Chapter 383: Crossing the barrier
"Stay close," Damon ordered as he started moving forward. His voice was calm but carried an edge that brooked no argument. "The outer region is still accessible. The pull isn’t strong enough there to drag you in... yet. But if you wander too far, you’ll be swallowed whole before you can scream."
The vortex loomed ever larger as they approached, and it was no longer something they could take lightly. Even from the outskirts, they could feel the oppressive weight of the Gate pressing down on their souls. The ground trembled beneath every step, as though the world itself feared what was clawing its way out of that tear in the sky.
The first test was the shadow tendrils.
Long, writhing appendages of darkness slithered across the broken earth, moving with a predator’s intent. The tendrils probed the ground, curling around rubble and shattered weapons, almost sniffing for prey before darting forward with terrifying speed.
Damon did not give out any specific instructions for dealing with these things. Every single person he had invited here was an elite, and they would be able to deal with it on their own. Of course, everyone except for the one idiot.
A shadow tendril snapped toward Riven like a striking serpent. The man screamed and stumbled back, barely raising his shield in time. The impact shattered the steel like brittle glass, sending him sprawling. The tendril recoiled, hissing like steam as Ellora’s blood barrier flared into place, intercepting the strike before it could impale him.
Damon immediately corrected Ellora. "Ellora, you don’t have to cover for his ass. If he dies, then he dies. Only worry about yourself. Everyone has to cross this hurdle on their own. There is no other choice." Damon barked out loud as he used Blink to navigate the troublesome terrain with death traps at every inch.
He simply threw his abundant mana reserves at the problem and arrived at the other end in a jiffy, dumbfounding everyone.
The others also had their own methods to deal with the annoying tendrils. Phoenix transformed into a ball of blazing fire as she shot forward, right through the tendrils. Damon was a little surprised to see this, as he had never heard of such a skill before.
Ghost did not reveal his methods as he silently arrived next to Damon and messaged him privately. "I was here first, you know." Damon rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure the bastard was lying, or maybe not.
Blood Wraith arrived next, covered in all sorts of defensive talismans which even the darkness tendrils couldn’t touch. Being rich was a skill in itself. Damon did not judge.
After that, Kate, Sylvara, Nevin, and Meira arrived. These four simply relied on their skills and footwork and did not use any fancy techniques.
Seeing that Kate was safe and sound, Mark then simply steamrolled through the madness using his bloodline defense and his golden body. After the evolution and forming mana core, his abilities had once again gone up a notch, and from the looks of it, the guy had also unlocked some sort of immunity skill.
Damon’s personal followers were the last to arrive. Their skills weren’t any worse when compared to the others, but it looked like they purposefully hung around to make sure that Damon did not need them to help others.
Lastly, to everyone’s surprise, Riven also somehow reached the other side. His shrill scream echoed again and again as one after the other, the tendrils assaulted him, but the guy simply closed his eyes and ran for his life, reaching the other end by pure luck.
Damon watched Riven tumble onto the cracked stone beside them, his chest heaving, eyes wide with terror. His armor was shredded, his shield long gone, and his face pale as a ghost. Yet against all odds, he had made it.
For a moment, the group was silent, half in disbelief, half in amusement. Erin was the first to break, letting out a low hiss of laughter. "Pathetic as he is... the worm survived. Hah."
Ellora rolled her eyes, arms crossed. "Barely. If one more tendril had struck, he would have been paste."
Riven, still lying flat on his back, lifted a trembling hand. "S-see? I told you... I could... hah... handle it..."
Damon tossed the guy a health potion and then signalled everyone to continue. "Let’s keep moving. It’s not good to stand in one spot for a long time.
The group began moving again into the outskirts of the ruined city. Every step closer to the vortex made the air heavier, thicker, as though they were wading through tar. The sound of the roaring storm overhead was constant, a grinding howl that dug into their skulls and set their teeth on edge.
Ahead, shadow-tendrils gave way to something far worse. The ground trembled violently, and from the broken streets, black ichor bubbled upward like molten tar. It pulsed and gurgled before splitting apart into grotesque forms, humanoid silhouettes twisted beyond recognition, claws dragging along the stone, faces eyeless yet filled with gnashing teeth.
Abyssal spawn. The first wave. Every single one of them was at least level 100.
"Here they come," Damon muttered, crimson eyes glinting as the nearest demon let out a shriek that rattled through their bones. "They are the easy ones."
He immediately summoned a fire lance, not using his blood energy. A spear of molten flame appeared in Damon’s hand, and he hurled it into the advancing tide. The first spawn exploded into black ichor, screeching as its form unraveled into mist.
"These are the easy ones," Damon repeated calmly, stepping forward into the storm of shrieks and snapping jaws. "They’re mindless, and their only strength is numbers. Don’t waste your trump cards here. Save them for what’s coming next."
The ground shook as more Abyssal spawn clawed their way out of ruptured stone, dozens turning into hundreds, a tide of gnashing teeth and writhing limbs. Everyone started attacking wildly, but the result was completely different.