I paused for a moment, trying to make a decision on how to progress.

Despite being surrounded and my path being cut by three ascended, I wasn't afraid. As my earlier duel with the ascended had shown, the fight between the elite was hardly straightforward. The unique nature of their abilities meant that human wave tactics weren't particularly useful.

And, the same applied to me to a degree.

I decided to open up with a nasty plot. I sent another deep mana wave, relying fully on Radiant Flame.

[-2000 Mana]

In such a close range, it was enough to cause a massacre. Without the protective aura to block the bulk of the attack, it was enough to cut through their substandard armor and bisect a great number of warriors at once.

"Monster!" several shouted as they saw their fellow soldiers fall, but I ignored it. The battlefield was no place for mercy, and I had no luxury to falter. Instead, I let my sword radiate even brighter, preparing for an even bigger attack.

Well, making it look like I was preparing for a bigger attack.

Instead of attacking, I continued to run forward to their rear, cutting a path for myself … made easy by the fact that the rear was filled with their archers, forced to retreat to avoid my blade, leaving an easy escape for me.

"You won't escape," the ascended who managed to wound me shouted as he tried to chase me. All three ascended and jumped down their mounts to do so, their speed enough to surpass mine somewhat. But, just like my previous combat experience, faster speed didn't mean they could just connect with me.

I switched to my hammer, using its longer reach as a threat, occasionally slamming it down to shatter the ground. The three ascended spread out while the rest of the army tried to regroup away from us.

"I'm surprised Drakka is willing to send another three ascended after losing two," I said as I looked for a path to escape, but failed. The three ascended spread out in a way to cut my path. There were a few tricks I could pull to escape, but I wanted to see what they would do first.

I could always open a gate to disappear … or replenish my mana. But, that was more like a last option, as every gate was a source of vulnerability. I didn't want to leave a weak spot so far from our base unless I had no other option.

Also, I wanted to understand why Drakka decided to commit another three Ascended after their loss.

"Do you think we wouldn't take our vengeance?" the ascended growled while trying to find a better angle to pin me down.

The answer wasn't as enlightening as I hoped. "Three ascended to make me pay for two … Is this the limit of the great Tiger Legion," I replied, doing my best to put a mocking edge to my tone. Angering them wasn't the best option, but I needed them to spill more.

"You're lucky we have bigger fish to fry, you worm," he replied. "But, it won't be long until your precious Asterion retreats and leaves you to our tender mercies."

"I'm shivering in fear," I replied, which, unfortunately, wasn't too far from the truth despite my mocking tone. I wasn't delusional enough to believe that I could keep the full might of a city away no matter how much I worked.

Worse, things were developing outside my expectations, making me feel tenser and tenser. For all intents and purposes, Horizon pulling from the continent meant a loss of stabilizing force, leaving things in flux.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

But, once the ascended tried to pin me down, I focused on the present, aware that I didn't have the luxury of staying with them for long. They had three dangerous advantages; their flying reinforcements, the monster wave, and the fact that their trick with the mysterious energy had started to put some strain on the dungeon — nothing immediately dangerous, but I didn't know what would happen if the dungeon was overloaded with that energy.

Ideally, I wanted to be there before that happened.

However, several of my breakthrough attempts failed, the ascended succeeding in keeping me away from the defensive line.

So, I decided to get creative. I cut a path toward the approaching beast wave, their location obvious thanks to a giant cloud of dust, knowing that their method of control would inevitably be tenuous, or they wouldn't have used it as a last resort. And, my style of fighting was better against a mob than a small team of elites.

To my surprise, instead of trying to block my path, they actively tried to herd me toward the beasts, probably hoping to use their numbers to block my path. A mistake, as the monsters would give me a chance to replenish my mana, but they likely didn't know the performance of my Meditation of Decay skill, owing to the fact that I hadn't used it a lot.

As I approached the beast wave, the ground started to shake due to their sheer numbers. I had to admit, the wave was a scary sight. It was, unlike the lizards we had been dealing with, made from a chaotic mix of transformed beasts, different species, and elements. As a result, they had no easy solution with the shells. Luckily, at this point, we were not limited to a few hastily constructed cannons, and had a good mixture of modern firepower and melee resilience.

Even against the intimidating wave, I trusted our town to survive. What scared me was the potential harassment from the ascended warriors.

Speaking of the ascended, they were yet to realize their mistake when I reached the edge of the beast wave and instead of avoiding it, I directly jumped into the midst of it, and swung my hammer.

[-1000 Mana]

The earth shattered around me, the weaker beasts turning into mincemeat, a cloud of mana and tainted energy radiating. I stood still for a second, activating my Meditation to pull all to me. Empowered by my Wisdom, three seconds was enough for me to replenish my reserves.

[+4000 Mana]

"Stop him!" their leader shouted, finally realizing trying to pin me against a beast wave wasn't the smartest idea. Unfortunately, it was too late, and I had slipped into the mix, immediately surrounded by the horde.

I pulled my sword before I let my blade skill take control, a combination of my Dexterity and Strength enough to keep me safe even in the midst of the beast wave. I didn't rely on my mana attacks to cut through their numbers, aware that it wouldn't make much of a difference. It was safer to disappear into the mess and wait for the move of the opponents.

Unfortunately, the ascended chose to stay out of the wave. A pity, as I would have loved to use the chaos to ambush them if they followed me inside. Even taking down one ascended would have given me a decisive advantage.

But, they stayed away. I continued to cut through the beasts, moving deeper and deeper into the wave, hoping to find a few boss monsters, but it was impossible to truly find anything in the stampede, my presence was mostly ignored by the beasts.

Then, I saw a bright, flying figure getting closer to the wave, a cloud of mana dancing around them. Ascended reinforcements. A mage, even, and they were here faster than scouting reports indicated. Clearly, they had abandoned their vehicle, and were using their own magic to close the distance faster.

I tensed, aware of just how dangerous a mage would be even in a mana-dead location. Just by their reserves, they could devastate us. "It's time to retreat," I muttered as I started to move toward the edge of the wave, ready to dash before they could pin me down.

Once I was back with the rest, we could start planning on how to take the enemy down.

Just as I was about to rush, a thunderous boom resonated through the battlefield. A brilliant flash of fire erupted at the center of the beast wave, turning a small but significant part of the beast wave into ashes. My eyes widened, wondering if I was the target. Then, the flying figure got even closer, allowing me to catch some of the details. The latest chapters are uploaded first on M|V|LE3MPYR.

Including a very distinct, flaming red hair, dancing freely as she flew closer and closer to the monster wave, each gesture evaporating thousands of beasts at once.

What a beautiful surprise. I immediately dashed out of the monster wave, removing my helmet and waving to her. "Long time no see, milady," I cheered.

"D-Devon," Maria shouted back, her stutter enough to put a smile on my face. "What are you doing in the middle of the beast wave!"

"Long story. Why don't we talk about it once we deal with them," I replied even as I pointed at the three ascended that were retreating in panic.

Even as I said that I felt a huge smile blossom on my face. Finally, I wasn't alone, desperately holding down the fort…