Chapter 287 Volume V - Chapter 5: A Dungeon in Academy
"A- A dungeon!"
One of the students suddenly shouted. With that, the students, who had not yet recovered from the shock of the event, became aware of the situation again.
And that was not the only thing they realized. They were also aware of how quickly the blue-colored gate shifted to orange, indicating how close it was to the breaking point.
So they began to realize that this area would soon be filled with creatures. And that brought... only chaos.
A more violent noise filled the area than ever before. The students tried to run backward, screaming and shouting to get away from the gate. But they were so close to each other and so unconcerned about what they were doing that they tripped over each other, literally crushing one another.
"G- Get out of the way!"
"We're going to die... We're going to die!"
While everyone was running for their lives... while no one was able to get away from the area properly, the last blue dot on the gate turned orange.
The break was happening so fast that even though I had tried to think calmly until now, my eyes widened and I realized the danger again.
"Watch out!"
But... it was too late.
The immense mana that the portal had concentrated within itself during its formation suddenly burst out. Knowing that something like this would happen, I was able to stand against the wave, even if I staggered, but when I quickly looked around and saw the other students, I felt despair slowly creeping in.
The mana wave that represented the breaking of the dungeon had literally blown away the unprepared students who were blinded by fear. While everyone was trying to avoid the area a few seconds ago, now most of them were on the ground, blocking each other's paths and preventing everyone from escaping, even if they didn't want to.
For a moment, just a fleeting moment... an intense silence descended on the area. Everyone's eyes reflexively shifted toward the broken dungeon, including mine.
The portal, which had turned orange a second ago, was now an intense red. It seemed to have suddenly expanded several times in size and height. But what was important was what happened at the very moment when everyone was looking at it.
The red and smooth surface of the gate rippled for a moment, and then something slowly stepped out of the ripple into the world.
Almost its entire body was gray. It was a quadrupedal creature with short hind legs and strangely long forelegs that resembled claws. Its jaw was wide, with misshapen, pointed teeth. Its eyes were completely black. It was the size of an adult, with a limb on its back that resembled a tail, with a sharp piece of bone at the end.
For a moment it just remained where it was. With the silence in the atmosphere, it did not move an inch. It was impossible to tell where it was looking because of its jet-black, reflective eyes.
But... then, suddenly, its whole body tensed. As the red surface from which he had emerged rippled again, signaling that others were coming after it, it disappeared. It left behind a roar that seemed to echo across the sky.
I imagined my spear in my bracelet, and while the blue glow was just appearing beside me, while my spear was not fully materialized, I grasped it and, ignoring the warnings of my ring, darted to my right.
The creature was fast, yes, but not so fast that I couldn't see it. So I could see its target, the person closest to it, a girl knocked to the ground by the mana wave back then.
Its claw was about to slice her in half when it was suddenly stopped by the force it felt. I had reached it, I had managed to stop it, even at the last moment.
And not only me, there was another person next to me blocking the same claw. A well-built person with white hair and ocean blue eyes, holding a battle staff that looked like it was made of wood.
And this was not the first time I had seen him. The person who blocked the creature's attack with me was someone who had been on stage with me at the end-of-year ceremony a few days earlier. It was Damian White, who had just finished his third year and was about to start his fourth.
Our eyes met, but neither of us said anything. Instead, our eyes separated, we turned toward the creature we had blocked and attacked at the same time.
Damian White swung his staff at the creature at an angle that I could barely see with my eyes. I twirled my spear in my hand and thrust the tip directly into the creature's skull.
Before the creature could react, the battle staff landed hard on its shoulder. The attack, though quite small, was enough to create a shockwave, literally shattering the creature's shoulder and dislocating it. But before the creature had time to scream, my spear reached its skull and pierced its brain, leaving its mouth open.
The blackness in the creature's eyes flickered for a moment, then slowly turned completely white, as if receding back into its body. But I didn't even have time to watch what was going to happen next.
As I drew back my spear, I glanced at Damian White, who was standing next to me and pointed to the left. He nodded his head in agreement, then turned to the right.
The creatures suddenly burst out of the gate, and at that very moment, they poured down on us and the crowd in a torrent.
"Run! Don't even look back!"
My shout and the presence of the creatures rushing at them caused those who had fallen to their feet to jump up screaming and run backward, not caring about stepping on others.
There were a few people who, like Damian and me, chose to fight rather than run. Julian and Lucia, for example, were among them.
The roar of countless creatures echoed across the area, lunging at the countless targets they saw... and then being blocked.
On the one hand, a huge, icy wall fell on them, literally crushing them all. On another, a flame-covered arrow exploded, raining down on them. In another, Damian White simply swung his staff at them, causing the concrete on the floor to tremble and literally ripple.
I saw three creatures dashing at me, identical to the first, but I didn't care.
I activated Guardian Radiance, a white, pale glow that surrounded my body, providing me with both protection and regeneration, while spreading my mana throughout my body.
I didn't stop there, I used the Wrath of the Vines, and in an instant countless vines came out of the ground where I had stepped, breaking through the concrete and falling on the creatures.
Two of the creatures got caught in the vines, the other one broke free and opened its jaws, trying to tear my shoulder completely off. But what it encountered was not my shoulder, but emptiness.
I ducked, slid underneath the creature, and drove my spear into its belly. I jumped up quickly, pulled my spear forward without pulling it out of the creature, and with the huge gash in its belly, I made it fall to the ground as it was.
I didn't turn around, I lunged at the other creature caught in the vines and thrust my spear into its eye, but the other one threw its tail-like extension from its back at me through the vines.
I felt a sharp pain in my right shoulder but grasped the tail, which seemed to have almost pierced it and resembled a thorn, tightly with my left hand.
The creature's black eyes widened for a moment, but without waiting for it to react, I pulled it toward me as hard as I could.
As the vines held it in place, the creature's tail literally snapped off with my pull. Its cry of agony echoed through the area, but the vines didn't let go, wrapping around it completely and strangling it like a snake.
I tore my eyes away from it, saw another creature running through the crowd and dodging the fighting students, and without thinking I rushed at it.
The creature swung the extension on its back toward the fleeing students. My eyes widened as I followed the extension, which was about to slice through the students in front of me, and I realized I couldn't stop it.
It was not possible. Using my ascension skill was the only way I could save those students. But... I couldn't.
If I used my ability here, among so many students and the academy's cameras, it would expose me for what I really am. So... I gritted my teeth, tensed my spear, charged it with mana, and threw it at the creature with all my might.
My spear flew at the creature with a whistle that seemed to pierce the air itself. The sharp extension of its back was about to slice through most of the fleeing students when my spear nailed the creature to the ground, cracking the concrete with it.
I managed to save the students, but... it wasn't for free.
With my spear well away from me, I suddenly found about four creatures lunging at me.
I clicked my tongue and narrowed my eyes.
I poured even more mana into Guardian Radiance, making me more resilient and regenerating my body faster. Leaving a few seeds for the Wrath of the Vines where I stepped, I leaped into the air, using Platform to create a floor that only I could step on.
I dodged two of the creatures' tails this way, but the other two were prepared and attacked after their unsuccessful counterparts.
I managed to dodge the first tail easily, but I barely noticed that the other one was only a few inches away from my stomach.
I used both hands to try to stop the tail, gritting my teeth as its sharp, jagged tip tore into my hands. I pulled it forcefully toward me and threw myself at it, using another platform I had created.
The creature's feet were knocked off the ground by the force of my pull on its tail. It tried to curl up in the air as I straightened at it, but failed.
I grabbed its arms and used all my strength to rip them from its body. When I stepped on it and pinned it to the ground, I crushed its head with my foot without waiting.
The wound on my right shoulder suddenly ached much more violently, I felt the hot blood seeping through my clothes. One creature tried to pull me toward it by my shoulder, which it clawed and grabbed, while the other two attacked me from the front.
I gritted my teeth even harder, completely ignoring the pain in my right shoulder.
I didn't want to use it, I wanted to keep most of what I had gained in the Neutral as a trump card for myself, but... apparently that was not possible.
As the three creatures surrounded me, intent on leading me to my death... I focused on only two things in my mind. One was a passive skill that had been with me for a long time, the other was a mastery I had not long ago acquired...
Then, despite all the chaos in the area... suddenly everything calmed down. A momentary, deep silence enveloped the place.
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