“Loose!” Ubin shouted.

  Nerve-wracked archers unleashed another volley of arrows that rained down on the monster horde. But half survived again, and charged closer to the walls.

  As the beasts reached the base, the Mystics bombarded them with raw aura and the eight elements in chaotic disunion. But still, some survived. And they lept atop the walls.

  Warriors and melee combatants lunged forward to meet them. They slashed and battered until they managed to slay the rapid creatures or drive them back over the wall. But the town had suffered losses again, and the end of the horde was nowhere in sight.

  The battle held in their favor for now, but as the weaker monsters started to wane, the stronger ones took their place. Then it became the weaker monks’ turn to falter and die, forcing the elites of the town to step up and take more of the burden.

  Otto watched the carnage below with casual assessment. They had taken a large chunk out of the horde certainly, but at least half of it still remained. And their losses were mounting. Their aura reserves running low.

  The town wouldn’t last long enough to win at this rate. Cracks were already starting to show as a few monsters managed to break through and run rampant through the town.

  But Otto simply waited and watched.

  “We will not hold.” Warlord spoke up. “Is this all there is to your plan?”

  Otto glanced at the sham of a schemer with subtly sardonic eyes. That aggravating smile had been wiped off his face, to his satisfaction. Vermin should know their place.

  He turned his focus back to the horde, though it did not take much longer until what he waited on finally appeared. A brutish humanoid creature emerged from the distance, its towering physique the epitome of vulgar might.

  Standing over 15 feet tall, its hulking body of muscle and fat made its heavy steps stand out even among the horde. Its skin was dull yellow and its face like that of a deformed primitive human.

  It wore nothing but a dirty loincloth made from an animal’s pelt and a barbaric necklace of human skulls. It is right hand, it carried a crude club fashioned out of a small tree. The sight of a true ogre made any half-wit comparison to Barosa a laughable one.

  It was the leader of this monster wave, the only one not completely controlled by the rampaging mana. A high-grade ogre with mana emanations that surpassed that of a Rank 2.

  The ogre raised its giant club and callously smashed the monsters at its feet, sending them crashing into bloody chunks against the unfortunate humans on the wall. The violent roar that followed caused some of the more weak-hearted to rout in fear.

  “Looks like it’s our turn.” Otto said casually.

  The ogre battered the wall with another round of living projectiles, yet Otto showed no urge to react with haste. No sign of concern at the disaster bearing down on them.

  Barosa stared at him for a moment. “...I have a way to keep the rest of the horde at bay for a short while. It will buy us enough time to deal with the ogre.”

  “Then lead the way.” Otto replied as he drew his scimitars.

  Barosa paused again, then head off past the wall. Otto followed a half step behind, just enough to the side that he remained in Barosa’s periphery but out of the range of his axe.

  As they cut through the monsters in their path towards the ogre, the carnage earned them a gaze filled with vicious intentions from the brutish creature. Barosa pulled red pills from his satchel and threw them in a wide area.

  They shattered on contact, releasing a burst of thin red smoke that made all monsters squirm and splutter as they rushed to escape its range. All but the ogre, its rank too high to be affected by mid-grade monster repellent.

  Danger flared in their minds, and the two of them both darted to the side as the ogre’s giant club cratered the ground where they had just stood. It roared in rage as they stared back with aura surging through their limbs, waiting to see who it would choose to attack.

  The monstrous brute did not take long. It raised its club high and charged to the larger of the two. Barosa crunched down on the pill he kept in his mouth, his veins bulging green as he swatted his axe at the descending club.

  It met the wooden weapon with a mystical chime that pushed with just enough force to deflect it harmlessly to the side. But the ogre swung back without pause, raining down a hail of blows that Barosa was only just barely able to defect.

  “I will leave if you do not act!” He bellowed at Otto.

  Otto flickered behind the ogre, the edge of his scimitar searing red hot, and slashed into its heel. But as sharp and swift as the blade was, it cut swallow into the monster’s tough flesh.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  He yanked out the crimson sword without hesitation as the ogre roared with pain and thrashed back at the ground. Otto slid back, having just barely avoided the blow. The transparent spectral image of a wolf covering his body.

  The Aspect of the Wolf art tripled his speed, but even with that and the fivefold boost of a mastered Harness, he was not even half as mighty as the Rank 3 ogre.

  Barosa fared no better than him. Were it not slow in both body and mind, they would have stood no chance against it, even if they were not scheming against each other.

  The ogre continued its murderous attempts, and the two fought halfheartedly in response. It was not out of reservation for its strength, but to make things more difficult for the other.

  Carefully, they strove to survive and maintain the balance, never pressing the advantage and never allowing the other into circumstance so dangerous that they would be forced to flee.

  Neither intended to take the initiative, for a single mistake against a monster of this ability would spell their doom. The one who emerged victorious from this morbid game, would be the one who could cause the other to make that first mistake.

  ---

  A thin mist-like sphere of aura enveloped Eres as she calmly watched Banda slaughter the monsters which broke through the defenses of the wall. It was a regular occurrence, owing to the mediocre performance of the common rabble. But Eres stood with no intention to lend a hand.

  Low-grade Rank 1 monsters weren’t much of a threat to her, even with the difference in strength, but those at Rank 2 or mid-grade monsters of any stage were. And this monster wave contained no shortage of either.

  She had managed to handle herself in melee combat at the beginning of this journey, but her time as a physical fighter was drawing to an end. The gap in might had begun to look more like a chasm.

  Her martial arts, in contrast, worked just fine. As they should given her status as Mystic. But that presented a different problem. Even deep into the third stage, her aura capacity was only four times greater than when she first started the path of cultivation.

  At her current state, she could only use her Palm Blast technique up to 30 times or her Flying Palm technique 40 times. A waste of aura to use on mere grunts. She needed to save her strength for when it truly mattered.

  Eres glanced at Shamura. There was no reason to continue hiding her avatar as the beastwoman and Otto were almost certainly aware of it, but changing her behavior would expose that there was a change in what she knew.

  Even a fool would deduce that someone had revealed secrets to her. And they were no fools.

  “Isn’t it magnificent?” Shamura asked without warning. Her tone more akin to the devotion found within priests, with naught but her spiteful eyes to reveal her humanity. “Everything is going according to his plan.”

  Eres did not respond. Whether the beastwoman’s words were a bluff or a delusion or an honest boast, there was no benefit to it. Banda too kept silent, merely sparing the woman a glance out of the side of his eye as he continued fighting.

  “This world is not decided by the talented nor the blessed. But by those who can see beyond its veil.” Shamura did not once take her eyes off the horde below, which was just now starting to diminish. “Banda. You will head down, and eliminate the Rank 2s from the other town.”

  Her order was met with surprise from both, Banda with mild confusion, and Eres of a more subtle kind. Her eyes deepened in thought. The time to act was approaching.

  ---

  In the distance, at a broken gap in the wall, Scar cut down monsters with an axe in both hands. He beheaded a stone club wielding goblin with ease, and a monkey-faced dog-like creature lunged from his blind spot.

  Scar spun around, and clinked his two axes together. A barrier of sound rippled out, which knocked back the Shug with as much force as it attacked with. The creature jolted back to its feet and a spinning axe decapitated it, which curved unnaturally to return to his hand.

  A swarm of bats surged down at him and the runic enchantments on his axe shone as he threw it again. The weapon sheered through the stream of flying vermin as he turned to the side.

  Scar inhaled deep and sharp, and let out a Booming Voice that blasted an armored gnoll back into the horde. He held out his hand and caught the axe as it curved back once more.

  “Come to me.”

  He heard Shamura’s voice as if she were right beside him. There was no deeper instruction, no explanation. And there was no reason for there to be. It was an order.

  Scar took off without hesitation. She, and by extension Otto, were aware of his desire to be liberated from their chains. At the very least, they had to suspect he was laying plans to that end.

  For all their schemes and patience, he knew neither could compare to their ruthlessness. There was a limit to the degree of risk Otto and Shamura would tolerate. A firm limit. He had no room to disobey. Not yet.

  A figure passed by Scar, and he took note. It was greenhorn savage. Neither spoke a word, acknowledging the other with merely a glance as they continued on their way without pause.

  Shamura had sent the boy away, perfectly timed to his arrival. It seemed her sly caution would not slacken in this eleventh hour, but Scar had never expected to be so fortunate.

  Scar landed on the gate tower as he thought, and took assessment. Eres was the only other guard, though that seemed to be in name only. She did nothing but glance over to him briefly, before turning her sight back to the aura beasts ripping through the monsters.

  They had the faces of oddly shaped lions, though were only twice the size of a wolf. And yet by the ease of which they tore through their enemies, each seemed equal to a peak Rank 2 high-grade.

  They were threats, ones he wasn’t aware of before. Even with the extent of his Harness Technique, they were nearly twice his superior in speed and strength. He stood no chance of defeating them alone.

  Scar jumped into battle before he had to be told and started chopping away. The aura beasts withdrew to stand around Shamura’s feet, whose pleasant smile hadn’t changed at all.

  As Scar fought, he focused deep and channelled his Sound Wave technique to converge upon a single target with the slightest of volume and in a precise manner. A message to Eres, signalling her to attack.

  She didn’t not respond, so he skillfully wove the message again and again. But she did not respond. And Scar’s face began to tighten with a trace of anxiety.