NOVEL NEXT Chapter 101: Reunion
"I will take the one on the left," Lia said, aiming her bow at one of the Ironhide Crawlers before pulling the string.
A crescent moon materialized and burst forth with incredible speed, striking the Ironhide Crawler's head with disastrous force.
Its shell cracked but didn't break. It was one tough beast. It screeched like a banshee, angered more than hurt by Lia's attack. It targeted her again as Lia watched it approach coldly, ready to strike again.
Ray blocked the other two from getting around him and targeting Lia. He met one of them head-on. His fist, metalized and wrapped in high-temperature flames, smashed into its face.
BOOM!
Flames exploded from the point of impact. It was tossed away like a ragdoll. It crashed into its friend, and they were both knocked down like pins in a bowling alley.
Ray ignored them, moving to help Lia, who was busy dodging brutal attacks.
The Ironhide Crawler attacking Lia didn't notice him creeping up as it lunged toward her, its mandibles closing to cut her slender neck.
CRUNCH! Its mandibles snapped shut in the air as Lia jumped back to dodge.
Right after, Ray appeared at its side, kicking its head with explosive force.
BAM!
The Ironhide Crawler flipped over from the impact, its legs flailing helplessly.
"Finish it!" Ray shouted.
In response, Lia released a volley of crescent moons.
SHIING–SHIING–SHIING!
They tore into the overturned crawler's soft underbelly, ripping it open in a spray of blood. It shrieked once and went still.
The underbelly was the only part of their bodies not protected, and it was their greatest weakness, but it was hard to target.
"One down!"
"Two more to go."
Ray and Lia were in sync as they fought off the remaining two.
The second crawler, half-burned from Ray's previous attack, lunged again. Ray stood his ground, thrusting both palms forward. A torrent of fire erupted from one. Azure winds, sharp as a legendary blade, erupted from the other.
WHOOSH! CRACK!
The wind sliced open its shell, and the flames melted away its soft flesh and insides. The crawler spasmed violently, then collapsed, smoke seeping from its joints.
The last crawler roared, charging straight at Lia like a battering ram. Its mandibles gleamed, ready to bite her in half.
Ray intervened. He leapt high, both fists blazing with fire and wind swirling together.
"Die!"
KABOOOOM!
His strike landed square on the crawler's head. The shell shattered like glass, the body bursting apart under the explosive force. Blood and charred chunks splattered across the tunnel floor.
After that, nothing blocked their path as they made their way out of the tunnel.
They stepped into a vast hall.
At its center stood a glowing hearthstone, its radiance pulsing like a heartbeat.
A group of seekers surrounded it, weapons drawn, their faces tense.
The hearthstone and the seekers were encased in a shimmering barrier with multiple openings.
Dozens of beasts clawed and rammed at the barrier, their bodies slamming into it with BANG! BANG! BANG! sounds that echoed through the chamber as they tried to break it down.
Others darted through the openings in the barrier only to fall into a carefully planned trap, losing their lives one after another.
"Not bad," Lia said. "Each opening only lets one or two beasts through at a time, and their party is strong enough to handle several at once. They are whittling them down incredibly fast. Whoever came up with this is a genius."
She continued in a tone that brooked no argument, "But there's one fatal flaw in their strategy. The barrier won't last forever. Sooner or later, it'll collapse under the beasts' relentless assault, and when that happens, they'll have to face however many monsters are still left alive."
Her observation was on point.
The seekers had bought themselves time, not success.
With every strike against the barrier, it was coming closer and closer to shattering like glass. Once it shattered, their orderly defense would turn into chaos. Numbers would overwhelm skill, and even the strongest among them would be dragged down.
Ray stayed quiet, his eyes narrowing as he picked out a few familiar faces.
Selena and Red. They were here too, fighting in this trial.
"She's grown," Ray thought.
Selena now commanded two battle companions instead of one, a clear sign she had already stepped into the bronze rank!
Ray smiled, feeling happy for Selena.
********
Things weren't looking good for the seekers inside the barrier.
They were exhausted, and their firepower wasn't enough to wipe out the remaining beasts in one decisive strike.
What was worse, the barrier, riddled with cracks, looked like it could collapse at any moment.
And that was the heart of their problem.
Even if they survived getting swarmed and torn apart by the horde, they still wouldn't be able to protect the hearthstone. Once it shattered, every effort they had made until now would be for nothing, and they would fail the trial.
Not to mention, surviving the assault of so many beasts wasn't an easy task. A few of them would definitely have to be sacrificed for the others to survive. But who could they force to bear such an ordeal?
Before they could decide who to turn on in case the worst happened, the barrier shattered, and a wave of beasts closed in on them from all sides.
"Prepare to fight to the death!" someone shouted.
They gritted their teeth, raised their weapons, and pushed down the fear clawing at their hearts. If this was the end, they would meet it head-on honourably rather than resort to cheap tricks and betrayal to perverse their lives for a little while longer.
But just before the two sides could clash, a torrent of fire roared through the hall.
The beasts were reduced to ashes, yet not a single seeker was touched by the flames, remaining completely unharmed.
"Was it the second wave or the first one?" Ray asked, his gaze sweeping over the dazed seekers. They stood frozen, staring at him as if he were some mythical beast, their mouths hanging wide open like fools who couldn't believe what they had just witnessed.
Despite all their effort working together, they had only managed to bring down a handful of the hard-shelled beasts at a time. But Ray had erased hundreds in a single breath, like it was nothing.
"Ray?" Selena's eyes widened in shock. Of all places, this was the last place she had expected to see him.
"It's been a while." Ray gave her his usual confident smile.
"How could it be you?" She asked in disbelief.
As far as she knew, Ray was a hunter, braver than most, but still a mortal in the end. So seeing he was the one who wiped out the beast wave that had overwhelmed her and her team left her completely shocked.
Her summons shared her disbelief.
Ray leaned in, bringing his lips to her ears as he whispered, "Long story short, Count Garrick messed up. My taming seal is anything but useless."
Selena's cheeks flushed crimson. He was close enough for his breath to brush against her pale skin. She had never been in such close contact with a man!
He leaned back and winked at her. "I hope you can keep that a secret for me. Can you?"
It might attract unwanted attention, so he wanted to hide it.
"I can," she whispered back, nodding quickly, like a hen pecking at rice.
"You still haven't answered my earlier question," He said.
"That was the first wave. There's… going to be another wave?"
Ray glanced at the seekers. "We faced two," He said to them while casually behind him toward Lia. "The second wave was tougher than the first one, but not by a lot."
They tensed up, inferring his words in the worst way possible.
'What's coming next is going to be worse,' the thought.
"We will help you with it. So relax," Lia finally spoke up.
The seekers, especially the men, couldn't stop glancing at her. She was really beautiful.
"Why do that? Like are you getting something out of it?" Red asked.
They simply nodded, not saying anything more.
The next wave came like thunder.
Ray let Muri join in on the fray as he was feeling tired, his stamina close to dropping to zero.
With the two working together alongside several seekers and two tamed bronze rank demonic creatures, it was only a matter of minutes before the second wave was wiped out.
♦️ Hidden Trial Completed
♦️ You have gained +7000 Enlightenment Points for passing the fourth sector's Hidden Trial with flying marks.
"Only 3000 points short," Ray muttered. He had accumulated forty-seven thousand Enlightenment Points. To buy the Blue Spirit Fruit he needed fifty thousand. Once he had the Blue Spirit Fruit, breaking through to the bronze rank would be a piece of cake!
A few seconds later, Ray and the others were teleported back to the main hub, where they were approached by Arthis.
"Congratulations! From now on, you can use the tower's core technology to visit planets that enjoy the tower's protection, support, and guidance."
"The tower's core technology is called the Warp Gate. It allows you to instantly travel across vast distances and reach different worlds where the tower's presence is prevalent. When there's a world you want to visit, just pick up a mission related to that world from the mission board over there. Once you accept it, the Warp Gate will transport you directly to that world."
"Any questions?"
Ray raised his hand. "Will there be any penalty for failing a mission?" He asked.
Arthis shook his head. "No, there won't be any penalties." He added seriously, "But understand this—most missions concern innocent lives. If you fail, those lives will be lost. That's why it's recommended you only accept missions you truly believe you can complete, unless you want innocent blood on your hands. Besides, you can gain rewards from completing the missions. So it's in your best interest to complete them when you can."
One of the seekers suddenly asked a question when Arthis was done talking to Ray.
"I don't understand something. If the Warp Gate is advanced enough to teleport seekers across worlds, why hasn't it been shared with the armies fighting against the demonic creatures? Aren't we all on the same side? Wouldn't it make more sense to give this technology to them so they could move troops instantly and gain a strategic and logistic advantage over their enemies?"
A hush fell over the group as everyone looked toward Arthis, waiting for his answer.