A few minutes earlier.

"Auric, focus on the ones on the right." Ellia shouted as she turned to the left, preparing to handle those coming from the left. The number of beasts had increased significantly.

Usually, they would handle four to five beasts at a time. If they were unlucky, six would come.

From time to time, they had to send one or two beasts to the back, letting other students deal with them.

However, the number of beasts just kept increasing.

Ellia had chosen to take on two rank 2 beasts by herself. It was hard to handle, but she had no other choice. She couldn’t afford to keep sending the beasts away in case the students behind them were unable to hold them off anymore.

Auric had to bear some responsibility as well by unleashing his elemental fusion.

With more power coming from his attack, Auric could support Milinda more efficiently. Milinda was also utilizing her versatility to gain some advantages in the battles, trying to finish the fights as quickly as possible.

But their situation never improved.

It looked worse the longer they stayed there.

"Are we still thinking about rescuing other students out here?" Auric asked jokingly.

"We already have a hard time fending for ourselves. It’s going to be almost impossible to investigate the anomaly, let alone help other students. However, it may be hard, but not impossible. We first have to reduce the enemy’s numbers. Once the path is opened, we will take care of the other jobs." Ellia was still thinking that their group would remain standing for a long time.

In the worst-case scenario, they would have to fall back slightly.

"More and more beasts are coming. I guess some students may have died. Some are still surviving, but they might be injured or poisoned and couldn’t rejoin the fight." Milinda frowned. "The situation doesn’t look good for us. The poison has made this battle ten times harder."

"What can we do? The enemy is doing its best to sabotage this beast wave and try to destroy the city. They must want to get the ruins that badly, isn’t that right?"

"Most likely. If they have access to the ruins with all elements, they can basically create poisons with any elements they like. I’m not sure about a poison with three or more elements, but I think it’s a possibility, given the evolution of the poison." Auric nodded in agreement.

Just the thought alone was terrifying. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much they could do.

So, it was better to focus on the battle.

However, the number of beasts had increased by one.

"Hmm?" Ellia raised her eyebrows. ’We now have to face seven beasts? There is one more coming. Even if we quickly take one of them down, the number will remain seven. Milinda takes another one? No, this is...’

Ellia scanned the surroundings with the little time they had.

She concentrated her senses on her ears while fighting two beasts at once.

To her surprise, there was one thing that she found slightly concerning. The sounds from the fighting nearby had stopped.

’When did it stop?’ Ellia initially heard clashes not far from their location. Their position was a bit far from others, but not far enough that they couldn’t hear anything from their surroundings.

So, the disappearance of the noises from their surroundings raised one possibility.

’All of them have been taken out by the beasts? Is it so quick? How about the seniors? Is the situation that bad?’

Ellia’s expression turned dark. The more she thought about it, the more abnormal it seemed.

When she heard another roar that sounded like it was coming closer, Ellia realized the situation they were in.

"Not good. We have been isolated." Ellia warned the group.

"What?" Arina looked around. "Is it really that bad?"

Milinda frowned, trying to figure out their situation before the next beast arrived.

Auric squinted, using his special eyes to track the energy around them. He had been so focused on the fight that he didn’t even notice the situation.

"Even worse. We have been surrounded."

The team’s atmosphere became tense.

"We need to retreat immediately." Ellia shouted. "Arina, use everything you have and stall the beasts even for a second. Anyone who sees an opportunity will create an escape route. Understood?"

"Roger that." Milinda and Eric acknowledged the order.

Arina took a deep breath and raised her output to the maximum. Three more roots emerged from the ground. She used them to restrain the beasts, but Auric suddenly turned around.

His left hand activated his Earth Wall to block the beast in front of him. He pointed his right hand toward Arina and shot out a lightning bolt. "Watch out!"

"!!!" Arina was startled, seeing a bolt of lightning come toward her. "What are you do—"

She wanted to complain. Auric shouldn’t make a mistake in this situation. At this rate, she would have to take the hit, and it might cause the group to be unable to escape anymore.

But her mouth stopped the moment the lightning bolt burst before it reached her, as though it had just hit something invisible.

"Aahhh!" A human’s scream surprised all of them.

Arina gasped. "A human? Who?"

She didn’t recognize the attire. Besides, this person looked older than a typical student. He was clearly not one of them.

In addition, the situation around them was weird. After the warning from Ellia, she realized something. "Assassins!"

"!!!" The rest of the team tensed up. They remembered they were supposed to be targeted by an unknown organization that might actually cause the beast wave.

So, it wouldn’t be surprising to have an assassin come for them in this place.

The unknown organization might have assassinated some students around them, which allowed the beasts to take over the area. That was why they had the influx of beasts all of a sudden and became isolated.

If they were to retreat, the assassins would find an opportunity to strike them. Even one death was already too many, so Ellia couldn’t risk making that decision.

At the same time, they would become an easy target if they remained in this place.

The only conclusion was to call for backup.

Ellia swung her blade diagonally, using all her strength to push back the two beasts she was fighting. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Using that opportunity, she took out the phone that Maya had given her earlier.

She tried to call the only number on that phone while fending off the two beasts. When she was about to make the call, Auric suddenly shouted, "Ellia!"

"!!!" Ellia was startled. Her focus on the phone immediately disappeared, allowing her to pick a presence coming toward her.

There was a masked man who leaped from a tree to cut her down.

Ellia lowered her stance slightly, disrupting the masked man’s timing. Because of her extraordinary lower-body strength, she could release a slash with the same power as her usual swing, knocking the blade away.

Then, she swung one more time to cut him, but the guy used his ice ability to cause mutual destruction.

Ellia managed to avoid it easily while severing his arm.

The guy’s body shook as he was enduring the pain, but the man suddenly leaped away as though he were satisfied with the result. His head was facing the left side of her rather than her body.

She soon realized what the assassin was aiming for. As soon as she shifted her gaze, she found the phone broken by the ice attack from earlier. This was the assassin’s target. He wanted to prevent her from informing Maya or Principal Fernandes.

Ellia was thinking of the second-best option. ’If this doesn’t work, we have to get away manually. How? Void Step? It can bring someone or something, but even if I and Auric bring one person, the last one won’t be able to escape. It won’t work.’

’What should we do?’ For the first time since the battle started, Ellia couldn’t find any option left for them.

They might have to risk it all and break through from this place. It would be good to have Milinda as the vanguard. She was fast and strong. Even if she were going ahead of them, it would mean Ellia and Auric could bring Arina and Eric with their Void Step.

This was the only option, even though it also risked exposing Auric’s space element. Since they used the unique element as a cover, it might be natural and acceptable to have a space element, since it belonged to the unique element category.

Besides, more and more beasts were coming. If they delayed for too long, their escape route would be sealed forever.

Shouting wouldn’t help either, considering the distance between them and the student camp was too great. Unless someone was near them, no one would receive their calls.

’We are... out of options.’ Ellia frowned. She never thought that the situation would become this dire so soon. Ellia shouted, "Milinda, take the charge. You need to create an escape route. Eric, Arina, get ready!"

There was no need to say anything to Auric. This message alone was more than enough for him to know what she was planning to do.

Auric steeled his resolve, knowing that it was going to happen.

However, seeing how Ellia was in charge of the team, the assassins definitely couldn’t leave her alone.

To cripple the team, the one-armed assassin rushed at Ellia. "They’re coming again, Ellia!"

"Tsk." Ellia clicked her tongue. She used her Void Step to avoid the attack. If the beasts hit her, she would be poisoned. The assassin must also have poison, so she had no choice but to escape, even if it meant breaking the formation.

The assassins noticed that Auric had been the one reading their attacks. It looked like Auric had to be taken down first if they wanted their attacks to land.

Hence, one assassin came toward him. The invisible assassin approached from a different direction.

Auric formed a barrier to block the beast once again before using the elemental fusion to restrain the assassin.

Since Auric had focused on these two, the invisible assassin threw a knife toward Auric.

Even though he couldn’t use any more abilities, his eyes still captured the invisible assassin, as no one could completely erase their trace of energy.

However, his position was off-balance after dodging the throwing knife. The assassin, who was supposed to be restricted by his elemental fusion, broke free, sacrificing his leg so that he could reach Auric.

"Auric!"

Auric’s expression turned grim as he saw the assassin coming, planning to stab him in the chest. This time, he had no way to avoid it using his Void Step.

When he was about to reveal the space element, the necklace that his mother had given him suddenly emitted a golden light.

"!!!" The assassins and even his teammates were surprised.

The necklace was emitting a powerful energy and started forming a sphere, preventing anyone from coming in. It was a barrier strong enough to stop all the beasts around Auric.

"This..." Auric certainly didn’t expect that his necklace was hiding something special. "...is not a lucky charm?"

His mother definitely said that his father had worn this necklace when he courted her because this was his lucky charm.

But it looked like there was something more to this necklace, especially when the necklace suddenly released a burst of gray energy.

"Unique element energy?" Ellia widened her eyes in shock.

What shocked Auric even more was the fact that Lindwurm was also being covered in the same energy, but he was the only one who could see it.

"So, it has come to this point..." Lindwurm muttered. "I have been authorized to assist you using the power that has been sealed within me. I will use an ability that your father has sealed within this necklace.

"That power will utilize the full extent of your current senses, allowing you to gain an omniscient point of view by using me as the medium. Your father called this battle technique..."

"God Mode."