CHAPTER 176: SURVIVING TOGETHER

[: Daniel’s POV :]

After killing whatever servant the Black Dragon Sovereign had sent, I lifted my gaze to the sky, only to be met with the sight of a full-scale war.

Gates hovered above the clouds, their rifts pulsing with sinister energy as invaders poured out like swarms of insects.

The instructors, academy elites, and armies I didn’t even know existed were already clashing against them in midair, steel and mana scattering across the battlefield.

The students, dragged out of their Zones by an instructor’s emergency command, stood frozen behind me.

Their faces were pale, eyes wide with fear, despair, and uncertainty.

Some trembled.

Some cried quietly.

Most simply looked lost.

Fendrick stepped closer, gripping his trembling spear.

"Daniel... what should we do now?"

His voice cracked, revealing the helplessness he always tried so hard to hide.

My eyes lowered to Mika, who remained wrapped inside her glowing cocoon of pure essence.

She was evolving, a process that left her completely vulnerable.

Leaving her unguarded, even for a moment, was out of the question.

Not with cosmic invaders raining down on the world.

’System... you got any idea?’ I asked, keeping my expression calm despite the chaos.

The familiar chime resonated in my mind.

[: Definitely. I have what you need :]

[: Double Time (Supreme) :]

– Creates one clone with 100% of your power

– Cost: 2.5 Million Points

It was a perfect copy.

One that could fight on par with me while I stayed here to protect Mika.

’Buy it,’ I replied without hesitation.

Because no matter how many enemies descended...

No matter how hopeless the world seemed...

I would make sure Mika survived and this planet did too.

The purchase went through with a sharp pulse of energy that rippled through my veins.

A moment later, space beside me distorted, twisting like liquid metal before forming into... me.

An identical copy, same aura, same strength, same everything.

My clone opened its eyes, and for a second, it felt like staring into a mirror that understood exactly what needed to be done.

"I’ll guard Mika," my clone said.

"No one will lay a hand on her."

I nodded.

"Good. That’s your only priority."

Then I turned toward the students, Fendrick, Silvia, and the others huddled together.

Their fear was clear, but so was the faint glimmer of trust.

"Listen up," I said firmly.

"You stay here. All of you."

Fendrick swallowed hard.

"Daniel... even me?"

"Yes. Especially you."

I stepped closer, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Protect the other students and my clone will handle anything that comes near. You don’t move unless he tells you to."

My clone folded its arms, exuding an oppressive aura that made even the lingering monsters hesitate.

"I will keep all of you alive. That’s a promise."

Silvia looked between me and the clone, her brows tense with worry, but she nodded.

"Alright... we’ll trust you. Just...come back alive."

The other students echoed her sentiment, some more shakily than others, but the resolve was there.

They believed in me. In us.

I offered a small smile.

"Good. Stay put. Don’t do anything reckless."

The sky trembled again as another wave of invaders poured out.

The instructors braced themselves, mana surging in every direction.

The ground shook with every clash.

I took a deep breath, steeling myself.

"Time to return the favor," I muttered.

And with a single step, I vanished...joining the instructors at the frontlines as the counterattack began.

The moment I activated Void Step, the world folded like ink swirling in water.

My body dissolved into the darkness between spaces, soundless, weightless, timeless, and then I reappeared.

The battlefield slammed into my senses all at once.

Explosions thundered across the ruined land, shockwaves rippling like giant breaths of destruction.

Magic circles flared in the sky, hundreds of them, each firing spells of all attributes.

Blades of wind carved through trees.

Bolts of lightning split the air.

Firestorms detonated overhead.

Above us, countless Gates hovered like bleeding rifts, each one vomiting invaders that poured down like a plague.

It was chaos.

The kind of chaos that devours continents.

Instructors shouted commands.

Armies clashed.

Students screamed and ran while others, shaking, tried to defend themselves.

For a moment, everything was noise.

"AHHH! You Bastards!!"

My eyes snapped to the right.

Scarlett, one of the academy’s strongest instructors, normally unshakable, was surrounded by hundreds of invaders.

They swarmed her like starving beasts.

Dozens of fireballs, spears of frost, and shadow arrows were fired at her all at once.

She barely managed to block the first few, but she was weakening.

If no one reached her in time, she would die.

And so I moved.

Void Step activated again, ripping the world apart in a single blink.

I emerged behind the incoming barrage, my hand already raised.

[; Oblivion Pulse :]

**BOOM.**

A wave of annihilation burst outward from my palm, erasing the barrage of attacks instantly.

The invaders didn’t even have time to scream as they simply vanished, their bodies crumbling into dust as the shockwave vaporized everything in a twenty-meter radius.

Silence fell in that pocket of the battlefield.

Scarlett, still on her knees from exhaustion, stared at the empty space where death had been seconds earlier.

And then her eyes lifted to me.

"...Daniel...?"

I stepped forward, catching her by the waist before she collapsed.

Her body trembled against mine, her heartbeat fast and uneven.

"T-That was h-how?"

"Easy now," I murmured, tightening my grip as I lifted her effortlessly into my arms.

"I’ve got you."

Her cheeks instantly turned crimson.

"You—y-you carried me—" she stammered, gripping my uniform as her voice trembled in disbelief, "how are you... this strong? You’re supposed to be a student—!"

"Student or not, you’re someone I know. Someone I won’t let die."

I gave her a faint smile.

"So relax. You’re safe."

Scarlett blinked up at me, her lips parting just slightly.

Relief washed through her expression, softening the fear in her eyes.

"...I—I really thought I was done for," she whispered.

"Thank you, Daniel. Truly."

"You don’t have to thank me," I said gently.

"Just breathe."

Her fingers slowly loosened on my chest, and she leaned lightly into me, only for a moment, closing her eyes as if letting herself rest for the first time since the war began.

There wasn’t time to savor it.

Another explosion rocked the ground.

Scarlett flinched, and I carefully set her down on her feet.

"Can you stand?"

"Yes... thanks to you."

"Good." I turned toward the battlefield.

"Because it’s about to get worse."

She swallowed.

"Can we... even win? I don’t know why there’s this many Gates?"

"It seems like we’re being invaded" I revealed.

"Invaded...?" Scarlett questioned.

"No time for questions Scarlett, go and regroup with the other instructors" I told her.

She hesitated, then nodded, determination slowly returning to her.

"Aleight then, Daniel. I’ll regroup with the others."

"And try not to die again," I teased softly.

Her blush deepened.

"O-oi...!"

I stepped off the ground, Void Matter swirling like dark fire beneath my feet, lifting me into the sky.

I scanned the battlefield from above.

Instructors were being overrun.

Most of the students who were in differents years were trapped, cornered, screaming. If I didn’t move fast, casualties would skyrocket.

I extended my arm.

[: Void Singularity :]

Space warped, and a small black sphere formed above my palm.

It expanded into a swirling gravitational mass, sucking in the nearest cluster of invaders, hundreds of them, crushing them instantly before collapsing into nothingness.

Reinforcements poured from the Gates in the thousands.

Sigh, fine, I’ll do it myself.

[: Element of Destruction :]

I manifested a blast that destroyed the reinforcement coming out from the gates.

And the , I vanished again.

Voice Step carried me from one point to another, reappearing next to Instructor Halden, who was bleeding while shielding six injured students.

"Instructor," I called.

He turned, eyes widening. "D-Daniel?! What are you doing on the front—"

I flicked my fingers.

A crescent of Void Matter sliced through the thirty monsters about to impale him.

Halden stood frozen.

"...How... how strong are you?" he whispered.

"Strong enough," I replied.

"Take the students and fall back to the safer atra. My clone is guarding it."

"Clone? What?"

"No time to talk and move!"

He swallowed and nodded quickly.

"R-Right!"

As soon as he left, I teleported again and this time to a group of second-years cornered by a massive beast with four arms and magma-like skin.

Before it could crush them, I stepped between them and pressed a hand to its chest.

[: Essence Devouring :]

The monster’s body imploded as its essence was ripped from within, flowing into me like smoke.

It collapsed into an empty husk.

The students stared at me, pale and shaking.

"D-Daniel...?" one whispered.

"Oh? You know me?" I said calmly.

"It’s not hard to tell that it’s you when you basically hangs out with Silvia" the student said.

"That’s interesting, but sorry to say, now isn’t the best time for chit chat"

"Move to where Silvia is, and if you don’t know where it is, just look for a huge bright source of light"

They nodded their heads.

One of them, a girl with trembling hands, whispered, "Please... don’t leave us."

"Don’t worry, you’ll be safer there with the other instructors and students"

They nodded frantically and ran.

Another Gate opened above me, this one larger than the rest.

I clicked my tongue.

"Tch. Persistent."

I soared upward, Void energy trailing behind me like obsidian fire.

As the first wave of invaders emerged, I snapped my fingers.

[: Void Collapse :]

The Gate shuddered and then collapsed inward, imploding with a violent shockwave that swallowed the entire wave of monsters before they even touched the ground.

Below, Instructor Yona stared wide-eyed. "You can... destroy Gates? That’s impossible!"

"Well not impossible for me," I replied, landing beside her.

She huffed a breathless laugh.

"We were losing hope... until you showed up."

"Don’t rely on me too much," I said with a small grin. "I’m one guy."

"One guy who’s doing more than our entire army!"

"Fair."

Suddenly, a shriek echoed behind her.

A group of first-years were being pulled into a swirling vortex created by an invader’s magic.

I teleported instantly.

[: Element of Destruction :]

I grabbed the swirling magic vortex with my bare hands, condensing it into a tiny sphere before crushing it with a snap of my fingers.

Energy erupted outward and obliterated every invader in the area.

The students collapsed to their knees, tears in their eyes.

"Th-Thank you!"

"Don’t mention it. Get to safety."

They nodded, still shaking, and ran toward the defensive line.

On the other hand, a burst of flame lit the sky, Scarlett’s signature spell.

She was fighting again, but her mana was low, her breaths heavy.

I teleported to her side.

"Still alive?" I teased lightly.

She shot me a glare.

"Barely! You better make sure I stay that way!"

I smirked. "Planning to."

She looked at me, really looked, and a soft expression crossed her face.

"...Daniel," she said quietly, almost drowned by the roar of battle, "if you hadn’t come... I would’ve died."

"You didn’t," I said. "That’s what matters."

She bit her lip, cheeks pink again, even in the middle of war.

"I don’t know how you became like this... but I’m glad you did."

I met her gaze. "Then let’s survive together."

She nodded firmly.