The person who attacked me first was Alexia Von Zynx.
She was clad in a full set of heavy bronze armor, complete with a Spartan-style helmet that gleamed under the violet flashes of lighting in the starless night sky above.
Alexia’s gauntleted hands were raised to her chest, elbows tucked in, palms open like talons, and knees bent low. She looked like a praying mantis ready to strike.
The second attacker — the one who pounced at me like a rabid animal — was Kang Tae-jin.
His silver eyes were glowing in the dark, and his body was already partially transformed. Thick white fur coated his skin, his canines were sharp and long, and his nails had stretched into claws.
And the swordsman, of course, was Michael Godswill.
He also wore imposing black armor, with a knight’s visor obscuring his face.
In his hands, he held a traditional longsword, its gleaming surface etched with a string of runes that seemed to pulse dimly.
“I’m not saying I’m not happy to see you guys,” I forced a smile, sighing as I raised my greatsword with one hand. “But did you all have to ruin my big moment? I was just about to win!”
In the distance, the air was filled with a crescendo of screams, battle cries, and monstrous howls.
The chaos was growing louder.
It sounded like a lot of the other Squads were doing their best to push through… only to be eliminated by the horde of beasts.
Well, it worked for me. The background characters and the monsters could keep each other busy while I deal with the heroes.
When Michael finally responded, his voice sounded a little metallic from behind his helmet. “And did you have to cause so much chaos?!”
I gave him a modest laugh. “Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment!” he snapped.
Alexia, being the wisest of us all, didn’t wait for our banter to finish and dashed toward the flagpole with blurring speed.
She was the closest to it.
And Michael was still blocking my path.
Even if I wanted to stop her, I didn’t think I could’ve reached her in time.
…Thankfully, I didn’t have to.
Just before she could grab the flag, a massive tentacle came flailing from the side and smashed into her, sending her petite frame flying.
She hit the cobbled ground hard, skidding across the plaza before rolling to a stop.
But Alexia wasn’t one to stay down for long.
She sprang back onto one knee in one smooth motion, her eyes quickly scanning for whoever dared to attack her.
When she looked up, however, she saw (not in a literal sense) a few more grotesque tentacles already descending on her.
She darted into motion, jumping and sprinting through the open plaza as the tentacles slammed down around her one after another like battering rams, pulverizing whatever they struck.
Reiner Tovak, my lovely, tentacled teammate, had finally arrived.
Four massive tentacles — thick, veined, and brownish in color — had sprouted from his torso and back. Each one was lashing out with frantic precision to keep Alexia at bay.
He was actually a good match-up against that short orange-haired demoness.
Alexia excelled in close-quarters combat, and Reiner’s tentacles made it nearly impossible for her to get near him.
Kang Tae-jin noticed his mistress in distress and immediately tried to rush to her aid. “Young Mis—!”
But before he could even take a step in Alexia’s direction, a silhouette jumped out from the shadows behind him and slashed at the back of his knee with a glint of steel.
Veyna Rosen, my other lovely teammate, had also arrived.
—Kaaach!
Kang’s leg buckled under him as he hissed in pain.
…But the wound he sustained began to close over immediately, his flesh mending itself with inhuman speed.
Right.
I remembered now.
Kang possessed a minor regenerative healing factor. And during the night, his powers were amplified several times.
So Veyna wasn’t the only one blessed by the darkness of the Night Sanctuary.
Yet, it didn’t discourage her. She lashed out again, seemingly materializing from the thin air behind the teen wolf.
But this time, Kang whipped around just in time to intercept the blade with his claw.
Clang—!
His animalistic instincts had fully taken over now. It wouldn’t be easy for Veyna to catch him off-guard again.
Meanwhile, Michael stood in the middle of it all, looking visibly torn between some important choices like:
Should he help his teammates?
Make a run for the flag?
Or come fight me?
In the end, he chose the sensible option and bolted toward the flagpole.
—Bang!
Unfortunately, he got no more than three steps in before a small projectile slammed into the side of his helmet.
A bullet.
Fired from one of the nearby rooftops.
It didn’t pierce the metal of his armor — but the firepower behind it still made Michael stumble as he tripped sideways before catching himself.
He then straightened his back and turned his head sharply toward the source, accurately pinpointing the sniper’s location.
Some seventy meters away, Erwin was crouched on the roof of a high tower with a sniper rifle, peering through his scope.
When he saw Michael’s visor staring directly back at him, he flinched.
“How the fuck?” Erwin swallowed.
His position was compromised.
Michael was so far away. But it took him only a second to spot Erwin.
It was unnerving.
…But it didn’t matter.
Erwin’s job wasn’t to take out Michael. That guy was one of the Top 10, way out of his league. His job was simply to provide cover for his team.
So he pulled the trigger once more.
—Bang!
Another gunshot cracked through the night.
But this time, Michael deflected the bullet with a single swipe of his sword — the clang of metal meeting metal echoing faintly across the plaza.
At the same time, Alexia had managed to grab hold of one of Reiner’s tentacles.
And before the poor boy could react—
The petite girl yanked the tentacle violently with all her titanic strength and hurled him over her shoulder like a sack of grain.
Reiner let out a strangled yelp as his whole body went airborne, soaring over the cobbled square like a human wrecking ball before crashing through a cracked stone wall.
Dust and debris exploded outward on impact.
Oof.
That looked really painful.
I hoped he wasn’t dead.
But his valiant sacrifice bought me just enough time to go through with my own attack.
I raised my sword overhead and poured a flood of Essence into it.
Aurieth’s blade ignited with divine radiance, glowing in the oppressing darkness like a newborn star.
Then… a pillar of pure golden light burst from the blade’s edge, shooting straight into the starless night sky with blinding brilliance.
The light bathed the ruins below in its warm glow, dispelling the darkness.
The cobblestones at my feet cracked. Dust scattered like dry leaves in a storm. And a wave of pressure rippled outward like the air itself recoiled.
For a heartbeat, everyone on the battlefield froze.
And before anyone could move…
I executed a downward slash, the pillar of light followed the movement of my sword and came crashing down on Alexia.