Bab 298: 295: The inevitable showdown

All around the meadow, patches of the ground transformed into quicksand, and from their unfathomable depths, dozens of jet-black hands reached out. 

The intent behind these hands was unmistakable; they sought to grab, to clutch, to drag their prey into a hellish abyss.

Their inky fingers writhed with a desperate hunger, and with their vast numbers, annihilating an entire army would be child's play. 

Yet, astonishingly, they struggled to ensnare two young men.

Val, with his sharp senses, had detected the threat before it manifested, allowing him to take appropriate action to save his and Oliver's life in time.

To avoid their grasp, he tossed Oliver into the air before taking to the sky like an agile sparrow himself and employing the anti-gravity technique to stay afloat and out of the hands' reach.