Chapter 20 - Mana Burst

"We are about to confront the Demon Lord!" Blaise said with a serious expression.

They were all taken aback by his statement. Who wouldn't be surprised when they had to face such a terrifying monster?

"But isn't the country protected by a fortress that prevents monsters from entering?" one of them asked.

"Yes! That's true! The fortress only prevents monsters from entering from the outside, but it won't stop the monsters already inside the country," Shino replied.

"So, how are we going to stop all of this?" Rose voiced her concern.

The members of the Stingray group fell silent after hearing the question. They were all at a loss for what to do to put an end to this. The enemy they were about to face was the Demon Lord Vishnal, not someone to be taken lightly. This battle carried high risks, especially considering that the five newly awakened heroes were still too inexperienced to confront the Demon Lord.

"Don't worry! We'll just fight as usual," Monica spoke up.

"What do you mean 'don't worry'? This battle involves our lives! It's easy for you to say 'just fight as usual!'" Monica's words sparked anger among them.

"What are you saying, Monica? You're making the situation worse!" Rusk whispered to Carlos.

Monica then moved forward. Explaining the meaning of her previous words:

"Time will save us!"

Everyone was puzzled upon hearing Monica's words.

"We just need to delay time! Save the people! Avoid futile battles! Because now, all the wizards are joining forces to weaken the Demon Lord!"

"What will happen to the Demon Lord if we manage to delay time?" Ray asked.

"The Demon Lord will be expelled from this country! There's a magic that can teleport something. But that magic consumes a lot of time and mana."

"How long do they need?" Jilk inquired.

"50 minutes or more!" Monica replied.

"Monica's way of explaining is so confusing!" Rusk whispered to Carlos.

"I sometimes don't understand what she's trying to explain either! Hehe!" Carlos replied.

"Huh!" Monica turned her gaze sharply toward Rusk and Carlos.

Both of them avoided her gaze.

"Ah!" Blaise sighed anxiously because 50 minutes was quite a long time. Within that period, many things could happen.

"We won't force you to help us because this involves your lives! But if any of you want to assist us, we would greatly appreciate it," Blaise took on the role of the Stingray group leader.

"Alright! I'll help!" Ray bravely accepted the challenge, stepping forward to join the battle.

Jilk didn't want to be outdone by Ray and voluntarily joined as well, followed by the other members of the Hero group.

"My friends, I know this task is dangerous! So I won't force any of you to participate because I promised to protect you! But I ask for your cooperation to join this mission. If you don't want to fight, let me handle it, but please help save the people affected by this disaster! Please!" Ray pleaded with his head bowed, seeking his friends' assistance.

Ray's words touched the hearts of his comrades. They had placed high hopes on Ray since his arrival in this world. Every achievement Ray had shown thus far had never disappointed them but rather exceeded their expectations.

"I'll join!"

"I'm in too!"

"Count me in!"

"I'm joining as well!"

"Let's all join!"

They wholeheartedly embraced Ray's plea without hesitation because they trusted him. He had always given his best, and this was their way of showing their support to Ray with such assistance.

"No wonder he was chosen as the Hero!" Blaise whispered to himself, excited to see how Ray had gained the trust of his comrades.

"But wait! What does the Demon Lord look like?" Zack asked.

"Unfortunately, we've never encountered Demon Lord Vishnal himself. We don't know how powerful he is or even his true form! All we know is that Demon Lord Vishnal is a monstrous entity, but we're uncertain about his appearance," Carloss replied.

"Alright! Let's move now!" Blaise led the way.

Without further delay, they proceeded with their mission to save the city.

They arrived at the city. "Alright, let's split up here!" Blaise gave instructions to each group regarding their tasks and assigned areas to monitor.

Each group would be supervised by a Stingray member for safety measures.

"Don't worry about us! We can handle things on our own," Ray declined the assistance of the Stingray group.

"Uhhh! But..." Blaise looked at Ray, noticing the confidence on his face.

"Fine! Rusk, come with us."

"Ah... alright."

They moved forward to save the civilians.

"Who does he think he is? Rejecting help from others like that!" Rusk was annoyed by Ray's earlier action.

"Let it be. Besides, they are our only hope to defeat the Demon Lord! They need to become stronger," Blaise replied.

"The Stingray group easily killed many monsters that blocked their path. They were heading towards a place where a large number of monsters had gathered.

Meanwhile, the Support group was rescuing civilians trapped amidst the destruction. The Guardian group assisted the Support group by keeping watch over the surrounding monsters. They were aided by Carlos and Monica from the Stingray group.

"There, a MONSTER!!!" shouted one of the Support group members. From a distance, a group of monster spiders could be seen running towards them.

"Fire Rain!"

A rain of fire descended, burning the monster spiders that were about to attack them.

"Yes! Just like in the game, monster spiders are always weak to fire."

Sora was the one who unleashed that magical attack. He had separated from the Hero group because the Guardian group was short on members.

"Wow! That was impressive," Monica exclaimed, impressed by Sora's attack.

---

The Hero group was equally formidable, successfully killing many monsters.

"Hahaha! Come here, monsters!" Zack enthusiastically killed monsters without realizing that a magical attack was about to hit him. "Huh!" The magical attack was successfully blocked by Sofia.

"What are you doing, Zack? Look around you!" Sofia scolded Zack.

"Ah! Sorry, sorry!"

"Ray is amazing! He single-handedly killed so many A-level monsters!" Another Hero member exclaimed with excitement, watching Ray effortlessly slay numerous monsters.

"Argh!" Jilk felt jealous when he saw Ray's accomplishments. He then set out to find more monsters to kill.

Suddenly, a loud roar was heard coming from ahead. Strong winds began to blow forcefully from the direction of the roar. As time passed, the winds grew stronger, as if something massive was approaching.

"What's that?" someone exclaimed after a large flying object appeared above them.

"A dragon?"

They realized that the flying object was indeed a dragon. The dragon landed above them.

"Run!!!"

The members of the Hero group scattered, fleeing to save themselves before being crushed by the dragon.

BOOOM!

"RROAAAR!!" The dragon landed and let out a roar.

Most members of the Hero group trembled in fear after seeing the terrifying dragon. They began to realize that their original world was the best. There were no threats like this.

"The rest of you, run!" Ray leaped and shouted to his team members. His leap was so high that he seemed to be flying in the air, swinging his sword toward the dragon.

"Arghhh! Lightning Slash!!!" His attack resembled a lightning strike, slicing through the dragon. "Shushhhh! Boommm!"

"Amazing!"

All his team members were astonished by the attack. Ray looked like a hero from a comic book.

"Is the dragon dead?" the Hero group wondered because they couldn't see the dragon due to the large explosion caused by Ray's attack. The dragon remained hidden behind the smoke.

"RROAAAR!!!" The smoke dissipated after the dragon's roar. The dragon became visible again, with only minor injuries from Ray's attack.

"Seriously! Even with such a powerful attack, it's still not dead!" the faces of the Hero group members turned pale.

"That dragon! Could it be Demon Lord Vishnal!" someone exclaimed. After hearing that, they fled to save themselves.

The dragon started spewing something from its mouth. Sofia acted as a shield to block the attack from hitting her teammates.

"Shield!" Sofia created a large shield to withstand the dragon's attack. "ZROOOM!" The dragon's powerful fire breath gradually destroyed Sofia's shield.

Zack and Jilk didn't just stand there after witnessing that. They attempted to attack the dragon to stop its fire breath.

"Shushhhh!" Their combined attack managed to halt the dragon's attack.

"Heal!" Rose healed Sofia, who was injured from blocking the attack.

"The rest of you, run and save yourselves! We heroes will fight this dragon!" Ray shouted.

"Hahaha! So, you're the demon lord, dragon!" Zack prepared to fight after receiving a buff from Rose.

"Ah! Let's kill this demon lord!" Jilk exclaimed eagerly.

"Alright! Let's end this night of disaster! Hiyarghh!" Ray launched another attack.

"Yarrghh!"

"Garggghh"

All five of them worked together to fight the dragon.

---

In the guild...

Raqnid and Fat were stunned by the situation. Despite the experienced hunters here, they were also facing difficulties when fighting the monsters.

Then, from behind Raqnid and Fat, a gigantic monster appeared and charged towards them.

"FATT!"

Both of them turned their attention to the approaching monster, ready to retaliate.

"Arghhh! Smashhh!" Suddenly, a powerful attack split the monster.

"Oi! What are you kids doing? Do you want to die?" It turned out to be Master Hulk, the guild instructor.

They didn't expect Master Hulk to be so powerful, killing the monster with just one attack.

"Uhmm! Thank you, Master Hulk!" they shouted, showing their respect.

"Hahaha! You two better get out of here! This monster is not a match for rookie like you!" Hulk looked serious.

"Yes! That's right! You two still new!" Alene intervened, appearing behind Hulk.

"Let the experienced hunters handle the task of killing monsters. You two should help save the civilians."

Without thinking twice, they followed Alene's words. "Alright! We'll go over there!" Raqnid replied.

"Be careful!" Alene looked worried about their safety.

"Haha! Those kids from another world are quite daring!" Hulk expressed his pleasure upon seeing them.

"Yes! I hope they're safe!" Alene still felt anxious about the safety of both of them. Even though this was not their world, they were willing to risk their lives to help.

Raqnid and Fat looked around to see if there were any remaining civilians. Then they heard someone calling for help from a different direction.

"Fat, you go that way! I'll go this way!"

"Okay! Be careful!"

"You too!" They had to split up in the current situation. They wouldn't have time to save both if they stayed together.

Fat encountered a small child crying alone, asking for help. Fat was lucky because there was no monster around.

Meanwhile, Raqnid was still searching for the voice that had cried for help earlier.

"Help!!!" a man appeared, running out from Raqnid's left side while screaming for help. The man ran and then fell to the ground due to his severe injuries.

"Help!"

Raqnid then raised his hand and waved towards him.

"Don't worr...y"

"Snap!" a biting sound.

Raqnid was frozen in shock as he witnessed it. Before he could react, the man had been devoured by the monster. Witnessing someone die right in front of his eyes for the first time, Raqnid started feeling guilty. If only he had acted faster, he could have saved the man. It was now clear that the man had run for help because he was being chased by a monster.

Seeing the monster chewing the person like food, Raqnid started feeling nauseous.

Unbeknownst to him, the monster's eyes were fixed on Raqnid. Its eyes still showed hunger for human flesh. After it finished chewing, it immediately turned towards Raqnid.

Raqnid could do nothing but run for his life. He ran and ran without looking back even once, exerting all his efforts because his life was in danger.

Until he finally stopped from exhaustion, unable to run any longer. Unaware that the monster had disappeared from his sight. He collapsed to the ground, contemplating the harshness of this life.

Raqnid tried to mend his mentality, taking a moment to calm himself in the midst of the chaotic situation.

A few minutes later, he got up from the ground. He had no other choice but to strive for a normal life like an ordinary person. He had to adapt to this world because incidents like the one earlier would happen again in the future.

"All right! Normal life, I'm coming!" he refused to give up on pursuing a simple life.

Raqnid then ran towards the tallest tower in the city to observe the situation. At that moment, he felt something following him silently. He looked back to see if there was indeed something silently tailing him.

"Huh!" none of his senses could detect any living being. Ignoring that fact, Raqnid entered the tower and ascended to the highest level.

Unbeknownst to him, someone in a black cloak was following Raqnid, covering their entire face and body.

As soon as Raqnid reached the top of the tower, the first thing he saw was a flying object in the sky. It was surrounded by large circles emitting monsters.

Raqnid used his skills to see further and realized that the object was a winged person. Raqnid still didn't know that what he was seeing was the Demon Lord Vishnal.

"So that person is the cause of this chaos!" Raqnid clenched his fist. He could only observe because he wouldn't be able to fight such a monster.

His eyes wandered, surveying the city. Then he spotted a group of Heroes battling a large dragon.

"What are they doing? Fighting the dragon won't solve this problem! Why are these Heroes so stupid!" Raqnid also saw other powerful hunters only fighting ordinary monsters. That wouldn't stop this chaos. They needed to eliminate the root cause of all these incidents.

"Perhaps this way, I can draw the attention of the Hero group and other hunters." Raqnid took out his bow. He aimed at the demon lord, using his most powerful skill. The skill created numerous magical orbs around him, drawing in the surrounding aura into his arrow. The longer he held the arrow, the brighter it became.

Mana Burst [skill] [???]

-Using all the mana user have

The person in the black cloak was drawn to the top of the tower by the bright light.

"Oi! Oi! What's this bright light! I better release it quickly before anyone notices." Raqnid released the arrow after his skill was fully charged.

"Mana Burst!"

The arrow flew towards the Demon Lord. The initial bright light vanished after the arrow was released. The arrow flew swiftly and hit the back of the Demon Lord.

"Hah?"

Raqnid felt surprised by the situation. His attack didn't produce any explosions, sounds, or effects on the Demon Lord. This meant he had failed to draw the attention of the Hero group and others.

"It didn't hit?"

A notification appeared.

Warning

-You have run out of mana!

Raqnid's mana had been depleted. This would have side effects on him.

"Ah! It's useless!" Raqnid's eyelids started feeling heavy. He began to lose consciousness due to the mana depletion.

Suddenly...

The notification appeared once again. "Ding...ding...ding" the notifications kept appearing like spam.

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

"Huh!" Raqnid was on the verge of passing out, but he woke up suddenly. This happened because when someone levels up, their health and mana are fully restored. This saved Raqnid from fainting and being unable to move for several days.

"What just happened? Why did I level up?"

Another notification appeared.

|Successful Backstab|

"Why did the backstab suddenly happen? It means my arrow hit that monster earlier!"

"Ting!"

|Critical Hit|

Raqnid started to feel increasingly curious as one notification after another appeared before him.

Congratulations

- You successfully killed Demon Lord Vishnal

"Demon Lord Vishnal? Who is that?" Raqnid became perplexed after receiving that notification.

"Demon lord? Wait!" Raqnid looked towards the demon lord he had just attacked. It had disappeared from his sight.

Demon Lord Vishnal had died from the arrow shot by Raqnid earlier. The skill 'Mana Burst' had increased Raqnid's attack power significantly, but it wasn't as simple as just killing Demon Lord Vishnal. It was the combination of Backstab and Critical Hit that made Raqnid's attack stronger. The attack power was multiplied due to these two factors. The assassin job had the highest "Critical Damage" percentage compared to other jobs, and combined with the passive ability 'Backstab,' Raqnid's attack was exceptionally fortunate.

"Don't tell me that flying monster was the demon lord!" Raqnid realized that he had just killed one of the strongest monsters in the world.

"The 'Mana Burst' skill is really powerful!"

"Oi! Oi!" Raqnid looked at the multiple notifications popping up on his screen.

Gain new title!

Gain new title!

Gain new title!

Gain new title!

Gain new title!

Legendary Assassin

- One-shot enemies that are 10 times stronger than the user using backstab.

Legendary Archer

- One-shot enemies that are 10 times stronger than the user using a bow.

Damn Sharp Eyes

- Kill enemies from a very far distance.

Crazy Luck

- Obtain something very difficult to obtain.

And many more titles acquired by Raqnid.

"Arghhh! What have I done! I just wanted the heroes to realize that they were not fighting a demon lord! Why did I end up killing the demon lord instead! My plans never seem to work!" Raqnid knocked his head, frustrated and tangled in his thoughts. He was worried that if people found out, it would draw a lot of attention and become a new problem.

"Calm down, Raqnid! Calm down! As long as no one knows about this, it won't be a problem!" Raqnid reassured himself, patting his face with both hands.

"Yes, that's right! No one will know!" The worry subsided as Raqnid started thinking positively.

Gain new skill!

Gain new skill!

Gain new skill!

Gain new skill!

Due to leveling up and the titles he acquired, Raqnid's skills increased significantly.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard ascending the stairs. Without hesitation, Raqnid leaped from the top of the tower to the nearest building to escape.

Raqnid jumped so high that while in the air, arrows suddenly appeared heading towards him at high speed.

"Ahhh! I can't dodge like this!" Raqnid tried to dodge the arrows. Unexpectedly, Raqnid easily dodged the arrows. He seemed to be able to walk on air.

Raqnid felt incredibly light, and his eyes were able to see ten times farther than before. All of his previous skills had become stronger.

Raqnid saw clearly that the arrows came from the hooded figure he had encountered earlier. The hooded figure observed Raqnid sharply.

To avoid the person scrutinizing his face, Raqnid quickly escaped from the area.

°°°°°

At the same time, where the heroes were battling the dragon.

They fought with all their might, without a hint of fear. They unleashed all their skills and powers to defeat the dragon.

"Let's finish this!" Zack shouted.

"Arghhhhh!"

"Hiyaarghh!"

Jilk, Zack, and Sofia used their ultimates to attack the dragon.

"Shooshh!" "Boommm!"

They used their most powerful abilities. The dragon suffered severe injuries. The dragon began flapping its wings to escape. Strong winds started blowing due to the flapping of the dragon's wings. The dragon started to fly.

"Where do you think you're going!" Ray shouted, ready to charge with his ultimate.

"Ultimate Slash!"

"Arghhhhh!" Ray held his sword high with both hands.

"Finish him!" Jilk yelled.

"Go!"

"Die, dragon!"

Shooshhh!, Ray's attack split the dragon's neck, separating its head from its body.

The heroes still couldn't believe what they were seeing. They couldn't believe they had successfully killed the dragon they mistook for a Demon Lord.

"We won!" Zack exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Rose cheered in excitement.

They celebrated their victory with joy. Other members of the hero group returned to join in the celebration.

At the same time, Raqnid accidentally killed Demon Lord Vishnal. The large sphere started to disappear. The monster that had been summoned died because its master was already dead.

Blaise and Shino witnessed the monster in front of them suddenly dying.

"Oi! Hasn't it been less than 50 minutes?" Rusk asked.

Blaise simply smiled widely. He expected that the hero group had already killed Demon Lord Vishnal.

Rusk's question also puzzled Monica, who was surprised to see the city returning to normal.

The dark sky began turning blue again. However, the damage suffered was severe, with many lives lost.

"The heroes were truly amazing!" King Alex exclaimed.

Everyone started cheering with joy after the chaos had subsided.

Meanwhile, Raqnid ran back to the guild to find Fat.