I didn't expect to see Jun Hai's Swamp Stomper evolve further, but that was exactly what was happening before my eyes right now.
"The Swamp Stomper can evolve further?!"
"Of course," Jun Hai assured me, having jumped from his Swamp Stomper to his Venus Serpent. "Just watch!"
"What is this, mega evolution?"
"Can you stop associating everything in reality with your favorite game?"
"Well, it's not exactly my favorite game, but it did have a tremendous impact on me from childhood." That said, this wasn't the time for protesting. I watched as the Swamp Stomper evolved to a Mega Swamp Stomper.
…okay, that was a lie.
Jun Hai's Swamp Stomper had evolved to a Swamp Lord. He had gained considerable bulk, with a much more muscular upper body and arms than before. Now three fins stretched over his head, while the fan-shaped tail fin seemed more deadly than ever. The once webbed feet had turned into actual fists, and he was a lot larger than before.
"A Swarmlord?" I murmured, then coughed. "I mean a Swamp Lord?"
"Yeah," Jun Hai said before he narrowed his eyes. "Though you were about to say something else, weren't you?"
"Uh, well…I've been playing too many games set in the 41st millennium recently. I thought it might be an evolved Hive Tyrant or something…"
"Big bro, just…stop. Anyway, my Swamp Lord and I will take care of the Kraken Lord."
A battle between Lords, eh? Now all we needed was for the Whale Lord to show up.
Though I could leave the Kraken Lord to my brother and his two Earth ranked Swamp Lord and Venus Serpent, it didn't change the fact that we were still outnumbered by a massive number of Mystic ranked spirit beasts, whereas all I had was a relatively weak armada of Little Anglers and Lantern Fishes. The Lantern Sharks might be Mystic ranked, but individually, they still weren't a match for the Torpedo Sharks. And we were outnumbered by a lot, even though I was forced to bring my reserve force of Mud Fishes, Marsh Striders and Swamp Stompers into the fight. With very few Swamp Stompers and Lantern Sharks, we were about to get overwhelmed by the Krakens, Goliath Octopuses, Murder Whales and Torpedo Sharks, not to mention the Prickly Piranhas that were swarming my Little Anglers and Mud Fishes.
It wasn't just Prickly Piranhas. Ripper Fishes, Super Starfishes, Fish O Wars, and more aquatic spirit beasts were joining the fight. Ripper Fishes were similar to the Prickly Piranhas, but were more elongated in shape and instead of having Rough Skin (or scales), they relied on speed rather than defense. Their almost snake-like bodies allowed them to slither through the sea at astonishing speeds. Super Starfishes were starfish type spirit beasts that latched onto smaller spirit beasts and sucked the essence out of them. Entire swarms of them were able to pounce on larger aquatic spirit beasts, using the sheer weight of their numbers to slowly suck them dry. Fish O Wars were dangerous jellyfishes that drifted close to their targets before stinging them with toxic tentacles and paralyzing them before engulfing them in their ooze-like heads.
They were all ordinary ranked spirit beasts, but in such numbers, they still posed a threat even to Mystic ranked spirit beasts. Perhaps even Earth ranked spirit beasts if they threw enough bodies at them.
"Not good at all," I murmured, realizing that we were outnumbered hundreds to one. If I couldn't rely on quantity, then I could only hope that I would have the quality to match their numbers, but we didn't even have that. Despite the formations that my aquatic armada had gotten into in order to unleash lightning bolts that would make up for the difference in cultivation realms or ranks, my hundreds of Little Anglers and Lantern Fishes and dozens of Lantern Sharks couldn't take on thousands of enemy marine spirit beasts.
Xiao Ke and Da Hai were also doing their best, using ice and water techniques to keep the foes at bay, with Xiao Ke freezing large parts of the sea while Da Hai also resorted to physical attacks with his limbs and shell to smack the Torpedo Sharks, Krakens and Goliath Octopuses. Xiao Ke focused on keeping the ordinary ranked opponents off my aquatic armada, allowing them to unleash another storm of lightning bolts across the sea.
Then I caught sight of electricity racing across the waves to counteract the lightning bolts.
"That's…!" My jaw dropped when I saw Thunder Eels joining the fray. My heart sank when I saw just how badly outmatched we were.
For the first time, I realized that I was in very real danger of failing the mission. I wasn't ruthless enough to sacrifice my spirit beasts, and I would pull them back before we got annihilated, even if it meant aborting the quest that the system assigned me. Their lives were more important to me than some unspecified reward. Hell, even if I knew what the rewards were, I couldn't care less if it was some "heaven defying" treasure or whatever, I sure as hell wasn't going to sacrifice my spirit beasts to get it.
"We'll take care of the small fries, big bro!" Silvia called out, descending to help my aquatic armada boost their lightning bolts while neutralizing the Thunder Eels with her own magic.
"Focus on the bigger spirit beasts," Sylvie agreed, weaving another spell in the air and sending more blades spearing through the ocean to bombard the jinking and swerving creatures. The Torpedo Sharks and Murder Whales, in particular, made use of their astonishing agility to evade the projectiles, despite Xiao Ke's best attempts to funnel them with his freezing beam.
"How should I do this?" I wondered out loud with a frown. Taking a deep breath, I called upon the aid of the Sylphs and Undines. Combining their elemental abilities, I created whirlpools, blowing the hapless marine spirit beasts out of the water and throwing them into the air. Relying on the Undines, I froze them in midair before allowing them to crash back into the sea. But the Sylphs' wind spells were limited in the sea, and ice wasn't very effective against the water type spirit beasts.
They simply broke free of the ice. Most of them, anyway – the ordinary ranked spirit beasts died, their frozen forms sinking to the bottom, but the Torpedo Sharks and Murder Whales broke out of the ice through sheer force, while the Krakens and Goliath Octopuses shattered their frozen tombs with their tentacles.
Fortunately, my Colossal Crabs and King Crab swam in and began hammering away at their frozen forms with their pincers, retreating swiftly before they fully freed themselves from the ice. My Armored Carid accompanied them, cutting through the frozen Torpedo Sharks, Goliath Octopuses and Krakens with his pincers, though we were in the middle of battle, I suddenly wished we could turn them into Takoyaki.
"Yikes, this isn't the time to think about such frivolous stuff, even though I'm hungry. I need to figure a way out to retreat safely. We're about to get swamped. Swamp Stompers and Marsh Striders! Muddy Water attack! Wash them away so that we can retreat!"
"Don't worry about it, big bro!" Jun Hai called out. "You don't have to retreat!"
"Huh? Why?" I was puzzled when my brother suddenly intervened. At this rate, we were going to get wiped out.
"You know what's the best way for your spirit beasts to evolve?" He asked. I suddenly understood because I had seen similar situations before.
"Combat experience and being forced into life and death crises."
"Yeah, and the chances of their evolution occurring are boosted significantly if you as a summoner do your job. Again, you're trapped in this game idea of levels and gaining experience points. That's not how it works in reality. You, as the summoner, matters as well! There's a reason why your spirit beasts are willing to make spirit contracts with you! What can you do for them that they can't do for themselves in the wild?"
That reminded me. I recalled that I had a bunch of summoner support spirit arrays that I had inherited from the system. While leaving my spirit beasts to defend me, I began setting up the spirit arrays required to buff them.
But, as Jun Hai pointed out, it appeared that the spirit arrays didn't just buff them. Even as I watched the runic circles flare up and light up the ocean after I set them up using a bunch of arcane symbols that hovered in the air, I could sense the abilities of my spirit beasts being enhanced significantly. The lightning bolts from my aquatic armada's formation were beginning to overpower the electricity from the Thunder Eels. Da Hai led my Armored Carid, Colossal Crabs and King Crab to fight with renewed ferocity, their buffed strength allowing them to pulp the soft bodies of the cephalopod spirit beasts in the water or crush the Torpedo Sharks and Murder Whales in their pincers. The Swamp Stompers made waves and caused seaquakes and underwater tremors that washed the hapless enemies away, while the Mud Fishes and Marsh Striders capitalized on the stunned foes.
All the while, Xiao Ke maintained his position so that I could set up spirit arrays, using his freezing beams to keep the enemy at bay. Seeing what I was doing, Sylvie and Silvia hovered close by and supported me with their defensive spells.
"You're doing it, big bro!" Silvia cheered. "You're pushing them back!"
"There's still too many of them, though," Sylvie warned, as earnest as ever. She hurled a bunch of spirit swords at a pod of Murder Whales who had broken away from engaging my navy to attack me. "Even with the buffs, we're surrounded."
"Not for long," Myria assured us coolly, sweeping her Deep Sea Sword about and cutting a bloody path through the enemy. Tentacles, fins and tails flew out, and her water whips lashed out to continue slicing through the wounded. "Reinforcements are arriving."
"Huh? Where?" I glanced at the shore, but saw no mages or warriors or cultivators. It took me a while to realize that I was staring in the wrong direction. When I returned my gaze to the sea, I saw a fleet of marine spirit beasts closing in on us. At first, I cursed, thinking that the enemy had even more reinforcements to counter the buffs I had just provided to my summoned spirit beasts via my spirit arrays, but the newcomers attacked our foes instead.
Sea Horses, Sea Horse Dragons and King Horse Dragons. Blue marine spirit beasts that resembled a seahorse, they were jetting across the water at incredible speed. Sea Horses had that curled tail and looked pretty cute, with their finned ears and blue hose-like snouts and big eyes. Their bodies were mostly covered in blue scales, while their bellies were yellow. Though they were only Ordinary ranked, there were so many of them. Sea Horse Dragons, their Mystic ranked evolved forms, were more heavily armored, with wing-like fins stretching from their almost spiky backs, and their yellow bellies seemed plated. They looked like a cross between seahorses and dragons, and were a bit larger. The King Horse Dragons were Earth ranked powerhouses that grew dragon-like antlers from their heads, having evolved from Sea Horse Dragons, and their fins resembled wings even more. Their snouts were thinner and more dragon-shaped, though their scales remained pristine. I had heard stories about how they were capable of creating whirlpools and manipulate undersea currents.
Their sudden appearance turned the tide of the battle…or would have, but the sheer number of the enemy blunted the spear tip of their charge. Even with the newly arrived allies, we were still having trouble fighting the thousands of Jormungandr's forces off. They only helped us stave off defeat, not win the war for us.
Victory still depended on us.
That was when I saw the evolution lights spreading throughout my aquatic armada. Jun Hai was right. As the summoner, I was going to make a difference and contribute greatly to whether my spirit beasts evolved or not.
Though I had more Lantern Fishes and Lantern Sharks now, I was heartened to see that several of the Lantern Sharks had evolved into Earth ranked Lantern Whales. They weren't as powerful as the Sea Dragons, being only beginner Earth ranked, but their boosted power was still a welcome addition, as well as their secondary lightning element type.
But that wasn't the only good news.
Underneath me, Xiao Ke evolved, turning from a Shell Loch to a Shell Loch Lord, an island sized plesiosaur that looked similar in appearance, but appeared to carry an island atop his shelled back. icicles protruded from the shell, looking almost like trees or structures, and triple horns extended from his otherwise benign looking head. I was impressed because he had skipped Mystic rank to evolve straight to an Earth ranked form.
Da Hai had also evolved into a Mega Blast Tortoise, also looking island sized. His limbs turned into wicked claws and his shell appeared more armored than ever, and he now resembled a battleship. Like a flagship in an armada, he rallied all of the marine spirit beasts around him and led the charge, unleashing hydro torrents that tore through the enemy with astonishing ease.
Beside him, several of my Colossal Crabs had evolved into King Crabs, but that wasn't all. My King Crab had evolved into an Emperor Crab, towering over the others with his immense size. His crown looked more majestic than ever, and I could almost see a water curtain trail from his shelled form, almost like a cloak. But it wasn't just for appearance – it was a near magical screen that protected him from elemental attacks, in addition to his orange and yellowish-white shell already making him impervious to physical attacks. If Da Hai resembled a battleship, then my Emperor Crab looked like a mobile sea fortress.
"Ha ha ha ha!" I couldn't help but laughed as my newly evolved spirit beasts made use of their augmented power to turn the tide of battle, unleashing water, lightning and ice attacks that ravaged huge regions of the sea and annihilated entire pods or swarms. The ocean churned from the devastation as numberless carcasses drifted, floated or sank, either perforated, scorched or frozen. The sudden reversal in fortunes caused many of the enemy fishes, jellyfishes, sharks, whales or cephalopods to break and flee, their morale cracking at the sight of so many powerful spirit beasts on the opposing side. And unlike us, they didn't have a summoner on their side to help them evolve or buff their combat performance. I pumped my fist into the air as I watched them get routed while on the retreat, my forces catching them in a sweeping advance. "You're so screwed now!"
Then I turned toward the Sea Dragons, who had Long Wang and Hei Ba surrounded. With so many Earth ranked spirit beasts now on my side, I was confident of taking care of them now. Perhaps I might even be able to capture one of them for my dungeon and summoning purposes. Nodding to Da Hai and my Emperor Crab, I then directed them to help Long Wang and Hei Ba. They were accompanied by a fairly large number of King Horse Dragons, who left the Sea Horses and Sea Horse Dragons to help my recently rejuvenated aquatic armada against the ordinary ranked masses. With the Lantern Fishes now serving as capital ships in my fleet, they were able to turn the tide against the stunned Torpedo Sharks, Murder Whales, Krakens, Goliath Octopuses, Prickly Piranhas and more.
That left the Kraken Lord, but when I glanced in the direction of the titanic creature, I saw that Jun Hai already had the matter well in hand. In addition to his Swamp Lord and Venus Serpent, he also had summoned his Violent Salamander, who kept his distance high up and unleashed a dragon breath and dragon pulse upon the writhing goliath.
At this rate, we should be able to secure a victory…
…or so I hoped, but reality always had a way of throwing a wrench into my plans.