Chapter 74: Homecoming
After destroying half of the beasts' encirclement, General Samo stabbed his sword on the ground. The grass around the sword was burnt to ashes from the heat that it gave off. His men, who were running behind him, forcefully charged. They were few in numbers, but as a group, they exuded confidence that might even startle beasts into submission.
The beasts that weren't caught up in General Samo's destructive attack continued charging forward completely ignoring the newly arrived humans. More beasts continued crawling out of the holes. It appeared that there were still a bunch of them who had yet to join the battle.
Because of this, some mages forcefully canceled their charged spells, taking in the backlash. Their faces contorted in pain, and they howled and groaned.
But it could not be worse than death!
They started casting their own spells as they ignored the burning pain in their bodies. They counter-attacked as they covered for those mages who were still holding onto their spells.
Only one minute left!
Just... one... minute!
The mages who were now on the defensive started overdrafting from their magic reservoirs. After all, those spells that they charged earlier took almost all of what they had. Their spells came out weak, and not enough to kill several beasts in one go.
Fortunately, General Samo's men arrived just in time. The beasts steadily got pushed back, so the exhausted mages finally got the chance to rest.
Thirty more seconds!
Several mages plopped to the ground, unconscious. They were unable to handle the backlash anymore.
Now, it was all up to those who had been charging their spells and General Samo's men.
General Solare Samo was familiar with the ice dome currently in front of him. He had already seen it once, before.
The Sealing Spell, White Turtle.
For sure, there was a huge threat amongst the beasts trapped inside that forced Brigadier Klein Arvent to use this sealing spell.
General Samo inwardly cursed.
He had been extremely late. He could barely even see a patch of grass amongst the carcasses of the magical beasts littered all over the ground. The battle raged for so long, but he only arrived when it was already concluding.
Suddenly, starting from the top, the white dome started melting rapidly. Its duration was almost over.
As soon as the ice that hugged the colossal beasts disappeared, revealing their sorry figures, the charged spells fell in unison.
….
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A huge explosion reverberated through the air, signifying the end of the battle outside the city.
However, inside was a different story.
The houses had been ravaged by the large beasts. Only a few sturdy ones were still standing. And even those had broken pillars and walls.
The Academy staff members worked hard non-stop as they threw spells after spells. Toran Fiore had also joined the battle personally, but it appeared that he was saving as much energy as he could.
The Academy staff members were doing quite well, considering that there were only 16 of them. After all, almost all of them were high-level C-ranked mages. Only Montis was a level higher than them being an A-ranked mage. However, just like the principal, he was also fighting rather casually.
The citizens were holed up in their bunkers reinforced with steel. Those bunkers were designed to hold off against large magical beasts. Of course, if the beasts were really intent on breaking it, then they would be able to with great effort.
Fortunately, they did not do this.
The magical beasts around the city, after wrecking any house they could see and seeing no humans inside, would rush towards the area where the mages were fighting because their instincts drove them to attack where humans are.
The mages couldn't estimate the number of beasts inside the city because they couldn't get a clear view of them, but they knew that it was already abnormal. Before the wave of beasts that they were currently facing, the military had already fought more than two thousand. So where could this new batch come from?
There were just too many of them that they already lost count of the number that they have killed. More importantly, their magic was being rapidly drained. They could only hope that the military would immediately head back to the city and assist them.
Thinking about this, many of them smiled crookedly.
The tables have actually turned.
It was now them who needed the assistance of the military.
But there was still something bugging their minds.
Why were there a bunch of gigantic mole beasts?
It was almost as if the beasts had been planning an underground siege for a long time now and had been cultivating those specific creatures.
No way. Maybe there was just a forest with a bunch of moles lying around.
Bang!
Spells exploded everywhere. The entire city was already devastated.
As the fight prolonged, they were starting to get anxious. The number of beasts did not seem to lessen. It's as if one beast is immediately replaced by another. Also, they did not know if it was just their imagination, but the succeeding beasts they encountered appeared to be getting stronger.
Suddenly, they heard a piercing scream echo in the air. It was so distinct in the current setting that they could still hear it despite the loud explosions.
The voice, of course, belonged to a person. However, it did not belong to a mage within their group. They looked towards the direction of the voice and saw the limp body of a woman hanging on a beast's jaw. She appeared to be a common citizen and not a mage trying to assist them.
More screams started filling the air and they noticed that it came from all around them.
The situation did not allow them to move out of their current positions or they would risk dying alone without the support of the other staff members.
This is what they were most afraid of.
If the battle did not end quickly, the beasts would start looking for the missing people. And once they found one, the others would immediately learn from experience.
The citizens were now getting rooted out from their bunkers, and there was absolutely nothing they could do. Some even deliberately went out, hoping that they could run away. Little did they know that the city was already infested.
The Academy staff members could only watch the defenseless citizens get eaten by the magical beasts.
Toran Fiore's face darkened as he saw the gruesome scene, but he held himself back.
Montis Leroux shot forward and rushed to help those people who were still able to survive. Only he was capable of executing such a feat. However, his actions were still limited. The people he saved were only lucky because they were near the area where the Academy staff fought.
As for those people residing near the city walls... they could only pray to Hecate.
The area started to darken as thunderclouds gathered above the city.
Then, it started to rain.
It seemed that even the heavens mourned for the people of Sera City.
A city with over 500,000 residents.
How many of them would be able to survive?
It only took a minute and fifty seconds for a beast to break a bunker if it was struck without halt.
After that, the life of any person inside that bunker would end after five to ten seconds.
With these statistics, it could be said that an average of five people would die every two minutes for every beast inside the city except for the ones that attack the Academy staff members.
They all felt their blood boil, but at the same time, they feel powerless. Powerless to save people as they struggled to keep themselves alive.
What were they actually doing in the present? Weren't they just protecting themselves instead of protecting the people? Would they be able to save more lives if they carry on with what they were doing?
The helpless screams of the people attacked their moral consciousness. Their spells started to lack power as they continued fighting.
Suddenly, the ground started quaking intensely. The beasts around the area froze. They started trembling and appeared to be torn between running away and staying.
The ground around a particularly large hole by the corner of the open area started to bulge. The mages looked dumbly as they witnessed it enlarge.
The principal, Toran Fiore, who had been holding back suddenly burst with power. The green aura surrounding him immediately brightened.
He stepped forcefully using his right foot.
A-ranked spell, Earth Emperor's Spear!
Tall and bulky pillars emerged from the ground and bent. Its sharp tip aimed towards the bulging earth and advanced fiercely. It looked simple, but the force behind the attack was unfathomable.
It shot forward piercing any beast in its way. Despite this, it did not slow down even the slightest.
However…
Thud! Crumble!
The attack didn't even seem to affect its target.
Slowly, the beast that blocked the principal's attack with a simple sweep fully emerged from the hole. The earth that covered its body slowly fell down, revealing its majestic body.
The beast had a long gray mane, and its body was painted with a beautiful shade of silver. It was colossal! Its limbs were extremely thick, and its claws were very sharp.
It was a gray lion.
The King of Grey Forest.
….
In the eastern district of the Sera City, a young man stood atop a broken house.
His eyes were filled with shock and rage as the beasts in front of him ravaged the area.
He slowly pulled out the twin swords strapped on his back.
….
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone