They came at him from all sides, unlike the snakes these ones were strong, and with the influence of the tomb they were even stronger those of that day.
Being restricted by aether didn't mean he couldn't move, he was just slower and less nimble in a place that had need for the two.
He ran forward to get space from the ones behind.
He put weight behind his slash cutting the first one down in a capricious manner; diagonally through the head and made no waste to cut the next two down.
His blade got stuck in the third so he moved the aether to only that part of the blade in the process extending it.
The resulting flame pierced through it as he retracted his staff and cut them down end by end.
They had closed in on him now, one gnawed at his shin while another went for his neck.
He stabbed through the one that went for his neck as the other bit through his shingles guard.
"Ack!!" He said as he flailed his leg, but it was not letting go, his blood doused the water.
"Argh" Another clawed his left arm, he stabbed on his shoulder, but it was not fatal as it bit even harder.
He attempted swinging his staff again but…
"It's stuck?!" Leo dreaded, as he looked at his staff, it was bitten on by one of the spawns on one end.
He struggled to let it free to no avail, he was truly in a pinch, even his aura didn't put them off — they resisted it.
"Will this work again?" He channeled aether to the parts of his body being bitten on as the mouth of the spawns caught fire.
"Good thing my aether control is up there." Leo thought as he did the same for the staff.
He had space to move but he wasn't out of his predicament yet, they were ruthless enough to charge at him immediately.
They were relentless.
He channelled aether to his left palm to form a ball of fire but it dispersed due to his lack of focus.
"Have to get out of here somehow." Leo scanned the area with his eyes, there was no space.
With witty judgement he leaped into the air and used their backs as stepping stones, he kept doing so until he got out and they were now behind him.
They chased after him but much like in Mjiormire, they were slower than him the gap had only become exponential over that time.
The space looked like it stretched over to infinity, and Leo ran to that infinity until he got some breathing space.
[Tss…] "I'm doing it just like we were thought but it still hurts" Leo was in pain, he channelled aether to his finger tips and burnt his wounds.
"This isn't even helping right now, the punctured parts are caved inwards and pricking me." Leo thought as he removed his chest plate and shoulder guards.
He now stood with no amour on his chest as his ragged black inners were laid bare.
"I'm not supposed to be having a problem with just this many, or did I overestimate my own strength.
My leg hurts, how do I deal with this many without getting overwhelmed; I'm their only focus.
No…no, focus…remember that feeling." Leo took a deep breath as he felt his body sinking.
{Their bites are making me hallucinate from time to time, but that won't matter if I don't get bitten again.
At that very moment it felt like my body was free, yes just like that day on the wagon.
If there was any difference, it would be that the world was not beautiful at this moment, no in this very moment the world was…}
"White…" Leo muttered as he sprinted towards the horde.
"I think the problem I had been experiencing was being strong but not efficient." Leo thought as he cut through many.
And when he ran out of space, he leaped on their spines with short steps of aether, with their backs as footholds he had overcome the problem of the water quenching.
"Being too wasteful…" aether was only on the very edges of his blade as he cut through them.
Their numbers had been nearly diminished, Leo was in a trance like state cutting through them until disaster struck.
Whilst using their backs as stepping stones, his staff was caught between the fangs of two spawns, he couldn't stand still lest he become chomped to death.
He reluctantly let his staff go and was now unarmed.
"My shoulders hurt, they feel like they might break.." He leaped out of their reach and ran backwards.
He threw small balls of fire in small bursts, but those just dispersed on the back of the beasts.
"I need more firepower" He was charging up for a large ball of aether whilst still running from them with his back away.
When it finally formed, he stretched his arm backwards and flung it to the spawns in his zone.
It scorched it but not as much as he had hoped, the water stopped the fire from spreading as well so it was a loss.
"Talk about inefficient, I would need more fire power to do more damage, should I use that?
But it takes a lot of aether, although my second best option is using my fists." Leo turned around and ran away from them.
Leo had made his choice, he had gotten some space once again, his body was hot and the water beneath him boiled releasing steam.
With his fist beside his abdomen he tightened his biceps, he was in a stance meant for attack.
His metal gloves glowed red, and only kept getting brighter.
[Huff…huff]
"After many tries I finally recreated this, it's a weird one because it reshapes my zone to a cone like area in front of the direction I'm punching to.
I never thought I would be able to use it with red flames again though" Leo thought as they closed in on him.
" ('Will my flames ever glow red again')
I guess the answer was yes." Leo remembered his words with a smile on his face.
"This one is for you Mom, Hermes, Dad, Marcus." He punched through the air and a swirl of fire surged past burning through all the beasts in front of him in a go.
He had wiped them out.