Our makeshift team departs, Cadrissa carrying Brenna on her back, to not slowdown our trip, reaching the side of the cliff, where i learn my initial deduction was incorrect. Because we are not dealing with an Enclosed Amalgam.
I know, because the Delver's Badge along the Score Counter doesn't show an interface, meaning we are in front of a passage that connects Naiyag'Kort, the Counterpart, with the World of Trok'Gayian.
Crossing the rift, Farllette's Summon is dispelled, while mine remains, puzzling us both, because she is more proficient and experienced than me.
{Perhaps it's because of the scroll's teachings. Too bad i am not trailed by Ines's or Nissi's Summons to corroborate this}.
Nevertheless, despite our recon force has been halved, we continue.
The environment insided is no less extraordinary than an Enclosed Amalgam, worthy of being an otherworldly midpoint marvel.
The landscape is made entirely of food, cabbage, sprouts, lettuce, onions, and frost, are the ingredients constituting the majority of the ground, while sausages and minced meat replace the rocks, on top of being the primary food of which the organisms in this impressive biome are made of.
{What a dream!. Everything is edible in this freezer!}.
However, due to the low temperature, it is easy for me to spot several heat signatures.
Some of these hints, belong to the fat rats, or their smelly residues, but others are trying to camouflage among the snowy frost.
Which might had work if it weren't for my ability to perceive movement, and sound, what includes the heart beats of whatever is approaching us with evident animosity, otherwise, they wouldn't need to be so stealthy.
"We have incoming company". I warn, startling Brenna, who stands fearfully behind Cadrissa, but extends his Emerald Emts to erect a circular perimeter of 60 meters of radius below us, what grants us a feeling of weightless freshness.
The Cresset wields her buckler and sword, channeling Pink Emts to sharpen the edges of her blade, and enhance the protection offered by her defensive equipment.
Farllette's linen dress is reinforced with a leather chainmail, along having a whip on her right hand.
"«Ennervette's Minion»". Says the Alvzon, but there is no spark of light on her cleavage, and the little Dragonoid is nowhere to be seen.
I also call for «Dollzerka's Minion». But the Cekx'Appealer doesn't pop up from the blue rhombus in my chest.
Farllette proceeds to bring «Ennervette», her Embryon, a tall slim woman with black scales covering her body, except for her modest cleavage and face with pristine white skin.
Meanwhile, i try again, but with «Vallicca's Minions».
My chest lights up, forming two different shapes.
First a slender horned female with maple, dark caramel skin.
And the second is a stack of hot pancakes with chantilly cream and maple syrup, what makes an adorable, but punchable face.
{Why did it work?!}.
Analyzing the two Minions, the plausible conclusion is they can exist here, due to their intrinsic nature matching the environment's, while the other Minions are incompatible.
"Vecturion. Are you sure something is coming?". Questions Farllette, who is upset, as she has been outmatched two times in a row by me, a person she deemed as weak.
"Completely certain, Gorgeous. But they slowed down about 300 meters away from us".
"That is a harassment tactic of the Carrion Owl Gunners". Informs Cadrissa, who seems unsure on how to proceed. "How many are out there, Vurckair?".
"I don't know. I think there are eleven groups of three, but i can't confirm this. I'm unable to determine if their hearts are echoing, or…".
"They must be deceiving you!". Exclaims Farllette. The implication is tacit, ordering my Summon to blast the heat signatures, barely firing a second before multiple orange flashes spark in the horizon, sending towards us incandescent fireballs that are close to exceed the speed of sound.
Although there is no need to dodge, it would be a children's game to evade such slow ammunition, especially when this shots get even slower after entering in Brenna's Emts perimeter, which has granted me a slightly buff to my body's velocity, and augmented the speed of my mental processes.
Empowered by my Halo, the red bolts explode like a volley of missiles, breaking the quiet vibe in the environment, scorching the meat, and melting the frosty ice, revealing the Carrion Owl Gunners.
Towering Anthropoid Owls, protected by thick feathers coated with dense Bodshs, carrying big clunky, Magical Blunderbusses.
Ennervette stops the Fireballs mid-flight, merging them into a single fiery ovoid that she returns to our attackers, eliminating most of the frost in the area.
With their whole cover destroyed, and the surprise attack failed, the Carrion Owl Gunners resort to charge at us, surrounding us with their overwhelming numerical advantage.
My initial estimation proven completely wrong, because each of their groups has five members, not three, and there are thirty-three teams, instead of eleven.
The hooting of the Anthropoid Owl leading the Gunners is setting the battle's pace, most of them dematerializing their Blunderbusses to wield sturdy bone metal weapons.
"We need to level the play field, by moving closer to one side of this siege, and disrupt this enclosure".
"You heard what Vurckair said. Stay near me, Brenna. I'll protect you". The Femboy nods at the bravery shown by his Fiancée. Still, he is terrified of our dire circumstances, but Cadrissa's valiant presence assures him, what expands the size of the Emts buffing perimeter.
{So this is the power of an Extra effort granted by Spirituality…}.
With a larger area of effect, the Carrion Owl Gunners enter in the perimeter, receiving a penalization with the opposite effect to the buff.
{The Femboy may lack Spine and Guts, but no one can doubt about his usefulness}.
Two lightning bolts are fired by the Gunners, the first addressee of this assault is Ennervette, and the second target is me.
She is electrocuted, but the same doesn't applies to me.
Using the Gifts of Kinetic Domination and Molecular Subjugation, in conjunction with my natural lube, i'm able to intercept the aggression with my left hand, redirecting the attack back to the sender.
The lightning bypasses the Gunner's Bodsh, striking it's head, splattering around the brain matter like a jar of jam slammed against the floor.
Yet. My surprise doesn't comes due to the sudden death of an enemy. I am too accustomed to said outcome, especially after Fettiyio.
But the lack of any type of Notification after killing a living creature, astonishes me. Because that should not be the case, unless the Carrion Owl Gunners are a sort of undead, or i didn't kill anything…