Unexpected Coordination
Sera City, central district.
Rain continuously poured.
Instructor Bell was already panting heavily. Beside him was Faust who was just as exhausted as he was. They had been fighting continuously for 20 minutes now, but it seemed like the number of beasts did not even diminish the slightest bit.
Bang!
A colossal Ice Giant stood in front of the two, grabbing hold of two large beasts by their necks. It crushed the beasts' throats and immediately moved to grab two more. However, just as it was about to extend its arms forward, a gigantic fireball hit its torso. The body of the giant stumbled forward. It split in half and slowly crumbled.
"Fuck! How does that lion have so much magic energy?!" Faust yelled as he watched the Ice Giant he summoned fall down.
Bell pounced on a nearby beast, his hands glowing with a blue hue and his body wrapped in armor made entirely of ice. He punched it in a flurry, freezing the monster's hide relentlessly regardless of how hard it struggled. Then, with a swift knee-kick, he severed its head. The long ice spike on his right kneecap dripped with blood. "Don't worry. We just have to wait for the others to arrive."
A hundred meters behind them, three A-ranked mages tried their best to hold off the lesser demonic beast. Dazzling lights from various spells flew everywhere, devastating the area.
If there's one thing they learned in magic history…it's that just the three of them weren't nearly enough to defeat it.
Klaus and Montis attacked fiercely while Toran Fiore made sure that the lion was kept at bay. It was also up to the principal to hold off the large beasts that were attempting to assist the colossal lion. From time to time, he would cast a B-ranked spell to clear the area, painting the ground red with beast blood.
The lion jumped all over the place as it dodged several spells at once. It coughed off huge fireballs as if they were just common spit.
After Klaus caught it off guard earlier, it had been more cautious. Surprisingly, it betrayed its colossal size and was extremely nimble and fast. It would circle around where the other staff members fought, forcing them to switch formations from time to time.
If there weren't many humans around that area, it would've left long ago. Despite being a lesser demonic beast, it still submitted to its instincts and was still extremely aggressive to humans.
Toran Fiore had already noticed the presence of General Samo. All they had to do was stall for enough time until he and his men arrive. As for Brigadier Arvent... they won't be able to rely on him for the meantime. After all, casting the sealing spell, White Turtle, took a great toll on him.
The Principal is a high-level A-ranked mage, and he had been one for decades.
It didn't sound as impressive as it should because there are still three ranks above it—the S-ranked, SS-ranked, and the SSS-ranked—but in all actuality, this is already considered the highest attainment for a mage.
This is because there are only three people who went above the A-rank in the history of magic: the First Mage, Arche, the Enlightened Sage, Kyrie Maxwell, and the God of War, Devon Morgan. They are ranked SSS, SS, and S respectively.
They were treated as abnormalities, rather than a part of the standard.
So, in a sense, Toran Fiore was already at the peak. Naturally, he was formidable. Moreover, as a principal of the Academy, he had access to more powerful spells.
Such as…
Gravity.
A-ranked spell, Gravitational Field!
RUMBLE!
The airborne gray lion suddenly found itself being pulled down by an unseen force. The lion was forcibly slammed to the ground and was unable to complete its jump.
Crackle!
A-ranked spell, Blue Lightning!
A-ranked spell, Divine Windbreak!
A bolt of thick blue lightning dropped from the sky and struck the struggling lion. The light of the attack lingered as it continued to zap the beast.
Montis slashed. From his double daggers, a glowing, silver wind blade emerged and headed straight towards the lion being baptized by lightning. It entered the blue light and disappeared silently.
Then, the two Department Heads immediately turned around and started attacking the other large beasts.
Unexpectedly, when the blue light finally disappeared, the lion was standing up. It bared its fangs while electricity crackled all over its body. It only suffered minor injuries despite being directly hit by two A-ranked spells. Even Montis' sharp and piercing attack only left a long scratch on its neck where blood slowly dripped.
The gravitational field around it did not affect it as much as it did earlier.
It appeared that the battle would not be ending soon.
….
Sera City, eastern district.
After 40 minutes of walking with difficulty, Brigadier Klein Arvent finally saw the land where his mansion previously stood.
If people disregarded his grand home, one could say that the Brigadier was living quite humbly.
He lived in a simple neighborhood rather than inside a fancy subdivision somewhere in the city. He mingled with the residents on a daily basis whenever he was heading to duty.
He was very down to earth.
When he saw the rubbles of the homes right beside his, he couldn't help but feel his heart ache. He knew every single owner of those homes, and he knew their children. Once again, he wondered why Sera City had to suffer such misfortune.
How many more people would die before the city was saved?
No…
How many would be left?
Klein Arvent moved forward. He stepped inside his backyard and slowly made his way to the bunker.
He dusted the dirt off the round door then gently knocked twice.
He patiently waited for his wife to greet him.
After a few moments, he felt the door tremble. Someone must've started turning the nob. And it seemed like the person was moving in a hurry. The knob was fully turned in a blink of an eye, making a loud thudding sound.
Klein Arvent stepped back as we watched the door slowly open with a loud, creaking sound. The head of a woman emerged from the circular entrance.
"You're back!" the woman exclaimed.
However, it wasn't Klein Arvent's wife.
"Mrs. Lu?" Klein Arvent said in relief and confusion.
The woman called Mrs. Lu was filled with shock. "Brigadier!"
Klein Arvent gave her a pleasant smile but Mrs. Lu appeared to be peeking behind him which made him quite uncomfortable and strangely curious. He asked, "Where's my wife?"
"Inside, treating the wounded," Mrs. Lu said without even looking at the Brigadier, her eyes filled with worry.
At that point, Brigadier Arvent failed to hold back his curiosity. He turned around as he asked, "What are you looking at?"
Suddenly…
Rumble!
The ground started shaking again.
Magical beasts!
From a distance, Klein Arvent saw a dust cloud rising up in the air. It appeared that the beasts came from that direction. He immediately grabbed his mace and shield, completely ignoring the aching pain of his body.
The dust cloud got thicker and bigger as the beasts got closer.
"Close the bunker!" the Brigadier commanded.
Mrs. Lu nodded and immediately closed door, locking it shut with a clink.
Klein Arvent reinforced the top part of the bunker with ice to make sure it doesn't break soon. After some time, he realized that the beasts were moving slower than expected. He found himself doing nothing in particular as he waited.
Damn! What's taking those creatures so long?!
After thinking about that, his question was immediately answered.
Running just a few meters in front of the beasts, were a few people. About 13 of them. Just behind them, someone was jumping around like a grasshopper.
Klein Arvent squinted his eyes trying to make sense of what was happening.
Every time a beast would jump forward and attack the group of people, the grasshopper-like man who appeared to be a mage would immediately counter, forcing the beast to step back. In between his attacks, he can even kill a few. Those who died would immediately fall over and get trampled on, slowing down the others and keeping them just behind the group.
The normal people were extremely tired, but they kept running for their lives. It seemed that they would make it.
On the other hand, the man who was protecting them appeared to have been already past his limits. His movements became a bit more sluggish and this didn't escape the Brigadier's sharp eyes.
Klein Arvent cursed and activated Frost Rush, though he kept it at a lower level. He hovered close to the ground while his dragging his mace on its surface. Then, he slashed it upward with force towards the advancing beasts.
Ice spikes started popping up from the ground. It arced, avoiding the people, and crept their way towards the beasts.
The beasts failed to respond on time.
The spikes that grew in front of the beasts increased in both size and numbers. They stabbed the ones at the forefront without mercy.
Pfft!
Blood spattered everywhere and the beasts' movements were halted.
The man who appeared to be slowing down suddenly burst with power, shocking even the Brigadier. Taking advantage of the chaos amongst the beasts, he dived into them and slew them one by one.
So it wasn't his limit yet.
The Brigadier finally arrived at the scene, his weapon rapidly growing in size. He bashed the beasts relentlessly. Now that he was closer to the unknown mage, he realized that it was just a young man. Strangely, his eyes were really sharp, and his attacks were fearless.
The young man rampaged amongst the beasts while, at the same time, coordinating with the Brigadier.
With the two fighting fiercely together, not one opening could be found between them.
The number of beasts dropped quickly until only one of them remained.
At the same time, the two struck the last one.
It fell and lied down along with the other dead beasts.
The two stared at each other after confirming the kill.
….