The Guardian System: The strongest Summoner's quest to save his family Chapter 380: Straight Lines in a Crooked World (12)

Reidar watched through the Sky-Hunters' vision as they led the flying monster toward the Ignis. The insects were dying fast, but enough remained to keep the creature moving in the right direction.

The flying monster descended through the ash clouds as it chased the Sky-Hunters and snapped at them with jaws that could tear through stone. The creature was massive—easily forty feet from head to tail—with scales that reflected the red light of the burning city.

[Your Summon (Vorathid Sky-Hunter) has been destroyed.]

[Your Summon (Vorathid Sky-Hunter) has been destroyed.]

The Sky-Hunters scattered, diving toward the street where the Ignis were running, while the flying monster followed, roaring as it broke through the ash clouds and into clear air. Then it saw the Ignis.

The creatures had been chasing Reidar's trail until that point, going through all his lines of defense, and when the flying monster appeared above them, so of the Ignis stopped and looked up.

The flying monster saw its opportunity for an enormous feast and stopped caring for the critters, focusing instead on the larger source of energy the Sky-Hunters were leading it toward.

The flying monster didn't hesitate; it folded its wings and dropped like a projectile, slamming into the center of the Ignis group.

The impact dealt massive damage to the monsters; the shockwave even cleared the ash from the street for fifty ters in every direction. Multiple level 485 Ignis got killed under the weight of the level 550 creature.

The flyer's talons tore through the hides of the Ignis as it snapped its snout to bite the heads off a dozen monsters and swallow others. However, the Ignis were feral and lacked a self-preservation instinct, which ant that when faced with a challenger, they would hardly retreat. That was what happened—instead of fleeing, the other Ignis sward the larger creature.

They used their blade-arms to hack at the flyer's legs and underbelly, and while the level difference was high—nearly 70 levels—the Ignis had numbers and a relentless hunger. Because the flyer was grounded, its primary advantage of flight was neutralized, but it continued to slaughter the lower-level monsters.

But there were too many of them.

The Ignis kept coming, climbing onto the flying monster's back to cut into its scales while the creature thrashed, trying to shake them off, but more Ignis joined the attack.

The flying monster's wings beat hard as it started flying, rising twenty feet, then thirty, dragging several Ignis with it. Though the creatures clung to its body, and increased the number of wounds.

The flying monster twisted mid-air and slamd into a building, crushing two of the Ignis against the stone wall, and they fell to the ground in pieces, but the rest held on.

The creature roared again and dived back toward the street, hitting the ground once more and rolling to crush more Ignis beneath its weight; when it stood, blood was streaming from dozens of cuts across its body.

The Ignis still didn't stop; instead, they surrounded the flying monster and attacked it from every angle. The creature fought back, killing three more with a sweep of its claws, but the Ignis were relentless.

Reidar watched the fight through the few remaining Sky-Hunters.

The flying monster's movents were clearly slowing down. Its wings were injured in many places, and deep gashes were on its flanks. Yet it still killed another group of Ignis, then another, though at that point it started bleeding heavily.

Then the creature made a choice. Since it realized the cost of the al was exceeding its value, despite it being powerful enough to kill every Ignis in the street, it would suffer permanent damage or lose too much blood in the process.

With a powerful beat of its damaged wings, the creature lifted off, and the Ignis that had been clinging to it dropped away as it rose, while those still on the ground leaped upward but failed to catch it.

It let out a screech, beat its massive wings to create a windstorm that pushed the pack back, and disappeared into the ash clouds to hunt easier prey. The Ignis screeched at the sky, but it could not follow.

So, they turned their attention back to the tracks of the only remaining target: Reidar.

[Your Summon (Vorathid Sky-Hunter) has been destroyed.]

[Your Summon (Vorathid Sky-Hunter) has been destroyed.]

Almost all the Sky-Hunters died, killed by the Ignis as they refocused on the hunt. Reidar lost the connection to the battlefield and pulled his focus back to his body.

He was still riding the spectral horse, and the edge of the city was only two blocks away now. He could see the boundary ahead, where the buildings ended and the ash-covered wasteland began—a jagged landscape of deep, rocky crevices.

Reidar kicked the horse one more ti, urging it forward, and then crossed the last stretch of street and broke free of the city.

But things weren't done already. Reidar had to fly away if he really wanted to escape, but couldn't do so if the flying monster was still around, so he had to wait.

Reidar scanned the area, looking for a place to hide, but the visibility was bad. The Ignis were still coming, and he couldn't outrun them forever.

Then he saw the crevices.

They were fifty ters ahead, a series of narrow cracks in the ground where the earth had split apart. The fissures were deep, maybe ten feet across and twenty feet deep, and they ran parallel to the city's edge.