The zombie bird, which turned out to actually be a zombified Roc, was dive-bombing towards us. However, I remained perfectly calm as I shifted my primary core to fire and cast one of my new favorites—[Scorchlance].

The pressurized flame spell went straight towards the monster, scoring through its entire body like butter. I had been aiming for its wing, but it managed to avoid it with a tight turn, allowing its body to take the hit. Zombies weren't known for having high defense, but for their resilience. Despite losing a significant portion of its body and being set aflame, it continued its assault.

"Keep an eye out, I bet they will strike while I'm fighting this bird," I telepathically warned Vee.

"Roger Dodger," Vee replied.

I was already summoning up more fire spells, since I knew they'd be an ideal weakness to target on the zombie. If I were being wanton with my Mana expenditure, then our assailants might think they can grab the upper hand.

The bird was mere seconds away from reaching us when I fired another four consecutive [Scorchlance] spells while ordering a small group of [Sub-Cores] to erect a barrier with [Rampart].

The spell coordination went off splendidly, allowing two of my four spells to land direct hits and destroying most of the Roc's wings entirely, with the remaining spells landing on its head and body. I'd barely confirmed my success when the earth rumbled and the rocky wall was raised in defense—not a moment too soon as the flaming reanimated corpse of the bird crashed into it.

I'd gotten a kill notification, but then there was a squelching sound, followed by inhuman roars. Rapidly climbing around my wall were a horde of strange flesh-abominations, looking like a mixture of random monster parts mashed together, including bits of the now re-dead Roc.

They were too close to use extreme firepower, as even if I told Vee to leave, I didn't want to reveal my near fire immunity—no sane elf would detonate fire spells point blank. Instead, I withdrew my "pure water" from my "bag" and began creating a deadly array of "water tentacles" while I cast [Glacial Aura] to lower their mobility.

The flesh-abominations were not particularly strong, utilizing swarm tactics to overwhelm and tear into their victims. Usually, I could have easily killed them from a distance, but it appeared the zombie bird's primary purpose was just to deliver them to our doorstep.

Unfortunately for them, my slimy tendrils were great at splitting up and dealing with the swarm. It would have been even easier if I used [Acid Slime] or [Metal Slime], but I still needed to keep up appearances until we brought them into our trap.

"Incoming!" Vee cried out.

One of my [Sub-Cores] cast [Aegis] and blocked an incoming spear. The spear and its wielder shattered the spell instantly, but it gave me enough time to trigger [Wind Step] and get out of the way.

To my shock, it was a human, not an elf, that had attacked me. He was wearing a robe of earthen, leafy colors, while underneath was a set of full plate armor that had a golden sheen to it.

[Identify] has been blocked.

I immediately counterattacked with my tendrils, sending them out to restrain him while I extended a finger and cast [Waterjet]. He clicked his tongue in annoyance while twirling his spear around, the speed at which he did it creating a seemingly impenetrable barrier that was cutting apart my attacking slime.

If I could use my other slime traits, your spear would be scrap metal!

I immediately retracted my slime, not wanting to waste it, and finished casting my spell. I fired multiple [Waterjet] beams in succession, forcing him to stop his spear twirling and begin to actively dodge.

"Incoming again!" Vee warned. "Arrows!"

I triggered [Wind Step] and in succession, but despite moving a distance away, the majority of the arrows somehow still found their mark. It must have been some archery skill that imbued the arrows with a homing property, or perhaps an enchantment. Either way, the arrows met my [Arcane Armor], which I routinely would keep reapplying, but it shattered after blocking three, allowing the fourth and fifth to strike me.

Damn, even through my armor? Thessa won't be happy.

Blood oozed out of my arm and thigh where the arrows had penetrated. The spearman attacked again, and I started retreating backwards towards the tree.

"I think we've given them enough bait, let's run!" Vee said.

"Don't let her escape!" a gravelly voice demanded before a blackish bolt of magical energy came soaring towards me.

After having my defenses repeatedly unraveled, I didn't trust them, so instead I cast [Dispel], and to my relief, I saw the blackish spell wink out of existence. The caster must not have put too much Mana into it.

I began continuing my retreat, and now I could sense the three or four pursuers chasing after me. Vee was tightly clutched onto my shoulder, as I continued using [Wind Step] when I could.

I cast [Rampart] to create obstacles and [Sand Pit] behind me to ruin the terrain. I also reapplied [Arcane Armor], cast [Bubble], and an earthen variant again on myself to bolster my defenses.

Spell [Rock Shield] discovered.

I ignored the sudden notification and fired a [Scorchlance] directly at the spearman. His eyes went wide, he clicked his tongue in annoyance, and from a magical storage, a large tower shield suddenly appeared, fastened to his arm, taking the full brunt of the spell directly.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to NovelBin for the genuine story.

My attack cost me another arrow landing next to the first one in my thigh after the initial volley was blocked by my spells. It was all superficial damage, of course, but it was rather annoying to see my magical defenses so easily thwarted.

I'm just glad they're targeting me, not Vee.

I quickened my pace, while they shouted taunts at me to fight, while hurling insults and demands to kill me. I kept having to reapply my defenses for appearances, but I finally caught sight of the dungeon. I was beeline towards that entrance.

"I can't see the door, so Juniper's flowers must be working," Vee said.

I didn't reply, focusing on dodging and escaping while I could. I could still sense my link to that zipper on the rift.

"She's heading into the dungeon!" the spearman cried out.

"Good, there's only one way out!" the gravelly voice shouted in response.

After I dispelled his first spell, he left the attacking to his two compatriots. The real threat, in my opinion, was this damn archer.

I was struck by arrows one last time before I finally rushed through the entrance and was welcomed into my dimensional space. Since I'd broken line of sight with them, I used [Blink] to position myself better, and Vee also used [Warp] to position herself.

"Show time!" I informed Vee.

"My coordinates are ready; you debuff the first one and I'll teleport!" she replied enthusiastically.

The spearman was the first to enter, and his eyes widened with shock and dread, presumably from seeing the environment change from the tree dungeon to the white void. Immediately, I cast with the full might of all my cores an empowered [Displaced] on him, which, with how easily it applied to him, was probably overkill.

He was about to turn around when Vee's spell went off, causing him to vanish from the spot and reappear inside a nest of deadly purple threads.

"Holy shit! Your debuff works! This space works! We can actually use our [Dimension Magic]! This is amazing!" Vee cheered.

"Get ready for the next one!" I shouted in warning and began prepping my spell.

The spearman was shouting an endless number of expletives. I briefly glanced at him and caught sight of him destroying his spear by attacking Vee's [Rift Thread]. He appeared to be taking out more weapons and shields and attempting to escape from his confines.

Good luck, even I couldn't really deal with those damn webs.

The next to enter was another human, this one holding a strange-looking bow that almost resembled a harp with its extra strings. Her presence and attire made it so I couldn't even spot her out in the forest, but inside the white void, she stuck out like a sore thumb.

[Identify] has been blocked.

I caught sight of her eyes widening, but unlike the spearman, she immediately leapt backwards in retreat, entirely skipping the step of turning around. But, unfortunately for her, Vee and I were prepared, and our spells went off in perfect sync, a testament to our bond.

The woman was inches away from the exit when her hope was ripped away from her, and she was teleported deeper inside the rift. She was in the middle of a trap, and unlike the spearman, she seemed to quickly realize the deadliness of the net.

To our surprise, she did not try to escape; instead, she started drawing arrows from her quiver and firing them directly at me. I quickly diverted some [Sub-Cores] to build walls between us and protect me.

It all ended up being fruitless, however, as her arrows were somehow capable of entirely changing their trajectory and twisting and turning out of the way in a ruthless effort to meet their mark. Somehow, they even avoided Vee's "invisible" [Rift Threads] as if they had some type of precognition ability.

My concentration momentarily waned as I was struck by multiple arrows, breaking through my barriers again before sinking deep into my slime. Alpha, as always, was creating a dramatic display, but I was growing worried that the arrows would soon penetrate fully and strike a vulnerable core.

"Shit, Vee, can you deal with her? I'll handle teleport and debuff if the next one comes in," I quickly asked her.

"Sure thing, I won't hold back since we can probably keep the spear guy for interrogation," she replied and poofed away with [Warp].

In the meantime, I began reinforcing myself with [Metal Slime] and combining it with [Draconic Scales]. I didn't really need to keep up appearances in here anymore as long as I caught the infiltrator.

Then, to my surprise, a large group of figures poured in through the [Rift Door]. All of them were some flavor of undead, with the majority being various beasts, but I even saw a few dead elves among them.

At the center was an elf wearing a flowing robe brimming with enchantments. Ash grey with a crimson trim, and my mental conditioning, thanks to Paeris' training, immediately went off.

The Dornhallow branch. They participate in "ethical" necromancy by "recycling" the remains of deceased animals. They are known as the forest cleansers and are mostly inactive, except during times of war. They've been effectively demoted from a main branch to a minor one, due to the current peace times.

I'd nearly missed my timing, but thankfully, the elf didn't react like the others, perhaps overconfident by being surrounded by his horde of undead.

Too bad for you; [Dimension Magic] means that I can abduct the leader!

My debuff landed, and he failed to sense or resist it, and then I teleported him, landing him swiftly in another one of our traps. He immediately began to panic as he spun around on the spot, and his army of undead began charging towards him in an effort to regroup.

Bad move.

The mindless horde of undead and their reckless one-minded task were barrelling through anything and everything. This meant that they were all helpless victims of the seen and unseen [Rift Thread] scattered about the arena. One by one, the undead began falling apart, with limbs and body segments being cleanly sliced off.

Kill notifications began to pop up, but I dismissed them. The elf must have realized his mistake as they started a more cautious approach toward him, but to no avail. He then began throwing out corpses and raising them as undead on the spot, trying to create a new vanguard around him in his prison.

Keep the elf, kill the humans, I think.

Vee had already disposed of the archer, which just left the spearman, whose composure had rapidly broken down.

"Teleport these into the elf's cage," I told Vee and dumped out a load of poison bombs. "Then you can take out the spearman. I'll stand by with my debuff-teleport combo in case any more enemies are coming."

"Sure thing, Syl," Vee replied with a surprising amount of cheer. "Isn't it great when a plan comes together?"

I had to agree; this was arguably the easiest encounter we'd ever had. The biggest threat was the archer, but now that we had brought them into our trapped dimension, they were helpless before us.

I detonated the bombs in the elf's cage, releasing clouds of [Sanguine Dream]. Others exploded into tiny shards of metal and poison slime, a combination, of course, laced with the same poison. I was going with as many transmission methods as possible for my plan, to cover all my bases.

Of course, the undead were entirely unaffected, but it seemed that as their master fell unconscious, they resorted to some default orders. The ones in the cell were standing guard over his body like their life depended on it, while the others began rampaging about, which just led to more of them dying to the [Rift Thread] snares.

I kept diligently watching the [Rift Door], time passed, but nobody else had come. Vee had cleaned up the undead by teleporting them out of the cage and killing them after the fact—this spatial area was loose enough with the rules that she didn't even need a debuff for a few zombies.

She also took care of the spear guy while I was on watch; his body was cleanly bisected and lying amongst a pile of countless destroyed weapons.

Was it really that easy?