Chapter 254

Witnessing the Aspirants fight with such newfound vigor, the Iron Corps members allowed themselves a brief moment to pause as they scanned the rapidly shifting battlefield.

The beasts that had been casually scurrying around and demolishing the skyscrapers began to take notice of the recent developments; most of them were already pivoting their massive bodies to head toward the fresh arrivals.

Sliding out in the opposite direction, Trisha vaulted into the air, spun with acrobatic grace, and bashed her leg into the side of the beast she had singled out.

Luckily, the point of impact wasn’t covered in defensive spikes, so her leg wasn’t ripped through by the creature’s jagged exterior. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

The heavy hit pushed the monster a meter away, but it immediately dug its serrated talons deep into the concrete, refusing to be pushed back any further.

Rapid shots were opened by the nearby Iron Corps, but the bullets only bounced harmlessly off the thick carapace.

The beast shifted its entire weight onto its talons, ripping the ground open for a moment before it bolted toward the girl with predatory intent.

Even with its hulking, monstrous size, the creature was deceptively fast.

Within a few short seconds, it was upon her in a flurry of lethal slashes and swipes.

Trisha met the assault head-on, her blade moving in a blur as she deflected the talons.

Each collision sent a sharp, ringing sound rolling over the area, though the noise was mostly drowned out by the thunderous roar of distant explosions.

Using half of its talons as a makeshift stand, the spider-like entity dashed toward her with blazing speed, its mandibles opening wide and ready to snap her in half.

Reacting with split-second timing, her VMS boots activated, allowing her to vault backward just in time.

The mandibles snapped shut on the empty space she had occupied a moment ago with a loud, sickening crack.

She landed firmly and instantly sent two massive ice columns shooting toward the monster.

In a display of raw instinct, the beast smashed all its scythe-like limbs into the pavement; within a single second, it had burrowed into the earth like a frenzied beaver, thereby avoiding the columns which crashed into the air with a low, hollow thud.

Bursting out from directly behind her the very next second, the creature’s scythes sliced toward her back with deadly, unwavering speed.

....

Kai was having a much easier time by comparison.

After helping the girl avoid certain death earlier, he was instantly surrounded by two beasts that had taken notice of his presence.

A pair of crystalline daggers materialized in his grasp as he shifted into a combat stance, his eyes tracking the monsters as they bolted toward him.

Clang—!

Parrying a scythe to the side with precise timing, he leaped over the nearest beast with the assistance of his boots.

Landing directly behind the second creature, he swung his leg forward, crystalline structures rapidly forming around his entire limb to add devastating weight to the strike.

BAM—! Booom—!

A blast of pressurized wind erupted outwardly as his leg connected.

The concrete cracked massively under the force as the beast was sent hurtling through the air and into a nearby skyscraper.

It smashed through the reinforced walls, and a rain of glass shards cascaded down from the impact site.

Pow! Pow! Pow!

Three consecutive shots from an Iron Corps soldier crashed through several of the beast’s joints, destabilizing its posture for a crucial moment.

This opening allowed Kai to vault high into the air, a heavy crystal club appearing in his hand as he descended.

Bam—!

The club shattered against the beast’s head with violent force, sending the spider staggering backward in a state of total disorientation.

Kai lunged at it with fluid speed, swinging his crystal dagger toward its primary eye.

As if sensing the lethal intent through its daze, the beast snapped its eyes closed immediately.

Kai’s daggers bounced off the natural armor surrounding the spider’s body in a brilliant shower of sparks.

In swift retaliation, the spider’s scythe sliced toward the Aspirant’s side with blinding speed.

.....

Nearby, Berg rocketed past a few Iron Corps members who were maintaining rapid fire on another beast.

The creature crossed its scythes in front of its face like a shield, causing the incoming shots to bounce off like bullets striking a tempered sword.

Not only was his speed augmented by the boots, but Berg also held his hands behind his torso with flames blazing outward, allowing him to shoot forward like a literal rocket.

He kicked up a fierce gust of wind as he rocketed past the Corps members; within a heart-beat, he stood before the monster with a crackling fireball launching toward its head.

The beast, sensing the imminent threat, swiftly snapped its mandibles toward the projectile.

’Is it... does it actually want to eat it?’

With a sharp crack, the mandibles closed on the fireball, slicing the orb in two while the spider’s talon simultaneously sped toward Berg from above.

This forced the boy to bound backward just in time as the limb sliced through the concrete with immense force, splitting the flooring and kicking dust along with jagged debris into the atmosphere.

Taking advantage of the sudden smoke screen, flames roared around Berg’s hands as he propelled himself forward like a blazing comet, cutting through the haze and dispelling it immediately.

The fire had switched from his hands to his feet; adding this to the propulsion of the gas from the boots, his velocity doubled as he cocked his arm back and thrust his fist forward with his entire might.

A few inches from striking the creature, flames erupted from his elbow, propelling his fist with maximum momentum.

WAM—! BANG—!

The punch connected significantly faster than the beast had anticipated.

The concrete beneath them cracked apart while visible fractures appeared on the chitinous carapace of the beast’s head.

Its massive body was lifted off the ground and sent ricocheting across the terrain for several moments.

....

Bang—! Bang—! Bang—!

Van didn’t relent as he maneuvered through the air, sending beams flying in every direction to destabilize the monsters.

He was focused on giving the other Aspirants enough time to move civilians to safety or launch their own offensives.

However, doing this made him a primary target in the eyes of the hoard.

One spider quickly burrowed into the concrete earth while Van was preoccupied with saving as many lives as he could.

This distraction prevented him from realizing that directly in front of him, the earth was bursting open.

From the hole, a deadly pair of scythes were speeding toward his torso, ready to cleave him in two.

The moment he noticed the danger, it was already too late.

Or was it?

Bang—!

A silver blur flashed across Van’s vision, followed by another deafening bang that cut through the heavy cacophony of explosions and battle.

The beast could be seen flying away with blazing speed; in less than a second, it had smashed through four burning cars.

The ground leading toward its current position was gouged with deep, jagged grooves.

Standing in the beast’s previous position, with smoke oozing from his clenched fist, was a silver-haired Aspirant who frowned at the creature as if it personally owed him money.

’Well, that was one way to enter the field. But not quite flashy enough,’ Ray mused.