With the sudden emergency message, Emery was forced to put Twik's situation on hold for now. After all, if Annara had to send him such a message, it meant the situation was vastly beyond their expectations.

"The hordes! There's a massive number of them!" Annara exclaimed as soon as Emery arrived at her location. Emery shifted his gaze towards the yellow plain beyond the base.

The Bat bloodline's words, however, didn't stop there.

"T-they are different than before! They are heading in this direction fast!"

Hearing such news, Emery knew he had to see it for himself. Therefore, he quickly called Julian, Roran and Anas to come over right away. He also decided to bring in Annara, Chumo and Atlas for more comprehensive and accurate reconnaissance.

Emery also thought of an idea and brought the five Chizpur brothers as well. After that, he told all of the remaining acolytes, who were at the base, to quickly prepare for the upcoming battle.

After everyone arrived, Emery immediately opened a swirling gate and stepped inside. Four successive casts of [Spatial Gate] later, the group found themselves arriving at a hill four hundred miles away from the base, facing the direction in which the hordes of Abyss creatures were coming.

Far on the horizon, Emery and the others could see a seemingly endless wave of dark creatures swarming over the vast plains to the point where neither grains of sand nor dust could be seen. The same situation also unfolded in the firmament, as those flying in the air were even more than the stars in the night sky.

The hordes of Abyss creatures were still dozens of miles away, but their sheer numbers caused the ground to shake violently as they sped across the landscape. Rising tremors swept across the hill the group was currently on, but Emery and the others paid it no attention as they were too stunned by the scene before them.

The overwhelming energy brought by the hordes surged at the group even though they were still far away, causing their bodies to tremble involuntarily.

Without Emery asking for it, Chumo quickly used his [Eye of the Raven], while Atlas used his scanner to investigate the oncoming horde. The expressions on their faces turned more grave as time passed.

In the meantime, through his enhanced Spirit Reading, Emery could tell even from afar it wasn't just their sheer numbers that the group had to worry about. It was the fact that every Abyss creature in the swarm had a certain gold stripe on the back of their body.

Emery had absolutely no idea what the peculiar stripe signified, but given their circumstances, it definitely did not mean anything good for them. Sadly, his guess was proven correct when his companions shared the information they got.

[Mutated Crawler]

[Abyss creature stage 1 (2)]

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[Battle power 20 (30)]

[Number: Millions]

[Mutated Lurker]

[Abyss creature stage 2 (3)]

[Battle power 40 (80)]

[Number: Hundred thousands]

[Mutated Roacher]

[Abyss creature stage 3 (4)]

[Battle power 80 (140)]

[Number: Thousands]

[Mutated Flyers]

[Abyss creature stage 2 (3)]

[Battle power 30 (80)]

[Number: Tens of thousands]

[Mutated Reavers]

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[Abyss creature stage 3 (4)]

[Battle power 80 (140)]

[Number: Thousands]

Emery's eyes bulged when he finally figured out what they were about to face.

Without a single exception, all the Abyss creatures had increased their stage by one and with that came a significant increase in their battle power. Based on their type, some became stronger and larger in size, while others became faster and agile.

One particular type of Abyss creature had, in fact, turned into a huge, 20 meter tall monstrous creature. Its massive, grotesque physique made it look like a mountain among the sea of Abyss creatures.

[Mutated Ravagers]

[Abyss creature stage 4 (5)]

[Battle power 210 (280)]

[Number: Hundreds]

With their enormous frame and immense battle power, each of these Ravagers was capable and strong enough to give a group of acolytes a hard time. Coupled with the hordes of other Abyss creatures in the vicinity, the idea of facing this kind of opponent couldn't help but dispel the spirit of the group.

"Th-this is a disaster! That's definitely not something we can handle!" Anas shouted at the others. His face had lost almost all its color, clearly showing that the man was very terrified by what was in front of them.

As if adding fuel into the fire, Roran added, "This how we can't fight these?! This is just pure madness!"

Julian approached Emery and said with a serious expression. "What's the plan, Emery?"

Emery tightened his fists and took a deep breath to maintain his composure. After thinking for a moment, he started by asking Atlas to find out how fast the horde was moving. They would be able to estimate how much time they had until the horde of Abyss creatures reached the base.

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"What about the stage 7 creature?! Where is it!?" Anas said on the top of his lungs.

"I'm on it!" The red-haired girl shouted back. In an instant, his eyes turned completely white, indicating her consciousness had connected with her familiars.

While Atlas and Annara were busy doing what they could, the others could only wait and stare gravely as the Abyss creatures continued to approach from the horizon. The atmosphere became tense as no one spoke.

Moments later, Annara suddenly shouted, "Found it! Right now, it was five hundred miles behind the horde! Heading straight in our direction, towards the base!"

At the same time, Atlas finished his calculations and said what he gots "Their speed varies depending on their type. But I calculated that the first group of the fastest among them, the Crawlers, will arrive at the base in approximately two hours and fourteen minutes."

Immediately after, all pairs of eyes turned to Emery. It was clear they were waiting for him to make a decision.

Emery heaved a sigh as he could clearly feel the responsibility he had as the leader. Other than this, the only experience he had that was similar was his time at the Battle of Camelot. However, the scale of that battle was incomparable to the one he was about to face now.

Julian put his hand on Emery's shoulder, "Whatever your decision, we will follow. So tell us what you have in mind."

Emery nodded. This was not the time to hesitate. At first, he was hesitant because he worried about the lives of the acolytes under him, but upon deeper thought, he realized the best way for them to survive was to fight back as best as they could.

Emery's gaze turned to look at the device in his hand. He wanted to know how much time was left.

[15 hours 45 minutes]

After that, he looked at the others before turning around. He sank his mind into his [One Mind] skill that connected to the five Chizpur brothers that had been placed down accordingly in between the jump.

A few seconds later, Emery opened a Spatial Gate that traversed the distance of five hundred miles and directly connected the main base to the hill overlooking the hordes the group was currently at.

Within minutes, dozens of acolytes arrived at the hill through the gate. Similarly, they were dumbfounded by the scene presented before them.

Emery stood before these people and spoke as loud and clear as he could.

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"See clearly what's in front of you! Faced with this kind and number of enemies, we can't just rely on defensive siege battles to survive the 9 hour window. Therefore we are going to delay them for as long as possible!"