Elemental Cats

The procedure was a success, and although Stitches hadn't completely healed the whale yet, there wasn't any longer a trail of mana for the void beasts to chase after. However, Toz's fears came true.

The frenzied void beasts weren't about to let the prey they had chased through half the Void escape just because there wasn't a trail of mana to follow any longer, not to mention the juicy island on top of the whale.

The void beasts had never needed a trail of mana leading from the island to find it. While the trail of mana leading the void beasts on was gone, they had instead gotten a beacon to show them the way.

Thankfully, Toz's worries had allowed Lucy to prepare.

As soon as Lucy sensed that the mana leaking from the whale stopped, Lucy told Toz and the others to stop firing magic like maniacs. Lucy was going to try and hide them and the island from the void beasts. Spells and magic attacks would both disrupt Lucy's magic and reveal their position to the void beasts' detection.

Without the three of them attacking the void beasts, the void beasts would easily catch up to the island with, so Lucy had to work fast.

Lucy gathered his own mana, as well as the inherent mana in the shadows and darkness all around them. After gathering and assuming control over the mana, Lucy began spreading it around the island and the whale. The sticky darkness spread like ink, enshrouding everything in a sphere of darkness.

The sphere didn't only block all light entering and leaving the island. It also kept the island's shining presence from escaping. That was the idea, at least. But Lucy didn't know how effective it was until the whale changed course and made a hard left.

The void beasts following the whale and the island's presence slowed down slightly when their target abruptly disappeared. The void beasts continued forward and spread out in the area where the island had disappeared. Even if most of them couldn't think coherently, they could still use their instinct to chase down prey.

However, there were exceptions. Almost every void beast had lost track of the island. There were a few void beasts who possessed extraordinary senses and managed to stay on the island's tail.

A shark and a couple of catfish, all three at the ninth level, sneakily left the other void beasts behind and continued following the island.

Since the sphere of darkness blocked everyone's vision, Lucy was the only one who could tell they were still being followed. Despite not knowing how the three beasts could sense the island, Lucy tried to increase the sphere's effectiveness even further. But to no success. The three beasts chased after the island without losing track of it for even a second.

When Lucy realized that he couldn't evade the beasts' detection abilities, he reluctantly told Toz about their followers. Lucy having to admit that he couldn't even stop the pursuit of three stupid void beasts, bruised his pride. But an intact pride wouldn't save them from the beasts. Especially not since the beasts were so close that Lucy could sense that they were at the ninth level.

The whale was tired, injured, drained, and exhausted. But it wouldn't have been able to outrun the three beasts while carrying the island, even if it had been perfectly fine.

If it hadn't been for the blue cat attacking the swarm of void beasts, there was no way that the whale would have made it as far as it had. And now that it was barely able to stay awake and was burdened with the island, the whale was even slower.

Without the onslaught of attacks that had been keeping the void beasts at bay, the shark and the two catfish closed the distance between themselves and the island at a furious pace.

Lucy grew increasingly worried since he still couldn't stop the three void beasts from sensing the island. But Toz and the others wouldn't be able to retaliate until they were further away from the swarm of void beasts still searching for the whale.

If Lucy opened a hole through the sphere and allowed Toz to blast a fireball, the other void beasts would sense it and swim in their direction, which would increase the amount of time needed to escape the void beasts. However, the whale didn't have enough energy to keep running for that long.

Even if Lucy didn't open a hole and Toz sent a fireball through the sphere, the void beasts would still sense the fireball's explosion and chase after it. And if there was even half a brain amongst all of the void beasts, they would know to follow the shark and the two catfish.

While Lucy was talking to Toz and questioning about what to do since everything he tried was useless, Joshua and Joan came by.

After the whale's thrashing and the island was covered in darkness, the mother and son figured that it might be slightly safer, so they left the house. Although they couldn't see anything, they knew the island like the back of their hands and easily traveled to where Toz and the others were. The occasional ray of green light from the center of the island also helped them find their way.

When they arrived next to Toz and the others, Joshua heard Lucy worry about his sphere being insufficient. It was like a dream come true to Joshua. He finally had an opportunity to try and help his friend. Considering he was only at the first level, there probably wasn't much he could do when Lucy at the fifth level couldn't do it.

But unique type inclinations were, almost per definition, not limited to what was reasonable.

Joshua spread his senses like he had learned to do when converting and absorbing mana. But this time, he wasn't looking for the mana around him. His senses searched for the barrier surrounding the island. And Joshua found the barrier soon enough. However, the barrier didn't only surround the island.

After the trees and the whale fused together, the barrier expanded to include the whale within itself as well. The new barrier was greater and more powerful than it had been previously, and Joshua wasn't sure he would be able to control it. But after he heard of the three ninth level void beasts chasing them, he knew that he had to try.