Assassin Crow Evolution

The trip up the mountain would’ve taken a couple of hours if the team pursued it on foot.

It was a trip upwards that stretched a few hundred meters.

However, now that they were airborne, the trip should only take a few minutes.

Jimmy expected a massive battle as soon as he and his team landed at the top. He expected an organized group protecting whatever was worth fighting for up there, so he readied himself.

However, he wasn’t prepared for an airborne attack.

Once more, he noticed a bright light at the corner of his eye. Something was attacking them from the left.

"Watch out!" He shouted, talking to his brother.

Virena was sitting comfortably on Jimmy’s back, so he didn’t have to worry about her.

A bright green fireball chased after them. It was as massive as the ones he tore through earlier on, but up here in the air, the fireball was a lot easier to avoid, and it would’ve been easy to avoid even if it was twenty feet across.

The brothers evaded the fireball, and as Jimmy turned to see where the attack came from, he noticed three giant mantises heading towards him.

To the right, his brother screamed about spotting five more mantises.

They were being surrounded.

"I forgot that these fuckers can fly..." Jimmy whispered.

"We’re fighting mantises!?" Virena exclaimed, "Jimmy, I’m not supposed to fight or kill my cousins, even if they’re distant."

"You don’t have to fight them," Jimmy followed along, "But right now, your distant cousins want to shoot you down from the sky. They’re not as honorable as you want them to be."

Jimmy realized that Virena had been oblivious of what was hunting them. She hadn’t seen the last mantis that Jimmy killed, and he forgot to explain to her what was going on, so her confusion alone set them a few steps behind in the battle.

Four green fireballs roared towards them. Eight more followed suit, as four more giant mantises were covering the front and the rear, thoroughly surrounding the team.

A total of twelve giant mantises were deployed to fight two crows. The enemy had not seen Virena, it was unlikely, but at this point, it didn’t matter because that wouldn’t halt their attack. Their honor and loyalty was dedicated to whoever hosted this attack.

Jimmy and Vorin flew in circles, heading further upwards, as this was the best way to avoid the waves of fire.

"Lucky for us, green fireballs seem to be weaker than my red ones." Jimmy smirked, "Even if we get hit, it shouldn’t burn us alive."

Vorin barely heard his brother, on account of the fact that he was in great trouble himself.

The Colorful Feathers skill camouflaged Jimmy flawlessly. The enemy couldn’t see him, but they could see his brother who only had a dagger at his advantage, which was useless in ranged combat.

The fast-moving fireballs engulfed him from all sides.

He should’ve been burned to a crisp after a few shots, even if the Green Fireballs were considered weak, but Jimmy couldn’t let his brother suffer such a fate.

Jimmy intercepted the fireballs, flashing his Elemental Shield rapidly, and flying between his brother and the fire!

Luckily, the shield didn’t take any mana points to cast, but rather, it was considered a defensive skill that was linked to his comprehension of mana.

In other words, he could keep this defensive tactic up all day, as long as his brother didn’t get shot.

"Keep flying upwards!" He shouted, "If you get shot, we’re fucked!"

Vorin acted accordingly. He didn’t have to be guided through this disaster of raging flames, because he knew very well that he shouldn’t burden his brother, this team’s greatest asset, with healing duties.

Every second counted here, and he knew that Jimmy couldn’t waste a single second healing someone.

"Virena, I need your help here!" He shouted. "Your cousins are having a hard time keeping up with us, but they’ll catch up eventually. We can’t fly off the planet!"

Virena held on to her friend’s back for dear life, and yet, she felt frozen.

Jimmy’s words came to her as a blur, a jumble of demands. She felt stuck.

Much like how a human would feel weird about killing another human, she felt weird about killing mantises.

Hornets wiped out her sect. She believed that the world would be worse off if more mantises were killed.

Initially, she decided to not fight, and hoped for the best.

The opposing mantises were having a hard time catching up to the crows. They were either slower, or their wings weren’t as effective as they were supposed to be.

However, the mantises adapted, and got more accurate with their shots.

Every fireball of theirs started traveling faster, and more recently, every fireball was almost twice as big as what they’ve seen before.

Jimmy did a great job at fending off the flames, but regardless, the team felt as if they were being hunted by a volcano.

Reflected flames circled around them.

Jimmy’s defenses created a sort of oven-effect. Heat was following them upwards, the sort of heat that he couldn’t fight off no matter what he tried.

The surrounding flames were essentially cooking her and her friends alive, even if slowly.

Mantises weren’t supposed to sweat, and yet she was drenched in sweat.

Jimmy stopped pushing her to fight, but when she fully realized that her life was threatened, she decided to fight back!

Virena looked around, and spotted a mantis that was getting a bit too close. This particular enemy was either too fast, or hadn’t wasted any time shooting fireballs.

"No you don’t!" She shouted.

A second later, a beautifully symmetrical Fire Sphere ruptured the air, traveling faster than the enemy’s fireballs ever could!

A whole mile above the ground, the approaching giant mantis was split into hundreds of cleanly cut pieces!

The Fire Sphere tore through it.

"Hell yeah!" Jimmy celebrated on her behalf.

Virena then targeted another mantis which floated a hundred feet away.

Another Fire Sphere detached from the tip of her blade, and headed towards the giant mantis.

The sphere split the air like a rocket, and turned the target into a cloud of raining body parts shortly after.

Ten enemies remained, and she didn’t plan to spare either one of them! The sweat on her forehead helped her push through her ideals.