Chapter 254: Time to Get to Work!
"Roar!"
The bandaged creature in the front let out a hoarse roar, and behind it, one creature after another slowly shifted its body. Each raised its sharp claws, its gaze turning toward the group before them.
"Fall back."
Evans looked gravely at the new horde of monsters, his wand held horizontally before him as he spoke softly. "Protego Totalum."
There were at least ten creatures here. According to Bill's earlier description, their movement speed was quite fast, and their attack frequency was very high. If they fought head-on here, one moment of carelessness could result in casualties.
The best choice was to retreat first, then consider their next move.
This entrance hadn't been entirely without gain. At least they'd roughly deduced how these creatures were generated.
A silver-white shield suddenly descended from the sky, completely enveloping those creatures before they could even react.
The Shield Charm variant Protego Totalum, when one had sufficient proficiency and abundant mental resources, wasn't merely usable as a protective enchantment for an area.
Using it to contain other things was also an excellent method.
However, containing so many creatures at once was quite a significant strain on his mind.
Even with his mental fortification enhanced by numerous magical creatures like Bowtruckles, even having drunk that bottle of ancient potion left in the seal, this was still taking its toll.
Exerting all effort to stabilize his mind, Evans maintained the Protego Totalum while speaking. "Ankhaton, lead everyone away!"
"Screech!"
The griffin reared upright, letting out a shrill, long cry. Then its wings began to flutter, invisible winds gathering around them and rushing toward the pyramid's entrance.
Every wizard present felt their bodies instantly become weightless, like feathers on the breeze. With just a casual step, they could move considerable distances.
However, those Aurors clearly hadn't experienced such a sensation. They fumbled awkwardly, several even stumbling.
Watching the Aurors' performance, Evans shook his head somewhat helplessly.
The current generation of Egyptian Aurors were truly abysmal. It was one thing that he alone had broken through the Ministry's defenses with just a few dozen people before, but now they couldn't even adapt to the griffin-enhanced winds.
What possible use were such Aurors?
After a few seconds, the Aurors, blown about chaotically, finally stabilized themselves and rushed rapidly toward the entrance. After watching them depart, Evans turned his gaze back toward the creatures imprisoned within his Armor Charm.
The monsters were constantly scratching at his armor with their claws. Each attack created flickers of light on the silver-white barrier and exerted pressure on Evans's mind.
Though such pressure wasn't particularly unbearable for him now, he didn't wish to waste his mental energy pointlessly.
The others needed at least another two minutes to completely escape. During that time, he might as well gather some intelligence.
Suppressing the mental pressure as best he could, Evans began to observe the creatures within the silver-white armor more carefully.
The previous creature had only extended an arm. After severing it, the creature had scattered with extreme speed, leaving few clues.
But now, he had an excellent opportunity to observe.
"Whoosh!"
The wild wind swirling around Charlie's legs gradually dissipated as he slowed his pace, breathing in great gasps of outside air.
Nearly three minutes of sprinting, combined with the Griffin-enhanced speed, was quite overwhelming.
Behind him, figure after figure burst from the pyramid. Bill, bringing up the rear, turned his head after exiting to look back at the pyramid's entrance.
"Why hasn't Evans come out yet?" Worry flashed in Bill's eyes. Though he believed that with Evans's strength, he could still achieve victory even in direct combat with those creatures, the fact that he hadn't appeared despite such a long time made him uneasy.
But the next second, a silver-white arc flashed nearby, Evans's form materializing within it.
"I was held up a moment. I observed the creatures' structure carefully," Evans said, pausing as he prepared to describe his findings.
But before he could speak, his peripheral vision suddenly caught something amiss. He looked up at the sky.
The black mist that had previously enveloped the pyramid had become much thinner, but conversely, the previously clear sky was beginning to take on an extremely faint layer of black mist.
If one didn't look carefully, they couldn't even distinguish any difference from before. But since Evans hadn't yet dispelled the Thestral's eyes, the black mist in his vision appeared far more concentrated.
The mist seemed to be continuously spreading, completely enveloping the surrounding sky. Seeing the changes in the heavens, Evans furrowed his brow.
If his previous hypothesis was correct, this black mist in the sky should be part of the creatures' bodies within the pyramid.
But the scene unfolding before him generated some confusion.
If the black mist was the creatures' bodies, what did it mean for them to scatter into the sky?
But the next second, Evans's pupils suddenly contracted. He instantly turned his head, gazing at the nearby empty field.
There, above that field, a mass of mist had appeared at some point, slowly coalescing on the ground into one black bone after another. Its formation was very slow, but such a scene was hardly a positive sign.
Bill clearly noticed the anomaly as well. With a flick of his wand, a bright red beam flashed out, striking the not-yet-fully-formed creature.
Boom!
Explosion spell flames erupted around the creature. Smoke drifted away, leaving behind black bones scattered across the ground, their previous form now destroyed.
But the next second, the scattered bones were pulled by an invisible force, floating into the air again, beginning to coalesce into their previous shape at an agonizingly slow pace.
Evans's frown deepened progressively, his gaze fixed on the black mist reconstituting itself.
If this thing couldn't be killed, matters would become rather troublesome.
Because just as the bones were reassembling, on more distant, empty ground, another mass of black mist suddenly appeared, slowly coalescing and beginning to form into that creature's shape.
Then came a second mass, a third. Across the endless plains by the river, masses of black mist began appearing one after another. Their coalescing speed wasn't fast, but if this continued, they would face an extremely difficult and grueling battle.
Most critically, over a dozen masses of black mist had already appeared on the plains, some already forming skeletal shapes, yet the thin layer of mist in the sky seemed completely undiminished. This was rather terrifying.
After all, while these creatures excelled at ambush, their direct combat power wasn't weak either. Just moments ago, a dozen creatures attacking simultaneously had created enormous mental strain when he'd cast the Armor Charm.
If dozens or even hundreds of identical creatures suddenly materialized here—
His heart sank into the abyss. Evans placed the suitcase in his hand on the ground and tapped the side of the box.
"Time to get to work. We have a hard fight ahead."