Chapter 255: Returning to the Pyramid
Time trickled past as those who had fled the pyramid finally understood what was happening. They unleashed spells of every form, attacking the mist formations continuously, trying to scatter them before they could coalesce into those persistent monsters.
The number of mist formations kept multiplying, yet the pressure on the group remained manageable. This was only possible because the plain was now home to many powerful allies.
Boom!
A massive creature with a single horn, resembling an enormous rhinoceros, drove its crimson horn directly into the body of a monster still taking shape. The resulting explosion was devastating.
The blast shattered the bones composing the monster completely, scattering fragments across the ground. They would need considerable time to gather and reconstitute themselves.
Not far away, a mountain-sized beast tramped across one mist formation after another that had already begun developing skeletal structures. Every bone it crushed under its weight was forced deep into the earth by that unreasonable force. Through practical application, bones pressed into the ground this way seemed far more difficult to reassemble than those scattered into fragments.
For this reason, the creature deliberately held back its full strength while trampling. If it had used its complete power with each step, it could pulverize both the bones within the mist formation and the ground beneath in one blow, which would actually accelerate the mist's reassembly rate.
Beyond these two, the plain was filled with countless other magical creatures launching attacks at the mist formations. Their presence was precisely what had prevented any genuinely formed monsters from emerging during all this time.
Yet this approach wasn't sustainable.
Evans thought this to himself, his wand sweeping once more as an explosion spell shot from its tip, scattering a monster that had recently developed skeletal structures nearby.
Though they could currently eliminate every newly appearing monster, the problem remained that the mist formations continued expanding endlessly. No matter how many they destroyed, it would be futile.
Their mental stamina had limits, but the thin black mist hovering above showed no signs of diminishing. It seemed completely indifferent to everything happening below, as if none of this concerned it at all.
While clearing monsters from the surrounding area, Evans lifted his head, gazing up at that layer of thin mist above.
Bill's group had entered the pyramid before and escaped afterward, yet none of these circumstances had occurred then.
So what had triggered this present situation?
Had the correct path actually been the room Bill's team had entered previously? Had they taken a wrong turn, triggering some mechanism that produced this punishment?
Or did the variable lie within their team itself?
Recalling that mark he'd seen above the pyramid entrance, Evans slowed his spell-casting, lowering his head as his thoughts grew more contemplative.
"What exactly is happening?" Bill called out while searching for mist formations to attack, his voice carrying obvious bewilderment. "Those monsters never left the pyramid before. Why has everything changed this time?"
"No idea!" Charlie responded loudly while his wand never ceased its work, spell after spell erupting from its tip, shattering incomplete skeletal frames.
"Shouldn't we leave? If we keep this up, we'll exhaust ourselves eventually!"
The mist formations surrounding them had multiplied considerably. If they kept increasing at this rate, even Evans's friends, powerful as they were, would eventually be overwhelmed.
"Better to persist a little longer," Bill said with a grave expression. "We're in the middle of the Nile region. There are numerous settlements of both wizards and Muggles scattered throughout the area. We cannot confirm whether these monsters can only move near the pyramid or if they can venture away freely."
"If they can wander wherever they please, leaving means everyone living in the surrounding region will be affected."
"That would be a catastrophe."
Imagining what could unfold, Charlie shuddered involuntarily, gripping his wand tighter.
Though neither of them would qualify as saints willing to sacrifice themselves for others, they were both willing to do more while circumstances still permitted it.
Perhaps clearing a few more mist formations would make them disappear altogether.
Bill kept his wand moving and observed Evans in the distance.
Normally, when Evans was present, he directed their battles, but now their ally seemed absorbed in thought, showing no indication of taking command.
That responsibility would likely fall to him.
With this thought, Bill spoke clearly. "Everyone, press together as tightly as possible. These mist formations seem to generate with some regularity. The closer we stay together, the more concentrated they should become, making them easier to attack."
This was something he'd deduced during those few minutes of combat. The pyramid covered an enormous area, yet the monsters seemed to generate only in their immediate vicinity. If they clustered together, a single explosion spell might scatter an entire group.
However, reality unfolded differently from Bill's expectations. After the group gathered close together, the monster generation density didn't increase. The formations continued appearing according to their previous pattern.
But this observation sparked something in Evans's contemplative mind.
He lifted his head, looking at the mist formations surrounding them, then at the sparse mist hanging in the sky above. Suddenly, he spoke.
"Hold the perimeter. Scatter every mist formation you can see."
Without waiting for Bill to question why, Evans's entire form transformed into a silver-white arc, flashing repeatedly toward the pyramid's entrance.
The moment the silver-white arc vanished into the pyramid entrance, the mist formations that had been steadily congealing abruptly slowed their rate of assembly. Though they continued gathering, the speed was dramatically reduced.
At this decelerated pace, even without Evans's allies, the group present could manage comfortably.
Simultaneously, the black mist previously shrouding the pyramid's perimeter suddenly contracted inward, being completely absorbed by that massive golden structure until only an extremely thin layer remained, drifting slowly in the surrounding sky and continuing to generate mist formations across the ground at an extremely sluggish rate.
The assembled wizards exchanged glances, each detecting bewilderment in the others' eyes. They had no idea why such changes had occurred after Evans charged into the pyramid.
Had he discovered something revealing during his earlier observations? Had he found some method to attract those monsters? Or had the monsters simply manifested specifically because of him?
"Stop overthinking it. Focus on what we're doing," Bill said after a moment of contemplation, shaking his head as he observed the confused expressions around him.
"Evans told us to secure the perimeter, so there must be a good reason. The rest of you Aurors, detach a few people to notify your Ministry and colleagues. Everyone else comes here to help eliminate these mist formations."
"At minimum, no monster emerges fully formed from this mess before Evans returns."