The Genius Evolution Store

Auric and the others rushed toward the hill.

Vera struck down the beast before her, then sent a wind sphere to the right.

The wind sphere hit the beast that had almost hit Eric. It was more than enough to stop the beast.

Then, Eric sliced it in two before continuing to advance. There were more beasts coming, so Eric leaped to the right, taking them down one by one.

Vera also focused on her own fight, but both Eric and Vera kept glancing at each other, not because they were worried about each other, but because they had to maintain a certain distance from each other.

If they were too far apart, they wouldn’t be able to assist each other in case something happened.

Both of them, despite possessing such strength, didn’t act arrogantly. Eric knew that no matter how badly he spoke, he would need other people to fight.

Vera, on the other hand, genuinely acknowledged Eric as a fighter. Despite being less talented, Eric gritted his teeth and managed to reach this level. It was something she definitely couldn’t have done.

That was why Auric had actually paired them up. He believed their relationship wasn’t bad, so they would be able to work together just fine.

Auric and Katarina positioned themselves fifteen meters behind the vanguard, not only to scan the entire battlefield but also to maintain the balance within the party.

Fortunately, Eric and Vera worked efficiently. They basically didn’t need support from Auric or Katarina.

As a result, Katarina could focus on the beasts in the rear. If it were a frontal fight, Ellia wouldn’t last long against a rank 4 ape, especially since the ape was accompanied by a lot of beasts.

However, they were running away, so the ape’s attack was less effective. It wanted to approach Ellia, but Auric kept launching his attacks, hindering the ape.

The other beasts tried to encircle Ellia, but she skillfully used her space element to escape every time.

This was where Ellia’s talent shone. Her battle senses allowed her to maintain a wide field of vision, determine which techniques she should use, and understand the most efficient path to get what she wanted.

She used it to scan the battlefield, strike the beasts, and utilize her power at the right time.

On the other hand, Eva’s battlefield was completely clean. Auric noticed that Eva still hid her power.

That one thrust was all it took for Auric to know how powerful she was. At the same time, he also figured out her identity.

Nevertheless, Auric still had a use for her. She was strong and cooperative, so he was considering keeping her for the remainder of the event.

Even when she wasn’t at her best, she managed to stop all the incoming attacks from the snake and its followers, allowing the group to focus on wearing the ape down.

Of course, Katarina also focused on reducing the enemy number by combining her bullets again and again.

However, the moment the hill came into view, Auric changed his order. "Katarina, if you have any powerful technique that can make the terrain even harsher for the beasts, you should use the fusion to do it right now."

Katarina wasn’t a fool. She understood why Auric wanted that kind of ability. Without hesitation, she immediately changed her ability and gathered her power again.

"There is another spot that can be used to wear them down after this hill." Lindwurm reported.

He was flying as high as possible to find the spot. With Lindwurm’s help, he could focus on the battle.

At one point, he understood how powerful the God Mode was again. If he could use that power, Auric would be able to pinpoint everything. Killing these beasts would probably not take that long because he knew when the enemy was going to attack and how powerful it would be.

However, as Lindwurm said, the God Mode was the full potential of his current senses. It meant that he had yet to fully utilize his current senses.

After experiencing God Mode, Auric had been training his senses. For the time being, he could at least see through the beasts’ positioning, even behind trees or boulders. But it would still take time for him to see through their movements.

Nevertheless, this was more than enough. He was able to discern the safety of his teammates by constantly scanning the battlefield.

Finally, the group reached the bottom of the hill.

Vera and Eric climbed the hill first. With the beasts coming from uphill, they took advantage of gravity to pounce on them and drag them back to the bottom of the hill.

Vera simply harrumphed. She swung her blade at the enemy’s paw. This paw was meant to push her, but Vera’s wind deflected the paw, allowing her blade to cut the beast.

Eric, on the other hand, had a bit of a problem. There were two beasts coming toward him at the same time.

Eric sliced through one beast, but the other hit his chest before his scythe could reach it.

Fortunately, he managed to maintain his balance, causing him to slide down instead.

The reason Tommi recognized Eric wasn’t just because of his guts and willpower. He recognized Eric’s versatile fighting style.

When he was sliding down, Eric raised his other hand and formed a chain before throwing it toward a tree.

He used his elemental manipulation technique to curve the chain, allowing it to wrap around the tree. The chain tightened, allowing Eric to kill his momentum. Because of the angle, he slid sideways instead.

He used that motion to dodge the beast’s attack.

Then, Eric simply placed his scythe in the beast’s pouncing trajectory to cut it down. Lastly, Eric used the centrifugal force from that swing to pull him back up so that he could gain an initial momentum to continue climbing.

"I thought you fell down." Vera glanced at Eric.

"They needed to do more to push me down." Eric shrugged. "There’s no need to worry about me."

"I am not worried. I just believe that even if you fall, you will be able to get back up again." Vera chuckled.

"..." Eric paused, somehow unable to say anything back to her. "We’re about to reach the top! We need to secure it immediately."

"I know. I’ll clear the area for you!" Vera activated her Wind Step and launched herself into the air, landing perfectly on top of the hill.

She raised her sword, gathering all her power at the tip of her blade before bringing it down. The gust of wind knocked the beasts on the other side of the hill down.

Some of them rolled to the bottom, some managed to withstand it.

Eric finally reached the top of the hill and let go of his sword. Instead, he formed a spear.

"I’m not good at ranged attacks. Your turn." Vera smirked. "I will cover you."

"You don’t have to tell me." Eric tossed his spear, piercing through one beast after another.

If some beasts managed to reach their position, Vera would be there to stop them. Eric just needed to kill the beasts at a distance.

Auric wouldn’t be able to witness such a perfect combination because he was too focused on the beasts behind him.

"We’re about to arrive. Katarina, get ready. I’m going to tell you where to create the walls."

"Got it."

As soon as they reached the top of the hill, Katarina jumped off Auric and placed her hand on the ground.

Auric then used his Golden Finger and sent green light toward a few spots. "Go!"

Katarina saw each light and immediately summoned all the walls possible.

The emerging rocks blocked the beasts’ paths, slowing them down severely. However, Auric’s calculation was good enough that they didn’t hinder Ellia and Eva from climbing. As a result, all of them could reach the top.

Auric shouted, "Eric, Vera, get ready to cross the river. That’s the second position. Ellia, Eva, cut down all the beasts that are about to come. Avoid the rank 4 beasts."

"Got it!" The four of them acknowledged the order. They already understood Auric’s plan. Chipping away at the number of beasts on their side would weaken their forces.

Once there were no beasts assisting them, they could isolate one rank 4 beast and gang up on the other. This way, they should be able to take down both rank 4 beasts.

"Hahahaha. You ignorant beasts who can only act on instinct. We now have the high ground!" Lindwurm declared with a laugh.

Auric ignored Lindwurm’s words and focused on targeting the beasts.

Katarina also formed her bullets.

"GO!"

Two beasts approached from the left, but they were forced back off because of Katarina’s bullets. When they thought it was safe to go back up, Eva appeared and struck them down.

On the other side, Auric took advantage of the walls to form one spike after another. When they tried to avoid the wall, the spikes would emerge to kill them.

Auric could do it because he could see through the walls.

Still, the number of beasts was overwhelming. Hence, Ellia also needed to cut down some beasts, gradually making her way back down the hill.

Obviously, the snake and the ape couldn’t stand watching the beasts being massacred by these humans.

The snake coiled up and let out a hiss. Two massive tornadoes appeared next to it and moved toward the top.

While Ellia was taking down one beast after another, the ape leaped into the air and struck her from above.

Ellia used her Void Step to get away before gathering her power on her blade again.

Second Cataclysm.

Ellia released her sword strike one more time. The ape threw a punch forward. It looked like the Second Cataclysm had split the ape’s arm. In fact, blood suddenly splashed from between the ape’s fingers.

However, the ape ultimately overpowered Ellia’s sword strike and smashed the ground. The fire covering its fist erupted, sending explosions in rapid succession toward Ellia.

Ellia tried to get away, but she had already used her Void Step and Second Cataclysm earlier.

The only thing she could do was use the barrier to block the attack while she made her escape, but the barrier broke right after, and the explosion knocked her back.

"Gah!" Ellia crashed into a tree, looking at the chain of explosions that was still continuing.

This was the normal result of a battle between a rank 2 human and a rank 4 beast.

Ellia gritted her teeth, trying to roll away, but Auric suddenly stepped between her and the explosion.

His right hand was covered in gray energy.

He swiped his hand to the right as though he were smacking the explosion itself. To Ellia’s surprise, the explosion was actually redirected to the right.

"!!!" Ellia didn’t know how many elements Auric possessed, but she knew that this unique element wasn’t her space element. Auric had another unique element that could deflect such a powerful strike.

Although she was shocked, Ellia stood up. Her priority remained unchanged. Now that the ape was stopped for a moment, Katarina shot the other beasts, reducing their number further.

Two beasts saw Auric stopping the explosion, so they immediately attacked the two of them.

Ellia leaped over Auric and slashed both beasts down.

"Go! This is no longer safe!"

Auric nodded and started running. "On to the second stronghold!"

From this single stop alone, they managed to take down about eighty beasts. At this rate, they should be able to somehow kill these two rank 4 beasts after using these tactics for three to four more times.

Katarina and Auric descended from the hill first as Ellia and Eva stayed back to slow the beasts down further before following them.

Eric and Vera had already cleared their paths a long time ago, as they could see corpses scattered around the area.

Little did they know, Lindwurm had been observing the entire area all this time.

"Hmm...?" Lindwurm spoke only once before they clashed with the beasts here. After that, he didn’t help Auric.

His eyes were fixed in a certain direction.