Chapter 330: Race for Survival (2)
Matilda had been going as fast as she could.
As a Supernal of Athena, she was one of the fastest if not the fastest within the group, and she was also the one on the lead. But even then, from the speed of the incoming Grey Orcs—there was little to no chance that she would be able to get through in time.
But it didn’t mean they should stop.
Just after Kai informed them about his intentions for the future and gave them a choice to not follow him, the group also confessed about the method of pleasing each of their Patron God— as they would need to rush in growing stronger.
Bryan and Dorian were straightforward.
One needed to headbutt something harder, the harder the better.
It would be better to headbutt stronger enemies, but inanimate things would also do.
For Dorian, he would need to drink more blood of strong males.
Considering the Lair of the Small was filled with giants that are mostly males, that was not a problem for him either, which was the reason how he got his hand on a new Legacy Imprint. His strongest Legacy Imprint, to be exact.
Bree would please her Patron God the more help she provided to the one she was tethered to.
Of course, she was tethered to Kai.
She was the one who grew stronger the most right below Kai because of that.
Matilda, on the other hand, pleased Athena by battling and contributing to the battles. It was precisely why Kai had given her the full authority to be the one who would strategize, before making an attack.
And through that, she also obtained a new Legacy Imprint.
One that would certainly help them in this situation.
She ditched her golden sword.
It dissolved mid-stride, crumbling into motes of golden mana that scattered softly behind her like flecks of sunlight. She should’ve let it go soon, but her focus had been so fixed on the two hordes that she’d forgotten the weight in her hand.
But it didn’t matter now.
Now that her hand was free, she reached for the sky.
Swish—!
Her fingers spread toward the vast sky as if grasping for the attention of Olympus, a divinely realm where the Gods were living in and watching them from above. She reached for Athena’s light, reached for her protection.
Athena’s power flowed through her blood, so her desire should reach the Goddess.
"Bearer of Epiphany Fragment!"
She activated her new Legacy Imprint.
Mana gathered in her outstretched hand, condensing into orbs of pure gold that swirled and pulsed like miniature suns. Matilda clenched her fist—and the orbs collapsed inward with the sound of a rolling thunder.
And then, it formed a long stick.
No—a standard. A flag.
A divine flag with golden edges and a pale gold inner side, and at its center, an emblem shaped like an owl was branded—Athena’s sacred animal. It fluttered as the sandstorm blew against it, and the owl emblem seemed to be alive, watching the warriors around it and their problem.
Once the flag materialized, golden radiance erupted from its fabric.
It spread outward in a dome—fifty yards in radius, a hemisphere of light that swallowed the group in its embrace. Dorian felt it first. His body surged with strength, and his earlier fatigue bled away like water down the drain.
Bryan’s muscles tightened, and his senses sharpened.
Right now, he felt like he could run forever.
Abigail, still weak from draining her mana, felt her body responding again. Her mana wasn’t being replenished—but at least she could move her body again without a problem. No longer felt any weakness from mana exhaustion.
All of them grew stronger, faster, and more resilient within the dome’s effective radius.
Matilda glanced over her shoulder.
"We’re going to fight our way through!" She shouted. "Stay close!"
Hearing this, the others obeyed without question.
During a situation like this, Matilda would remain in charge unless Kai said otherwise.
He had given her full authority in battle, and the others trusted her completely. Matilda faced forward and her eyes locked onto the Grey Orcs that barred their path. By now, the Grey Orcs were already forming a wall formation.
Only a dozen of them arrived, but their number was gradually increasing.
Matilda hooked the shield to her waistband, not needing it in this situation—and summoned her golden sword again. The blade materialized in her other hand, and then, with a roar, she exploded forward.
Boom—!
Her golden sword moved with blinding speed.
In the initial impact, she cut down three Grey Orcs almost simultaneously—without breaking her sprint even a little. Their focus right now wasn’t to fight the hordes head-on, but to pierce through them before the main bodies arrived.
At that point, there would be thousands of Grey Orcs.
Something that they couldn’t handle.
So, they need to get to safety before that happened.
Behind, Dorian was also dodging and clawing the Grey Orcs that tried to reach for him.
The burly hands—and blunt weapons that were reaching for him were many, but not enough to catch him as he moved past them, making sure to remained on Matilda’s tail. Staying within the golden dome was paramount.
And behind, Bryan charged without stopping.
Piercing through a crowd is his specialty, so he shone the most in this situation.
Abigail went from being over his shoulder to dangling from his back with her arms wrapping around his neck, while Bryan elongated his horns and tilted his head down. Most of the Grey Orcs in the way already missed an attack on Dorian, so they were not ready to be rammed by Bryan tailing right behind.
From above, the group could be seen cutting through the Grey Orcs quickly.
Like a group of sharks carving a path through a school of fishes.
Not as quick as they were earlier—but quick enough despite the hulking bodies that got into their way. But there were more Grey Orcs closing in ahead on their path towards the border, a lot more.
Meanwhile, one to two miles away.
About twenty Guard Angels were split into four groups—guarding a crescent-shaped border that was marked by a translucent blue barrier. Behind them was the portal leading back to the outside world.
Since there were few visits to this White Sky Gate, they were more relaxed.
Some were sitting down and playing an offline game on their phones, and some were sleeping.
Just then, one noticed a massive cloud of dust in the distance.
He initially thought that it was a massive cloud made by the sandstorm, but he realized that it wasn’t when the ground underneath his boots was shaking. Concerned—he flew up using his winged boots to get a better view.
And almost instantly, he realized that it was made by hordes of Grey Orcs coming their way.
From the golden flicker within the cloud, it seemed there was a group at the center of it.
FWEET—!
A high-pitched shrill cut across the area as the Guard Angel blew his whistle. It was the signal that a situation had developed. He landed back down hard and shouted, "Get in position! A massive horde is heading this way, and a Red Prince’s group is trying to outrun them!"
"What?! Out of nowhere?!"
"How big is the horde, exactly?"
"Four or maybe five thousand strong."
"Five thousand?! That’s the size of two tribes! We can’t possibly hold them back!"
"Call for the Protector. Now!"
Each domesticated Sky Gate would have its own Protector, an expert who knew every single thing about the specific Sky Gate they were assigned to. Most of them are strong, but there are some who became a Protector simply because of their knowledge over the Sky Gate.
For the Barbarian Hold, the protector is a seasoned Grade-2 Aspirant Supernal called Max.
Against so many Grey Orcs, twenty Guard Angels would make no significant difference.
Of course, the translucent barrier was strong enough to hold even this many Grey Orcs. It was designed to be impenetrable to avoid any future accidents. But that wasn’t the problem, aiding the Red Prince’s group was the real problem.
If those people died deep in the Barbarian Hold, the fault would be theirs alone.
However, if they died close to the border, the blame would be shared to all.
Any casualty that happened near the border would result in the Guard Angels being executed.
It was the duty of the Guard Angels to help a Red Prince and his group in times of emergency, even at the cost of their own lives. A Red Prince stood above all others in the social order, only outranked by the Deans and the Chancellor.
Naturally, there would be severe consequences if anything were to happen to the Red Prince.
One of the Guard Angels ran out of the portal to find Max.
On the other hand, another one nearest to the translucent barrier pointed ahead.
"Look!" He shouted, seizing the others’ attention. "I think they could outrun it!"
Even through the haze, the Guard Angels could see that the group was near breaking through.
All of them could see the golden light was peeking through the bodies of Grey Orcs.
Just a little bit more.
"By the Gods... For a group of freshman students, they are outrageously strong."
"Almost everyone in that group is already an Aspirant Supernal. I think they could do this."
"No... Soon, the Chieftains and their elites would arrive. We need to find Max quicker."
Meanwhile, the situation wasn’t getting any better for the Ambrosia Pact.
Matilda panted heavily, her chest heaved and sweat dripped from her brow—and stung her eyes. Her golden gaze snapped left, then right, tracking every single Grey Orc and their blunt weapons coming her way.
She ducked under a swinging axe, spun to avoid a thrusting spear, and blocked the third that would have struck Dorian who was right behind her if she avoided it. Her body was burning all over by now.
But she kept moving.
Over her shoulders, the others were fading.
Everyone was getting more exhausted by the second, and they inevitably slowed down.
Even with the golden dome feeding them strength, they were reaching their limits.
Just earlier, they were slaughtering a tribe of Grey Orcs, and before they could rest, they were forced to sprint back to safety. It wasn’t a surprise that they were starting to slow down. Even Matilda was the same.
Her mana was also draining rapidly to maintain the Bearer of Epiphany Fragment.
If she dropped it, they would all falter.
If she kept it, she would collapse.
As if the situation wasn’t bad enough—she sensed two powerful auras approaching fast from opposite directions, closing in with the speed of predators who had caught the scent of blood from wounded prey.
She knew that these auras belonged to the Chieftains.
’What can we do...?’
Matilda gritted her teeth, racking her mind for any way to survive.
Just then, Dorian’s frantic voice seeped into her ears.
"Matilda!"