Ray and Neon were stunned as Nine dropped to his knees. Nine's last words kept replaying in their minds, especially his warning about Kyle being in danger. Ray quickly grabbed Nine's arm and urgently called out to Neon.
"What are you waiting for? We need to help him! Let's find a safe spot first, quick!"
Nine's eyes blurred, and his consciousness started to fade. He heard the countless voices around him, Neon and Ray's worried remarks as they cleared the path and dragged him away from the battlefield.
He closed his eyes and did his best to clear his mind, but he knew he had used too much power again. Sometimes, he hated the fact that he couldn't control his strength. He raised his head towards Ray and a few incoherent murmurs escaped his mouth.
"Kyle... ask him to go to a safe place.. that man.. with golden pupil..."
Nine couldn't make sense of his own visions. He saw everyone happy, but then what happened? Suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed at the back of his head, making it hard for him to stay conscious.
Ray glanced at Nine as he slumped on his shoulder. He cursed quietly to himself. Nevertheless, he knew the best thing to do was to find a safer place for Nine.
In the meantime, the chaotic battlefield quickly started to calm down as the new arrivals effortlessly killed the monsters.
Carcel wiped his plain-looking spear and glanced at the golden-haired man floating beside him.
"So, how's my mother doing?"
King Cedric scoffed and stared at the spear in his hand.
"Just worried about your mom?"
Carcel blinked and checked him out from head to toe before looking at where his brother was fighting.
"I can see you and Casper are totally fine. So, I'm asking about the one who's not here."
King Cedric clicked his tongue.
"So many years have passed, but you're still the same. About your mom, she wanted to come along, but someone had to take care of the castle, so I made her stay. Go see her once we're done here."
Carcel nodded and moved away to kill another monster.
On the other side, Alec raised his head and stared at the forest where the monsters were pouring out. The numbers had gone down, and they had wiped out all the monsters at the border, except for a few low-rank ones. But the monster lord hadn't shown up yet.
He hummed softly but frowned when he saw Kyle stop for a few seconds with a perplexed expression. Alec narrowed his eyes and quickly noticed the hesitation in Kyle's movements. He would pause every few minutes, but then shake his head as if he zoned out.
Alec started floating and quickly approached him.
"What happened-!"
He stopped because Kyle got startled when he called out to him. The latter blinked and stared at him.
"Did you say anything? Sorry, I got distracted..."
Alec nodded, wanting to ask what happened, but Kyle started stretching his neck with knitted brows, as he glanced toward the forest.
"I don't feel like fighting for some reason..."
However, then he shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"I'm getting frustrated because of the monster lord. Why hasn't it shown up when it's just hiding nearby?"
Kyle glanced at Alec and tapped his shoulder with a smirk.
"How about we force it out if it's not going to come out?"
Alec stared at him for a few seconds, but the duo got distracted when a loud curse echoed through the air. Suddenly, a familiar man with red hair appeared, and it was none other than Jian. He fixed his angry eyes on Alec.
Jian burst into laughter, a vein bulging on his forehead as he pointed an accusing finger at Alec.
"You! How could you abandon me? Do you even care if I died out there?"
"I know... haha, it was your idea to leave me behind!"
He rolled up his sleeves and zoomed in toward Alec with lightning-fast speed. Alec's eyebrow twitched, and before Jian could catch him, he flew away in a different direction.
Jian arrived in front of Kyle, an evil smirk appearing on his face. He ran his hand through his hair and glanced at Kyle with a deadpan expression.
"Bro, help me kick him, and I'll give you one (A)-Rank skill core?"
Kyle raised his brow, interested.
"The offer is not bad at all."
Alec's eyes widened in the distance. He couldn't believe Jian was asking the one who ran away first to beat him for the same reason, and the payment was only one skill core!
'Wait... I gave Jian an (A)-Rank skill core just a few hours ago. Don't tell me he's using the same one just to get back at me?'
He paused when the ground beneath his feet started quivering, and a massive tremor shook the trees opposite him. Countless monster cries rang out in the air.
Alec looked up, his gaze fixated on the towering figure that appeared in the sky, casting a shadow over the land as it approached from the distance.
The colossal bat's eyes shimmered like crystal, as it stared down at the border and the many small figures below. Its fur was a deep, obsidian black, adorned with intricate patterns that glowed with an eerie light. Its wings spanned the length of several trees, a magnificent sight to behold.
The air grew silent as all eyes were drawn to the monster flying above the trees, and its crystal-like eyes.
Alec couldn't help but let out a curse.
"So, the second monster lord is an obsidian bat?"
His words hung in the air as the bat unleashed a deafening screech that echoed through the land, causing a massive amount of dust to rise. In the next moment, strong monsters that had been lurking around the monster lord jumped out from the forest with lightning-fast speed.
The land crumbled beneath their weight, and the trees were torn apart. It was a truly terrifying sight. But things took a turn for the worse when another wave of low-rank monsters joined in.
Kyle blinked and vanished from his spot, his voice echoing loudly through the air.
"Guys, let's take down the strongest one first!"
As soon as his words fell, everyone floating mid-air around him sprang into action and engaged the most powerful monsters in a fierce battle. Those on the ground did their best to fend off the onslaught of countless low-rank monsters pouring out from the forest.
Kyle furrowed his brow when he noticed that the soldiers and many other fighters were already exhausted. If the situation kept going, they wouldn't last much longer.
Alec raised his sword and joined the fight, but he paused for a moment when Kyle's voice echoed in his head.
'Go, confront the monster lord. We will do our best to handle everything here. As soon as someone is free, they will join you.'
Alec nodded and quickly glanced at the monster lord. Once the other monsters emerged from the forest, the monster lord remained motionless, simply observing the chaotic scene with its crystal-like eyes.
Kyle took down another monster and glanced at Alec, who had taken the forest route to avoid drawing too much attention from the other monsters.
'Bia, reduce your size and go help him.'
The phoenix, who had been fighting alongside Mia and Yue, flapped her wings and the fire around her disappeared. She grumbled a bit but quickly reduced her size and followed behind Alec. Due to her small size, she easily maneuvered past the monsters.
Kyle quickly used his instant teleportation and in the next second, he appeared at the boundary of the forest, where the monsters were emerging from.
'I hope this goes better than last time.'
He took a deep breath and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet trembled, and numerous fire skeletons emerged from the earth. The skeletons had glowing, hollow eyes, but Kyle noticed with a frown that their movements were not properly coordinated.
'Why do I feel like my control has gotten worse for some reason?'
He sighed, knowing that the skeletons wouldn't last long, but at least their bodies would serve as a decent shield for the hundreds of people behind him.
Just as Kyle was about to vanish, he noticed two familiar inferno cats stepping out from the forest. The cats let out hungry growls, their eyes filled with glee as they surveyed the chaotic scene. One of them opened its mouth, ready to unleash a fire tornado on the individuals fighting nearby, but blue flames suddenly appeared around her body, causing the cat to jump back to a safe distance.
The second cat also jumped back as soon as it saw the flames. The two of them looked around, and then a voice that sent chills down their spines echoed from above.
Kyle waved his hand in the air and clicked his tongue.
"Almost had one of you this time, but you're both pretty good at escaping."
