When they arrived at the village, the sky was already turning dark. After conversing with the village chief for a while, it became even more dim outside.
Mr. Jasper said he wanted to treat Rhode and Mira well, but the two declined, planning to first check out the situation.
Tonight, it was Lightning and Bucky's turn to stand guard at the village entrance, and they had already lit the bonfires around the village.
If one were to look down from the sky, the little village would appear speckled with gleaming lights, while the peripheral area shone with a continuous ring of firelight.
Like something Sun Wukong drew for safety.
And in the darkness at the edge of the firelight, pairs of small bright dots nearly converged into a sky full of stars.
Lightning and Bucky knew that each pair of bright dots represented a rat. Just the ones appearing at the edge of the firelight were already innumerable.
The two swallowed hard, pinning their hopes on the rats still fearing the flame. If so many rats rushed in, the two might be finished today.
At least the wolves and strange birds, along with the two mages, could give them some sense of security.
"Such an exaggerated number." Mira covered her mouth.
She wasn't afraid of rats, but seeing so many gathered together was quite disgusting.
"Let's test it a bit." Rhode made a gesture, and the Beaked Birds flapped their wings and flew up, unleashing hundreds of Feathered Flying Knives.
Squeak squeak squeak~~~
The rats screamed miserably, scattering away into the distance.
The sound of their kind dying still frightened them.
Yet before long, they slowly gathered back.
The Shadow Wolves, at Rhode's signal, stepped forward a few paces, emitting a low intimidating growl.
The rat swarm retreated slightly but refused to disperse completely.
Mira's right hand transformed into a Devil Arm, from which a purple-black orb emerged and she hurled it outward.
The fist-sized orb fell into the rat swarm with a loud explosion, leaving a deep pit over a meter in diameter.
The ground trembled lightly, with hundreds of rats affected, causing the swarm to scatter in a frenzy.
Mira frowned, seeming not quite satisfied.
Rhode sweated, realizing his girlfriend was also quite the home-wrecker; the road surface was casually ruined by her.
Before long, the rat swarm gathered again, with the densest part around the freshly killed rat bodies.
Many rats clustered together, heads inward and tails outward, making crunching sounds.
Lightning and Bucky's faces went pale: "They're... eating their kind's corpses!"
Some animals do this by habit, others due to extreme food scarcity.
This is a very dangerous signal.
Because at this rate, the rats might overcome their fear of the firelight and charge into the village.
"Looks like we can't delay any longer." Rhode sent the wild creatures back to Summoner's Rift, leaving only two River Crabs patrolling the village's outer edges.
"Summoning, Cyan Engraved Golem, Crown of Insight."
Quite a few villagers had heard about the mages' arrival and gathered nearby; some had been vigilantly keeping watch with farm tools daily.
The sudden appearance of a tall golem caused a burst of astonishment.
The village chief hurriedly advised everyone to step back a bit to not interfere with the mages.
Rhode first enhanced his endurance, then reminded, "What I'm going to summon next might be a bit ugly, but don't be afraid."
With that, he glanced at Mira.
Mira smiled gently; she'd seen the Void Nest Insect before and indeed, it wasn't pretty.
But Rhode had never been repulsed by her; why would she be bothered by his magic?
Three human-height purple monsters appeared at the village gate.
With a single horn on their heads and mouths full of fangs, combined with the violet-red eggs on their backs, they induced fear in the villagers who quickly retreated.
Mira reached out both hands to clasp Rhode's right hand: "Can your Magic Power sustain them continuously?"
Rhode pointed to the blue light around him: "Sustaining for several hours shouldn't be an issue; it'll just be a bit tiring."
While the two talked, the eggs on the backs of the three Void Nest Insects broke, and 12 Void Worms jumped out, swirling around the Nest Insects.
Rhode told the three Nest Insects, "Make them line up outside the fence; attack any rat approaching... and don't bite the village buildings!"
This must be carefully instructed; Rhode didn't want to successfully complete a task only to end up losing money.
After these instructions, basically, they could rest, with Rhode merely acting as a tireless power bank, maintaining the golems and Nest Insects' presence.
As for the little worms, the Nest Insects themselves would collect the ambient Magic Power to produce them.
After 12 seconds, another batch of 12 worms were spawned, hopping outside the fence to form a line, staring down the rats from afar.
Village chief Jasper gathered his courage to ask, "Mr. Rhode... is this what you meant...?"
"That's right, see those little worms? They can produce 60 every minute, 3600 per hour. I plan to start battling the rats in two and a half hours, what do you think?"
"Well..." Jasper calculated, two and a half hours would produce 9000, matching quantity with quantity, seems feasible?
Moreover, clumped together, those insects are somewhat larger than a human head and could reach above knee height when standing, presumably stronger than the rats?
Could this village be saved?
"Excuse me, what will become of these insects after the rats are exterminated?"
"They'll disappear." Rhode patiently explained, "They're essentially transformed from Magic Power in a special way and will eventually revert back to Magic Power."
Void Worms are different from Void Nest Insects; when a Nest Insect is killed, it returns to Summoner's Rift to wait for refreshment, whereas a Void Worm vanishes when slain.
"That's good, that's good..." Jasper breathed a sigh of relief, "So, do you need anything from us?"
"Assign some folks to watch for any anomalies from different directions around the village and tell us immediately if something's amiss."
"Yes! I'll arrange it right away!"
Realizing the rodent threat might be resolved, Jasper became incredibly enthusiastic.
He organized villagers to take guard positions and patrol locally, repeatedly advising not to inconvenience the mages.
After hearing the chief's description and gazing at the three Nest Insects and the groups of hopping worms, the villagers no longer viewed them with fear and disgust, but rather as rare treasures.
Mira joined in the fun: "Then what shall I do, Mr. Rhode?"
Rhode pondered for a moment and said, "Miss Mira, just indulge me and be my personal bodyguard, okay?"
"Yes~"
"Don't just say yes, come closer."
"..." So being personal was the point, huh? Mira lightly thumped him and reached out: "Hand over the ingredients."
Yesterday, the two went shopping for various foods together, with Rhode's intention to keep them as a backup, but Mira proposed buying some items she'd like to prepare if they needed to cook during their journey.
Now, given the situation, although the chief said he'd host them, Mira wagered that this man preferred her cooking.