that Leon had been able to summon which were in C rank, they ranked at the bottom, so they could not stand against Grokus, and were thrown away like ragdolls.
Seeing that numbers were proven to be ineffective, Nedra finally decided to jump into the fray. Her many legs clicked against the hard rock of the earth, while her body danced in twists and turns as she charged at Grokus.