Chapter 270: Surrounded
A moment ago.
"The targets have exited the military post. They’re now re-entering the Alps ruins. Everyone, stand by."
"Don’t get too close to the targets. They might find you."
"They’re going to the center..."
"Team 1, Team 3. Stand by!"
One person looked at everything on the screen, monitoring everyone’s positions. He reported, "Director, we’re lucky this time. The targets seem to be moving according to the best possible scenario."
"Very good. Is everything ready?"
"Yes, sir. We’ve calculated the amount. The effect should be more than enough to cause a small beast outbreak."
"Exhaust them first. They’re very clever. There’s a reason Auric Elfe and Ellia Stroph Astler were able to escape from us. If not for our system, a lot more would have been captured."
"Understood."
"You’re authorized to make all the decisions on the field. Make sure to bring Auric Elfe to me."
"Yes, sir!" The leader waited for a bit more before saying, "Team 1, Team 2, and Team 3 will attack as soon as they have thinned out the number of beasts. Attack them. As long as you don’t kill Auric Elfe, you’re allowed to do everything else.
"I’ll lead Team 4 once the situation stabilizes and is in need of extraction. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"In that case, let’s begin." The leader took out another communication. "Do it!"
...
Boom!
A massive explosion occurred on the mountain. It was so big that it made the element unstable.
"Are they insane? Are they trying to blow up the Alps and cause elemental turbulence?!"
Lindwurm couldn’t believe what was happening. They actually set up explosives and blew the mountain up.
The elemental turbulence would occur if the foundation of the ruins were destroyed. If it were the mall ruins, as soon as they destroyed the mall, the elemental turbulence would occur, blasting everything in the area.
In the Alps ruins, the foundation of the ruins was none other than the mountains.
The explosion might not be strong enough to destroy all the mountains, but it managed to take down one.
As a result, the mountain crumbled, making the elements unstable.
The explosion made it even worse, as a small elemental turbulence occurred.
The shockwave produced by the bomb fused with the elements in the air.
"!!!" Gloria pushed forward and formed a shield, blocking the shock wave.
"Kh..." Gloria gritted her teeth. This was much more powerful than she had expected. "What’s going on?"
"They’re making this place unstable. That’s just a small turbulence." Auric gritted his teeth.
"Turbulence? You are not talking about the worst-case scenario already, right? This is beyond what we’re planning for. If it’s elemental turbulence, it will destroy everything, including all the nearby ruins." Katarina frowned.
"No. They won’t destroy this place. Instead, this small turbulence is perfect for the beasts!" Auric shook his head.
"What? Wait. Doesn’t that mean..." Gloria gasped.
"They’re not bringing the beasts to us directly. Instead, they intend to create a beast outbreak!" Vera gritted her teeth. "I’m going to curse at my uncle after this."
Auric suddenly noticed his phone vibrating. He hurriedly took out the phone and saw an unknown number. "Hello?"
"Hello. I am Lieven, Shadow Guard 0199. I thought I would arrive on time, but I called you right now because I saw an explosion."
"How far are you?" Auric asked.
"Not very far, but the beasts are moving."
"The destruction of the mountain caused a small elemental turbulence, which caused the beast outbreak."
"I’ll try to speed up, but if there’s a beast outbreak, it might be hard for us to reach you."
"How long do you need?"
"Depending on the severity, twenty to thirty minutes." He originally thought he could regroup with Auric in less than ten minutes.
But the beasts would definitely stand in their way, making it impossible for them to break through quickly.
"Okay. Make sure to prioritize your safety. Coming here recklessly won’t help us after all."
"Understood."
Lieven waved his hand, signaling the group to continue. "Shadow Guards, move out."
*Roar!*
*Roar!*
*Roar!*
The beasts roared all over the place, but all of them could hear the ones moving toward them. Auric shouted, "Get ready. There are a lot of beasts coming, not just from one direction. Eva, Eric, to the right. Ellia Vera, to the front. Katarina and I will support you from behind."
All of them moved in unison, setting up their formation. Lindwurm assessed the entire situation and said, "The movement on the left is a bit weird. The beasts... There might be some people hunting the beasts. Looking at the situation, they might be the enemies who are taking care of the beasts so that they can approach us."
’Monitor them. They might want to exhaust us first. If they’re going to attack, inform me immediately.’
"Got it." Lindwurm couldn’t help but look at Auric’s necklace. He wondered what would happen this time. "Auric, looking at the situation, there might be over three hundred beasts coming from the front. The ones coming from the right are a little lower, but they’re more packed. The ones in front of you are much more scattered. Some might not even reach you."
’Okay, are there more?’
"Of course, but those aren’t for you to worry about yet. It will still take time for them to arrive. Meanwhile, those who are close will arrive in one minute."
’There are already a few beasts coming separately.’ Auric squinted, watching the energy signatures. He shouted, "Seven of them are coming. Vera, Eric, kill them. The rest of you will maintain your positions."
"!!!" Eric and Vera smiled and rushed forward.
Vera could see five beasts.
Fortunately, none of them were strong enough to face her.
So, Vera leaped to one tree and launched herself to the ground, using her speed to take one of them down. Then she used her wind element to bounce off the ground, propelling herself to another beast.
Meanwhile, Eric overpowered one beast with his scythe before tossing a blood javelin to another one.
Both of them skillfully used their abilities to take the beasts down.
"It’s coming! Get back, both of you!" Auric shouted.
Although several beasts still survived, they immediately rushed back. More and more beasts seemed to be coming their way.
"Whoa... This is going to be hard." Gloria narrowed her eyes.
Ellia and Vera looked at each other.
"Kill them all?"
"Kill them all."
"Don’t move too far!" Auric activated his ’Edict,’ sending forth the Piercing Thunder. Its power was amplified, and it even fused with the wind element. The burst of lightning from Piercing Thunder electrocuted several beasts at once, causing them to fall down. Two of them even died immediately.
"Meteor." Katarina launched her Meteor, trying to take down as many beasts as possible in the first engagement.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The explosions took down many beasts, but there were still a lot more coming for them.
Katarina formed her bullets, ready to assist the group.
Gloria raised her barrier and moved forward. "Kill them all!"
She stabbed one beast after another. She didn’t hold back her power as each thrust killed a beast.
At the same time, Eric took advantage of her strong combat prowess to protect himself.
A few seconds later, Eric placed his hand on the ground. "Raging Wave."
The blood suddenly surged up, formed a big wave, and swept the area, killing a lot of beasts.
Some managed to survive and even come to Eric.
However, Gloria managed to reach them in time and kill them. In addition, Katarina released her bullets, killing some beasts and holding back the other beasts.
Eric then formed his scythe again and moved to the front.
On the other hand, Ellia and Vera’s rivalry turned the battlefield into a river of blood.
Ellia’s eyes were bloodshot. She cut one beast after another. There were seven more beasts coming at the same time to overwhelm her with numbers, but Ellia simply jumped up to avoid them. The next thing they realized, all seven beasts had been sliced apart.
Vera covered the distance between beasts in a single leap. Assisted by her wind element, she could bounce in all directions she wanted without losing any time.
Unlike Ellia who could take down ten opponents at once, Vera moved so smoothly and quickly that she could take down one opponent ten times, preventing the enemies from surrounding her.
In other words, it didn’t matter how many beasts were coming at her. She simply treated all fights as one-on-one, not giving the beasts their advantage in numbers.
With both of them rampaging on the battlefield, the front remained solid. Auric just had to pick off beasts that were too far from them.
...
"This is crazy. How are they so strong?"
The people from the organization couldn’t believe what they had witnessed. Auric’s group could actually face so many beasts without any problem.
"How long do we need to wait?"
"We only have ten minutes. The first five minutes will be waiting to tire them out. The other half will be used to seize them and retreat. We can’t stay for too long because the military might have noticed what is happening here and made their move soon."
"It’s been three minutes. Everyone, get ready to move."
All of them took out their weapons, ready to ambush Auric’s group.
No one had stopped swinging their weapons even for a single second as more and more beasts came.
Even Gloria started to have a hard time managing them. "This is too much. I think we should fall back slightly or even retreat outside."
Auric glanced to the left and said, "Just a bit longer. Hold on just a bit longer."
Gloria didn’t say anything further. "Just make sure we don’t retreat too late. You can’t accomplish your objectives if you’re dead."
"I know." Auric nodded with a serious expression.
"Ellia!"
"Vera!"
"That one!"
Ellia and Vera shouted at each other, asking the others to handle a certain beast. But they realized that none of them was actually in the position to stop them.
"Shoot! Here it comes!" Vera warned the team.
A rank 3 beast was rushing toward Auric and Katarina.
"Haaaa!" Katarina activated her power. "Adamantine Transformation."
The energy started to cover her body like another layer of skin. Katarina rushed forward and punched the beast before finishing it with a bullet.
Gloria merely glanced at her. The transformation might be good, but it used too much strength.
But this was actually bait. Auric planned this bait, and it looked like the enemy had taken it.
A fireball flew toward Katarina from the left.
"Katarina!" Gloria shouted, realizing that the enemy was coming.
Auric could see the incoming people, but what shocked him even more was the reaction from the necklace.
"!!!" The necklace suddenly released its power, causing Auric to unleash his unique element.
Wrapped in gray energy, Auric suddenly appeared next to Katarina and swiped the fireball with his hand, deflecting it to the side.
Both his allies and enemies couldn’t help but drop their jaws, seeing Auric’s unique element for the first time.
Only Auric knew it wasn’t his own doing. Instead, it was the magic item that sucked his energy.
Lindwurm muttered in the air. "I have been authorized once again to help you. Activating God Mode."