Chapter 137: Summoning Glitch

Chapter 137

Because of what had happened with Qu Wenyuan, the energy Mei had recovered was completely exhausted once more, so everyone could only remain inside the spatial rift.

“We can’t delay any longer. Too many phantom demons have gathered, and they’ve already begun devouring one another! If this continues, high-level phantom demons will appear soon. When that happens, we’ll be in even greater trouble!”

Yet less than two hours later, Mei could no longer sit still.

Unfortunately, the energy within her had not recovered. The moment she tried to stand, dizziness swept over her and her body swayed. Fortunately, someone nearby reacted quickly and caught her before she fell.

“Hey, little loli, what are you in such a hurry for? There are so many people here—are we all useless? Why should a child like you worry about this? Just rest obediently!” Wan Yi Wenyue could not help saying.

Mei glanced at her when she heard that. She had just opened her mouth to speak when Mo Chen interrupted her.

“She’s right. Just rest. We’ll handle the rest! All you need to do is tell us what to do!”

Mei parted her lips, intending to say that this was not something they could deal with, but she felt that would be inappropriate. In the end, she turned her gaze toward Xiriel, hoping he would give her another bottle of the potion that could rapidly restore her energy.

“Don’t look at me! That potion can only be taken once a day. If you feel you’ve lived long enough, I have plenty of ways to help you end it all. Don’t waste my medicine!” Xiriel said ominously as he nudged his glasses up with his index and middle fingers.

Mei immediately fell silent, though she was inwardly vexed.

“Tell us what to do. No matter what it is, I’ll make sure it gets done for you!” Ye Jingxuan knew that their strength could not compare with hers, but if they were truly willing to stake their lives on the fight, it might not be impossible. Besides, he still had the enhancement potion Xiriel had given him earlier. With a threefold increase in power, even if he still fell short of her, the difference should not be too great.

Mei did not want them to take such a risk. But under the present circumstances, they clearly could not afford to delay. If they continued to linger, every one of them would perish here, and none of them would escape. If they fought with everything they had now, however, their chances of breaking out were still quite high.

“Very well. Then I’ll leave everything to you! Xiriel sent ghosts to scout this place earlier. There is something about a meter tall here—it is the core of this spatial rift. If we want to leave, we must destroy it. But before that, we have to clear a path through the surrounding phantom demons. Phantom demons can evolve by devouring one another. The farther inward we go, the higher their levels become, so reaching the core will be extremely difficult,” Mei explained.

“Understood. Don’t worry. Leave the rest to us!” Ye Jingxuan’s voice was calm and steady, making him sound exceptionally dependable.

For some reason, when Mei heard his words, she suddenly remembered the scene in which he had shielded her with his own body when they had fallen into a fissure on the snowy mountain. She knew she could trust him, and that he could accomplish what she had asked. Yet she was also afraid that he truly would risk everything.

Mei looked at him uneasily. In the end, she said nothing and merely nodded.

Once the decision was made, several people began preparing. This time, everyone except Mei would have to contribute, including the few ability users. No one would be allowed to hide behind the others.

“Can someone lend me a weapon?” Wan Yi Wenyue asked.

Her ability was duplication, and all her offensive power came from her original body. Ordinary physical attacks were completely useless against these phantom demons, so she needed a weapon condensed from supernatural energy if she wanted to display her full strength.

“What kind of weapon are you skilled with?” Mo Chen asked, thinking that one more person meant one more source of strength.

After their earlier rest, his ability had almost fully recovered. Lending her a weapon would not be a problem.

“A whip!”

Mo Chen raised his eyebrows at that, then directly condensed a long purple whip from his lightning ability and handed it to her.

Wan Yi Wenyue took the whip and gave it a testing lash through the air. Satisfied, she immediately seemed to become an entirely different person. The pride, confidence, and formidable strength in her expression were things the others had never seen before.

An Ziyou cast blessings upon everyone. Xiriel held Mei with one arm and swung his bone staff with the other, once again summoning a large number of ghost mages to surround himself, Mei, and An Ziyou.

“Is everyone ready?” Mei asked as she looked at Mo Chen and the others. “I’m going to withdraw the barrier!”

Everyone nodded. They gathered their energy and began counting down silently in their hearts.

Five, four, three, two, one!

Attack!

The instant the barrier vanished, everyone launched an attack on the phantom demons at once.

Ye Jingxuan led the way, wrapping dark-red flames around his dark-gold staff. Every sweep of the staff annihilated a large swath of phantom demons. Mo Chen used lightning in combination with his single-edged sword, while wind energy covered their rear. Purple and cyan radiance intertwined, effectively preventing the phantom demons from closing in around them.

Lin Shaojie, Wan Yi Wenyue, and the other ability users attacked the phantom demons on both sides from the center, while the ghost mages mainly served to relieve the pressure on everyone else.

In this formation, the group advanced together toward the core.

The closer they drew to the core, the higher the phantom demons’ levels became. Ye Jingxuan’s attacks gradually weakened, and the group’s progress naturally slowed.

As the phantom demons surrounding them began closing in once more, they would have suffered casualties long ago if the ghost mages had not borne the brunt of the attacks. Mei moved her fingers, worry appearing on her face.

“Stay where you are! In this situation, it’s not yet time for you to risk your life!” Sensing her concern, Xiriel warned her while summoning even more ghost mages.

His voice was not loud, but everyone still heard him clearly. Ye Jingxuan and Mo Chen simultaneously took out their enhancement potions and drank them.

Powerful auras erupted from the two men. The threefold increase in strength pushed their offensive power far beyond the phantom demons’ defensive abilities, allowing them once again to cut through the demons with ease.

As Ye Jingxuan, leading the way, faintly caught sight of a white, pillar-like object surrounded by countless phantom demons, the group finally entered the core of the spatial rift.

However, at that very moment, both Ye Jingxuan’s and Mo Chen’s abilities were completely depleted. All the crystals in the space had long since been absorbed, and they had not yet had time to recover. Seeing the many high-level phantom demons ahead, Ye Jingxuan clenched his teeth and prepared to forcefully squeeze out the remaining energy within his body.

Before he could act, however, a strange sound suddenly came from above them.

The next instant, everyone saw a winged creature made of bones appear overhead. Its shape somewhat resembled that of a dinosaur.

The moment it appeared, the creature drew the attention of countless phantom demons. Then the bone dragon opened its enormous jaws and spewed out a cloud of black mist. Wherever the mist passed, the phantom demons melted away like snow near a furnace.

“Xiriel, can you summon Little Bone now?” Mei stared at the bone dragon, then turned to Xiriel in surprise.

A bone-dragon summoning was one of the highest-level spells in necromancy. Before becoming a Grand Necromancer, it was absolutely impossible to perform.

Had his power really recovered so quickly?

She had only just reached the level of an advanced mage, which, converted into the ability-user system, was roughly equivalent to a ninth-level ability user.

Xiriel glanced at Mei’s gloomy face and said irritably, “Use your brain. Don’t let it become a mere ornament! Have you forgotten the nature of my space?”

Only then did Mei realize the truth.

Xiriel’s space was a necromantic space. In other words, he could store the powerful undead creatures that had entered into contracts with him inside it. That way, he did not need to expend magic each time he summoned those high-level undead from another world.

In other words, Xiriel had not actually recovered to the level of a Grand Archmage. He had simply summoned the bone dragon from within his space. Once she understood this, Mei relaxed—and, for the first time, felt envious of summoning mages.

Summoning mages could form an exceptionally special magical contract with their summoned creatures, making those creatures completely dependent upon them. Protected by such a contract, summoned beings could ignore the restrictions imposed by the laws of the planes and retain all of their original strength.

In certain circumstances, this kind of magic truly seemed like a cheat.

Take Xiriel, for example. After coming to this world, he still had to take the laws of the plane into account. He could only merge with one of this world’s creatures and slowly recover his strength. His summoned creatures, however, had no such limitation. A top-tier undead creature like a bone dragon could possess an initial attack power comparable to that of an advanced mage, while Xiriel’s bone dragon had been nurtured to a level comparable to that of a Magister.

What else could such a powerful summoned creature, free from the restrictions of the plane, be called if not a cheat?

The only drawback was that summoned creatures drew part of their master’s magical power during battle. The more advanced the summoned creature, the more magic it consumed. That was why Xiriel never summoned the bone dragon lightly, relying instead on low-level ghost mages for combat.

With the bone dragon’s assistance, everything that followed became much simpler.

Mei stayed safely beside Xiriel, watching Little Bone—the bone dragon’s name—display its overwhelming might. In just a few moves, it dealt with the handful of high-level phantom demons in the core area.

The group quickly reached the white pillar. Without wasting any words, they immediately attacked it.

The white pillar was far more fragile than they had imagined. After only a few strikes, cracks appeared across its surface. Several minutes later, the pillar shattered with a bang, turning into fragments scattered across the ground.

“Quickly! Run back along the strands of light. We must leave before the spatial rift disappears completely! The exit is the entrance we used earlier—the end of the strands of light. Hurry!” Mei urged them the instant the core of the spatial rift shattered.

As soon as she finished speaking, the spatial rift began to shake. The others did not dare delay and ran back along the strands of light at their fastest pace.

In the confusion, no one noticed that when the white pillar shattered, one of its fragments clung to the hem of Mei’s clothing and was carried out with her.

To be continued.