The mountain stood tall reaching the clouds far above the sea, the monsters rampage from the ground up.
Zach had no other option.
He had to run.
But to where, everywhere was surrounded.
Behind him Arthur froze stiff.
"The monsters are approaching.... what do we do?" Eli ran up to them.
Aurora and Gregory just looked at the monsters.
Aurora seemed to be pondering something. While Greg was just standing there, shirtless and all.
She was calm, despite the ruthless bloodbath heading her way.
Her purple eyes looked above into the dark clouds.
Another roar echoed, shaking the mountain to its core as another beam of light split the sky from the heavens, landing with a thunderous roar as it crashed into the sea, raising a massive tsunami that crashed into the mountain shore.
"D..Demons..." A terrified cadet stepped back.
"We have to run...."
"Run where!, huh?" Eli shouted, making all the cadets freeze in their positions.
"There is no escape this time! You either fight or you die." She summoned her blade.
"If you don't fight, you die. If you fight there's a chance to live." Eli waved her hand and a blue stone floated in her hand.
The mountain was towering over the clouds peak with cadets nestling all across it.
From the bottom, the monster tide approached, brutally obliterating anyone who stood in their path.
More than 2000 people.
And they were reducing each minute.
The crowd was shocked as they saw the Blue pill.
"A magic recovery stone?" One of the cadets pointed.
Magic recovery stones were even more rare, they allowed you to instantly restore your magic power to full throttle just by touching it.
And there was only one clan that manufactured this specific item.
"That's impossible..." one of the cadets beamed with joy.
"We have a member of the immortals here with us!" The crowd burst with murmurs.
It was true the Aragoth were nicknamed the immortals because of their extraordinarily powerful nature, they all seemed like timeless entities, powerful and pragmatic.
The crowd was filled with joy.
Eli threw Zach a glance and tossed the stone at him.
"You'll need it."
Zach reflexively caught it and a system message appeared immediately.
[Magic power +91]
His eyes widened.
This stone was truly an OP item to have.
If you had it during a battle, you could literally summon infinite magic power.
Zach doubted it.
Everything in this world is balanced, or else the universe simply wouldn't allow it to exist.
"You never told me you had a friend like this..." Arthur glanced at Zach.
"Really..?" Zach scratched the back of his head.
The duo's interaction was still as casual as ever, not taking into account the fact that they could die in the next minute or so.
"How do we escape from this place?" Zach looked at Arthur.
Arthur wasn't fazed in the slightest, despite the chaos. Well, Zach knew the blonde cadet — nothing ever seemed to faze him, because he always thought ahead.
Zach just inwardly prayed that Arthur would magically have a game-changing plan to win this war.
Roar
"Brace yourself!" Aurora shouted.
Zach could spot Isaw and his cohort in the distance.
He looked to the other side to see the group of cadets that tried to kill him, all working together.
"Umm... actually nothing can work right now..." Arthur glanced at the black ball behind them.
"But the portal will automatically open after the fissure has evolved completely." He shrugged.
"It just takes a little time."
"And how long are we talking...?" Zach asked.
Eli charged into the bunch of grotesque nightmares wrapped in flesh, along with other cadets behind her.
She tried to dodge most of the incoming attacks, simply taking a head-on attack was a death wish from this moment forward.
"Umm..." Arthur pondered out loud. Zach needed to know how long he would have to fight those nightmares.
"About 40 minutes."
Zach looked at Arthur with a mix of amusement and surprise.
He had to endure this hell for 40 minutes?
Zach summoned his blade, he had no choice.
A massive monster towering over him broke the defensive line in the front, charging towards the group.
If Zach wanted to survive he had to go all out.
Zach charged at the monster.
[Crimson Overdrive... version 3] His insides ruptured, blood seeping from his gums through his gritted teeth.
His blade glowed brightly as Zach activated his most powerful skill.
He dashed in, the monster opened its maw and Zach leaped into the air.
[Cosmic Ring]
The empowered blade burst with light as Zach slashed in a horizontal arc, a wave of bladed energy crashing into the moving monster.
Zach dashed, swinging his sword at its head.
The scales of this monster were as hard as metal ore, requiring all his strength to cut through.
He jumped back, creating distance between him and the monster.
Arthur behind him summoned dual blades, dashing to the monster.
Zach's blade glowed once again as he charged.
The bright blue stone Eli gave him was truly a miracle.
This was the mind of Astra, a true Awakened would have.
The stone glowed anytime Zach cast a skill, instantly giving him his magic power back.
Despite the fact that he had unlimited magic power, the drawbacks of the Crimson Overdrive still weighed heavily on him.
Zach dashed, his sword glowing as he thrusted the blade at the giant.
The blade grazed the monster's tough skin producing a screeching sound.
Arthur leaped above Zach, slashing the monster at its eye.
"Find its weak spots! It's better that way." He yelled in Zach's direction.
Zach's strong point wasn't battle IQ, and Arthur made up for that weakness in turn.
The mountain had become a full-blown bloodbath, the astronomically powerful monsters numbering them 10 to 1.
Zach and Arthur moved in sync as they fought one of the monsters.
The abomination waved its claws frantically, trying to get a grip on the duo.
But Arthur moved like a monkey, dodging the monster's claws, dealing clean, precise strikes at either its head or its two legs.
Zach was definitely the muscle in this combination, his attacks dealt significant damage to the monster's exterior.
Eli in the distance faced off against two of these beasts at once, maneuvering like a seasoned Olympic pro, dodging attacks.
Her strikes were no joke either, the ground trembled at each strike that landed on the monster's body.
More cadets had engaged in the fight.
But so far no monster had died.
Aurora was battling a monster in the distance, her spear lit up, dealing significant damage against the huge behemoth in front of her.
The clouds rumbled as another beam of light came crashing down.
If they could keep this for another 40 minutes, they could survive.
There was hope.