16 Flag Finale (4)

Roars of beasts filled the streets of the ruined city. A figure was running quickly followed by a group of bloodthirsty monsters.

With a body ridden of injuries, Aleen continued running towards the base desperately. Currently, his only hope was to reach the base before the beasts catch up; but such hope was becoming smaller with every second.

The distance between him and the base was closing quickly, but the beasts' speed was even quicker. In a short time, they were again a few meters behind him.

Aleen could only run while doing his best to ignore the breath of death touching his back.

The desire to live burned fiercely in his chest. Blood continually flowed through his veins, bringing mana to every part of his body.

His body entered in a strange state, and small sparks of lightning coursed through his limbs; creating an image that was as beautiful as terrifying at the same time.

His mind focused completely on his goal and everything else faded away. He even forgot the reason because he was running. The only thing remaining in his mind was the strong desire to survive.

Like a miracle, his speed continued to increase constantly. If the woman, D'Vina, was here, she would have identified it as his 'aspect' manifesting.

As a result of the immense danger he was experimenting, his body subconsciously tried to move the mana according to the mana path of his skill.

It wasn't enough to activate the skill though; but it was enough to awaken the 'aspect' of his mana, lightning, and help to speed up his body.

Every living being, from the smallest insect to the biggest mammal, is born with the capacity to manipulate mana, but most never discover it. However, when a living being manages to manipulate mana for the first time, it produces an individual mana frequency.

And as with every person, every mana frequency is different.

'Aspect' is something born from that difference.

Each aspect represents the potential of an individual to use the 'laws', and grant an attribute to the mana. If the aspect is fire, then it's easier for the individual to learn skills based on fire, and at the same time, his mana can acquire the fire attribute.

For Aleen, his aspect was lightning.

And the greatest advantage of lightning is speed.

Because of it, when Aleen activated his aspect, his speed naturally increased.

Thanks to it, he was able to keep the distance with the beasts from decreasing.

Aleen continued running, and after a few seconds, he finally captured sight of the base. The remaining mana in his body flowed even faster now that his goal was at sight, and his speed increased even more.

But fate likes to make a joke of people.

Because when Aleen was just a few meters from the base, a beast appeared from the human remains scattered on the ground.

*Roar!!!*

The beast was small, smaller than the beasts chasing after him. A cub. Probably it was the reason because it stayed behind.

Normally, such a beast wasn't enough to bring danger to Aleen. Even in his current condition, he was confident in killing it with easy.

But in the current circumstances, it became the nail that broke the camel's back.

When he finally noticed the beast, it was already pouncing towards him.

Aleen used his spear to hit the beast away, but the impact of it coupled with his speed was enough to destroy his balance.

Aleen staggered slightly, and his speed fell.

Three seconds. It was the time that Aleen took to regain his balance.

But by then, it was too late.

The group of beasts chasing after him took advantage of that time to catch with him.

And when Aleen tried to run again, a beast was already ready to jump towards him.

The beast attacked, and Aleen tried his best to avoid the attack, but the beasts made use of his movement to complete the encirclement. In an instant, the ray of hope vanished completely.

A beast after another jumped towards him, and Aleen did his best to fight them. Sometimes evading, sometimes using his weapon to block.

But before long, another injury appeared in his body.

Aleen could felt death closing to him every second.

The entrance to the base was just before him, just a few meters away. But that few meters felt like thousands kilometers.

Waving the flag, Aleen used it to hit a beast away. Then, using his spear, he pierced towards another beast, hitting it in its chest and killing the monster immediately.

But before he could retract his arm, another beast moved.

It used its mouth to bit the spear, making it impossible for Aleen to recover it quickly. Aleen put strength on his arm to recover it back, but the other beasts made use of this opportunity to attack him.

Pouncing towards him, a beast bit the arm holding the spear, then, it tore it away.

An instant later, Aleen felt a strong wave of pain.

Looking towards the place where his arm was located, he only saw blood flowing.

"AHHHHHHHHHGGGGG!!!"

With a cry of pain, Aleen saw a pair of beasts biting his arm, fighting for the ownership of it and tearing it in pieces.

Then, another beast bit his left leg.

And another beast jumped to his back.

Aleen fell to the ground, and the group of beasts pounced towards him like piranhas seeing blood.

The despair and the feeling of being eaten alive filled Aleen's mind, and another cry of horror escaped his lips.

But then, a roar resounded.

*ROAR*

Immediately, every beast stopped.

With his blurry sight, Aleen saw a beast walking slowly towards him.

The beast was bigger than any other, and its body was filled with scars.

*ROAR* it roared again, and every beast retreated in submission. Then, it walked until the place where Aleen was lying.

Aleen tried to move his body, using his remaining arm, that was holding the flag, to pull his body towards the base.

But as if the beast were laughing to him, the gigantic beast's claw fell in his back.

Tears fell from his eyes, and cries of help left his mouth.

But nobody heard him.

With a last roar of victory, the beast mouth opened to eat his head.

Then, at that instant, Aleen's skill activated once again.

It was an instinctive reaction of his body. The last struggle of a soul before its death.

But this struggle created a miracle.

Lightning filled his body, and his remaining leg exploded. But it created enough strength to push Aleen towards the entrance of the base.

His back, pressed down by the beast's claw, was torn due to the strength of the skill. It was a mortal wound, but Aleen's body rushed towards the base despite it.

His arm, holding the flag, extended forwards, and the flag fell inside the base.

Then, his consciousness blanked.

An instant later, his body disappeared from the place.