Chapter 271: Reinforcements
"God Mode is now activated!"
Auric’s vision widened as though he was staring at the world from an omniscient point of view.
"!!!" Everyone widened their eyes in shock.
’His unique element? Now that I think about it, he always claims he has a unique element.’ Gloria glanced back.
Vera was stunned. ’So, he can even swat away a magical attack?’
’What kind of power does he possess? Am I still underestimating him?’ Katarina was stunned.
The enemies also saw his unique element. They said, "Don’t be afraid. We already know that he is a unique element user. He’s only rank 2, so he won’t make much of a difference!"
There were a total of 18 people coming toward them. At the same time, they were also being attacked by the beasts.
Eric couldn’t help but squint, thinking, ’This feels oddly familiar. A unique element appearing out of nowhere, surrounded by beasts and targeted by assassins...’
Still, the one who managed to react to Auric’s power was Ellia. She had smoothly positioned herself near Vera as if she were ready to teleport.
Gloria shouted, "There are too many of them. It’s time to run!"
"Don’t let them run!" The enemy spread out.
Repeating what happened in the past, Auric raised his voice, saying in an authoritative tone. "Stay!"
"!!!" Gloria was startled, while Eric and Ellia confirmed what happened to Auric.
"They’re coming!" Katarina warned Auric.
"Katarina, three trees in that direction. Blast them!" Auric pointed toward one tree.
Katarina didn’t know what was going on, but Auric looked at her as if he was asking her to trust him.
Having no choice, Katarina formed her bullets and blasted the three trees he wanted.
The trees snapped and fell, but all of a sudden, five people emerged from behind those trees.
’What? There are people behind them?’ Katarina widened her eyes in shock. Auric had shown this ability from the beginning, but what shocked her were bolts of lightning that followed right after.
All of them hit their respective targets.
"Khhh!" Three of them got electrocuted and fell to the ground, the other two managed to block the attacks.
Katarina was confident in her elemental manipulation, but what Auric did wasn’t elemental manipulation. They didn’t even have any change of trajectory.
In other words, Auric pinpointed his attacks at a spot where they would pass, and he did it before her bullets even hit the trees.
’This... How did he predict their movements? This is like... seeing the future.’ Katarina sucked in a cold breath.
The enemies were also stunned.
"How did..."
"He’s weird!"
"It doesn’t matter. We have the advantage in numbers."
"Capture Auric Elfe, kill the rest!"
The enemies emerged from their hiding spots, charging toward them.
"Eric, Eva. Break through." Auric pointed to the back, implying for them to open a path in that direction.
Gloria thought it was too late, but Eric’s eyes were filled with bloodlust as he formed two swords. "Haaaa!"
The beasts pounced on him, but Eric cut them, avoided their momentum, and cut them again.
Some beasts managed to hit him, but Eric showed no sign of pain. He simply ignored the damage to his body so that he could cut down even more beasts. "What are you doing, Eva? GO!"
Gloria’s body shook. She didn’t expect Eric to actually be so fearless and trusting. But what they really needed was the power to break through.
"Haaa..." She put the shield on her back and gripped her spear with both hands. "I understand."
She lowered her center of gravity before charging forward.
*Roar!*
*Roar!*
*Roar!*
The beasts tried to stop her, but Gloria stepped firmly on the ground and thrust her spear. The spear pierced the beast’s head, blasting it open while using minimal energy. As a result, the remaining energy flew off the spear using the spear’s momentum.
The light energy turned into beams and killed two more beasts behind them. Gloria’s real power came from her speed.
Since the shield was big, the air resistance slowed her down. Now that she didn’t have to worry about keeping the shield in front of her, she could finally break through the wind resistance with her spear and increase her speed drastically.
As she had promised, now that the situation had reached this point, she would hold nothing back.
Once she had killed the first few beasts, she suddenly disappeared. She simply moved so fast that the beasts didn’t even realize she was already in front of them.
Gloria stabbed a few of them, killing even more beasts.
Sidewinder.
Gloria thrust her spear, producing a beam of light that acted like a whip and slashed everything in its path.
Katarina couldn’t help but glance at her. ’Major Gloria Schaff... That’s right. In her country, her fighting style has earned her a nickname. Golden Flash.’
The moment she stopped holding back, she easily killed three times as many beasts as Eric.
With the path opening, Auric and Katarina immediately retreated to gain even more distance from the enemies.
Katarina had used her bullets to slow them down at first, but they would soon catch up.
The three rank 4 humans on the opponent’s side had used their transformation, leading the charge.
Auric monitored everything, including Ellia’s and Vera’s movements.
That was why Auric suddenly shouted, "Ellia, Vera. Back!"
"!!!" Vera was confused since she wasn’t used to this kind of order, but Ellia simply grabbed her shoulder and used her Void Step, bringing Vera into the space between Auric and the enemies.
Vera hurriedly raised her swords, looking at the incoming enemies. To her surprise, everything had been calculated.
Right before the enemies could reach Auric’s group, the beasts that Vera and Ellia had been holding back this whole time suddenly hit them.
"What?"
"Stop the beasts!"
They were startled, not expecting the beasts to suddenly appear.
"Team 1, switch positions. Stop the beasts. Let Team 2 and Team 3 reach the target!" The rank 4 human who led the first team ordered aloud.
They recovered quickly, but with this, one team had been restricted.
Auric made one more surprising move. "Eva, side!"
Gloria raised her eyebrows and glanced to the side. Just like them, they had opened the path, but the beasts could still come from the side.
’This is weird. I can clear a path better than Eric. If Auric just wants to stop the beasts from hitting our group, he should ask Eric, not me. I can open the path while Eric protects the group. This order... it feels like Auric doesn’t want to break through at all.’
Gloria didn’t know what Auric had in mind, but it was true that Auric cleverly restrained one enemy group. So, she tried to believe him this time. If they were about to capture Auric, she would break free and protect Auric, even if it meant letting the others die.
From her perspective, these people were talents from Esfrata, not from her country. Losing these talented people would make her country happy since there would be less competition.
Besides, her mission target was Auric, not them.
So Gloria moved to the side, protecting the group from the beasts.
"Katarina, stop right! Vera, Ellia, go to the left!" Auric gave the next order.
Since she wasn’t used to this kind of order, Vera followed Ellia instead.
Katarina, on the other hand, created a massive metal wall.
"It’s useless!" The rank 4 human leaped into the air and punched the wall, planning to smash through it.
*Bang!*
The punch was strong enough to bend the metal wall, but Katarina actually held on. She managed to stop the punch.
With the wall remaining intact, this group had to wait for the other group to pass by them or break through the beasts on the other side. In other words, they were stuck.
"Do you think your clever trick can save you?!" The third rank 4 human raised his big hammer and smashed Ellia.
Ellia swung her blade upward.
Second Cataclysm.
It was a strong sword strike, but the rank 4 human had used his transformation. The lightning energy from the hammer crushed her power, similar to what happened with the ape.
Surprisingly, Vera came from the side and unleashed her wind element as she struck the hammer. The wind element dispersed the lightning, giving them a better chance of withstanding the hammer.
"Do you think it’s that easy to stop me?!" The rank 4 human shouted as he unleashed everything he had. Ellia and Vera fell to their knees, and the ground underneath them started to crack.
However, the combination of their powers managed to neutralize the enemy’s power, ultimately blocking the attack.
"I praise you for stopping me, but now, you’re going to die." The rank 4 human snorted.
They had indeed managed to stop him, but his strength was far beyond them. It took them everything to just stop him.
They wouldn’t have enough energy to stop his subordinates who were about to circle around him. As long as he kept the two girls pinned to the ground, his subordinates could easily kill them.
"Tsk." Katarina tried to stop him, but Auric suddenly raised his hand, stopping her.
"What?" Katarina was startled. She saw Auric using his Edict, gathering as much energy as possible in that one attack.
At first, she thought Auric intended to use this Edict to launch a counterattack so that Vera and Ellia wouldn’t die. Yet, Auric didn’t release his power, no matter how long he waited.
’What is he trying to do? Isn’t he worried about Vera and Ellia? I know he wants to trust them, but he should know when to help.’ Katarina panicked. She simply couldn’t comprehend Auric’s action this time.
"Hahaha. Die!" The rank 4 human laughed as he saw his subordinates passing him in the corner of his eyes.
Vera gritted her teeth, wondering when the support was coming. Ellia, on the other hand, remained serious as though she didn’t doubt Auric’s decision in this situation. She believed Auric would never let them die.
To the rank 4 human’s surprise, he suddenly saw a blade coming from the right. This blade cut the head of his subordinate who was coming from the right. But it didn’t stop there. The blade also cut the arm that held the hammer.
’What? Since when? I couldn’t sense their presence...’ The rank 4 human was stunned. Before he knew it, there was another human on the side. But the attack didn’t stop there.
"Gah!" He suddenly spat a mouthful of blood as a blade pierced his heart from behind.
Vera was stunned, but Ellia took this chance to knock the hammer away. "Vera!"
"Oohhh!" Vera snapped and hurriedly slashed the rank 4 human’s neck, sending his head flying.
’What? What had just happened?’ The rank 4 human’s vision flipped, allowing him to see what had happened at the last moment.
Six people suddenly appeared out of thin air. One slashed his arm and his subordinate, another one stabbed him from behind, and the other four also killed his other subordinates.
All of them moved so fast without sound or presence. They were like a harbinger of death. The moment they arrived, blood was spilled.
Katarina felt a chill down her spine as if she recognized them. "This is... the Shadow Guards!"