Psychokinetic Eyeball Pulling

Chapter 212: Overload: Courage 2/7

Of course the approaching energy was familiar. After all, it had almost taken Astrid’s life a few hours ago.

However, to Astrid, it was clear that it had another target in mind. The invaders. From the pyramid, to the invading humanoid-ants, the time it took to hit the centre of their formation took only two seconds.

For normal people, they wouldn’t have been able to react in time before their life was extinguished. But it was clear that some of the invading army were more capable than that.

In a flash, a few of them moved, almost as if they had teleported. Around seventeen in total. Just as they moved out of the way, the laser struck the entirety of their army.

The blinding light caused Astrid to close her eyes for a blink. When she reopened them, she was stunned to witness that the core of the army had been decimated by the Ixtalian cannon. They were erased from existence. No body parts, viscera, or blood remained in this world.

It all happened so fast.

And Darian was ready for it. The moment the strongest of the monsters had moved out of the way of the terrifying cannon shot, Darian had already sent a slash to the ones on the left.

Cleaving into their bodies, four were instantly cut in half, while two of the strongest ants resisted it with their highly armoured carapace.

Then all hell broke loose.

The invaders tore through the air, and punched one of Darian’s men directly in the chest. His entire body exploded, only for Darian to arrive in the next second.

As he was fighting, Astrid herself was trying her best to help out in any way she could. She had failed to save one of the warriors because of their speed, but now she was ready.

Her illusions swept out, covering their bodies, changing their directions entirely. Fog rolled out through the battlefield, causing a mess of confusion for the enemies.

They were mighty warriors, most likely from a different world, but they had a weakness. Their mind. Their attacks tore through Astrid’s illusions, blasting them into mana remnants, but another took its place.

Darian noticed Astrids strange methods and ordered her warriors to retreat back a good distance away, before they fired their high powered arrows once more.

As the creator of the illusions, Astrid found herself in trouble. She didn’t know how, whether it was a detection skill, or something else, but the ants were able to detect her through the blanketed illusions.

Shooting through the air, the ant's kick was aimed at her head. She altered her stats, changing all her Intelligence to Strength, and leapt to the side of the incoming comet-like strike.

Foot striking ground, the earth exploded like a minefield had been triggered.

Blood hungry eyes stared at Astrid as a shiver rattled her spine. From that one hit alone, Astrid was certain that a direct strike would turn her insides into mush, even if her voidbent armour could resist it.

Thankfully, Astrid wasn’t alone. And neither was Darian.

Screams of war filtered through thick jungle foliage. Humanoids of all different shapes and sizes bolted from out of the dark jungle.

Curved blades, natural weapons like claws, and sharp fangs, tore into the ant army.

The Ixtalians had arrived.

Darian was confused at first, but his experience on the battlefield kicked in immediately. He took full advantage of the surprise attack as he launched attacks of his own.

Moving like a phantom, he tore into the stronger invaders like a precision blade. It wasn’t long before they were annihilated.

For a minute, the land turned quiet. No one breathed, no one moved. And then celebrations erupted. Darian’s men held their weapons in the area as they cried out for victory.

The only ones that weren’t celebrating were Astrid, Darian, and a man belonging to the Ixtalians. The man was tall, with cat-like ears, and a thick tail to go with the beastly features. Other than that, he was as close to a human as a human could get.

From the power the man exuded, it was clear he wasn’t Darians match. The display of power the lord showcased was enough to even make the cat-like man wary.

However, if he was the backup that the pyramid people had sent, then obviously he held a certain standing.

Astrid approached Darian’s side and sent him a glancing nod. Without words, Darian understood what she meant.

Astrid had whatever it was the Ixtalians were fighting them for.

“Ixtalian,” Darian bowed his head. “Now that we seem to have a common enemy, may we finally enter peace discussions?”

The cat-man scoffed. “You speak of peace, yet you claim our land as your own.”

“Don’t act like you do not understand what is going on in this world.” Darian sighed, glancing at the bodies of the invaders. “The void is opening. I had no other choice but to settle here. To protect my people. Would you not do the same?”

The void? Astrid perked up.

At the mention of the void, the cat-man’s eyes turned cold. “I am no leader,” The cat man continued as he inspected the lord's men. “So you will need to talk to someone with more authority than I do.”

“That’s great, please, take me to your leader.”

Darian sheathed his sword.

“We will only allow you.” The humanoid feline said, turning around. “And you alone.”

Darian didn’t hesitate. He took a single step forward. His men seemed to trust his decision, but Astrid didn’t.

Astrid wasn’t even deemed a threat and the pyramid people had tried to obliterate her into dust. Who was to say they wouldn’t do the same?

After all, if Darian was killed, the rest couldn’t defend his land. Astrid included.

Stopping him, Astrid warned. “How can you trust them?”

Darian shook his head with a wry smile. “I can’t. Astrid, please defend my people while I’m gone. I don’t know where you came from, but it is clear you are a fearsome warrior. With those… monsters still out there, I could use a heavy hand.”

Astrid had no other option but to accept. Sure, she could go with him, but something told her the Lord Vanquisher didn’t need protecting.

The Lord of the castle disappeared into the jungle along with the Ixtalians.

Hovering, sitting with her legs crossed, she just hoped to whatever gods or goddesses were out there that another portal wouldn’t open.

But no one was listening.

Only twenty minutes had passed when another Astrid’s mind twitched. Something was opening high above, like a door in the middle of the sky.

It was another gate.

The soldiers of the lord shouted obscenities. However, it seemed like it wasn’t just Darian that was exceptional. Even without their lord, they readied their weapons, and formed a well practised formation.

One man in particular had come to the forefront, commanding the men, getting them ready for the impending battle that they were about to be swept in.

He was clad in heavy armour. Like a knight from the old tails Astrid had learnt of. With a visored helmet that shrouded his appearance, and a long polearm; the man was the epitome of what it meant to be on the battlefield.

No identity, no thoughts of coming out alive. The only thing on his mind was the battle in front of him.

It was like he was born for it.

The gate opened, and thousands fell from the sky. Astrid could tell the sight from anywhere. Especially within her nightmares.

They were spiders.

The same ones that were along with the ants, but more numerous than last time. The humanoid ants were nowhere to be seen. It was clear it was the spider's time to initiate the battle.

Was the first gateway a hopeful test to annihilate them, and now that they had failed, they were moving to a war of attrition?

Astrid wasn’t certain if they had a strategist capable of making a decision like that. But right now, it wasn’t important.

The heavy knight held his arm up. When the spiders neared, he swiped his arm down. The sound of bowstrings rattled in the hundreds, and each arrow took a life. But there were too many spiders for the barrage to have any effect.

Instead, Astrid knew that she had the most important mission during this fight. As the mage, it was her responsibility to wipe them out en masse. And she had just the skill for the situation.

Forming a mass of spiralling purple void energy in her palm, her surroundings groaned in protest. It wasn’t as powerful as Darian’s strange aura, but it would be enough for the lesser spiders.

Disgusting.

Astrid spat and once the ball had formed larger than her head, it was quickly becoming more difficult to control. So she let it go. It shot into the depths of the spiders, then chaos reigned supreme.

A black hole formed full with a glittering star backdrop.

The spiders were sucked into its domain, and they were instantly ground up until nothing remained. Ten, forty, a hundred… the number continued to climb, but Astrid was reaching her limit.

Mana container emptying, it was time to finalise the attack. With a click of her fingers, the suspended black hole erupted. Like a pocket dimension filled with enhanced dynamite, whatever was sucked in, was expelled in an instant.

Gore splattered the land red, but no matter how strong the attack was, there were too many of them.

They continued, like mindless beasts hungry for their next meal.

One of the taller spiders shot out a spout of venom. The soldiers flinched, but Astrid was quick to react by blocking it with a well timed Mind Barrier.

Then, she approached the warriors as the spiders neared. Her skill, Void Graviton, took effect, slowing their movements as they attacked.

Astrid had also placed Mind armour on the strongest of the warriors, including the knight clad in armour. Whatever damage they received, a portion of it was redirected to the spiders.

Just like that, the bloodied battle raged on.

However, it was never going to be easy. A sudden attack shattered Astrid’s Mind Barrier as if it was brittle glass.

Attempting to rebuild it, the substance that had struck it seeped down. No matter how quickly she reinforced the barrier, the toxic green liquid melted through her barrier as if it was paper mache.

The attacker appeared. But it wasn’t at the front.

Astrid spun on her heels as she finally spotted the monster with her Psych Domain.

It was a hulking spider. Dozens of eyes, armour made of hardened material, and demonic horns. It was stuck to a tree, looking down at the Lord's warriors as if they were insects.

Just my luck.

Courage 36/100%