CHAPTER 178: WALL OF FANGS AND CLAWS

The creature lunged at Gedion’s party, curling its long, black claws like hooked daggers.

Everyone stiffened under its bone-chilling presence. But Gideon snapped back to reality and shouted while forming an air barrier in front of him to neutralize the incoming attack, "Everyone spread out, quick." Though the creature looked terrifying, its presence was far from enough to immobilize a veteran like Gideon just with its look.

Its strike landed on the barrier with a thud. It let out a terrifying, creepy sound, grinding its teeth in anger over the missed attack.

By that time Lilith was the first one to jolt back to reality. She dashed toward the creature, lightning dancing in her right palm. When the distance was covered, she clenched her fist crackling with lightning, and slammed it in the monster’s flank. She may have been intimidated for a bit, but she had never known fear. After all, it was two legends’ blood that flowed through her veins.

The monster skidded back with a growl.

The others also reacted. Before the monster could launch its next attack, two ice spikes tore through the air while whirling and flew toward it.

Boom! Both slammed into its chest causing two bloody wounds to appear. Blood sprayed across the frost. It was Jessi.

The monster tried to let its anger flare up and charge again but then came a spear buzzing with lightning.

Whoosh! A clean slash. It was Ronald.

The monster was still standing but right after the strike, the world around it spun and its head thudded on the ground falling from its torso.

Dead! Its corpse started to decay and soon faded like ash.

"What the hell was that. It wasn’t the boss for sure. But it was far too strong for being only a monster from the early layers." As he advanced, Ronald spoke while wiping the blood from his spear.

"Yes tho...." Jessi was about to say something as well but just then.....

Growling sounds drifted from the darkness. And her words stopped in the middle.

All heads turned toward the sound.

One...two...three.....fifty.

Almost fifty of them. Just like the creature they just defeated with a combined effort.

"Fuck." Ronald cursed under his breath.

Looking at the horde, Gideon’s jaw tightened as well.

Lilith wasn’t sure about her feelings. She wasn’t afraid, but not thrilled either. She could feel it. The tension in the air. And the storm which was about to break out on them.

Luna’s chest was heaving unevenly with tension.

"Make a circle. Protect one another’s backs." Gideon’s commanding voice tore through the air, bringing everyone back to their senses.

All of them quickly stood in a formation.

On the other hand.....

The horde of monsters stalked closer, malice burning in their glowing eyes, as if they were afraid that their prey might slip away.

Then without any warnings....

One lunged forward, savagely baring its claws. The others surged after it, growls rumbling from deep in their throats. It looked like a wall of fangs and claws.

The first one was already there, scraping its claws against Gideon’s air barrier with a screech like steel on glass.

"Hold it!" he barked, his voice cutting through the chaos.

Ronald sidestepped and thrust his spear straight through its shoulder. Sparks of lightning snapped from the wound, and the creature screeched in fury, snapping its jaws at him.

Before it could tear free, Jessi’s ice spike pierced its chest from the side. The monster convulsed and fell, fading into ash.

But there was no time to breathe.

Two more leapt over the corpse, landing on either side of Lilith. She spun, a whip of lightning arcing from her palm, lashing into one and sending it tumbling backward with smoke rising from its hide. The second lunged low, jaws aimed for her leg, but a burst of wind slammed it sideways..... Gideon’s doing.

Luna’s hands trembled, but she raised them anyway. Two fireballs shot from her palms, catching a monster mid-leap and setting it ablaze.

The smell of burnt flesh mixed with the icy scent of Jessi’s magic made the air thick.

But the horde didn’t falter.

They came in waves, claws tearing through frost, eyes glowing in the half-dark. Every killing strike welcomed another, rushing in to fill the gap.

"Rotate! Keep the line moving!" Gideon’s order snapped the formation into motion. Ronald and Lilith surged forward, trading places with Jessi and Luna.

A goblin the size of a small bear smashed into Ronald’s spear, nearly wrenching it from his hands. He gritted his teeth, spun the shaft, and drove the blade upward through its throat. Blood sprayed, hissing when it hit the frost beneath.

Another tried to flank them from the left, but Lilith met it halfway, lightning surged through her fist as she threw a clean punch, the impact cracked its bones. The beast dropped with a dull thud. Lilith had her gravity magic slowing down every monster within a short range. It eased the situation for everyone.

Melissa wasn’t falling back either. Her fire and gravity magic worked in rhythm, flames bursting in controlled arcs while subtle pulls of gravity dragged monsters into their path. One beast leapt for her, only to be yanked midair and scorched before it even touched the ground.

In the middle of the circle, Raphael was standing still. He was a healer and his worth would only be needed when someone got hurt. So he was observing, ready to take action at any moment.

In the back, Jessi’s hands never stopped moving, ice forming and shattering in constant rhythm. Spikes, shards, and frost walls appeared only to be broken by another lunging monster, buying precious seconds for the others.

A shadow loomed behind her.

"Jessi, behind you!" Luna shouted.

Too late.

The creature’s claws were already swinging down....

But just before it could even touch Jessi’s skin, Gideon’s blade of compressed air sliced the arm clean off. The monster howled, only to have its head split a heartbeat later.

"Stay sharp!" he barked again.

"I don’t want a single member injured."

But the horde wasn’t thinning. For every one that fell, another two pushed forward. Their glowing eyes and snapping jaws filled the edges of vision, pressing closer, step by step.

For a moment it was chaotic. The sparkle of spells, the smell of blood, and burnt flesh, the growls of charging monsters, and the roar of Gideon’s party members.