The battlefield trembled.
The five monsters, now swollen with unnatural power, lood like living nightmares. Their bodies stretched, muscles ballooning, bones cracking and reforming with grotesque strength.
The wyvern’s scales glead darker, more jagged than before, its wings spreading wider as fire flickered between its fangs.
The four minotaurs beside Ali towered nearly twice their forr size, veins pulsing crimson beneath thickened hides.
And then....
Rooooaaar!
All five let out a bone-shaking cry before charging once again.
Ali, Noah, and Gideon’s party braced themselves for what was coming, but this ti, no formation could hold.
The wyvern didn’t even spare a glance at Noah or Gideon’s party anymore. Its blazing eyes locked onto one target....
Logan!
With a single beat of its wings, it ripped through the air, soaring straight at him.
Logan’s gaze sharpened. He didn’t back down. But before he could move, Noah still darted in, not willing to back down, lightning sparking at his fingertips.
"Not so fast!"
A bolt scread from his hand, slamming into the wyvern’s neck. The beast recoiled for a heartbeat, but its rage only deepened. Its fla-lined maw spread wide.
Noah cursed and raised his palm again, only for three out of four of the monstrous minotaurs to break away from Ali’s front and thunder toward him and Gideon’s party.
"Shit!"
Gideon barely had ti to push Jessi back before the ground cracked under their steps. Their clubs swung down like falling mountains. The party scattered, spears and swords clashing desperately against overwhelming force.
Noah growled, his lightning bolt dispersing two charging minotaurs in a thunderous wave. Gideon, along with Ronald and lissa, sohow sent the third one skidding back with their combo attack.
Ali was busy fighting the last Minotaur still engaged with him. Though grown stronger, it alone wasn’t a worthy opponent for Ali.
Ali fought the minotaur fiercely, forcing his way step by step toward Logan.
Logan’s situation was worse. The human-faced monster was relentless, fists and claws slashing in a storm of fury. Still, it alone wouldn’t have been a headache. But the wyvern, undeterred by Noah’s earlier strike, circled and dove toward him, its firelight covering him in a burning halo.
Logan gritted his teeth. His ice shield materialized, but shattered, then ford again but the sa result.... each strike forced him backward. For every attack he unleashed, another two ca his way.
Minutes dragged like hours. Even the monsters fighting in the distance were now overflowing with strength and morale. And slowly... everywhere, the hunters began to collapse.
Bodies littered the ground. Screams filled the air.
On all sides, they were losing.
The hunters’ desperation turned into despair. The healers could barely drag the injured away before more fell in their place. Emily’s eyes widened as she pressed her glowing hands against a bleeding man’s chest, but her gaze flickered toward the frontline. "It’s falling apart..."
Logan smashed another punch into the human-faced monster, but the wyvern’s tail whipped across and struck his ribs with bone-crushing force. He skidded across the field, coughing blood, only to leap back at them again. Even Ali was helping him now and then while the minotaur was thrown away for a bit. But still.....
They were losing ground....
And then....
The human-faced creature suddenly stilled. Its twisted grin spread wider. "It’s ti."
It raised both hands.
Two streams of dark, chain-like energy burst from its palms, slithering through the air like serpents. Before Noah or Ali could react, the chains wrapped around them both, crackling, binding, sinking into their flesh.
"No!"
Both n froze, gasping. In that instant, they realized sothing horrifying. Their mana manipulation capability... was gone. For so reason, they couldn’t cast any more spells.
Noah’s lightning sputtered and died. Ali’s flas winked out like candles in the wind.
"Wha... what is this?!" Ali snarled, struggling. His body still moved, but the fire in his palms had vanished.
Noah’s face tightened. "Magic... it’s sealed..."
The battlefield seed to pause as both S-class hunters, pillars of strength, staggered powerless.
The creature’s grin deepened. "Khi... khi... khi..."
With a flick of its wrist, it signaled.
Two of the towering minotaurs stomped over to Ali, seizing him by the arms like a rag doll. The other two wrapped their giant fists around Noah, holding him helplessly.
The human-faced monster’s voice dripped with mockery. " I was supposed to bring in only one. But now I have two. How generous of you!
Mwahahahaha..."
Its laughter echoed like rusted tal scraping across stone.
Then, without hesitation, it leapt. The minotaurs followed in a single bound, carrying Noah and Ali like trophies. In a blink, they vanished into the distance, beyond the collapsing battlefield.
"Guild master!! Mr. Starwind!!"
The hunters froze, eyes wide, their last anchors of hope torn away before their eyes. Emily’s heart jolted violently. Her healing spell faltered for a mont, and she looked up in horror.
"They... they took them!"
The crowd of hunters erupted in chaos. "No! Not them! We’re dood without them!"
"Chase them!"
"Stop the monster!"
A cluster of hunters, Emily among them, broke formation and sprinted after the leaping figures, determined to rescue their leaders.
But the wyvern was waiting.
The beast inhaled, its chest glowing, scales pulsing red. And then...
Fwooooshhh!
A river of fire spewed forth, cutting across the battlefield in a sweeping arc. Hunters scread as the inferno split their ranks, scattering them like leaves in a storm.
Emily shielded her face, another hunter’s protective magic barely holding. The rescue attempt crumbled instantly, the wyvern forcing them back into battle once more.
The flas lit the sky, illuminating the battlefield in a hellish glow.
Logan’s fists tightened. His breath ca heavy, blood dripping from his lip. He could see them, Ali and Noah being carried away into the abyss.
The wyvern’s shadow lood above him.
"I can’t let it happen again. Nolan. I swear." Logan’s eyes glead. He slowly bent his legs like coiled spring storing energy. "I will let you taste, what despair feels like."
And then he jumped above, soared in the air like a shooting star. His whole body wrapped up in ice. Like a human-sized spearhead. Air spiraled under his foot, hurling the spearhead even faster.
And then.....
To be continued...
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