Chapter 310

"Is everyone ready?" I asked.

"Not really, but I'm more prepared than last time," Sibyl grumbled. Despite the joke, I could tell she was ready. She just had some anxiety from relying on my flight magic again.

This time, all of our melee fighters had ranged weapons. Kal'daeryn, Silva, Sibyl, and I each had a bundle of javelins in makeshift holsters for them on our backs. We had made quite a lot of them, but there were only so many we could carry at a time. It was nice to have an option that didn't rely so heavily on my mana, though. Mimi was holding onto the rest we made for now. It was unlikely to be the only time we would need them.

"We'll have to climb in altitude to get to the next island up ahead of us," Torien said while pointing.

"There are plenty of updrafts on the way. It shouldn't be a problem," I replied.

"Do I need to go over how to activate the peppersmoke bombs again?" Lori asked.

Silva smiled. "We've been over it a dozen times, Lori. We got it."

"Alright, no more dawdling. Let's go. Raya, get us to the edge," I ordered.

"Yes, ma'am!" Raya replied with a laugh.

A ribbon of her illusion magic unfolded above us, far enough away to survive the light of our glowing wings. At that signal, our group all rushed to the edge. With an empowered leap using the magic of our wings, all of us shot up into the sky and caught an updraft that I showed the others through the bond.

("Bank this way,") I said.

We had to climb enough altitude that we needed to focus on rising in the air the entire time we progressed forward, which might be a little tricky. We didn't want to risk getting stuck at a solid wall because we hadn't raised enough in the air. Once the banshees eventually discovered us, we might need to be more focused on fighting them off by that point, which meant we needed to climb as much as possible early on. The only upside was that the banshees were far enough away that we should make good distance even once they spot us. Due to how the islands were positioned, we would have a bit more time than we had last time.

("They haven't spotted us yet,") Torien reported.

("It's a little tiresome that the only monsters this dungeon seems to be spitting out are banshees,") Raya commented.

("Dungeons can act really stupid during a dungeon break. Their actions often wouldn't solve the cause of the dungeon break in the first place. People liken it to an instinctual reaction,") Lori said.

I tilted my body and led the others into an air current I found before I replied, ("That begs the question then, what is causing this dungeon break? Do you have any insight on that, Mimi?")

("No, this dungeon has been silent to me, unlike the last one,") Mimi replied.

A hint of worry entered the bond from Bella. ("I don't think we're climbing fast enough.")

I bit my lip and tried to gauge the distance ahead. Fuck, I think she's right. ("Okay, this way then. We need to climb faster.") I broke out of the air current we were in and led us to another updraft. ("Slow down here, let's let this draft carry us up for as long as possible.")

("Is that a good idea?") Sibyl asked with building worry.

I nodded, but trying to project confidence when you had a mental link to everyone wasn't very convincing. ("It should be fine. We need more vertical lift before we get too close to the pillar.")

("I think we're approaching the first third of the distance across,") Torien said.

("Good, and the banshees?") I asked.

Torien tilted slightly to look. ("They still don't seem to notice us.")

We continued our tense journey from updraft to updraft, trying to climb as much as possible during the long minutes that stretched on. We had made it a lot farther than I had expected without the attention of the banshees. Things didn't change until we reached roughly the halfway point.

("Signs point to them spotting us, everyone. A large chunk of them are breaking off from the group and are headed our way,") Torien finally reported.

While we hadn't made it quite as far along as I would have liked, we had at least made most of the altitude we needed. Just a bit more and we would be lined up with the edge. It would be nice to gain some additional altitude before reaching it, but making it to the lip of the pillar at all was the priority.

("Almost in range of me,") Torien reported.

("Wait to fire with Mori, Raya, and Nelly. You too, Lori,") I told them.

Five pulses of acknowledgement went through the bond while I scanned ahead of us for the next updraft. I finally found one, but we would need to go out of our way for it. ("Everyone, this way,") I told them as I banked toward it.

A tense anxiety filtered into the bond with Torien's next words, ("We're losing distance going this way!")

I gritted my teeth. ("I know, but there aren't any other options.")

("I'm in range!") Raya reported.

("First volley!") Morrigan replied.

The five of them sent out the first round of spells and arrows. Torien had gotten some kind of spread shot attack that used her shadow magic. It would have looked impressive next to the others' magic if there hadn't been so many banshees flying toward us.

("Javelins should be in range soon,") Silva reported.

I sent my acknowledgement next to Kal'daeryn and Sibyl while I looked for another forward air current. We were close to the altitude we needed. Now we could afford to focus on gaining more distance.

("Second volley!") Morrigan called out, shooting her magic with the others.

("Javelins!") Silva called. I turned and whipped a javelin out of my sheath and threw it toward the horde of banshees, not even bothering to aim, before going back to watching the wind. We needed to go faster.

("Third volley!") Morrigan called, clearly a bit more panicked.

("Close to bomb range,") Torien reported.

("Bombs ready!") Lori called out.

A pulse of acknowledgement came from Silva, Kal'daeryn, and Sibyl.

("Throw!") Lori called. The four of them threw their bombs as hard as they could. After exactly four seconds, the bombs exploded into giant black clouds of smoke. Luckily, we were all moving so fast now that the wind wouldn't be able to blow the pepper back in our faces even if we were downwind of the bombs.

("Looks like they hit!") Lori called out excitedly. I turned to watch as hundreds of banshees fell from the smoke. It didn't seem to be effective on all of them, but a significant number were knocked out, thinning their numbers.

("Hold for fourth volley!") Morrigan called.

There was some confusion about the order, but I ignored it. There! Another updraft. This one looked large. ("Follow me,") I said as I turned away. I didn't need to look back to see that everyone followed my lead despite being distracted by their own jobs.

("Javelins!")

("Fourth volley!")

Silva's and Morrigan's orders overlapped, they had coordinated to fire all at once. Our attacks took out large numbers of the stragglers. In the brief moment that I turned to look long enough to throw, I found out why Morrigan held her volley. It took a little while to differentiate which ones were affected by the smoke.

("We might not get another chance at a pepperbomb if we don't do another one now,") Torien warned.

Lori took that as her cue, ("Bombs ready!... Throw!")

Four more peppersmoke explosions went off another four seconds later. Rather than waiting the smoke out again, Morrigan decided to call for another volley now. ("Fifth volley!")

I looked over the remaining distance. This draft was large enough that we would make it the rest of the height we needed before reaching the edge of the pillar. I don't think I needed to focus on leading our flight anymore, which was good news because the banshees were starting to get really close now.

A hint of frustration from Morrigan colored the bond, and she decided to abandon the strategy. ("Open fire!")

There was a flare of agreement from Silva, who had been in charge of Javelins. ("Open fire,") she called a moment after.

Now that I didn't need to focus on navigating as much, I shifted more of my attention to the banshees. Even now, the bond continued to impress me. At a glance, I could tell which of the demons my family was targeting and could adjust my own targets appropriately. It was amazing how much more effective we could be when we didn't waste attacks on something that was already being aimed at.

I hurled a javelin using the full might of my true form's enhanced strength. I wasn't sure how much stronger I was, or how that translated to stats, but I could feel the difference. The javelin sailed through the air and pierced my target through the chest. I slipped another javelin out and took aim at another before repeating the feat. This was something I knew without a doubt would have been impossible in my previous life.

("They're getting closer!") Torien said in panic.

I turned to look at the pillar ahead of us just as we had gained enough altitude to see it from above. Oh shit. My sinking feeling spread through the bond in an instant, and I suddenly felt the emotion mirrored to me from each of them as everyone turned to see the pillar island ahead of us.

Hundreds of crawling demons were covering the ground near the edge of the island. They were stranded and waiting for us there since they didn't have wings. We wouldn't be out of the woods once we landed. We would have to fight our way to somewhere safe. The only saving grace was that this island looked much like the last pillar, there were cliffs and a forest to hide in, assuming we could find somewhere safe from the crawling demons.

("Bomb's ready!") Lori called. Immediately, we felt her intentions, but this wasn't something we had considered before. Blowing up the peppersmoke bombs on the crawlers under us seemed like a much worse idea than using them to slow down the banshees.

This created confusion and conflict in the bond as our bomb throwers simultaneously readied their bombs, despite feeling like this was a terrible idea.

("Incoming!") Torien said in a panicked voice as the banshees caught up to us.

("Throw!") Lori said, overlapping with Torien's warning.

The simultaneous messages created just enough discord that the bombs weren't all thrown at the same time, and worse, one of the bombs hit a nearby banshee and exploded in Sibyl's face.

I gasped in horror when I realized the construct created by [Winged Cloak of Light] broke, and Sibyl was falling.

("Sibyl!") Raya cried out. She was near enough to us to see what happened.

("Raya! Prepare your illusions for our landing! I'll save Sibyl!") While the bond made projecting confidence much less reassuring, actual confidence was that much stronger. I knew I could save her, and so did Raya.

("Okay, save my girlfriend, Lilith! I'll help us land!") Raya responded. I could feel her trust fill the bond, but it only barely smothered her worry.

I dove and banked around the cloud of smoke in my path. She was falling fast, but she was flailing with her legs spread wide. The peppersmoke had exploded right next to her, which had a similar effect to being pepper-sprayed in the face. She was screaming as she fell, but I was slowly catching up to her flailing body. I didn't know if it would be enough.

("Mimi! Can you use wind magic to reduce the wind resistance on me?") I asked. The mimic was still tight around my neck. She had been transformed into a golden choker this entire time, just like our last flight.

("I don't know, I can try?") she replied worriedly. Mimi had learned a little bit of wind magic to help us get through the burning forest. Hopefully, she could leverage that to help me here.

I could feel Mimi's magic spread around me and divert the wind away from us. The effect was immediately noticeable, and I began to quickly gain on Sibyl. It was an extremely long three seconds as I caught up to her and scooped her up into my arms. The difference in our size was really pronounced when I was in my true form.

("I've got you,") I told her as I pressed her to my chest. ("Mimi, drop the wind barrier!") As soon as the screen was gone, I opened my wings and banked to the side. With Sibyl's added weight, I wasn't light enough to climb in altitude anymore. We were gliding, but we were still going down!

I quickly looked through my status, hoping to find anything that would help.

Found it! ("Sibyl, don't fight my magic. I need to target you with something.")

("Okay!") she cried out through the bond. She was in a lot of pain and had no way to relieve it at all. The horrible sensation in her eyes was leaking through the bond, so I had to shunt our connection nearly closed.

For the first time since I got the spell, I cast [Lightfoot].

[Lightfoot - Enhancement Magic Spell]This spell temporarily imbues your surroundings with magic that reduces the weight of anything you target inside its field. This effect can be resisted by Magic Defense. The intensity of this effect is increased by half of your Magic Force. This spell reserves a portion of your mana and drains your mana as upkeep as long as it stays in effect. Magic Control reduces the amount of mana required for upkeep and the size of the effect's field.

I felt the difference immediately, and my wings suddenly buoyed the two of us up. This spell was expensive, but I think I would have enough mana to support it. I long lost the connection with the rest of my friends' wings, but they were close enough to land that they should have made it there without issue. I looked up at the fight continuing above our heads. I would need to circle around the pillar to climb in altitude again, but my friends were keeping the attention of all the banshees. We had fallen so quickly that I lost connection to the bond in an instant. I could only feel the other two with me from this distance.

("Mimi, give me a bottle of Nelly's milk,") I said. A moment later, a bottle appeared in my hand. ("Sibyl, this is going to be really uncomfortable, but try and hold your eyes open for me,") I told her, before tearing the cork of the milk bottle away with my teeth.

("O-okay,") Sibyl replied. She was in pain, and even holding her was making me itchy, but Sibyl was a fighter. She can handle this. I hoped the healing properties of Nelly's milk would help, but even if they didn't, the milk should help neutralize the capsaicin a little. I had some water too, but this felt worth trying first. It was a bit challenging to pour the milk into her eyes while moving with the wind rushing around us, but I managed it. I could feel her relief through the bond instantly, and the healing magic in the milk thankfully washed the rest of the irritant away.

("I'm never making peppersmoke again,") Sibyl whined.