Chapter 56 - Embers (Patreon)

Author's Note: At last, I can finally upgrade Patreon tiers! 

Tier 3 will now offer 12 chapters ahead of RR instead of 10, while Tier 2 will increase from 5 chapters to 6. 

Right after this chapter, I'll be posting two more, so enjoy!

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They rush at us like crazy.

The trolls do not care about monsters under their feet and continue to step on goblins, spiders, and wolves.

The bears run over the smaller monsters and push others away.

Even as they die they do not let out a single scream of pain. Before they enter Tess'  and Kim's range, dozens of them die.

Then they come closer, and the rain of quickly flying stones hit them.

Some are big, some are small, but all of them are dangerous. Monsters continue to die, and more of them climb over their dead bodies.

Then Sophie's mana washes over them, and a few of the biggest trolls turn against a hoard of monsters. She even gets one of the Giant Trolls, and he starts spamming his gravity attacks all over. The giant circular holes start appearing all over the forest, destroying the trees, and squashing monsters under them.

Just like that trolls wreak havoc. Soon, the other monsters stop ignoring the manipulated monsters and jump at them.

The smaller ones only get squashed as they enter the gravity field around the giant troll, but some bears and other unaffected trolls push through and attack the monsters.

More of them die.

I feel Sophie's mana focus on another Giant Troll as the first one dies, and the same thing repeats. She stops trying to control smaller trolls and just continues to take over one giant troll after another. Every time she does so, the monsters stop pushing towards us and focus on killing the Giant Trolls.

We gain more precious time like this, and much more of them perish trying to take down massive Giant Trolls. I don't even bother to count but a new worry appears in my mind.

Is she getting the experience?

The last Giant Troll dies, and Sophie falls to her knees. Not losing consciousness but close to it. There is blood on her nose, and a few small veins have exploded in her eye. The waves of monsters start pushing again, and Tess and Kim continuously throw at them what they can.

After that, Isabella's flames roar into the surroundings and even Kevin continues to throw smaller stones charged with his [Combustion] into the monsters.

What I regret is that we can't set the forest ablaze, as it is still wet because of the rain, and most of the trees are also destroyed because of it.

Still, monsters continue to burn in flames without letting out any screams of pain. They just move until their burning bodies allow them to, and then they fall down, the flames from their corpses burning more monsters.

I feel a presence closing up, and something in me moves. I dash at it and catch a Phantom Goblin about to sneak inside the cave by his neck. I squeeze until its head is separated from its body. The blood dirties my hand, and I shake it off. Then, while ignoring my surroundings, I stomp on its corpse.

Splat.

Its head explodes like overripe fruit, and its chest dents under my feet.

Fucker.

I get back to monitoring our surroundings, and there isn't any other sneaky assailant.

When I get back to the position, I notice that Tess is attacking monsters that are further away, and Kim is focusing on throwing stones at the ones that are getting closer to the cave. Our frontline still hasn't gotten to fight, but as I see the smaller and smaller piles of stones, I know that it will happen soon. I send mana as far as I can and feel that there are even more monsters than at the start, even though so many of them have died.

How the heck is this clearable?

Did we do something wrong?

Are we that weak? Is it impossible to clear for a single strong individual, and the target of the First Floor is for all of us to get as strong as possible?

While probing with mana, I feel something familiar – the piece of amulet tied to the wolf.

What the fuck?

How is he still alive?

The low-level wolf monster rushes at us too and soon gets killed by one of the attacks.

As he dies, I feel a really weak pulse of mana from the piece of its amulet.

With my improved perception, I realize that it feels similar to the twins' connection, and it sends a message somewhere – a call, if you will.

Damn.

I quickly check the timer, and there are thirty minutes left.

The cave shakes, and dust starts falling down from the ceiling as some monsters begin attacking it.

There is already a fight at the front. Hadwin, Kevin, Maya, and the twins are fighting up close with the monsters, and I join them.

Immediately, a goblin warrior jumps at me, but I dodge and kick at his head while strengthening my body.

[You have defeated the Goblin warrior - lvl 6]

Another one – this time, I grab the monster's neck and throw him into the horde of monsters, where he gets stomped to death.

[You have defeated the Goblin - lvl 5]

A burning wolf dashes at me, but I absorb the kinetic energy of a few monsters around and push him into other monsters that also start burning.

Good.

They start moving closer with their bodies in flames.

Not good.

I absorb more and more energy and push them again, this time as strong as I can. Tess continues to grab dead burning bodies and flings them as far as she can.

A few burning monsters also try to get to Hadwin, but as soon as he turns to them, I feel his mana activating, and the flames around the monsters dissipate as if extinguished by a strong wind. The man continues to finish them off with a massive club in his hands.

Some smaller monsters are able to get closer to him, but their attacks do not penetrate his skin at all, and I feel mana around his body.

Maya is holding a translucent pointy stick rather than a spear in her hand and keeps stabbing at the monsters. Calmly and every time a monster gets closer to her, she either avoids it with her high dexterity or uses her armor created out of mana to absorb the attack.

Kevin continues to create explosions in the palm of his hands and reflects the attacks of the monsters. The stronger they attack, the stronger they are pushed back, but I see that it's taking a toll on him.

A toll on all of them. Especially the twins, who are already wounded in multiple places while fighting back to back against every monster that gets to them.

I activate my [Armament] and hold something more like a spike than a sword.

I continue to stab every monster that gets in my way, slowing them down and stabbing through their eyes and necks. Mana flows through my body, but I am being careful with its usage, knowing that the worst is yet to come.

A wolf jumps at Kevin while he is turned towards another monster, and I use my skill to slow it down in the air. Then I use absorbed energy to dash and hit the monster with my shoulder, pushing it away from Kevin.

“T-thanks,” he barely gets out of himself, once again fighting against another monster. There is sweat on his forehead.

More and more monsters get inside, and the wounds start accumulating.

Hadwin is limping, Maya isn't using her armor anymore, Kevin's reflection is weaker than before, and the twins are nowhere to be seen. Tess and Kim are barely able to throw some stones – only with their will do they keep themselves on their feet.

Then I feel a whisper of terrifying mana at the edge of my perception.

While other monsters are unnaturally quiet, one deep, low growl sounds in the surroundings, and we can hear it even inside the cave.

A bear's growl.

Monsters slow down and stop, then all of them at once turn towards one direction. I feel a wave of mana that scares me and reminds me of things I want to forget.

From one part of the forest, I notice flames that burn in a bright orange color. Soon sparks start glowing around the flames. Pushed by the wind, they move through the air and land on the monsters that are instantly set ablaze by them.

Tens, hundreds of monsters get burned to ashes in an instant, and then I spot the bear walking through the corpses while hot air flickers around.

He walks with a scarily confident stride.

[Cinderbear - lvl 25]

Its mana expands and covers a massive area, and then Cinderbear looks straight towards the cave.

Staring right at me.