Chapter 78. Natural Commander
"Would you like to come to the front?" Pamela said to Aiden, who was at the back.
"Now that I think of it, it will be very hard for Henrich to try anything at the moment even if he could. Apart from the fact that Pamela and Cosmo won’t permit that to happen, I’m now indispensable to everyone," Aiden thought. "I was initially staying at the back to avoid being attacked by Henrich from behind. That won’t be necessary anymore. But, I should find an opportunity to initiate my plan soon."
Aiden simply nodded.
As he moved to the front, Candice, Asmodeus, Seraphina, Luke, and Desmonda also followed.
Aiden was at the front with the instructors, while his friends were together among the students.
"Shit... now it will be harder to deal with him," Henrich thought. "I can only try and assassinate him when an opportunity presents itself after we leave the cave."
"You saved our asses, kid," Cosmo said.
"Yeah. Pity that guy doubted you."
"We are sorry for doubting you."
The instructors and the students apologized to him.
This guy was now the antenna of the group. They could not treat him disrespectfully.
Aiden simply nodded politely.
After that, he focused ahead, his tiny crimson arrows still floating a few moments away from his head.
"The traps that killed that guy are no longer functioning. It seems they have a one-time use," Aiden said.
Everyone sighed in relief.
The group continued forward through the branching cave.
When they arrived at the place, things were just as Aiden had stated.
The arrows he had talked about earlier had pierced through Tori from head to toe.
His dead body was impaled and pinned to the ground. He had a very regretful expression on his face as blood pooled beneath him.
This sent chills down many spines.
The students especially learnt a lesson.
This pocket world was the real deal. Pride was bullshit here. If anyone wanted to show off, they could end up dead. None of them wanted to end up like Tori.
Aiden absorbed Tori’s blood essence and moved forward, the group following his lead.
"Something seems off," Aiden said. "Watch out for the cave walls. They seem to be closing in slowly from behind us. We need to hurry or we will be turned into meat paste," Aiden said.
Blobs of blood appeared before him and transformed into large crimson wings. The large crimson wings attached themselves to his back.
Everyone else made use of their affinity to hasten their movements.
Aiden flapped his wings and dashed forward.
The walls rumbled.
"The mechanism is intensifying from behind," Aiden stated as he dashed ahead. But he did not move too far from the instructors. If the group encountered any rank 2 threats, the instructors would be the ones to handle them. He didn’t want to isolate himself and die foolishly.
Everyone hastened their movements, turning into streaks and blurring from behind. Since he was the scout, not even the instructors tried to get ahead of him. He knew the threats ahead. Following behind him was the best option.
"100 beginner, intermediate, and advanced rank 2 chaotic beasts spotted approaching from behind. 100 beginner, intermediate, advanced, and expert rank 1 chaotic beasts spotted ahead. Giant Hellhound Jackals. Also, I see vapor ahead. It seems the more we advance, the hotter this place becomes," Aiden added.
"That explains why heat was spilling into the western district of Harland City. This pocket world must either be an arid region or it should be full of flames and volcanoes," Desmonda said.
Everyone agreed with her.
"What’s your plan, Aiden? You are the scout and you have a better assessment of the situation. You should temporarily coordinate things," the pocket world specialist said.
Aiden simply nodded.
"Prepare to attack on sight. Rank 1s should handle rank 1 threats. Rank 2s should handle rank 2 threats. The walls are closing in from behind, so let’s use that to our advantage. I suggest we focus on pushing them back. The closing walls from behind will deal with them. Let’s prioritize our escape over killing creatures," Aiden said.
Everyone nodded.
"Rank 2s cover the rank 1s from behind and launch long-range attacks towards the creatures approaching from behind to push them back," Aiden instructed. "Rank 1s form a line across me and launch long-range attacks forward. If we launch attacks from the same position, we can avoid accidentally launching attacks against one another and avoid friendly fire," Aiden added.
The rank 1 warriors caught up to Aiden and formed a horizontal line with him.
The rank 2 warriors also followed the same approach and formed a horizontal line as their fronts faced backwards in their retreat.
"Attack!"
Aiden commanded.
Affinity attacks tore through the cave.
Arrows, arcs, and bullets formed from several affinities swept through the place.
The wails of creatures resounded through the cave from ahead and behind.
Aiden’s eyes flashed with a calm glint.
"It’s working. They are being pushed back and some are dying. Keep it up. Rank 1s, intensify your attacks."
At the same time, Aiden was absorbing the blood essence of the creatures which fell which were not more than 20 meters from his location.
Aiden’s crimson arrows shot through the air and slaughtered several expert rank 1 giant Hellhounds with lethal precision.
The other rank 1 warriors also launched their attacks towards particular directions as ordered by Aiden.
"Instructor Pamela, focus on 8 o’clock."
"Instructor Bonri, incoming from your left. I need a legendary rank 2 tank to shield the rank 2s."
"Desmonda, form a lightning field and launch it towards three o’clock ahead."
"Luke, form a healing field. A large fireball approaches. Damage is imminent."
"I need a legendary rank 1 warrior with monstrous defenses to tank the incoming fireball."
He kept absorbing the blood essence of creatures that kept falling as he gave commands.
Everyone was working with pure efficient coordination under Aiden’s command. Not a single person had died. The rank 2 jackals from behind were being pushed back by the attacks of the rank 2 warriors as the walls crushed them into paste. The rank 1 warriors were also clearing the path ahead of them.
They were all shocked at his ability to tactically control the battlefield. Aiden Vhorn was a very terrifying and monstrous person.
He was a natural commander. He was born for the battlefield and combat.
Many thought as they followed his orders.
As they retreated, they saw the corpses of the giant jackals piling ahead. No one had the time to put them in their storage bags. Their survival was the most important thing at the moment.
"How long till the entrance?" Someone shouted.
They were running out of energy, even with healing elixirs, worldly energy recovery elixirs, and the healers. This was because everyone was also using aerial maneuvering with their affinities to hasten their speed. Only Aiden was not in the least bit tired.
Aiden now had a clearer view of not just the inside of the cave, but the outside of it.
"All the jackals ahead are dead. The entrance is 5 meters ahead. Apparently, we appeared in the mouth of a sleeping reptile when we entered this pocket world. Most likely a very strong legendary rank 2 beast not even the instructors can take on, considering everything we’ve experienced. The walls closing in, the traps we identified, are all biological mechanisms in its mouth. The entrance ahead can only be seen because it slept with its mouth open. If we don’t leave this place right now and it closes its mouth, we are dead meat," Aiden said as he bolted ahead of the group.
Everyone else mustered their strength. They used their affinities to aerially propel themselves forward.
The entrance was within reach, but the creature’s mouth seemed to be slowly closing.