Jacob made them go in a loose cross-shaped formation. He was in the front with Juliet, Helena and Fred were at the sides, and Geneva closed it. They were distanced three meters from each other in order to have more space to maneuver. Dodging was going to be the priority during the incoming fights.
Juliet's Phoenix's Flame didn't consume much Qi compared to Helena's Heaven's Palm. Therefore Jacob made her the point of his spear.
Aunt Linda was the only pure Mage in their group together with Lucius, but the latter had only a 7th level talent and a Cultivation Technique much weaker than the woman. In fact, Aunt Linda's Mana cultivation was at the peak of the 8th level, even though her Qi was still at the 2nd. Even worse than Jacob, considering that her own Cultivation Technique aimed to ignore it for as long as possible.
Marcus, Joseph, and Marina acted as the two spellcasters' bodyguards.
Jacob was drawing symbols in the air with his own Qi; it was a weak Perception formation that he was fueling with some Spiritual Herbs.
"Life signals from two hundred meters to our left," he finally announced. So they were moving in circles around Fort Mountain, slowly tightening the trajectory.
As Jacob had explained, the giant bad monster would be incubating at the center of Fort Mountain, protected by the lesser spawns. Once the big motherfu**er got out, they would get swarmed. So, it was of paramount importance to first get rid of the small fishes.
Jacob saw a little house in the distance, slightly detached from the rest of Fort Mountain. It was most likely a farmer's house, given the huge barn right on its side. Fort Mountain was famous for its Scamorze, a special dairy product made in the region.
"We are going to have many little bastards. Juliet and I will take care of them. Juliet, you do as we practiced, extend the range and turn on the temperature. Helena and Frederick, you catch the bigger ones. Remember not to let them—"
"Not to let them touch us," Helena intercepted.
"Exactly," Jacob's nerves had never been so tense. The people he loved were on the verge of a deadly battle.
"Ok, let's go. Only signs, the sacs are good at catching voices. But, Marcus, if you say one word, I swear I will cut your throat myself," he warned the big guy who was way too talkative.
The man raised his thumb and smiled at him.
Let's hope he gets it.
The others didn't know what to expect but certainly did not expect to see absolutely anything from the outside. Instead, some of them had been expecting some alien sh*t infestation, with red fleshy tendrils flailing in the air and an ominous red glow all around the place.
In reality, the Charybdes were so nasty because they were stealthy. They laid egg sacs in the most remote and hidden places, and their natural colors mixed well with the environment. Moreover, some researchers believed that the sacs possessed chameleonic capabilities.
He signaled to Juliet to simply burn down the barn. The Charybdes had probably laid eggs inside the cows, and there would be hundreds of small ones. It was not worth getting into a nasty fight with them when Jacob could simply take them all out in one swipe.
He gestured to Helena and Frederick to get on two different sides of the main house. Charybdes were smart and malicious. They would not go out from the main entrance but probably from the windows and the roof. He had instructed the two to give space to the monsters, who could not jump far and kill them off before they even touched the ground.
All the others prepared to act as backup.
Juliet lit her arms on fire and started dousing the barn in the Phoenix's Fire as if she was holding a flamethrower in her hands.
Okay, here it comes.
Everyone waited several seconds for something to happen, but nothing seemed to while Juliet was busy burning the entire barn down.
There was no other sound apart from the fire crackling and hugging the woods. For a second, it could have seemed that Jacob had lied to them and that these terrifying creatures didn't exist.
After half a minute, right when some of them were releasing their nerves, the most inhuman, alien, and nightmarish cacophony of screams came from the barn. Every window on the burn burst open the next second, and hundreds of little monsters came out screaming. They were consumed in a second by the Phoenix's Fire, dying on the spot.
Someone and we are keeping their name private, even pissed their pants a little.
Juliet almost faltered, but Jacob told her with an icy tone filled with hate: "Do not relent."
So, she kept dousing the monsters with fire. Finally, after a minute, a few of them got away and started crawling toward her.
They looked like oversized scorpions with too many legs and eyes and a huge sharp-teethed maw.
In the future, if anyone asked how she imagined hell, she would just answer that it would be in the company of these nightmares.
They scattered quickly toward her, and she could already feel her skin crawl. Jacob, however, started walking toward them and something happened.
Juliet instantly felt it. It was the famed aura Jacob had taught them about. So he was released part of his aura against these creatures. But why? He had said that he could not weaponize his own aura because of his weak body…
What Juliet did not know was how many Charybdes Jacob had killed in his past life. He had waged war against an infested Continent. Almost all South America had fallen to these bastards. And he had run to support the US Sects and Clans to repel the terrifying Charybdes that had grown out of control. It had taken them a long time, but they had grown as strong as Dragons and Hydras.
But that was a story for another time.
The Charybdes could feel every kin he had killed with his own hands. And they, who had never known fear, were left paralyzed. So they stayed put while Jacob swiftly made a massacre of them, killing each one in one clean blow.
In the background, another inhuman set of screams erupted, but these were deeper.