"Nairo …"

Grimm gasped for air as held onto his surging magical power. He ignored the flying black metal ball in chains and focussed instead on the hordes of Pteromys behind it.

Millions of Pteromys packed the entire tunnel with their ma.s.sive numbers. The swarm of crimson-red rampaged the s.p.a.ce along the tunnel. Like a raging tsunami, it swallowed everything within its path.

These flying squirrels were around fifteen to fifty centimeters long with lengthy white fur covering its entire body. They also had a pair of icy crystal wings that grew from their backs and three steel-like fangs baring from a huge, gaping mouth. It didn't matter if they were digging for ore from a tunnel or devouring Snowthreads. These formidable fangs allowed them to get it done with great ease.

The most noticeable thing, however, was that… they shared the same soul breath as the ice bat horde from before!

"Grimm!"

Nairo, who had noticed Grimm from her black chained ball, flashed a pained look from her Eye of Madness. Yet, her Eye of Cowardice showed hints of being touched by Grimm's actions.

Nairo gritted her teeth and yelled loudly. She seemed to have come to a major decision.

Suddenly, the black chained ball that embraced Nairo blossomed with chains that ran across each other. Majestic force exploded from the blob which was situated at the center.

"This feeling…This, this is a self-seal?!" Grimm couldn't believe what he was seeing.

During his time as a sorcerer-apprentice, when he was above the giant turtle of Celestial Cordillera, Grimm had once crossed fire with Nairo. Nairo gave him the impression of a monster that was being contained within a cage.

If the cage was unlocked and freed from all sorts of constraints, Grimm could hardly be a worthy opponent for her even if he was at his strongest, similar to the time he had battled Hill Wood.

By the looks of it…

Following Nairo's scream, the black chains that circled around her expanded its coverage area as they continued to run across each other. Nairo stood at the center of the sphere cage made from the black chains with her majestic magic powers running high.

"Crystallized Time, Break!"

Nairo's magic force had reached its absolute peak. Wave after wave of magic ripples spread out in all directions from its center.

Within her screams, Nairo's Eye of Cowardice gradually descended into madness as she gave a strong harsh push on the Pteromys hordes about ten meters behind her.

Boom!

The black chains transformed into a pair of ten-meter long hands. These horrifying hands which released a dark aura swung a huge slap towards the back. With a loud boom, black ripples spread out and all sounds within the tunnel were instantly m.u.f.fled out. It seemed as if everything was completely covered up by these hands.

Buzz…

The leading Pteromys hordes quieted down and stopped moving forward as a result of the impact. The hordes at the back were also affected, with their movement momentarily restricted.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang…

After a few seconds of silence, the horde of thousands of Pteromys at the front consequently exploded with a loud bang.

Whoosh…

On the other side, a shadow flew towards Grimm, recoiled by the blast. Grimm instinctively reached out his left hand to grab the plain blob. Eventually, he came to notice that the other end of Nairo's black chains were directly connected to her heart.

Nairo did not have enough energy left. Perhaps she had recently exerted herself too much all in one go after breaking the self-seal.

With only a single strike, Nairo's strength greatly deteriorated. It was as if she had just become an extremely weak normal sorcerer.

The blob struggled to break free from Grimm's grasp.

Nairo's frenzied gaze gradually switched from madness to a weak and evasive state after her stunt. Soon, the black chains from afar retreated like snakes and ensnared her once again, forming a huge metal ball.

The group behind Grimm stared at her in pure amazement.

Nairo's sudden burst of power was simply remarkable!

Grimm's hand which grabbed Nairo's body earlier was now trembling abnormally. The aura he detected from Nairo and the black chains that connected to her gave him two distinct feelings.

The black chains gave him the feeling of Chris York's protection for Nina York. It was a magnanimous tugging of the heart; a selfless kind of love!

"Master!"

Suddenly, Little Myna who was perched on Grimm's shoulder started screaming, snapping him out from his thoughts. Temporarily holding back his thoughts on Nairo's self-seal sorcery and her black chains, Grimm turned towards the Pteromys hordes.

The Pteromys hordes that survived the blast were stimulated by the blood of their comrades which had been slaughtered at the front. With eyes further reddening and their snowy white fur dyed red like bloodthirsty hounds, the Pteromys pounced ferociously at the group.

Holding off all his thoughts, Grimm maintained a steely gaze as his left hand reached into the dimensional gap and pulled out a dozen small red beads.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

With the help of Grimm's great power and repulsion, the beads instantly darted toward the Pteromys hordes.

Grimm shouted, "Demonic Blood Bombs, burst!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

At his command, a dozen highly concentrated Demonic Blood Bombs exploded, releasing a carpet of Demonic Blood Moss, collected from within the Shadow World Lava Dragon's body. These then dissolved into a blood mist which subsequently spread across the tunnel.

Potent as it was, the Demonic Blood Moss could not damage non-scaled organisms with an immediate effect. As a result, the Pteromys hordes ignored the blood mist and continued to charge forward. Be that as it may, red spots started to appear on their fur.

Despite everything, Grimm had well antic.i.p.ated this situation.

With a deep breath, Grimm lifted his Sabbatic Goat Staff. Standing above the maroon-colored sh.e.l.l of the Thousand-eyed Carcinus, he gradually opened his elemental eyes.

Ting!

With a sharp, shrill sound like the gla.s.s breaking, the ice crystal on Grimm's forehead shattered into a million pieces and scattered around like stars.

That very moment, Grimm was akin to a vessel that sailed the raging seas. A kind of magic force that was unimaginable for a Level 1 sorcerer exploded from within him!

His golden hair stood upright in response to the intense magic with his brows and hair now dyed in a snow-white color. A ma.s.sive haze of frost and white icy snowflakes circled around him. Freezing wind formed a small whirlpool, whistling and howling an unG.o.dly tune.

"Ahh!"

Biting hard into his lips, Grimm finally understood Millie and Mina's feelings when they failed to control their insanely powerful magic. Grimm bellowed as he stretched his arms, lifting the Sabbatic Goat Staff high into the air.

Instantly, the raging blizzard and icy crystals combined to form thousands of birds made of ice.

"Thousand Birds Frost Burst!"

Like a river of ice, the swarm of densely packed ice birds huddled up and charged in the direction the Sabbatic Goat Staff was pointing.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang…

The thousands of ice birds exploded right before the Pteromys hordes.

Whenever ice birds explode, a huge piece of solid ice would be formed. Within the loud booms of the explosions, a layer of ice completely sealed the tunnel.

Enhanced by the Sabbatic Goat Staff's power on low-level sorcery, the icy layer got thicker and closer towards Grimm with each exploding ice bird.

Originally, each ice bird had only around two hundred degrees of offense power. With the enhancement of the Sabbatic Goat Staff, however, its power was now double its original value!

In the amazement of the group of sorcerers behind Grimm, the layer of ice that sealed the tunnel had now increased to at least thirty meters as the ice birds continued to explode.

The icy layer continued to expand until it reached to within a few meters of Grimm. Only then did the ice birds come to a stop as he exhausted all his magic reserves.

"Huff!"

With the last ice-bird dissipated, Grimm finally sighed in exhaustion. He came to a half-kneeling position on the back of the Thousand-eyed Carcinus, the support of the Sabbatic Goat Staff the only thing keeping him from collapsing.