Chapter 14: Reaching the Holes
’Now’s the time.’
Utilizing the chaos to his advantage, Mikhail broke free from his group formation.
However, he still didn’t plan to just let them die.
There still needed to be someone to lead them.
And his eyes went straight to a person in his row.
"I got something to take care of. I’ll trust you to take the lead Van." He tapped his shoulder.
Yvan was taken aback by his sudden action and words.
Mikhail was planning to leave these people just now?
It would have left any other person confused and disarrayed.
But Yvan calmed him self, thinking upon his words. He had just called him ’Van.’
Within the squadron, everyone had nicknames for each other as a kid.
It was normal for them to talk using those when they were alone. However, if there was one person that used them the least it was Mikhail.
It didn’t mean that he didn’t love them. In fact, he was the most caring one out of all of them.
They looked up to him as an older brother. It was just that he had difficulty expressing his emotions.
In the rare cases that he did use the nicknames though, the family knew that they couldn’t deny or argue against his orders.
Because it was a personal request from a family member to a family member rather than as a squadron commander to a subordinate.
And within the family, no one ever denied to help each other.
Which was why he was instantly willing to take on what he said.
He trusted Mikhail enough that whatever he was going to do was probably more important than facing an army of monsters.
"I understand," he nodded.
Mikhail gave him a light smile to express his gratitude.
"Thanks."
As soon as he turned to leave, he called him out again.
"But be careful out there. In whatever you are doing, Mika."
Stopping for a second, Mikhail turned back and gave him a nod.
"I will," he said before speeding off.
***
There were two ways to stop a wormhole produced from a mana source.
One, the most obvious one, was to just defeat the monsters that came outside of it.
Or two, to destroy the object that was ruining the mana frequencies at the mana source.
The object could be anything. An artifact, a person, or even a phenomenon.
The point was to just balance out the mana disturbances.
However, it didn’t come without high risks either.
When balancing out the disturbances and frequencies, one had to be extra careful.
One misstep or loss of control could cause them to go haywire, making a disaster even worse than before.
The wormholes would either explode or even more would open up in addition to the current ones.
Which was definitely something Mikhail couldn’t afford.
7 gates were already enough of a disaster as it was before.
The men of the hold could never handle more or even an explosion.
7 large-scale explosions would completely destroy the mana source and atmosphere there.
And this would result in an even higher rate of wormhole openings in the future.
’I can’t mess this up.’
Moving forward through the clouds of dust, Mikhail was left with nowhere to run when a horde of beasts jumped towards him.
’I’m sure she can’t see me through the dust.’
While he knew about Celine’s ability to observe everything through the air, he was pretty sure it wasn’t the same for dust or anything else.
Though he could be wrong. It wasn’t anything more than a hunch.
Regardless, there was no choice right now.
Raising one hand in the air, he joined his two fingers with his thumb before bending them, forming a sign.
"Cindralis."
The first node for element.
Then he closed the two fingers, performing another sign with his last three fingers.
"Fumivex."
The second node for the state of the spell.
"Spinora."
Third node for its shape or motion.
And he was done.
"Cindralic Hurrialis."
The instant he completed the spell, the complex circuit diagram in front of him lit ablaze in a crimson glow.
All the nodes connected with each other, completing the spell.
WHIRL!
The very next moment, a vermillion hot tornado formed around Mikhail, mixing with the dust clouds.
The sharp hot winds tore through the scales of the nearing monsters, throwing them in the air.
Taking both his guns out, Mikhail wasted no time shooting.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
It took no longer than a second, as five big holes ruptured through the now defenseless monsters.
Mikhail, however, took no notice. He had already started moving forward.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
Click. Click. Cluck. Cluck.
The lifeless bodies fell on the ground, halting the charge of other monsters as well.
Fortunately, Mikhail had already moved ahead.
***
After half an hour of relentless killing and dodging, Mikhail was finally able to exit the camp gate.
The gate was in full chaos now.
The screams and growls could still be heard from behind but due to the large clouds of dust, he couldn’t see anything.
’Just hold strong Yvan.’
Peering ahead into the forest, Mikhail estimated the distance he had left.
The straight route from the gate took him at least 20 minutes last time.
The 20 minutes were also done on a horse, so it would definitely take him longer on foot.
’I can’t go the straight route.’
The monsters were charging straight from the wormholes to the gates.
So going this way would inevitably place him right in the center of their assault.
’It’s longer but I’ll have to take the roundabout.’
Which prolonged the time even more.
A window appeared in front of him, which he had gotten used to seeing in his past few days.
It displayed the amount of mana he had left in points.
—————————
• Mana: 4100/6400 [Dragma]
—————————
He had already wasted a lot of mana and yet, he wasn’t even at the main fight.
’There’s no choice.’
Reaching there faster required him to use more spells.
"Cindralic Bormis"
The next instant, a trail of blazing fire shot out from his hands, propelling him into the trees.
***
[15 Minutes Later]
The trail of blaze finally died down from Mikhail’s arms, landing him safely on the tree.
He was not so far from the wormholes now.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
He could hear the monsters charging in hordes from afar.
’There’s definitely a summoner or tamer in them.’
It was the only way they could direct the monsters toward one direction.
From here, he had to proceed with more caution.
His mana was already down to 3400.
"Huff...Huff.." Mikhail could feel the tiredness from fighting too much already catching up to him.
’Damn it with this body.’
Compared to his past life, it was weak both physically and spiritually.
’My condition doesn’t help as well.’
Ignoring the tiredness, Mikhail jumped to the next tree silently.
And finally, he could see his destination in the distance.
7 gigantic wormholes, right by the lake’s shore.
And right next to them were...
’Impossible.’
Mikhail’s eyes widened.
It wasn’t just a group of 3 to 5 people. No.
There were much more.
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