Vol.01: Ch.29: Desperate Measures - Tasting Defeat

The Draathil glared menacingly at Darell and his friends.

Darell held onto Emma and he gulped as he looked at the Draathil's towering figure.

Suddenly, he noticed something.

The Draathil was staring straight at him.

Only him.

And, then...

* AWOOOO *

It's army of ogres, orcs, lizardmen, goblins, centaurs, and more heard it's signal, shouted aggressively and ran toward Darell and his friends.

The ground beneath their feet quaked as the Draathil's army charged toward them.

Darell looked at the advancing army and then, he glanced at the Draathil.

When he did so, he was shocked.

Shocked because the Draathil was smirking at him.

Darell couldn't believe his eyes.

The beast smirked?!

It fucking smirked?!?!

Darell saw the Draathil's purple eyes glowing while smirking as if it was taunting him.

On the other hand, Lilith, Eric, and Ariel readied themselves for the imminent clash.

The grip they had on their weapons tightened when they saw the army advancing toward them.

Darell, meanwhile, felt humiliated.

He felt as if the beast was taunting him.

But, he couldn't do anything.

Because he had already decided to focus solely on Emma.

He wouldn't fight.

He couldn't fight.

The Light mana in Emma's body was being overwhelmed by the pressure it was experiencing by the darkness around her.

Emma felt as if she was being choked.

Lilith's Ice barrier could only lessen the pressure she was experiencing all over her body.

It couldn't completely negate it.

That is why, under the barrier, her facial expression was twisted in agony.

Her body convulsed with pain.

Darell tried to help her by offering her potions to lessen the pressure.

But, he knew that even the potions only provided temporary relief.

Meanwhile, Eric turned to Lilith and Ariel and said, "It's now or never!"

He turned toward the army and ran toward them, shouting, "Let's go!"

He focused and with all of his strength, jumped toward the oncoming army.

* CRACK *

The ground cracked underneath his feet when he jumped.

Before landing, he activated his rank 03 Earth skill.

"Spiked Ground!"

His eyes and his gauntlets glowed dark brown when he activated this skill.

Focusing on the ground, he aimed a powerful punch at it as he landed.

* KA-BOOM *

When his fist connected with the ground, in an instant, numerous spikes erupted from it.

* SPLURT *

* SPLAT *

The beasts couldn't react on time which led to the spikes impaling their bodies.

Blood, brain matter, legs, arms, even complete heads of different beasts were thrown and spread everywhere.

Eric stood up and deactivated his skill.

The spikes vanished as it went back into the ground.

The dead bodies and body parts of the beasts dropped to the ground.

Eric glanced at the remaining beasts in front of him and activated another skill.

"Earth Golem!"

In an instant, the ground around him were jumbled together and then formed four Earth Golems, each armed with a sword and shield.

Eric ordered the golems, "Go and kill them!"

The Golems listened to their master's order and roared aggressively.

* ROOOAAAR *

They ran toward the army of beasts and fought them, relentlessly killing most of them.

Eric glanced at the Earth Golems doing his work and then, he turned his attention to another part of the army which was also, advancing toward him.

Eric decided to activate the rank 04 skill that he learnt recently.

"Fragments Of Self!"

He raised his hand toward the sky.

The ground responded as massive boulders formed from it levitated in the air.

Eric threw the boulders toward the beasts.

* BOOM *

* SPLURT *

Thousands of beasts were obliterated by the boulders.

Eric took a moment to catch his breath and he looked around him.

However, he realized that thousands of beasts still remained, who were still coming at him.

So, he activated another skill.

"Earthquake!"

His gauntlets shone with an immense brown light and he struck the ground in front of him.

* BOOM *

The ground shook wildly when Eric's fist struck it, causing thousands of beasts to lose their balance.

Eric, once more, struck the ground at the same spot.

* BOOM *

This time, a deep crack formed beneath the beasts.

* BOOM *

The ground ruptured, sending the beasts plummeting into the depths below.

Ariel, on the other hand, activated her skill.

"Death's Scream!"

She opened her mouth and released a powerful sonic attack.

The beasts' felt a sharp pain in their heads and they were momentarily distracted as they clutched their heads.

Ariel quickly threw her chakra at the.

* SPLURT *

* SPLAT *

The chakra severed limbs and heads alike as it flew between the beasts.

Ariel, then activated her rank 03 skill.

"Sound Bolt!"

Her hands radiated a brilliant white glow.

She condensed the surrounding sound waves into a concentrated bolt.

She aimed it at an ogre running toward her and threw the bolt at it.

The bolt flew across the air and hit the ogre's face, resulting in a massive explosion.

* BOOM *

The ogre's head burst apart due to the explosion and the beasts around it were also killed.

Those who survived were writhing in agony on the ground.

She activated another skill.

"Tremor Inducer!"

The ground beneath the beasts trembled violently causing more of them to stumble and fall.

Seizing the opportunity, she controlled massive rocks using the sound waves and crushed the beasts.

* SPLAT *

Meanwhile, Lilith wielded her sword, executing a flawless display of swordsmanship known as the "Sword Dance of the Mist Empress."

Each swing of her blade cleaved through the beasts.

She also, activated her rank 03 skill.

"Mist Blast!"

Crystal balls, adorned with a lustrous blue interior and pristine white exterior, materialized in her hands.

She aimed and threw the crystal balls at the beasts and they blew upon contact.

The weaker beasts were torn apart by the explosive force, while the stronger ones were encased in ice.

She was frustrated by the never-ending army of beasts.

So, she activated another skill.

"Ice Tornado!"

A colossal tornado, its breadth spanning the equivalent of thirty meters, manifested before her.

She directed the tornado toward the beasts.

The beasts were swept up by it and thrown elsewhere whereas some were transformed into frozen statues which slowly broke apart.

Meanwhile, Emma looked at her friends fighting the army of beasts.

Yet, the exhaustion that was settling in them was clear as day to her.

She knew she had to do something for them.

So, she turned toward and Darell and said, "D-D-Darell?"

Darell turned to her and worriedly asked, "What happened, Emma?"

Emma told him, "G-G-Go, h-h-help t-t-them!"

"What about you?", he asked.

Emma smiled and answered, "I-I-I w-will b-b-be f-f-fine!"

Darell shook his head and said, "Absolutely not! How will you be fine?"

Emma pointed at his hand and replied, "S-S-Space A-A-Arsen...", before her eyes rolled back and she fell unconscious.

Darell quickly broke the barrier and tapped her face as he called out to her worriedly, "Emma? Emma? Emma?"

But, Emma was unresponsive.

Darell looked at his hand and tried to understand what she was trying to say.

A split second later, he understood it.

He quickly activated his skill, Space Arsenal, and focused on her.

Emma vanished from his sight and he felt her presence in his pocket dimension and he deactivated his skill.

He sighed in relief since she was finally safe now.

Now, he could fully focus on the beasts.

Without hesitating, he charged toward the beasts, his sword slicing through them.

After hours of relentless combat, the beast army gradually dwindled in numbers.

However, the constant exertion of their abilities had taken its toll on Darell and his friends, leaving them weary from the substantial mana consumption.

But, their respite was short-lived as the relentless Draathil summoned yet another army of monsters, further increasing their already overwhelming numbers.

Darell and his friends sighed and fought the beasts again.

This went on for hours, until they finally killed the entire army.

However, the Draathil refused to relent.

Its antlers began to emit a radiant white light as it prepared to unleash a devastating attack upon Darell and his friends.

Realizing the imminent danger, Darell swiftly teleported the group to safety, narrowly evading the destructive beam.

Undeterred, the Draathil redirected its menacing beam of light toward their new location.

Sensing the dire condition of his friendss, Darell knew that they were in no condition to confront the Draathil any further.

So, he shouted, "Training Over!"

* CRACK *

The environment around them cracked and broke apart like a mirror.

Seconds later, they were lying on the floor of the training hall.

Darell quickly took Emma out of his pocket dimension and carried her all the way to the medicine hall.

Lilith, Eric and Ariel followed him behind.

At the medicine hall, all of them received treatment and healing.

After several hours, Emma regained consciousness and the first thing she did when she woke up was to look for Darell.

When she found him by her side, talking with Lilith, she sighed in relief.

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