Minutes later, another student went down. It was a commoner girl. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

A creature had grabbed her right arm, was actively consuming it, teeth grinding through flesh and bone, eating her alive while she screamed.

But instead of begging for help, instead of pleading for rescue, she looked at the students nearby.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Her voice carried command rather than fear.

Students backed away immediately, understanding what was about to happen.

’Damian Valcor... Are you watching this?! How dare you say we don’t have the guts?!’

"I HAVE THE GUTS!"

She smiled, savage and triumphant despite the pain, despite knowing she had seconds left.

BOOM!

Her core detonation took eleven creatures with her, clearing a section of the battlefield, buying precious seconds for her teammates.

****

Damian heard the explosions, felt the shockwaves even while butchering creatures by the dozen.

’So they’re really blowing themselves up.’

The thought carried surprise mixed with something approaching respect.

’I didn’t expect the speech to work this well. Thought maybe only one or two would have the courage when actually faced with being eaten alive.’

His axe continued its work, each swing removing creatures, his Slaughter Intent making every strike devastating.

’But then again... no one likes being consumed alive. If they’d known it was an option from the start, they probably would have chosen it without needing my speech.’

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Three more creatures dead, his kill count climbing into hundreds, the area around him carpeted with corpses and blood.

’Good! At least they’re dying with purpose now... Making their deaths count for something beyond just feeding these fucking Monsters!’

His smile never wavered, the manic expression hiding cold calculation, his entire performance designed to inspire while his actual thoughts remained clinical.

Because that was what they needed.

Not a fellow student who shared their fear.

But a monster on their side who made the impossible seem easy.

****

The battle lasted thirty minutes of continuous slaughter.

By the time the last C rank fell, the ground was completely carpeted with corpses, blood mixing with mud until the entire area was a slurry of gore.

The students stood heaving, their bodies pushed past exhaustion into territory where willpower alone kept them moving.

Casualties had been heavy.

Twenty-three dead, either consumed before they could detonate or killed too quickly to make the choice.

Thirty-seven seriously wounded, being kept alive only through David’s desperate healing and their own enhanced vitality.

One hundred ten remained combat-capable, though "capable" was generous, most were running on fumes, their Aura reserves depleted again, their bodies screaming for rest that wouldn’t come.

They stood at the cave entrance now, that massive fifty-meter opening leading into darkness, the factory-creature’s interior waiting to consume them.

"..."

Damian stood at the front, completely covered in blood, none of it his own, his axe dripping with gore, his crimson Slaughter Intent still burning around him like hellfire.

He turned to face the formation, his crimson eyes meeting theirs one by one, making sure everyone felt his attention.

"When we step inside, either we all die, or this thing dies."

His voice carried across the exhausted formation.

"I don’t know what we’ll encounter in there... Could be more C-ranks, could be worse and could be things I can’t prepare you for."

He paused, letting that sink in.

"I want to give you all more time to recover, want to let you rest and rebuild reserves. But this portal has no food, no water, nothing except poisoned rain and a hostile atmosphere... We can’t sustain ourselves on Aura alone, eventually we’ll starve or collapse from exhaustion."

His hands gestured broadly at the entrance.

"There’s only one choice. We fight! We go in there and kill whatever is controlling these things, or we die trying. Those are the options."

The silence was absolute, everyone processing the inevitability of what came next.

"But I’ll be honest with you."

His voice became quieter and more serious.

"Most of us will die. Only a few will probably survive whatever is waiting inside. Those are the odds... That’s the reality I can’t change with speeches or tactics or any amount of power."

The smile that crossed his blood-covered face was gentle despite the gore surrounding it.

"But those who survive will remember the ones we lost! Will carry their names back home! Will tell their families how bravely they fought! How they chose to face death rather than accept it passively!"

His voice gained strength again.

"Your deeds will be remembered! Your efforts will become stories! You’ll live through the memories of those who make it back! Your tales will spread across the Federation – the talented students who were swept into a hostile portal and fought braver than most adults ever could!"

His crimson eyes blazed.

"Your families will be proud of your names! You’ll be the motivation for future generations facing their own impossibilities! No death here is in vain! Every sacrifice has meaning! Every core detonation saves teammates who will carry forward YOUR LEGACY!"

The smile widened, becoming something approaching madness combined with his blood-covered appearance.

"Isn’t that... a beautiful death?"

"..."

Silence.

Then–

"BEAUTIFUL DEATH! BEAUTIFUL DEATH! BEAUTIFUL DEATH!"

Shouts resounded across the formation, students raising weapons, fear transformed into fuel, despair replaced by determination, everyone swept up by Damian’s words into believing that dying here could actually mean something.

No fear was visible in their expressions.

Just rage and acceptance and the terrible courage of people who’d stopped caring about survival and started caring about making their deaths matter.

****

Edrin watched the crowd react, saw Nobles and commoners and Imperials all swept up in the same fervor, their divisions temporarily erased by collective purpose, all ready to march into certain death because they’d been convinced it was meaningful!

Then he looked at Damian’s eyes.

And saw something that made his blood run cold.

Behind that manic smile, behind the blood-covered face and crimson Slaughter Intent...

Damian’s eyes showed nothing!

No excitement matching his expression.

No fervor matching his words.

No belief in the words he’d just spoken.

No faith that meaningful death was actually beautiful.

Just cold calculation, the recognition that motivated soldiers fought better than terrified ones, that people accepting death were more dangerous than people fearing it.

’I decided to follow him because I knew challenging social constructs required someone willing to be ruthless! Brought Lysa and Ronan to ask him to lead commoners because only a madman like Damian could face centuries of Noble power and actually have a chance to win!’

Edrin felt his own blood rushing, felt the speech affecting him despite recognizing the manipulation.

’And even knowing it’s manipulation, I can’t help but feel inspired! That’s the terrifying part... he’s so good at this that even seeing through it doesn’t matter!’

His analytical mind processed the implications.

’The real terror of Boss isn’t his combat power, isn’t his Channel Shot or Slaughter Intent or any of his techniques. Those are just tools... The real terror is his ability to manipulate crowds, to make everyone ready to sacrifice themselves with speeches, to transform fear into fuel with nothing but words and timing!’

He looked at the students shouting and preparing to enter the creature’s body, all of them believing their deaths would be meaningful.

’He’s created an army of people willing to sacrifice themselves... Just through understanding exactly what words to say, exactly what emotions to trigger, exactly how to make death seem preferable to survival without hope.’

’That’s what makes him terrifying.’

Thunder rumbled overhead as rain continued falling.

And one hundred forty students prepared to enter a living nightmare, their determination absolute, their fear conquered, their deaths almost certain...

All because one blood-covered boy knew exactly how to manipulate human nature.