Chapter 24 - Emberwing Devilfly
Tara found herself staring at Lady with a hard-to-read expression.
'So what exactly is a Devilfly?' Tara asked curiously.
'Devilflies are voracious predators for our eggs and hatchlings, and not just that, but they will treat virtually anything in this swamp as prey. They are weak individually, yet there are swarms of them with near-inexhaustible numbers. They operate above and below the swamp surface and are a constant problem for us, considering the Pikeake has been limiting where we can lay eggs.' Lady explained.
Tara understood the need to reduce the number of such aggressive predatory insects, even though she was reluctant to get involved with more giant insects from her first encounter.
She did lose a limb to that persistent group of insects who attacked her upon hatching.
The thought of those insects made Tara recount that encounter with Lady.
'Seemed like you encountered them already. However, that sounded like their larvae, the weakest of the swarm, and they were newly born. There are even variants types of those larval staged Devilfly capable of operating in the swamp waters; you were lucky not to encounter them; they are persistent regarding prey. Though that made me curious about when you were born, a clutch was recently laid there. Don't tell me.' Lady's eyes widened as she concluded something impossible.
Tara knew she had given away something big here. She had been illusive about her origins to Lady and Claw, who, viewing her current growth and cultivation stage, did not suspect she was a mere week old at most.
Magical beasts' intelligence grew remarkably slowly and generally matured gradually over time. Iron Salamanders would take a long time to gather and build up their Qi, as their cultivation naturally increased over time until they entered a stagnation upon reaching their species' natural limit, like Claw and Lady.
Tara was an irregularity. She was far too intelligent for her growth period. Claw was easily pleased, but Lady, who initially seemed the friendlier of the two, was far more astute regarding these things.
'I have no problem with most things. But can you assure me you are not a Demon? Claw mentioned the bloodlines and domains that achieve a similar means to how you gain power, but he did not say that Demonic Cultivators have the same methods. Humans refer to the Magical Beasts who have become Demonic Cultivators as Demon Beasts. And they are never good news; at the beginning, the whole race of the Demon Beasts prospers and grows as they gather territory, but a Demon Beast is one for a reason; the means of their growth corrupts their mind, and soon enough, they turn on their kin. Even if that does not happen, Demon Beasts are always hunted down by either humans or their fellow Magical Beasts. I must ask again, are you a Demon Beast?' Lady's eyes narrowed dangerously for a moment.
Tara felt shocked at the sheer bloodlust from the seemingly docile Salamander. If she was being honest, Tara should have seen it coming. Lady was gentle for a Magical Beast, but anyone who had lived to her age in such an environment was not some greenhouse flower who shied away from violence.
At this moment, Tara felt that Lady was even more dangerous than Claw, who outwardly displayed a rougher attitude but was more straightforward.
Tara knew she had to clarify something to Lady, as she said, 'No, I am confident that I am not a Demon, or Demon Beasts, or whatever you call it. I am sane of mind, or at least I think I am. How I ended up where I am is very complicated, and I would love to explain it in due time. However, now I don't believe it will benefit anyone with the time constraints we're under.'
Lady paused for a moment, and Tara grew nervous. She was beginning to feel the Elder Iron Salamander decided keeping her around was not worth the risk.
That was until the Elder Salamander's posture abruptly softened, and all the previous aggressiveness vanished.
The familiar soft, caring Lady reappeared as if she never left when she said, 'I owe you trust. I apologise. You have been nothing but helpful in the brief time since we met. However, I have seen the destruction a Demon Beast can bring to a herd, and I will not allow myself to be betrayed again. Accompany me, young one, so I can experience what Claw has seen.'
Then Tara realised Lady was hinting that it was time to go and do what they had come for.
Following Lady, they began to ascend to the Swamps' surface. The swamp water grew less murky as they neared the surface.
Tara's excellent eyesight allowed her to see the bottom of the swamp perfectly, yet even to her, there was a noticeable difference.
The wildlife in the upper reaches of the swamp waters varied. She had swam deeply in a hurry the previous time as a hatchling, so she did not notice the variety of creatures she could now observe.
She saw what appeared to be types of Killifish, which, again, like most things in this world, were larger than their Earth counterparts. The memorable part of their appearance remained as their scales glittered with various bright colours.
Like most things in the swamp, though, these Killifish were not friendly. They actively preyed on the smaller fish in the surroundings, though they ignored them.
Tara found herself lucky she was with Lady, as Lady seemed to deter most things naturally with her size and power.
Tara even saw a rather large mudfish, what appeared to be a swamp trout-like species, and other creatures that bore no resemblance to anything she had seen on Earth.
She thought they were about to make it to the surface without incident until she caught eyes with a ginormous alligator-looking creature.
Though smaller and far less intimidating than the Dracrocodile, staring into the reptile's cold, threatening eyes was a menacing sight to a former Earthling like Tara.
Tara felt ready to attack, fearing the alligator beast was about to approach until it stared at them with a calculating gleam before deciding to leave, giving them a wide berth.
'That one will be back.' Lady acknowledged suddenly, startling her briefly.
'What do you mean?' Tara replied with curiosity.
'Those magical beasts are ambush predators. It wasn't running away, and it was smart enough to judge we would be crawling to the surface. Usually, creatures even of my strength can return heavily injured from such excursions, and when we do, you can bet that it will be lying in wait.' Lady predicted in an assured tone.
Tara realised she still had a lot to learn about this place. The highly deadly predators she was encountering lately showed that ignorance might get her killed eventually, so it was advisable to learn from the two-centuries-old Salamanders about his place as soon as possible.
Though it was rather apparent that an alligator-like creature would act in such ways, it was precisely the type of thing their Earth counterpart would do, a Crocodile even more so. However, she was unfamiliar with these creatures' habits in extensive detail and knew nothing about the more exotic creatures.
Either way, she was about to encounter something even creepier of the insect variety.
Lady continued to escort her further, and she began seeing all the vegetation that neared the surface.
Floating plants like water hyacinths and emergent plants like cattails and sedges soared above the water.
She wondered where they would be going until she noticed these Island areas above the water's surface.
These Islands were similar to the Mangrove swamp islands found on Earth; they had vegetation littering them, and Lady instructed her to approach them.
Tara was curious about what it would be like to be above water for a change; she had lived underwater ever since she was born as a hatchling and dove for the swamp waters. It may not have been a particularly long period, but it felt strange as Tara neared the heavily forested islands; even from the water, Tara could see they were heading towards highly dense, endless vegetation.
As they were near the surface, they did not have to do much to climb onto the Islands; with their claws, it was easy to do so, and Tara found herself following Lady, feeling the sudden absence of the comforting presence of the smooth, cold water against her skin.
It felt wrong being on land, which was strange because her memories mainly consisted of human ones, and she did not think her instincts alone would be powerful enough to override that. Yet, it showed that the immortal's strange suppression of her emotions was more extensive than she initially believed.
'All I need to do is just continue to grow stronger', Tara reasoned with herself. After all, strength usually resolves everything in a world like this one, and it is the only real way forward for her anyway.
Looking around their island, she found big trees everywhere, yet the space between them was relatively wide, with more vegetation filling the gaps. There were layers of mucky water, muddy soil, and puddles, with sections around her having various pools of water at varied depths.
She saw plenty more creatures on the strange island, but so far, no insects, with Swamp Cramps and all sorts crawling around carefreely.
'The bugs are not far. We must be quick; they will come out in numbers when they realise our presence. Tara, I would be considered a prime target with my cultivation. Going so close to their lair like this will be a risk.' Lady said with warning.
'I understand. We need to get in and out before they mobilise in threatening numbers. However, are you sure I will get what I need before we are forced to leave?' Tara asked, unsure if the risk was even worth it.
'I'm sure there are many of these insects, and they are not particularly hard for a beast of your strength to bring down. The problem is their numbers and ferocity; they have some rather strange and powerful variants among them.' Lady said.
The lady nodded in understanding, and soon enough, they started to make their way carefully through the island.
Tara wondered where flight-capable insects would even live here until she noticed something.
The so-called trees looked strange, and as dozens of insect eyes fixed on her hungrily, scuttling out revealing their camouflage, the beating of wings sounded.
Supersized, more developed versions of the Nymphs revealed themselves, and the so-called Devilflies made their appearance; each one had flecks of red in its eyes, a long and slender abdomen, two pairs of wings, and three pairs of legs with large scythe-like appendages up front.
They were something you would picture in your worst nightmare, and despite Lady's reassurance of them being weak individually, the sight of such large bugs was harrowing.
She thought the Nymphs were terrible, but these things took it to a new level.
The horde of insects seemed riled up and began buzzing angrily. Soon enough, they began to leave the trees one by one in a fury as they approached them menacingly.
Tara thought things couldn't get any worse until she saw the insane sight of a large Devilfly covered in flames.
Utilising {Insight}, she saw the insect's description.
[Species: Emberwing Devilfly
Cultivation: Qi Gathering 6]
'An insect that can control flames?' Tara thought the sight was pure absurdity, but the way the other insects avoided it, she knew it did not have a way to spare the other insects the effect of its flames.
Tara didn't need to wait much longer for a group of insects to attack her. Similar to the much smaller Nymphs, a bunch of Devilflies attacked her in a fury with their scythe-like limbs and barbed-wire appendages as they tried to restrict her before ripping her to pieces.
Tara was surprised at how strong she felt, inwardly thanking Claw and Tara for maximising her traits; she proved far too challenging and strong for Devilflies who possessed similar cultivation to her, finding them as fragile as Lady informed.
The insects gave up their flight, speed, and mobility in an attempt to immobilise her, believing they could tear her flesh apart between them.
Tara was now able to reach them in a wild fury, and her claws and teeth tore through the bugs like they were made of paper.
[You have defeated {Devilfly}, gaining 20 EXP. You are now 4097/5000 into progressing to Level 5.]
[You have defeated {Devilfly}, gaining 20 EXP. You are now 4117/5000 into progressing to Level 5.]
Using {Insight}, she knew the two Devil flies were Qi Gathering four similar to her, yet at this level, an Iron Salamander was already generally stronger than a Devilfly at the same cultivation level, never mind her who possessed the strengthened traits of an Iron Salamander decades older.
The insects are irritated at the easy disposal of their compatriots, but the horde has the mindless desire to consume no matter how many of them they throw at an enemy.
Tara and Lady were in for a long fight, and the erratic Emberwing was beginning to charge up its flames for a confrontation.
It was time to fight out of a swarm of insects and achieve their goal.