CHAPTER 168: FIGHTING THE MONSTERS

Byun plunged into the swarm, his shadows stretching outward like a living web. A beast lunged, claws raised high, but the shadows lashed around its limbs, binding them tight mid-motion. With a flick of his wrist, the tendrils twisted sharply, and the creature tore in two before dissolving into mist.

Another shadowspawn darted in from behind, jaws snapping wide enough to bite through steel. Byun didn’t even look. A spear of darkness erupted upward from the ground, skewering the creature clean through and pinning it until it burst into vapor.

"You’re not slipping past me," he muttered under his breath, his grin crooked despite the sweat running down his forehead. His eyes burned with reckless light, the strain only feeding his determination.

A pack circled him, red eyes gleaming as they closed in. Byun dropped low, shadows spreading in a circle at his feet. They lashed outward in a burst, each tendril snapping like a whip. Limbs were torn, bodies shredded, the courtyard filling with the stench of their dissolving essence.

But the rift fed them faster than he could destroy them. His shadows writhed in agitation, growing thinner the more he called on them. For every beast he tore down, three more clawed their way into existence.

Elise fought nearer the students’ line. Her mana glowed like threads spun from light itself, weaving through the battlefield with delicate precision. A beast charged her, its claws raised to split her in two, but Elise moved with a dancer’s grace. She darted aside, her palm pressing against its torso in passing. A pulse of pure energy shot into it, severing the lines that held its form together. The shadowspawn convulsed once before breaking apart into smoke.

She spun back, already reaching for the injured. Two students clung to each other, blood dripping down their arms, eyes dazed from mana-burn. Elise knelt between them, hands glowing bright. The light stitched their wounds shut, closing torn flesh with careful threads of mana. Color returned to their faces as she steadied their flow of energy, stopping the drain that would have left them unconscious.

"Stay together!" she urged, her voice sharp over the chaos. "Fight in pairs, and don’t let them flank you!"

Her mana surged outward, weaving threads into the students nearest her. Their spells ignited brighter, their blades swung with renewed strength. Fear hardened into determination under her light.

More beasts crashed against them, but they held. Elise’s presence steadied the wavering line, her voice anchoring the chaos into something closer to order. Every time a student fell, she was there to raise them again. Every time despair threatened, her light cut it away.

Tirel, further up the line, had no such restraint. Her body burned with heat, her eyes shimmering like molten gems. Even in the chaos, her presence drew the eye, her voice rolling across the battlefield, sultry and commanding.

"Over here, sweethearts."

The words cut through the din like a melody. The shadowspawn froze mid-lunge, their red eyes snapping toward her as if tugged by invisible strings. Some stumbled over each other, dragged into her radius against their will.

Flames burst around her feet, licking outward like living serpents. Her lips curved into a smile as she spread her arms wide.

"Inferno Form."

Her figure dissolved into fire. Her hair, her skin, even the fabric of her robes transformed into roaring heat. Wings of flame erupted from her back, unfurling with the sound of crackling wood. The ground beneath her blackened with each step, the cobblestones fracturing as if rejecting her intensity.

The nearest beasts screamed as the flames consumed them. They stumbled closer despite their terror, unable to fight the compulsion her presence enforced. One by one, they were swallowed whole by the inferno. Their shrieks filled the night before breaking into nothing but ash.

Her laughter followed, bright and enchanting, though laced with something terrifying. "You came for me—don’t run now."

Every movement was carnage. The training field became a furnace. Each sweep of her burning wings carved destruction into the swarm, firestorms coiling outward to sear the shadows from existence. Around her, the heat distorted the air, bending light and choking smoke.

Where Tirel passed, nothing remained but scorched earth and drifting embers.

⸻

Further back, Yuna held her ground. Her blonde hair whipped wildly in the storm she conjured, her form steady despite the chaos tearing the academy apart. Winds circled her like a wall, a constant shield that tore through smoke and pushed rubble away from fleeing students.

"Stay behind me!" she cried, her voice trembling but still cutting above the clash.

Her gales burst outward, a spiraling torrent that swept shadowspawn from their feet. The creatures slammed against walls with bone-snapping force before dissolving into mist. Yet Yuna’s eyes weren’t on them—her gaze scanned upward, wary of the cracking towers.

When one of the dormitory roofs groaned and gave way, heavy stone slabs tumbling toward a cluster of terrified students, Yuna reacted on instinct. She threw her hands skyward, her scream almost drowned out by the storm.

A gale shield erupted.

The falling debris froze midair, held in place by a spinning whirlwind that howled with rage. For a moment it seemed the shield would collapse, but Yuna clenched her teeth and forced more mana into the gale. The stones twisted aside, flung harmlessly into the courtyard.

The students sprinted free, their faint cheers ringing in her ears. Yuna’s knees buckled. She caught herself with one trembling hand, gasping, her chest heaving like a bellows.

"Keep moving," she whispered, then louder, "Keep moving! I’ll cover you!"

Even as exhaustion bit into her bones, the winds thickened around her. She refused to falter.

⸻

Closer to the front, Sun fought at Jae’s flank. Though not against the General itself, his twin blades gleamed with each strike, flashing arcs of silver under the blackened sky. Every swing was sharp, deliberate, the movements of someone who had drilled endlessly for this kind of battle.

A beast lunged at him, claws raking down. Sun parried with a clean cross, his second blade driving into its chest in one fluid motion. The creature dissolved before it hit the ground.

Byun caught the sight between strikes of his own shadows. "You’re not using the Vein? This would be a good time."