Chapter 154: The Ravine Trap

The swarm pressed in from every direction, a living storm of crimson scales and needle teeth. Gray twisted through the water, his blade-tentacles lashing out on instinct, but for every fish he cut down, three more took its place.

"We can’t keep this up!" Cindy shouted, her Ice Wall cracking under the relentless assault.

Gray fired Needle Storm into the densest cluster, the paralytic needles exploding into crescent blades that carved through a dozen fish at once.

[NEEDLE STORM — 168 DAMAGE]

[NEEDLE STORM — 162 DAMAGE]

[NEEDLE STORM — 158 DAMAGE]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH DEFEATED — 280 EXP]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH DEFEATED — 280 EXP]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH DEFEATED — 280 EXP]

But the gap closed instantly, the swarm reforming like water around a stone.

"There’s too many!" Gray snapped.

Gray’s Terror Aura pulsed outward, a wave of psychic pressure that rippled through the water like a silent shockwave. The swarm hesitated, their coordinated movements faltering as the aura seeped into their primitive minds.

[Terror Aura — ACTIVATED]

[Effect: Nearby enemies suffer -15% ATK and -15% DEF while affected by fear.]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH — WEAKENED]

The fish slowed, their needle teeth no longer snapping with the same viciousness. Their scales dimmed, their eyes widening with instinctive terror. They were still aggressive, still numerous but they were afraid, and that fear made them weaker.

"It’s working!" Cindy called. "Your aura, it’s scaring them!"

’Good,’ Gray said. ’Then let’s take advantage.’

Cindy’s frills flared as an idea struck her.

"Gray! What if we herd them into a confined space? Somewhere narrow, where they can’t spread out. Then you hit them with everything you have!"

’Where?!’

"There! That ravine!" Cindy pointed with one tiny hand toward a narrow crack between two massive stone spires. "If we can drive them in there, they’ll be packed together."

’And then I hit them with AOE,’ Gray finished. ’That could work.’

"It will work," Cindy said. "But we need to move fast. I’ll cover you."

’Got it. Let’s go!’

Gray surged forward, firing Void Reaper’s Lance into the swarm’s flank. The void-edged spear carved a path through the fish, and he used the opening to push deeper, angling toward the ravine.

But the swarm was faster than he’d anticipated.

The fish didn’t funnel toward the ravine. They scattered, flowing around his attacks like smoke, reforming behind him, and suddenly he was the one being surrounded.

’They’re too quick!’ Gray shouted. ’I can’t push them where they don’t want to go!’

The swarm tightened, needle teeth grazing his carapace from every angle. But the Terror Aura was still working, their attacks weaker than before, their movements less coordinated.

[-18 HP]

[-12 HP]

[-24 HP]

[GRAY ASHFORD — HP: 1296 / 1350]

Cindy’s voice cut through the chaos.

"Then I’ll slow them down!"

She raised both hands, her silver glow flaring brighter than before. Frost spread from her fingertips, threading through the water in crystalline spirals.

"[Frozen Current]!"

The water around the swarm chilled instantly. Frost crept along the fish’s scales, their movements growing sluggish as the cold seeped into their muscles. Their coordinated formation faltered, the tight swirl breaking into a loose, sluggish cloud.

[FROZEN CURRENT — SWARM SPEED REDUCED BY 40%]

"That’s better!" Cindy called. "Now, Gray! While they’re slow!"

Gray deployed Neurotoxic Drift, flooding the water with invisible venom before the swarm could scatter. The cloud spread through the slowed fish, seeping into their gills and scales. The damage ticks began immediately.

[NEUROTOXIC DRIFT — 22 DAMAGE PER SECOND]

[NEUROTOXIC DRIFT — 20 DAMAGE PER SECOND]

[NEUROTOXIC DRIFT — 24 DAMAGE PER SECOND]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH — HP: 156 / 220]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH — HP: 160 / 220]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH — HP: 152 / 220]

The swarm convulsed, their movements growing even slower as the venom spread through their bodies. Gray fired Needle Storm into the sluggish cloud, the crescent blades carving through the clustered fish.

[NEEDLE STORM — 164 DAMAGE]

[NEEDLE STORM — 158 DAMAGE]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH DEFEATED — 280 EXP]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH DEFEATED — 280 EXP]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH DEFEATED — 280 EXP]

The survivors veered toward the ravine, desperate to escape the venom and the cold. They funneled into the narrow crack, their bodies compressing as the walls closed in around them.

"They’re going in!" Cindy shouted.

Gray watched as the crimson fish crowded into the ravine, their bodies packed together, their movements still sluggish from the venom and cold.

Cindy raised her hands, her glow blazing.

"[Ice Wall]!"

A barrier of crystalline ice erupted across the ravine’s entrance, sealing the swarm inside.

But the fish didn’t stop.

They slammed into the Ice Wall as one, a coordinated charge that struck the barrier with the combined force of two dozen bodies. The wall shuddered, cracks spiderwebbing across its surface.

[ICE WALL — CRACKING]

"They’re trying to break through!" Cindy shouted.

The swarm hit the wall again. And again. Each impact sent fractures spreading deeper, the ice groaning under the strain.

[ICE WALL — 47% INTEGRITY]

"Hold on!" Gray shouted.

Cindy’s frills splayed wide, her silver glow surging as she poured more mana into the barrier.

"[Reinforce]!"

Frost spread across the cracks, sealing them, thickening the wall. The ice grew denser, harder, until it was no longer a thin sheet but a solid block of crystalline frost.

[ICE WALL — 100% INTEGRITY — REINFORCED]

The swarm slammed into it again, but this time the wall didn’t crack. The fish recoiled, their scales screeching against the frozen surface, their coordinated charge breaking apart.

’Now, Gray!’ Cindy shouted. ’While they’re trapped!’

Gray hovered at the ravine’s mouth, his blade-tentacles spreading wide. Inside, the swarm churned, packed together so tightly that their scales scraped against each other. The venom from Neurotoxic Drift was still working through their systems, and the Terror Aura continued to pulse, weakening them further.

[NEUROTOXIC DRIFT — 22 DAMAGE PER SECOND]

[NEUROTOXIC DRIFT — 20 DAMAGE PER SECOND]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH — HP: 112 / 220]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH — HP: 118 / 220]

’Time to sleep, fucker!’

Gray gathered his mana, his carapace humming with power. But instead of firing Needle Storm again, he activated Overcharge first, letting the electricity build and crackle along his blade-tentacles.

Then, while the lightning was still charging, he fired Cavitation Pulse directly into the ravine.

The superheated jet of water and crystal shrapnel shot into the confined space and the moment it touched the residual electricity from Overcharge, the reaction detonated.

The ravine erupted.

A massive explosion of steam, plasma, and molten crystal tore through the trapped swarm. The confined walls amplified the blast, channeling the shockwave back and forth, crushing the fish against the stone, boiling them in superheated water, and shredding them with crystal shrapnel.

[OVERCHARGE + CAVITATION PULSE — COMBINATION REACTION]

[STEAM EXPLOSION — 248 DAMAGE]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH DEFEATED — 280 EXP]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH DEFEATED — 280 EXP]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH DEFEATED — 280 EXP]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH DEFEATED — 280 EXP]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH DEFEATED — 280 EXP]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH DEFEATED — 280 EXP]

The explosion carved through the swarm, the confined space turning the ravine into a pressure cooker. Fish died in droves, their bodies vaporized or shredded by the blast.

Gray fired a second Overcharge into the aftermath, the electricity arcing through the steam and finishing off the survivors.

[OVERCHARGE — 198 DAMAGE]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH DEFEATED — 280 EXP]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH DEFEATED — 280 EXP]

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH DEFEATED — 280 EXP]

The last few fish twitched, their bodies going still.

[CRIMSON SWARM FISH — 20+ DEFEATED — 6,720 EXP]

[LEVEL UP!]

[You are now Level 43.]

[20 Stat Points available for distribution.]

[2 Skill Points available.]