Chapter 25 | Destroyed Shelter, Time to Move
As blood trickled down from the Sun Beast’s mouth, its gaze shifted downward toward Alicar with a new emotion that none of them had ever seen before: caution.
But then it lifted its two massive claws and swung them at the human before it, aiming to cut him down with a single devastating blow.
"Alicar," Iris shouted, knowing he couldn’t dodge, not from this distance at least, her voice filled with desperate panic.
Alicar didn’t need to though, as he simply raised his hand and activated the second Demonic Arts technique he had acquired: Demon Guard.
The image of the all-powerful demon appeared right in front of Alicar once more, its arms crossed as crimson aura surrounded their arms in a protective barrier.
Slash! Slash!
The Sun Beast struck twice, its claws slamming against the demonic barrier with terrifying force, and though Alicar’s feet slid off the ground from the sheer impact, he wasn’t injured... much.
Alicar spat some blood, realizing that his Demon Guard couldn’t tank the entirety of the blow, but it had absorbed most of the damage.
Still, the fact he could almost fully nullify a legendary-rank monster’s attack was insane by any standards, a feat that would have been impossible just a few... minutes ago.
And what was even more shocking for all those watching, was the fact that as soon as this happened, Alicar rushed at the Sun Beast once more without any hesitation.
He channeled the power of his elements and merged water and lightning together, sending a terrifying attack that crackled with devastating energy.
It hit the Sun Beast’s wing, and though the damage was minimal, the lightning was still enough to stun it for a precious second of vulnerability.
This was all Alicar needed, as he used his Demon Fist to smash the monster’s head again, making it bleed even more than before.
Recovering from their shock, the rest of the group immediately felt like this was their opportunity to finally end this nightmare once and for all.
Iris summoned her biggest fireball yet and launched it at the Sun Beast, who tanked it head on without flinching, while Sera and William pierced through the monster with their weapons.
But finally, as Leon was about to use his new skill as well, the Sun Beast had had enough.
ROOAR!
It released a shockwave as it roared, forcing everyone back with the sheer force of its voice.
Then in a terrifying manner, it twisted its neck in place and looked down directly at Alicar, its piercing gaze cutting through his very being with unnatural intensity.
"You... Are... Nothing... To... Them... Soulless..."
Every word made it seem like the Sun Beast was fighting with every ounce of its being to say them, its voice cracking and straining with effort.
And once it was done, it rushed to consume Susie’s body and flapped its massive wings to fly away from the scene, disappearing into the sky above.
As soon as it was gone, Alicar fell on his knees, his body completely drained of energy.
"Hah... hah..."
Using Demonic Arts was actually incredibly exhausting, Alicar had felt it the very first time he used the skill.
Using it three times in a row consumed every ounce of his energy, and he knew that he wouldn’t have been able to use it a fourth time even if his life depended on it.
"Are you okay?" Iris approached Alicar and helped him get up, her eyes filled with concern. "You used a new ability, which means..."
"...Yeah," Alicar nodded, his voice weak but clear. "With Leon."
Iris looked at the man with a neutral expression, then simply nodded in understanding. "Alright."
Meanwhile, the others had a much more different reaction to what they had just witnessed, their faces filled with shock and admiration.
"Holy hell Alicar, you absolutely demolished that thing," William grinned as he tapped Alicar’s back with a friendly gesture, his enthusiasm infectious. "I mean if not for you, we would all be... y’know."
Sera was the only one that didn’t really speak or react, as she was still injured from the Sun Beast’s attack, her shoulder bleeding heavily.
At this rate, it didn’t seem like she would be able to live through it, especially since they didn’t have anything to properly heal themselves with.
But suddenly, a voice came from the destroyed cave’s entrance, cutting through the heavy silence.
"Is it over?" they all heard a voice, and saw Darian come from there, his face pale with fear. "Damn, that thing attacked us out of nowhere and—"
He didn’t finish his sentence as he saw the sheer state of the place: many destroyed trees, everyone on their knees or exhausted, and one even injured badly.
"—Oh."
Over the next few minutes, Darian, who had done nothing since his class didn’t allow him to fight, helped out the people as best he could.
He even pulled out an F-Rank Healing Potion from out of nowhere, a small vial filled with faintly glowing liquid.
"It’s the one we received at the base around 6 months ago," he sighed, his expression regretful. "But I guess it’s better to use it now than never."
Sera drank the potion, and though her injury didn’t disappear completely, the bleeding stopped and she felt much better than before.
"Only six of us left now," Leon’s expression darkened as he surveyed the remaining group. "And our cave is destroyed, but at least, we’re all level 10."
Since the others had unfortunately died, this meant that the ones remaining: Alicar, Iris, William, Leon, Sera and Darian, were all level 10 now.
There was no way they could get stronger than they did right now even if they wanted to, they had reached the absolute peak of Tier-0.
’Well, except for me,’ Alicar thought with a faint grin, his mind already planning. ’Still got my talent.’
The group was about to head back into the cave to decide what they should be doing next, but Leon didn’t follow them.
"Hold on," he said as he turned toward one of the giant scorched trees that still stood nearby. "I... wanna test something, I felt like I unlocked something new."
Fwoosh!
He rushed toward the tree and activated the Demonic Arts, smashing at it with his Demon Fist with all his might.
BOOM!
The tree that Leon hit instantly shattered into splinters, but not only it, also the trees behind it from the shockwave, their trunks exploding apart.
"Holy hell Leon," Darian gasped, his eyes wide with disbelief. "How the fuck is that possible?!"
"It’s the same skill that Alicar used..." Sera mumbled, her voice filled with confusion.
Leon didn’t say anything about Alicar or the fact that he could grant classes to others, instead he simply shrugged and played it off.
There was no way to really explain that, so the group simply remained silent, with Darian, William and Sera wondering how such a thing was possible.
"Our cave’s been almost completely destroyed," Darian sighed as they entered the rubble of their former shelter.
"It’s fine," Leon cut off as he arrived in front of the group, determination blazing in his gaze. "Because I think we need to actually move."
"Move to another spot?" Sera asked, curious.
"No," Leon shook his head, then pointed toward the mountain in the distance, its peak shrouded in darkness. "We’re getting out of here. I think we have all we need to try."
...
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