An echoing command resonated within the south gate as tension rose around the adventurer and knight who would face the march. Ryan, and Roland, who acted as vanguard, rushed toward the horde of monsters.
A towering silver shield acted as a walking fortress that crushed every monster that stood in its path. Ryan brandished his swordplay and silver blade, which gleamed ferociously, along with the scattering fountain of blood that stained the grass plain.
The other adventure, which was at its peak when it saw two legendary people in action, rushed forward and began clashing head-on with the monster horde.
Iris and the other rangers keep their eyes busy observing the battlefield in case there is a stray that could escape the onslaught and prepare their arrows just in case. The same is true for mage groups.
It was chaotic. A howl of the desperate beast and the cry of laughter from men crashed, creating an eerie situation, whispering from deep within their guts that it was still far from over.
'The monster managed to breach through?!'. Iris took her arrows and pulled on the strings as the others began to follow, seeing the situation below.
With synchronized breath, the archers released the arrows that cut through the wind and pierced the goblins and wolves that were nearing the knights' blockage.
"Mage, show our might!". Marina again prepares her fireball spells.
Following the clear and imposing tone from Marina, a brilliant sphere from multiple colors sprouted from each of the mage staff, and it flew in a parabola line before crashing to the ground.
"Above!".
A warning shout echoed within the chaotic battlefield, attracting many gazes to the sky. A blazing dark canvas spread all the way endlessly, its ethereal figure was stained by black dots that were nearing the town, forming black clouds that brought destruction.
"Flying monster?!".
Iris's body moved unconsciously as the others took their arrows and prepared to shoot them once the flying monster reached the arrow range.
"Mage!". Marina led the mage cors and began to prepare the spells.
Ryan and Roland, who were busy eliminating the monster below, looked up and saw a flying monster, the worst nightmare, begin to approach the town. Several beasts also mixed within, but all of them were moving in the same feeling, restless by something.
"Ryan, did you notice it?".
"Yeah, these monsters were afraid of something?!".
As they had thought, the horde of monsters had no clear command, and they just banded together to flee from something—something that could frighten all these beasts and monsters now hidden within that green scenery.
A moment later, the atmosphere shook as heavy pressure began to undulate around the battlefield. Ryan and Roland also all living thighs that stood near it, trembling in fright.
Its massive body was clad in white fur, surrounded by a green and reddish aura. Four limbs were stained with crimson veins, crackling a whisper of death whichever it stepped foot on. The elongated mouth and jagged teeth were smeared with crimson tangy blood, putting him at the top of the monster rank.
*Awooo! The wolf howled to the sky, it shook all the living things that were around the plains.
"What is that?!".
Iris knitted her brows, seeing the unnatural phenomenon that cloaked the wolf's body. As far as her knowledge had in mind, she had never encountered nor read something about a monster of such caliber, let alone a Wolf variant.
The monster's characteristics resembled those of a Tempest Wolf, a Terror-rank monster that could threaten a single town. However, the monster before her not only possessed wind elemental attributes but also had power that could rival that of a Mithril-rank adventurer, like a lesser dragon.
"Ukh!".
Her head suddenly throbbed once she smelled the pungent scent that began to flutter above the air. Iris looked up and saw the world dimmed by the miasma that leaked from the wolf's body.
'This feeling?!'. Iris gasped as her eye flashed and turned into gold.
The dark, shimmering malice coating all the miasma around them reminded her of a certain event in the past when she lost someone important to her. Her emerald pupils flashed for a moment as she saw the world return to its normal color.
'Those bastard! Oh spirit, heed my call…'. Rage began to flood her mind as she recited a summoning ritual to call one of the great spirits that govern the wind.
The flow of the atmosphere changed as it began to gather at a certain figure. All the wind swirling, it formed a massive vortex that pushed away the other archers around her. Iris knows that using this method would likely reveal her true identity, but she must do something to ease the rage that is boiling inside her.
"...Great Spirit of Wind, I seek your help to…".
{"XXXX XXXXX!"}
("Go East!")
Suddenly, a familiar language that was used to be taught to her race echoed inside her mind. Its soft whisper soothed the rage that was boiling inside her. A tiny figure of a green butterfly appeared in her field of vision as it flew toward the east forest.
Iris looked around and saw the swirling wind, and the area around her began to calm down. '...I see'. It seemed no one had realized just what had transpired earlier.
"What was that for!".
"That was dangerous!".
"Be careful, woman; there are still many of us up here!".
Many protests were thrown at her, but the woman mentioned looked straight ahead and accidently met her gaze with the wolf; it smirked. 'That monster…?!'.
*Awooo!
Above them, black clouds began to gather in one place, forming a swirling pool that sucked the air into the surrounding area. A massive pillar of tornado began to form, and it spread its claws, sucking and tearing everything that entered its cyclone.
Hidden beneath the rampaging nature, black shadows jumped off toward the east, lurking under the sight of every adventurer who was captivated by the tempest and beasts roaming around. Iris, who caught the situation, quickly jumped from the wall.
Many onlookers were shocked to see her action, but upon seeing the woman easily glide through the chaotic wind flow and find her way to chase the figure of the running wolf, everyone began to understand her intention.
"What are you guys doing? All of you focus on the battle ahead of you!".
A bright orange magic circle hovering above the town wall, as Marina prepares another big spell to annihilate the typhoon. Marina shot her glare toward the side, and seeing Iris pursuing the wolf, she snorted. '...Hmph, you better come back alive!'.
As the horizon begins to slowly close up the curtain of the day, the battle in the south gate within the border of the Dark Forest has just been started by the appearance of the small sun.
*****
On the other side, as Jin follows the black trace that the robed person leaves, he arrives at a branch that forces him to choose between breaching the rule by leaping from the tall wall and using his authority as the lord's son or asking the guard to open the closed east gate.
'Tch, no choice then!'. Jin tensed all the muscles around his body and focused on gathering the mana in his surroundings.
After reaching transcendental control in mana manipulation, Jin could now manipulate not only the mana in his body but also the mana in the atmosphere. At first, he was a bit skeptical about the two, but when he tried it, there were massive differences between them.
Mana inside someone's body was a refined mana that could be used by living things to cast a spell and strengthen one's own constitution. The byproduct of that was a more tamed magic or even enhancement that could enhance a physique at about six times at best.
Then, what will happen if someone uses unrefined raw mana that flows in the atmosphere to strengthen their physique or cast a spell? The result was catastrophic. With mana in the atmosphere, a simple strengthening magic can cause the person's body to burst apart, tearing all the veins and flesh and even crushing the bones to bits.
This method must not be used unless the person's constitution has a special talent that could hold the strengthening process up to more than ten times. Or, like in Jin's case, who already trained for a tremendous amount of time within the sanctuary, his body started to mutate the moment he was returned to the outside world.
Although Jin was unaware of all this, he still risked himself by using the method and using his Elemental enhancement to strengthen his physique.
[Elemental Enhancement activated]
[Elemental Enhancement (Derivative Skill): Fusion between the Elemental energy and Physical enhancement that will reinforce the skill performance further depends on the elemental aptitude of the user. Effect: Wind Attribute = Speed, Agility, Stamina]
Jin's body glowed green for a brief moment before power surged throughout his body, especially his two feet. His vision stretched out, and time moved more slowly than usual.
He put more strength in his feet before kicking the ground and launching himself up like a missile. Jin managed to bypass the wall and saw the carpet grass stretching all the way to the end of the horizon.
'There they are!'. Before the robbed man entered the east forest, Jin caught a glimpse of his figure as he pulled down.
"Airwalk".
From below his feet, a green magic circle appeared. When Jin kicked the circle, his body shot forward. He landed on the land and continued the momentum by running so fast, cutting through the wind.
"I will not let you go away!".