The swarm of monsters that were normal-sized all seemed to be more or less regular versions. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t be too big of a deal. However, their numbers were simply too excessive.
As for the three giant monsters in the front, they looked rather disturbing. They were each over ten meters tall, making their presence very noticeable. Instead of the traditional kind, their bodies almost looked like they were melting. The skin on their body seemed to bubble slightly, almost like it was boiling. Though it was quite hard to see from how far they were, the bubbles would regularly be bursting on their skin, causing a bit of blood to splash out.
This seemed to continuously happen, causing their entire bodies to be coated in a large amount of blood.
There was also a distinct lack of features. They did not have eyes, instead just hollow eye sockets filled with blood, while even their claws were no longer attached. Their overall form was still humanoid, but their bodies almost seemed to be smooth, like it was slowly becoming jelly.
Though, it was kinda hard to tell because of the blood covering them.
Chase narrowed his eyes when he took a look at the monsters.
“…It looks like those big ones are large, but can hardly maintain their form at that size. They seem to be in a fragile balance of destroying themselves and regenerating.”
Tori’s eyes widened slightly.
“How does that even happen?”
Kairos shook his head.
“How it happened doesn’t really matter right now. Let’s focus on the fight.”
Tori nodded.
“Ah, alright.”
Kairos turned to Tiana.
“Do you have any good idea to go about this?”
She responded rather quickly.
“Hm… it seems like it will still take the monsters roughly a minute or so before they reach the walls. Eric, Nick, and Jenny can do well in taking care of the large quantity of smaller monsters, but the big ones might be a little dangerous to them.”
She then looked toward Kairos.
“If you are able to get far behind them, then you should be able to use that ability, which should let you deal a good chunk of damage to them. I will also help, and Chase could also give some support in killing the three larger ones.”
Kairos nodded. He then turned to Tori and pointed at one of the taller buildings far in the distance still standing.
“Could you fly me over there? Right after, you should fly back, as my ability might hit you in the crossfire.”
Tori nodded.
“Got it!”
She hooked her arms underneath Kairos’ armpits before two large wings sprouted out of her back. Tori did not delay in taking off, but before they got too far, Tiana called out.
“Kairos, target the one that’s furthest in the back! We will get the other two.”
Kairos nodded.
“Got it.”
Right after, he felt a strong tug on him, while the winds began to roar in his ears. Kairos couldn’t help but feel a little worried that Tori might drop him, because if she did, he doubted he would be able to survive.
Maybe he would survive the fall, but there he would be caught in the swarm of monsters that would be far too much for him to deal with.
This sentiment made Kairos feel a little light, as not having control over his own life was quite frightening for a person that relied on himself most of the time. Nonetheless, he didn’t believe Tori would actually try to drop him.
And if she did, he would see it, meaning he would at least be able to take her down with him.
Though, Kairos really was overthinking it.
The giant monsters below reached out to the two of them, but they were simply too high up in the air for them to catch. They gave up soon after and focused once again on going towards the city walls.
And soon enough, Tori had brought Kairos all the way to the apartment complex he had been pointing to.
The moment Kairos dropped down onto the pavement, he spoke out to Tori.
“Go back to the walls. They might need you there.”
Though she felt her efforts were slightly unappreciated, she decided to comply.
“Mm… alright, but at least say thank you!”
Kairos sighed.
“Thank you.”
With a smile, Tori soared back to the walls, tearing through the sky.
Kairos observed the overall situation as he waited for Tori to get out of his range.
The giant monsters appeared to be moving slowly, like lumbering giants. But that’s just how it looked. In reality, the giants were far faster than the normal monsters, outrunning them by several times. As such, that meant the huge swarm of normal ones were lagging far behind.
It was hard to see the situation on the wall, but Kairos was just barely able to see Chase was gathering mana, as it was quite flashy. As for Tiana, she didn’t seem to be taking any action yet, but Kairos believed that she was at least planning on doing something.
After all, she should at least show that she wasn’t a pushover as the ruler of the city.
Kairos waited a few more moments and began to feel a little unsure of when his passive ability, ‘Alone’ was going to activate. It would double the power of his spells so long as there were no people considered allies within a kilometer.
But just as soon as his hesitation began, it soon ended. It was very very slight, but he could tell that the mana inside of him had changed somehow. It seemed as though it became denser, pushing out against the rest of his body.
When that sensation came to him, Kairos pointed toward the monster that was the furthest from the city, and a ball of fire gradually began forming.
The mana violently rushed through his body, and through his fingertip to continually expand the fireball. Before long, it had reached several meters in diameter. Kairos already began feeling some strain, almost like he was being wrung like a rag.
He ended up slowing down his channeling speed, so that his body didn’t feel like it was breaking.
After ten or so seconds, the fireball had expanded to become fifteen meters wide. His entire vision was filled with the fireball, and he could feel the heat, causing him to sweat.
Kairos felt that roughly half of his mana had been used to create this fireball. He considered channeling even more, maybe using up all the mana he had for this. However, his body began emitting various concerning creaking sounds.
He was getting slightly light-headed.
For the pulse spell, the actual channeling process had a relatively smaller burden on his body, but once it was cast, it would thoroughly destroy him. On the other hand, the fire spell was the opposite of this, a large burden while casting, but a much smaller one after throwing it.
In the end, Kairos felt that if he continued, he was at risk of passing out entirely. As such, he let the fireball loose.
At the same time, a massive mana arrow, with size on par with the fireball, also shot out.
A deafening bang resounded.
The mana arrow hit first, reaching the monster closest to the walls. The monster itself was thrown backward like a ragdoll, while a massive hole formed on its chest. Despite it being far away, Kairos could hear the sound clearly, a testament to the power behind it.
As the monster’s body shot back, it landed in the horde of monsters, slamming against them, and continued to slide through the horde. Countless of them died in the process.
Soon after, Kairos’ fireball landed on the monster in the back.
An explosion that shook the air reverberated.
The fireball was originally larger than the monster, while the explosion itself was even larger. This time, the monster was thrown forwards, while nearly its entire body was charred black.
It slammed into the one in front of it, causing it to trip and fall down together.
A few of the surrounding buildings were directly blown away, their charred fragments shooting off far into the distance.
Along with that, a massive pool of fire now rested on the ground, almost like a part of hell had surfaced. It would be able to hold off the normal monsters for a decent amount of time.
Their attacks were really powerful. In fact, Kairos felt that Chase’s arrow was a little too strong for being an E rank, but didn’t question it for now. Overall, the situation seemed to be in control, with all the giant monsters now on the ground.
However, Kairos couldn’t help but feel a little unsettled.
Because none of the three giant monsters had died.
The one that Chase had shot with the arrow was still flailing its limbs around. It was rapidly regenerating but seemed too injured to stand on its own. However, it was only a matter of time before it got back up on its feet.
As for the monster that was hit with the fireball, it was unmoving, but because Karios hadn’t gotten the system notification, he knew that it was still alive.
The monster that was pinned underneath the charred one struggled, but was able to crawl out fairly easily and continue towards the city.
By now, it was just a few seconds away from reaching the city.
It performed a charge that appeared to be rather clumsy, but the steps that slammed against the pavement still caused the wall to noticeably shake.
Upon seeing this, Tiana raised her hands up into the sky.
A massive metal spike suddenly shot out of the ground, skewering the monster and interrupting its charge. The metal spike itself was several times longer than the monster, which made it dangle in the air.
The monster had a surprisingly strong tenacity like the others, and continued to struggle, moving its limbs around.
Yet, a few moments after, many other smaller metal spikes shot out from the ground, piercing into the monster’s body almost like it was a pin cushion.
Large amounts of blood flowed down from all the metal spikes, while the monster itself was essentially filled with metal. Yet, the monster still hadn’t kicked the bucket.
It was now only able to twitch slightly, which seemed rather harmless. However, the smaller metal spikes began to crack.
Tiana frowned and raised her hand in the air, before bringing it down.
Metal spikes coalesced in the sky, before suddenly slamming into the monster.
Blood splashed around almost like a balloon filled with water had burst.
The smaller spikes all cracked, while the monster slid down the massive metal spike. But this time, it was no longer moving.
All of the conjured metal sunk into the ground, almost like they were melting.
After all of that, the other two monsters appeared to have recovered. The one that Chase had shot, was now standing. Though, there was still a large hole in its chest.
As for the one Kairos had hit with his fireball, it had also stood up. A large amount of charred flesh had peeled off of it, making it look like an incomplete sculpture.
Nonetheless, it continued on.
Kairos didn’t really want to, but decided to channel mana to create a fire spell once more. Yet, right when he pointed his finger forward, his mind suddenly went white.
He saw a vision.
It was himself, with a giant fifteen-meter fireball in front of him. However, right when he was about to release it, a small figure cloaked in all black would suddenly appear behind him, then behead him with a small dagger.
When Kairos came to, his entire body seized up. His breathing was heavy, while cold sweat began to fall from him.
Kairos whipped his head around, trying to catch sight of someone.
However, there was nobody there.