Twenty-Two

"Hehehe...HAHAHA!" Professor Wilhelm Hugh laughed in excitement.

His hand silently moved towards his back and felt the metallic stick he had been concealing since earlier.

While Jacob was trying to clamber on top of a few rocks in order to get a clear view outside, the professor started pulling the metallic stick out of his back pocket. He eyed Jacob's neck as a grin started to form on his face.

However, just when he was finally about to take his weapon out without Jacob noticing, the latter suddenly ducked and turned around. Professor Hugh, being too surprised, suddenly let go of the metallic stick and it moved back deeper into his pocket. He subconsciously backed away, tripped on something, and fell.

Along with the plopping sound of his butt connecting with the ground, there was also a muffled ringing sound of something metal.

It didn't escape his own ears and his face contorted. He inwardly cursed. For sure, Jacob must've heard it, too.

Thankfully, Jacob appeared to be in a daze and was breathing heavily. His eyes were out of focus, and he looked quite panicked.

He didn't notice! I guess I'll still have an opportunity later on. Hehehe.

Professor Hugh inwardly rejoiced. He put on a worried face and stood up. "What's wrong?"

Instead of receiving a proper reply from Jacob, the latter only responded by pressing a finger on his own lips, telling the professor to be quiet. Jacob slowly moved down from the rock he was stepping on and pointed towards the head-sized hole they opened.

At that point, Professor Hugh's curiosity was also piqued. He was quite distracted earlier so he failed to take into account the reason for Jacob's shock. But now, he really wanted to know. His eyebrows furrowed as he silently climbed on top of the rock that Jacob previously stood on.

He slowly raised his head towards the hole.

But right after a glimpse, he immediately ducked and turned around. His face was filled with horror and he felt his heart start to palpitate. He stared at Jacob who also had a grave expression. The professor was starting to think that escape was already impossible.

He knew that about 40 magical beasts were heading towards the mountain. But the mountain was not a mere hill! It was so large that even ten groups of people would possibly not bump into those 40 beasts. That was the reason why they still took the time to gather some of the books.

So why were there several beasts right outside?!

Professor Hugh was still hyperventilating when Jacob suddenly tugged on his shirt and caught his attention.

"Two o'clock," Jacob whispered.

Two o'clock? What do you mean?!

The professor was so confused that he felt like his brain wasn't working anymore. Wasn't he supposed to be a genius?

When he saw Jacob gesture towards the hole again, he finally realized what the researcher meant.

Professor Hugh gulped. He didn't want to look again, but curiosity got the better of him. He turned towards the hole one more time and slowly lifted his head. He executed it in a way that when he finally gets to see the beasts, he would be facing the two o'clock direction.

Just when his eyes peeked through the hole, he saw it.

Amidst the beasts was a man with his back facing the Professor.

The man's upper body was bare while his lower body was covered with beast skin. He had long gray hair that extended all the way to his lower back. It looked bushy and ungroomed, but the professor was sure that they were quite healthy.

Professor Hugh couldn't believe his eyes.

It was a Greater Demonic Beast.

….

"Order the men to abandon the first layer of defense and reinforce the second one," Brigadier Klein Arvent told the wind mage beside him.

The wind mage saluted and jumped down from the elevated platform made of ice.

The defensive formation they set up earlier was actually quite unique to their group which mostly consisted of water and earth mages.

The formation would have four layers of defense, with each layer having one maze. Each maze would have several passages that would only give access to beasts smaller than a certain size. By design, the maze would then make a long winding path for larger beasts so that relatively smaller ones would arrive first.

Just behind each maze were a large space and a platform. The large space is where the Serans would engage with the beasts who successfully passed through the maze while the platform is for the Remorans to launch their attacks.

With this setup, the troops would have the peace of mind knowing that the monsters would not come in bulk and that they would be able to dispose of the weaker ones as earlier as possible.

However, when the beasts charged at the walls of the first maze, a part of it crumbled. Having been reinforced by magic, it should not have been possible, even when the horde was large in size.

Although the damage was not quite big, it still had a huge effect on the main purpose of the maze.

Klein Arvent sighed. From the top of the platform he was standing on, he could get a clear view of everything that was happening. The frontline of the beasts was so dense that when they rammed on to troop's first layer of defense, several beasts were able to break through.

The method was quite crude, but it was extremely effective.

For some reason, Klein Arvent noticed that the beasts in the frontline were particularly those with thick layers of armor. It seemed like they were specifically there to tank out dozens of spells so that those beasts behind them could get nearer without dying meaninglessly.

There were also several flying beasts mixed with the horde. Whenever the Remorans on top of the tall platform attempted to bombard the heart of the formation in order to chip away their numbers, it always landed on several birds. It did take out quite a few of them but with the birds being less compressed than the beasts running on foot, it wasn't much.

The area behind the first layer of their defense, albeit quite spacious, was already packed full of beasts. The mage's there found themselves having little to no chance of maneuvering around. The Remorans couldn't even cast high destructive spells anymore or they'll risk getting caught up in it too.

After a few moments, the signal for the men there to retreat was given.

Being highly trained even when falling back, their retreat was quite successful.

Despite this, the Brigadier was still not satisfied. He didn't know why, but something told him that the beasts they were currently facing were way stronger than those from the previous horde. If he wanted to keep every single member of his team to survive, he needed to personally step in.

Klein Arvent shook his head then jumped forward while simultaneously activating his Frost Rush.

He landed in the midst of his troops and walked towards the front. "Order the Remorans to wipe out the flying beasts. The Serans would join me in a melee."

One soldier immediately saluted and went towards the back.

Klein Arvent was never really someone who waited for his troops before charging forward. Without any notice, he engaged with the beasts stuck inside their second layer of defense.

After a few moments, the area fell into chaos.

Spells intertwined with each other, causing more destruction.

Helpless roars and wails from the beasts echoed through the air as their numbers slowly dwindled.

Not long after, the area behind the second maze was filled with the scent of blood and the smell of burnt flesh. Dead carcass of beasts littered the ground.

The situation immediately stabilized as soon as the Brigadier appeared.

….

Fifty minutes later, just behind the fourth maze.

Klein Arvent bashed the neck of a gigantic hyena using his mace. It let out gurgling sounds as its body slowly limped.

He was already fairly exhausted. Even as a B-ranked mage, facing against a large horde of beasts was very taxing to the body. Moreover, it had already been a long time since their team engaged in such an extreme battle. He panted as sweat dripped from his forehead.

He looked around and saw that his men were already extremely exhausted as well, especially those D-ranked mages. But just because they were in a tougher spot doesn't mean that the beasts would stop attacking.

Many beasts still poured in from the maze. They were being kept at bay by the Special Remoran Unit while the Brigadier's men rested. Klein Arvent couldn't help inwardly thanking them for their assistance.

However, keeping the beasts at bay was way different from killing them. It showed that the Remoran unit was also starting to feel tired.

Klein Arvent was in no condition to cast A-ranked spells anymore. Earlier, he already consumed a great deal of magic power just to cast a high-level A-ranked spell to allow his men to retreat all the way to the fourth layer of their defense.

He could not help gritting his teeth as his left hand subconsciously entered his pocket. Inside, he felt for the small vial he had always kept with him.

It was a trump card that he really didn't want to use, but if things got worse, he would really be left without any choice.

"BRIGADIER! REPORT!" a Remoran from above the platform suddenly yelled.

Hearing the panic in the soldier's voice, Klein Arvent's eyebrows furrowed. He looked up and saw the person pointing ahead.

"ANOTHER HORDE, INCOMING!"

What?! Impossible!

Klein Arvent suddenly felt lost.

They were already in their last layer of defense. It would take more than five minutes for them to set up the formation again. Also, that was an estimation given that they were in their best condition.

Now with less magic energy, they would probably take much longer, and the walls would be less sturdy than before.

The situation didn't look quite optimistic.

As if that wasn't enough, the Remoran decided to pour salt on the Brigadier's wounds.

"TWENTY-TWO COLOSSAL BEASTS UP AHEAD!"

The morale of the soldiers plummeted.

So did the Brigadier's.

….