Chapter 254: 254: Actually, I Was There First

I dropped down silently on one of the huge trees, carefully panning over the forest with [Mind's Eye].

There were quite a few enemies in the area, but the horde of scorpion creatures I detected were yet to arrive, and the surroundings were rather calm.

Sylrin was close by, but when I turned to him, a large portion of his body was sticking out, and his tail was still swishing about under the tree's foliage, and I sighed.

His attempts at blending in were clearly unsuccessful.

Although he supressed his mana like I taught him, I could still detect some traces of it, and the few Abyssal monsters behind him were no better!

I supressed the urge to laugh at their awkward attempts at blending in - they made even worse sneaks.

This wasn't what I had in mind when I said, 'create a disguise'!

I hissed at them to retreat much further away, and the winged creatures immediately vanished.

I felt relieved when the heavy pressure they emitted lessened. If we weren't careful, my stealthy approach would be revealed before I even got to see anything good.

«This has to be your most reckless idea yet.» Sensei grumbled.

"Shh – you're ruining it! It's not like I won't step in to help."

I heard him sigh in disapproval and I felt conflicted.

Okay, so maybe he was right.

The cave was right there, but we didn't approach it yet.

I felt guilty for not rushing in to warn them, but was it wrong of me to want to see how they would handle it?

Of course, it wasn't like I was going to leave them without help. I would simply step in when the situation demanded it.

«The idea is ludicrous and you know it.» Sensei insisted.

"I said to shush!" I retorted.

A pearly white serpentine head had just poked its way out from the ground, curious eyes looking this way and that, before the full feathered figure of Ophelia emerged.

She was just as pretty as ever, her wispy serpentine form glowing like moonlight as she rose high above the ground.

However, this only made me shift uncomfortably.

What was Ophelia doing outside right at this moment? Shouldn't she be recovering after the most recent attack?

|[Rescue now?]| Sylrin asked.

|[No.]| I coolly replied.

It was Ophelia, I was sure she could handle the overgrown puppy.

Besides, I wanted to see what she could do.

As expected Ophelia noticed the wolf immediately and set her sights on fleeing and I wondered if her speed could beat it?

|[Rescue now?]| Sylrin repeated.

|[Not yet.]|

But then, another serpent emerged from the ground, causing Ophelia to panic and fly towards it. And I hesitated – because it seemed she needed some help, after all.

I didn't think she could fight with a handicap. 

To my surprise, Ophelia sent the serpent away and continued to fight it alone. She even seemed to be holding her own.

The alpha was powerful, but Ophelia was pretty fast. She wasn't immediately defeated and even evaded most of its attacks.

Even more interesting, the range and intensity of her abilities seemed to have increased.

Seeing this, I was glad. It was good to finally have a chance to gauge exactly what kind of a nestling she was, so I calmed down enough to watch them fight.

The alpha was having difficulties resisting her control and Ophelia was quite skilled with poison, so far they were even.

However, the more they fought the more their differences in stamina became noticeable. Soon Ophelia had fallen behind enough for the wolf to take a bite out of her.

Seeing that Ophelia had begun to lose, I decided to help her out by firing a [Dark Blade] at one of the alpha's legs. It wounded him just enough for Ophelia to regain the upper hand and fortunately, it seemed she didn't notice.

However, the Alpha kept peering at the trees behind him, making me sweat from thinking he had noticed me.

There was no love lost between us and I was more than happy for Ophelia to swallow him whole. I was rather eager to see this happen.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before I noticed something odd.

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I could detect a mana presence lingering around the area where Ophelia had emerged from.

It was the same serpent from before whom I recognised as Apollo.

Why didn't he leave?

He seemed to have remained there the entire time, watching Ophelia fight.

I thought he'd stayed because he was worried, until I scanned the tunnels around him with [Mind's Eye], revealing something very troubling.

There was a large gathering of mass of bottom feeders gathered not far from where Apollo was. They weren't attacking him, and I thought perhaps he had some skill to control them. 

But what was he waiting for?

He should have used them to help Ophelia fight.

Instead, he withdrew inside the tunnels with them, leaving me deeply spooked.

Just what was happening?

It was then that one of the Abyssal monsters I sent away informed me of the Alpha's wolf pack approaching.

I was too engrossed in the mystery, so I distractedly ordered it to stall them. 

But soon enough, Sylrin and I began to hear several howls of anguish in the background as several mana presences disappeared at once.

Those fools! I said stall, not kill!

The Alpha also became distracted by their wails and rushed off to see what had happened to them and Ophelia used this chance to pursue him, hoping to earn a quick victory.

The two arrived to see a scene of carnage, with some members of the Alpha's pack, savagely ripped to shreds. Those that were still alive were severely weakened, while others were arriving as reinforcements.

With the Alpha wolf distracted, it was the best chance for Ophelia to kill it. However, it was at this very moment that she noticed the horde of scorpions approaching.

Instead of fighting she seemed to be communicating with the Alpha through his [Telepathy], and it seemed like she was offering him a way to save his wounded. 

I couldn't believe it, but the two appeared to be negotiating.

I was curious to see if she could succeed in convincing the Alpha, but regardless, I instructed Sylrin to protect her, before heading for the cave.

There, the battle had already begun, and I observed them, supressing my aura enough not to scare any of the creatures away.

I already thought Ophelia was impressive. Her control over her magic and the initiative she displayed to consider recruiting a strong monster was good. 

Yet, joining her were a few others.

I was surprised to see the Nymph had sent so many of her spirits as reinforcements, which made it all the more impressive that Artemis and Typhon were able to get their support.

Typhon and his team were great at working together. They displayed a certain ruthlessness in the way they cut down the scorpions they encountered, effectively subduing the largest share.

Artemis displayed a surprising eye for strategy. After collecting so many poisonous plants, the Veladrys with him helped him grow them rapidly. He even combined several to create poisons with potent effects ranging from paralysis to necrosis, enhancing their deadliness. 

A large share of the scorpions that fell through the traps died from the poisons alone, some even before they were consumed by bottom feeders. 

Accompanying him was Lyra who waited on standby to heal any wounded, along with Europa who dropped in to assist. They were the main reason so many of the nestlings were able to last so long on their low stamina.

It appeared their healing abilities had greatly improved, and Lyra even displayed some control in how far her [Cure] could spread, healing the nestlings gathered without healing their foes as well.

Another impressive team was that of Cygnus, they showed off an astonishing amount of speed and impressive teamwork. There was even a serpent on his team who used [Shadow Magic] to fight, although she was a little too competitive with others.

Cygnus himself was a good captain. He moved much faster than his team, but he'd often slow down just enough for them to catch up, and I was curious to find out just how fast he could move. 

I wanted to test their abilities by challenging them, but not too much. 

So, when a group of scorpions that were far tougher and faster than normal appeared, I ordered the Abyssal monsters to only allow two to test the waters, and to kill the rest.

Yet even this turned out to be a disaster.

Arsinoe was simply a confusing creature. She cared little for team work. Most times she displayed reckless confidence and other times, outright stupidity. 

Yet she was a maverick with her use of her magic which was a very strange combination.

Perhaps she was some sort of eccentric genius?

Apollo had not yet returned, so there was little to stop the bottom feeders escaping when the tunnels broke down. Instead, Typhon seemed to have it all under control and even used them to his advantage, for a while.

Something I did not expect to happen, however, was the appearance of new enemy creatures from within the cave. 

Even more surprising was who led them and who the target of their rage was.

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