Not only did their aura stand out, but so did their physical bodies.

The first beast stood on its fours at a staggering height of almost four meters, with a massive frame

Its hide was thick and layered, resembling the rough surface of a rock with several thin cracks on its surface, and from its mouth were two sharp elephant like tusks protruding into the air.

The second beast had a much leaner and smaller frame, its head being the outstanding feature, with an open and oversized jaw, lined with a row of sharp teeth.

The two beasts gave off equal waves of energy, indicating that they were at a similar level.

Facing Angy’s question, Instructor Josh had nothing but an ashen look in his face.

He could feel it from there. Those two beasts were the same grade as him – Grade 6. There was no way he could handle such threats on his own, and as much as he hated to admit it, Instructor Angy was the best support the camp could have sent.

"Keep firing! We’ll go handle the threats."

"Get the others ready too!"

He gave directives to the soldiers on the wall, snapping them out of their daze. It was inevitable.

Against a Grade 6 beast, even the most hardened of them was bound to be intimidated.

Down below, the gates of the camp opened, and several recruits and soldiers marched out in organized batches, each approaching the edge of the dome.

Now, there was nothing but the few kilometers between the dome and camp’s forces.

’They’re deploying?’

Sparks flashed across Holland’s mind as his fingertips went numb despite the immense heat he was feeling.

The camp was backed into a corner. Two of their domes had been destroyed by unknown methods, leaving their "strongest defense" feeling like a piece of wet paper.

They couldn’t place any faith in it, and now two beasts strong enough to make the instructors wary had appeared.

The moment the third dome fell was the moment they met their end, and rather than sitting on their thumbs, waiting for a rescue that was most likely not going to make it if they ever came, they were better off taking the offensive.

The two beasts at the far end of the beast army were their biggest threat, and the instructors had to get to them, crossing the sea of beasts between them without losing all of their energy.

It was simply impossible. A path had to be carved out for them. At least to get them deep enough to where they could take matters into their own hand.

A path carved with the blood of their soldiers and recruits.

Instructor Angy looked down from the wall with a saddened expression on her face.

Those were students she had taught and developed some sort of bond with, both the recruit and soldiers. The reality stabbed her heart mercilessly.

"Stop it!"

Josh’s voice was cold and cutting, just like his expression, but even beneath that, she could still see that he was in pain, and even more, he was wrought with anger.

Anger at the beasts, anger at Origin, anger at everything, even her.

"They shall do what they need to, and we shall do the same."

The harsh tone brought her back to reality. Everyone had a part to play, and they simply needed to play theirs.

A similar cold look settled on her face, her eyes fixed on the two beasts in the distance as the camp finally began its attack.

Several charged up cannons on the wall shot out simultaneously, cutting through the encirclement of beasts around the dome, creating a small gap for the camp’s forces to exploit.

The soldiers pushed forward in a wedge like formation, cutting in the direction of the two Grade 6 beasts.

Their reality was absolute — death.

Each man knew that as they hacked away at the vile creatures in front of them, feeling the blood of the beasts mixed with that of the soldiers and recruits next to them soak their bodies without looking back.

All forces on the wall were concentrated around this squad of fighters, providing as much support as they could offer.

"Let’s go."

Josh took the lead, jumping down from the wall, before rushing out at full speed towards the barrier and gap created by the falling soldiers, and Angy followed behind as close as she could.

Watching from the top of the wall, Holland thanked his stars he wasn’t part of the foot soldiers, as the scene terrified him to his core.

It was a dumb thought, but the reality that he was going to live a little longer soothed his fears, giving way to the small spark of irrational hope that was threatened to be snuffed out at any time.

With their attack being launched, the remaining forces pushed against the barrier, serving as an additional wall albeit thin.

The capabilities of the soldiers against the sea of beasts around them were limited, and the last one of them finally died off, tearing a hole through Angy’s heart as she saw him fall, but they had done their job — clear a path as deep as possible into the beast army.

For Instructor Josh, it was deep enough, as his body blurred and the capabilities of an enraged Grade 6 awakened was witnessed.

His figure was more like that of a shadow, gliding on the surface of the battlefield, and his presence was like that of a blender, leaving nothing but shredded pieces of beast meat in his wake.

He had long since left Angy behind to her own devices, moving at speeds no Grade 5 human could compete with.

Feeling the mass of several beasts inch close to her, ready to rip her to shreds, her eyes flashed, and a blue barrier pulsed out from her, smashing the beasts around into bits with sheer force.

Keeping a constant barrier around her, she pushed her way through the beast army, any creature unlucky enough to come in contact with the barrier exploding to bits.

"...haa...they’re that strong?"

Holland watched from the wall, through the scope of his weapon, how the instructors he saw every so casually worked their way impeded through the beast army, especially instructor Josh, who he personally disliked.

The sight evoked feelings in him even he struggled to identify.

Those sensations were cut off by the sudden tremor felt on the wall and throughout the battlefield.

Adjusting his sight, he saw the source — the tall beast with the tusks resembling an elephant.

Josh was still on his journey towards it when it had decided to join the fray, the second beast with the open jaw choosing to stay behind.

The tremors became more prominent as the beast stepped down hard and started to pick up the pace, uncaring of the monsters it crushed to death beneath each of it’s steps, clearing its own path towards Josh.

These actions weren’t missed by Josh, whose attention had been trained on the beasts since they appeared.

Tightening his movements, he cut through more beasts, his pace picking up as the two Grade 6 entities finally hit each other in a clash, the shockwave pushing back and instantly killing the beasts around them, creating a space of their own to battle.

Josh, feeling the body of his sword make contact with the head of the creature, realized something as his body was sent flying back into the ground.

’It’s bigger in the front’

Its frame was massive in the chest and shoulders, tapering into a leaner rear. It made the beast feel like a battering ram, made to crush anything that stood in its way with sheer force.

Josh looked down on his arm, still trembling from the remnants of the transfered force. He had activated his ability almost instantly, but it fared poorly against blunt forces.

’This is a bad match up’

The thought crossed his mind for a split second as he tightened his grip on the sword and got back on his feet.

The surrounding beasts avoided them and acted like they didn’t exist, continuing their match towards the dome. This was to his advantage— not having to look out for the random beast, which could cause damage of he wasn’t careful.

"What makes you think you can look down on me!"

The corners of his eyes reddened, seeing that the beast hadn’t followed up with its attack after winning in their battle of brute force.

Instead, it stood in place and waited for Josh to get back on his feet, waiting for him to take the next strike.

Through the thick aura of bloodlust exuded by the beast, Josh could still see it in the narrow eyes of the creature.

Arrogance

It knew it was stronger than him in brute force, and thus thought less of him. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"A beast is still a beast, even after gaining the ability to think."

Josh walked slowly, his eyes searching for any obvious weaknesses or openings and catching none.

There was just only one thing he could exploit— its weight and size.