章 30: Chapter 30
Buzzzz! buzzzzz!
Monsters swarmed a certain place, attacking the students with their fierce speed and penetrative power.
It as if these monsters were drawn to the most powerful among the students, targeting them relentlessly. The concentration of monsters here was higher than in other places, indicating they are indeed targeting strong students.
A group of fifty students desperately fought with seemingly endless monsters. Their bodies littered with cuts and bruises, their faces showing visible signs of exhaustion, but they still kept fighting.
Because they knew if they stopped now, it would be their end, so they gritted their teeth and fought to survive.
It was their second crisis after the dungeon incident. Many students had already died and othery suffered life threatening injuries. Some of the dead were their friends or family and pushed them to fight fiercely.
Suddenly, an ethereal golden aura enveloped the group. Slowly, their wounds began to close, their tired faces regained some color.
After the glow faded, a figure of a girl was revealed. She collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, grasping heavily for breath. Her blonde hair was a mess, which stuck on her face because of the damp sweat.
"Are you okay, Acelia?" a girl next to her asked, concern etched on her face.
"Yeah… I'm okay." Acelia said, weakly nodding. Retrieving a potion from her spatial watch, she gulped it down.
Just then, a fresh wave of monsters lunged toward her. But before they could reach her, other students intercepted the attack, cutting the creatures down.
"Thanks, guys," Acelia said with a grateful smile, standing on shaky legs. "I'm ready now." Her determined gaze reassured her comrades, who gave her quick nods in return before refocusing on the fight.
Asher, Aaron, and the rest of the main group continued their battle, while Alicia guarded Acelia, protecting the healer.
Mana started to churn around her, shining brightly in a golden glow as she started to chant in Elvish language.
To her surprise, a dense mist started to appear suddenly in that place, cutting off her concentration.
"What's happening?"
"Did a new monster arrive?"
The sudden, unexpected change of attack caught them off guard, but their surprise didn't last long. They instantly prepared themselves to fight the new monster. Their gaze searches for the monster in the mist. Gripping their weapon tightly, they prepared for an ambush.
"Lucy–" Asher called her, but he got his reply quickly.
"I know," her hands started to glow in a teal color, wind psions gathering, turning into a gust of wind.
Clap!
Swoosh!
With a clap of her hands, a powerful gust of wind ripped through the mist, scattering it instantly. The veil of fog lifted, revealing a large, winged monster that had been concealed.
The gust of wind caught it off balance, without wasting any time, the students used the opportunity to strike, launching coordinated attacks to bring it down.
***
***
***
10 minutes earlier
"Damn it, I shouldn't have led them here," I cursed under my breath as I ran as fast as I could. The monsters are hot on my trail—dozens of them.
The greed made me so blind that I thought I could lure them, but I had forgotten how fast they were compared to me. Now I was being hunted.
'Fuck, you idiot me.' I wanted to reserve my mana, but if I didn't act now, I'd be done for.
「Mist」
「Perfect Clone」
Casting the mist spell, I activated the perfect copy. As my copy slowly manifested in front of me, I gave a mental command to distract them.
Nodding, he dashed outside of the mist, drawing the monster away.
A sigh of relief escaped my mouth as the monsters dashed behind the clone. 'Now let's move while hiding.'
Swoosh!
Another shock wave hit me, weaker this time due to the growing distance, but it was enough to clear the mist, exposing me.
"Fuck you instructors." Activating Dash, I ran fast while avoiding the fight.
For five relentless minutes, I weaved through debris, avoiding any confrontation. Then, in the distance, I spotted them. "There they are," I whispered to myself.
A group of students were locked in combat with monsters amidst the ruins of a crumbling building. Without hesitation, I made my way toward them.
「Shadow Monarch」
Using Shadow Monarch combined with Dash, my movements became much faster, and my presence decreased. Without alerting anyone, I arrived at the broken building.
"Where is a good hiding place?" I looked, observing a place close to the students.
After finding a good spot where monsters and the students could not see, I deactivated Shadow Monarch and summoned the clone, preparing to cast mist, laying the loophole theory in motion.
But seeing their exhausted faces, I suddenly halted the process. Second thoughts started to surface in me, and I became hesitant.
'No, it's a perfect chance to increase my status' My hands started to tremble as I was about to cast a mist. Numerous scenarios flashed through my mind, including where they were dead and the thought of me becoming a murderer by killing these poor children.
"N-no I can't do it." As I started to stand up and leave, my body suddenly froze in place.
"Sigh, what an idiot!" Suddenly something within me started to shift. "I guess I will have to help you this time too."
I felt like my mind was being clouded, all the unnecessary thoughts slowly vanishing from my mind.
"Is their death really worse than losing your chance of survival?" My mind suddenly filled with this thought; like an alluring melody, it kept on ringing.
'No'
"In the end, it's about slef-preservation. What's better, a stranger dying or you?"
I felt like my thoughts were someone's thoughts, but I still answered to it, if the thought is being generated by me or Jadel, in this end what is important is my own survival. And I'm just casting a mist, just what will happen to them? Nothing.
Activating perfect copy again I unleashed the mist spell to the fullest. Instantly, the place was covered with mist.
But that only lasted for a few seconds. Lucy used her wind magic and cleared the mist, but my objective was done. I only have to hide and spread mist when new monsters appear.
'I worried for nothing.'
I sat there and waited patiently until the monster corps accumulated a certain number.
"Let's use"
Ding
——————————
Speed: 1
Mana: 1
Strength: 2
Agility: 1
Speed: 2
Strength: 1
….
——————————
"Huh"
"Why are the dead monsters glowing faintly? And what is this weird mana function?" She covered her eyes with her hand as if she were experiencing pain.
Hearing her words, the students instantly tensed, immediately moving away from the corps, observing carefully. But the glow disappeared as soon as it came.
"Are you sure it glowed, Lucy?" Marcus asked while killing the monsters. The other students looked at her, unsure about her judgment, but they knew she wouldn't lie.
She nodded. "My eyes don't deceive me." Observing a little more, she reassured. "No need to be alarmed; I couldn't find any threatening mana functionality from it."
She said, but her gaze lingered in my direction for a while.
'Shit, she is suspicious' With her mana eyes, she must have seen my mana function.
'Hey, cover your face and lure more monsters here; don't get detected by others while moving from here,' I commanded.
He ripped off the uniform and covered his face. Taking out my dagger, I shaved his head.
'It's perfect; now go and lure them to here.' Nodding, he stealthily moved.
I cast mist again.
"Huh? Where's this mist coming from?" one of the students exclaimed.
"This is definitely no ordinary monster," another murmured, their eyes scanning the battlefield.
Lucy cast her wind spell again, dispersing the fog. Her sharp gaze fixed in my direction.
"Aiden, can you check that area?" she pointed. "There's a familiar mana signature over there."
"On it."
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