Jin's glaive hummed in response to his mana. He adjusted his stance as he held his s.h.i.+eld on the other hand. He silently wished that Sebastian and Aima had crafted another magick weapon for him in the form of a s.h.i.+eld. Though the mana expenditure would increase, the rea.s.surance it gave would have been worth it. He let a sigh out and shook his head. Now was not the time to dwell on the past. He stood with fellow guards behind a makes.h.i.+ft barricade.

"You're here Jin. Hold the line as if your line depends on it. It might actually be the case." Elias walked towards him while holding a greatsword. It exuded a slightly greenish hue and was humming as well.

"You also have a magick weapon Elias? I never saw it before." Jin couldn't hide his surprise.

"That's because I recently acquired it. It's from Leo's cache. He gave some of his magick weapons to me and Rivie. The others were given to some of the promising guards. 'There's no point h.o.a.rding them when Wildecross is about to fall', he said."

"That's rea.s.suring. Do we have a plan to repel these beasts?"

Elias shook his head, causing his flowing mane to shake back and forth as well. "Unfortunately our backs are pressed against the wall at this point. We need to survive this onslaught and regroup. Leo's currently scouting nearby for a safe area where the survivors can hole up. Rivie's managing the healers and the survivors. That leaves the defense to you and me."

BAM! BAM!

Shadows broke free from the surrounding rubble and appeared in front of the barricade in a flash. The mutated beasts swung their limbs with such ferocity that the ground shook. Each time they hit the makes.h.i.+ft wall, cracks appeared to threaten the guards within.

"GET READY!" Elias shouted with fierceness. The rest of the guards didn't respond, but they held their weapons closer and swallowed their saliva.

BLAM! BOOOOMM!

The barricade finally gave way to reveal a dozen mutated beasts in front of the guards. They were the only thing left standing in between the mutated beasts and the monastery housing the survivors.

"GRWAAAA!!"

Elias let out another deafening roar as he leapt into the mutated beasts. With each swing of his greatsword, the mutated beasts were cut apart. When they tried to use their limbs to defend, it was cut without resistance whatsoever. A hissing sound could be heard when his magick weapon came in contact with the beasts.

Jin also ran to cover Elias' back. While dodging the beasts' attacks coming from all sides, he couldn't help but be surprised. 'Just how far did he have to jump? He's deliberately surrounded at all sides!'

Finally reaching beside Elias, he finally started using his skills. "[Oakskin]! [Spear Slash]!"

With his physical reinforcement and his offensive skill, he became a whirlwind of death. b.l.o.o.d.y limbs flew in all directions each time he swung his glaive.

Peering over his shoulder, Elias saw the carnage Jin was currently unleas.h.i.+ng.

"Good job Jin! We'll draw their attention while the other guards attack them from the outskirts!"

After felling their fourth mutated beast, fatigue began to take its toll.

"[Oakskin]!" Jin constantly used his only defensive spell in the hopes of covering his gaps. Each swing became harder than the last and he was only running on adrenaline alone.

Although he didn't show it, Elias' exhaustion levels were also increasing. Instead of slas.h.i.+ng the beasts in half, he was only able to severe a few limbs at best with their exchanges.

"My magick weapon can poison them! Don't worry about killing them off. Weaken them for the others to deal the final blow!" Elias gave a desperate command to Jin.

The mutated beasts were indeed getting sluggish and struggled after their exchanges. With the loss of limbs and with the magick poison ravaging through their bodies, the rest of the guards were able to pick them off easily. However, it was not without any casualties. Each swing of the mutated beast's limbs left dead bodies in its wake. Those without magick weapons or abilities to defend themselves were easily obliterated as if they were mere fodder.

An adventurer who was with the defence force looked at the remaining mutated beasts. "There's only two of them left. We can do this!"

The rest of the guards straightened their backs with their newfound confidence. With their numbers, they only needed a final push to defeat them.

The adventurer picked up his weapon and started running towards the two beasts. "HUWAAA!!!"

Seeing someone lead the charge, the other guards ran to the beasts behind him.

"No! Stay back and defend the lines! Don't charge!" Elias saw their misguided confidence and tried to allay them.

Seeing the defensive line charge towards it, the mutated beasts suddenly perked up. As if on cue, both started to run towards the guards in a straight line, one after the other.

Before the two sides reached each other, the mutated beast in the front suddenly stopped. It started glowing and humming loudly.

BOOOOOOMMMM!!

A deafening explosion overturned the ground and the sky. Even Elias and Jin who were standing quite far fell on their knees. As the smoke cloud was starting to settle, a huge figure broke through the cloud.

"The second one!" Jin found himself shouting towards the guards or what remained of it.

Elias was already on his feet and started running towards it. However, even with his beast-like prowess, he was still limited by his exhaustion. He wouldn't make it in time to stop the mutated beast from breaching the monastery. In his mind the second beast had already detonated itself inside the monastery, fueling his rage.

A few steps outside the monastery, a lone figure cleared the smoke with her staff.

"[Gust]!"

This allowed the smoke to clear at a faster rate, allowing her to see the mutated beast who was now airborne.

"[Ice Lance]! [Ice Lance]! [Lightning Strike]!"

The red-headed female dwarf cast her spells one after the other. Even though the mutated beast was stationary mid-flight, she didn't want to take any risks. With its distance, even if it were to detonate now, it would still cause damage to the monastery which was behind her.

The beast used its remaining limbs to deflect the spells aimed at it. Before the lightning strike finished it off, it started to glow and hum as the previous one.

"[Ice L"

BOOOMM!!!

The weakened mutated beast exploded mid-air in front of the monastery and Aima.

Screams could be heard as half of the monastery was blown away and started crumbling onto itself.

"Nooo!!" Jin found his legs once more and started running towards the explosion.

Elias was the first to reach the monastery. Running into the ruined building, he immediately started carrying the survivors and evacuated them outside. To his relief, Rivie was standing outside the monastery with the survivors.

"Elias! We managed to get some of the survivors out before the explosion. I can't find Aima!" Panic riddled the usually calm and prudent monastery teacher. She was still overlooking the healers around her, but she kept her eyes towards the source of the explosion.

Elias nodded at her remark. "Focus on evacuating! Try to contact Leo for any updates. I'll look for any survivors from the explosion."

"Got it. [Exalted Heal]." Before seeing Elias off, Rivie cast a spell to heal his wounds and replenish his stamina.

Using his beast-like senses, Elias quickly found what he was looking for. As he was approaching the place, Jin finally arrived near the monastery. "Elias! Where's Aima?"

Elias quickly shook his head. "I'm looking for her. Tend to your parents."

With a nod, Jin continued to run towards the monastery, leaving Elias in the ma.s.sive crater from the explosion.

Elias kneeled down and plucked some debris off an adventurer's body. After checking her condition, he solemnly let out a sigh.

"Thank you for your sacrifice. I hope you'll find your parents wherever you are right now. Be happy."

Elias removed her adventurer's tag and started the difficult process of finding other survivors while taking the adventurer tags from the unfortunate ones.

***

"So you mean Aima's dead?" Sebastian looked at Jin with a shocked expression.

"Elias found her body. Her adventurer's tag is among the rest. Once this is finished let's give everyone a proper send-off." Jin choked on his words as the tears muddled his eyes.

"Sit down Jin. Process your grief. Let it out." Sebastian motioned for Zes to get a cup of water for him.

He always found that a gla.s.s of water helped someone who was crying. It wasn't because of the dehydration, but Sebastian used it to regulate their breathing and prevent hyperventilation. A trick he learned during his nursing days. He looked around himself at the moment. 'I'm back to the warzone. I went to Savannah to escape from it, and even now I'm in a different world. Is it my fate even no matter where I am I wonder.'

He looked at Jin who was still sobbing but was trying to drink the water. After his breathing slowed down, Sebastian continued his questions.

"How about your parents?" He was being cautious since he didn't want to stir him up more than needed.

"They're both alive thankfully. Dad pulled mom out of the building before the explosion. They're helping Rivie out at the moment. Did you know they were bakers?" Jin smiled to himself as he pictured his parents happily tending an oven day in and day out during peaceful times.

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"That's good to hear. They'll be able to use their skills then." Sebastian felt relieved that Jin was slowly coming to terms. He knew that people under physical and mental trauma would break easily. Sometimes without any triggers at all.

"We'll leave you to help Rivie and your parents then. We'll head out to help Elias and the others sort out the battlefield."

Without a word, Jin nodded and went back to the group behind them.

"Sebastian. What about Mel? Should we look for her adventurer tag as well? Or should we ask around? Perhaps other people saw her." Zes quietly asked Sebastian when they were alone and out of Jin's earshot.

He stopped and took a few deep breaths before facing Zes.

"I understand your concern. Also, I really want to look for her right now. However, we last saw her on the city wall. It's extremely dangerous to head there ourselves. We can ask around, but don't let Jin know. I don't think he can handle anymore at this point."

Sebastian spotted Elias in front of them.

"Sebastian. Good to see you're alive. We need all the help we can get. Are you here to look for survivors? You can augment your senses if I recall correctly." Elias found Sebastian and immediately issued orders for him. He wasn't keen on pleasantries during this time.

"We can do that. This is Zes, you might have met her in the monastery when she trained. We can help look for survivors. Have you heard anything about Aima?"

"No. I haven't heard anything from her. When the cla.s.s S quest was issued, she would have mobilised along with the other adventurers in the city. I last saw her in the city gates." Elias' expression turned dark when he understood what they were saying.

"We don't want to give up on her, but we don't plan on going there any time soon. When things quiet down we might plan an excursion later, but that's it." Sebastian felt a stifling pain in his chest as his bottled-up emotions started to rise up. Zes also looked away as she realised what Sebastian was indirectly saying to her.

"You can ask Leo when he comes back. His owl form is really useful at this time. He's acting as our scout. Today he was looking for shelter outside the city when the mutated beasts launched a surprise attack and overran the city gates. I heard the attack happened early morning so it won't be too long since then. He should be back this afternoon."

Sebastian looked up at the mid-day sun and realised that the entire a.s.sault started from early morning. It only took the mutated beasts half a day before it managed to ravage the city's defences into nothing.

Within the clear blue skies, a figure of a lone owl could be seen approaching the ruined city.