The group could finally experience a peaceful moment. The squad leaders had done an excellent job keeping the monsters at bay, but both students and recruits couldn't feel completely safe. Still, Khan's arrival had helped turn the situation in their favor.
Khan inspected the four squad leaders with deep interest. He had learnt everyone's names, but he could add abilities to the descriptions in his mind now.
Paul's element was unclear, but he seemed to require physical contact to activate his spells. The sheer power of his ability balanced those disadvantages and created a skill that could kill in a few seconds.
Felicia's element was fire, and she had only shown her fireballs during the battle. Her attacks weren't as powerful as her companions' abilities, but she could cast them multiple times in a row without getting tired. Moreover, their range was decent, and they didn't require long preparations.
Iris' element was unclear. She appeared older than her fellow squad leaders, and her short dark hair enhanced the mature aura that surrounded her body. Her abilities involved the threatening bright beam that had pierced the mutated Lysixi from side to side.
The last squad leader, Ryan, clearly had an element connected with the wind or the air in general. He appeared as old as Paul, but he had short dark hair, and his eyes were so clear that they created a stark contrast with the dark shades of his skin.
Ryan was short but thick. His muscles bulged from under his military uniform, and his last spell seemed to have forced them to inflate. The man was the source of the dark gas and the sharp soundwave, and their differences were the main reason behind Khan's struggles to recognize his element.
'Are they stronger than me?' Khan wondered as he walked past the squad leaders to return among the group.
The Lightning-demon style gave Khan a massive advantage, especially now that he had become a first-level warrior. He could probably defeat the squad leaders in a one versus one as long as he attacked first. The Divine Reaper also gave him incredible deadliness, but he felt he fell short in terms of destructive power.
The students and the recruits created a path for Khan while he was busy cleaning his knife with his sleeve and walking back to Liiza. Azni had been with her the whole time, but she didn't dare to miss Khan's battle, and she didn't hesitate to reveal a warm smile when he took her in his arms again.
"[I told you it would have been quick]," Khan whispered while kissing Liiza's on the side of her head.
"[I was about to step in when the Lysixi survived your attack]," Liiza teased while slipping a hand under his robe.
The event had taken Khan by surprise too. He didn't expect the lizard to continue its offensive even after he dug a hole in its brain. Those creatures seemed too big to die due to the small injuries that his knife was able to open.
The students around the couple remained speechless once again. Most of the girls there had tried to flirt with Khan during his stay in the academy, but it felt obvious that he had already ended up with Liiza back then. They even connected her usual blush to their relationship, and murmurs eventually filled the group.
Khan could almost hear everything those Niqols said, and he felt grateful that most of the humans on the scene couldn't understand their language. He didn't want them to learn those gossips so soon, especially while the valley was still a mess.
"What did Ambassador Yeza say?" Paul asked as he and the other squad leaders approached Khan.
Everyone had seen Yeza reaching Khan and Liiza, and their new open behavior even hinted at her acknowledgment of their relationship. Azni had gossips ready to spread among the Niqols, but she held back and limited herself to smile every time her eyes fell on the couple.
"We have to wait for her to gather the higher-ups and bring them here," Khan explained. "She'll lead us to a safe location afterward."
Paul nodded, but his struggle was evident. That emotion was even stronger in the other squad leaders. All of them tried to keep their eyes on Khan, but they always fell on the girl snuggling closer to his chest. She was basically uncovering his torso as her hands went deeper inside his robe and her mouth left soft kisses on his bare shoulder.
Liiza's mental state was awful now, and her mother had sort of acknowledged her relationship. Khan's higher-ups weren't there either, so her self-restraint didn't bother to appear.
Her explicit behavior put the humans who had never gotten used to the Niqols' customs in an awkward position. The squad leaders mostly managed to force themselves to keep their eyes on Khan, but the other recruits instinctively diverted their gazes. It was simple politeness on their end not to stare at those intimate actions.
"Do we have to remain here?" Iris asked in an annoyed tone.
"How long do you think it will take them?" Khan asked while pointing at the palace with the hand that held the knife.
Everyone turned to look at the palace, and the scene that unfolded in their eyes left them dumbfounded. Yeza had quickly regrouped with the other higher-ups and had led them back near the building before making them advance across the valley to reach the students.
Many mutated Lysixi had charged toward their group as soon as they came out to the ground, gorge, or mountains nearby. Some creatures had even been closer to Khan and the others, but they didn't mind them as they rushed toward the strongest warriors in the valley.
Their charge toward Yeza's group appeared almost instinctive. The monsters knew who they had to defeat to conquer the area, but their efforts ended pitifully.
Almost fifty monsters had come out of the valley and the mountains nearby. That massive number of mutated creatures would make the squad leaders tremble in fear, but they were nothing more than dummies in front of the overwhelming power shown by the higher-ups.
Yeza was dazzling as she danced among the abilities, tails, claws, and teeth that flew toward her. Her body appeared able to dodge those attacks on its own. She performed elegant but sharp turns whenever something was about to reach her, leaving her untouched even if five monsters tried to gang up on her.
Moreover, her hands were deadly weapons. Yeza was holding her true power back since higher-ups from another species were on the scene, but that didn't make her weak. She only needed to touch her opponents to make them puke a torrent of blood. The spot where her fingers landed didn't even seem to affect the power of her ability.
Captian Erbair was also hiding her true power, but she appeared unstoppable nonetheless. She was massive but incredibly fast. Her body resembled a cannonball as she covered long distances in less than a second to slam head-on on the monsters.
The impact with those creatures directly shattered their scales and insides. Khan even turned in time to see her slam her massive arms on a monster's head to turn it into a bloody pulp.
Khan had to go all-out to handle even the weaker monsters. He was strong, but he couldn't allow himself to commit mistakes. However, those fights couldn't make the higher-ups sweat. They easily handled multiple mutated creatures and their abilities at the same time without ever stopping their advance.
The leaders of the two factions did most of the work. The two Lieutenants, the Chiefs, the soldiers, and the other Niqols in the group rarely had the chance to do much.
They tried to help multiple times, but their leaders ended up killing their targets before they could even reach them. The Lieutenants and the other soldiers wanted to show off a bit in front of Yeza, but they never got a chance to shine since Captain Erbair and the enchanting Niqols were simply too strong.
Iris lost the desire to complain. She remained stunned in front of that sheer display of power. It was rare to see higher-ups fight, but the sight was spectacular, and knowing that they weren't using the entirety of their abilities made everything even more surreal.
Yeza and Captain Erbair weren't even close to being human in terms of the power that they wielded. They were goddesses of war who were having fun among monsters putting their lives on the line to take them down.
Liiza felt Khan's hug tightening while he remained captivated by that scene. She raised her eyes only to see how a deep resolve had appeared on his face.
The power revealed by the two leaders was his goal, at least one of his first goals. Khan knew that Captain Erbair was only a third-level warrior and mage, which meant that beings stronger than her existed in the world. Many of them were potential threats, and the Nak were among those.
"[I'm not watching your mother]," Khan explained without moving his gaze from the battle when he felt Liiza's gaze on him.
"[I know]," Liiza sighed before resuming her snuggling. "[That power suits you. You will obtain it in no time]."
"[Of course he will]," Ilman shouted from behind the couple as he approached the two to pat Khan's shoulder. "[We will reach the peak of our respective worlds]."
"[Ilman, this was kind of a romantic moment]," Khan scolded, but Ilman ignored him to focus on Liiza, who looked at him from behind Khan's shoulder.
"[My condolences for Zama]," Ilman announced in a serious tone while performing a deep bow. "[Your Aduns deserves the loudest party that The Pure Trees can offer]."
Both Khan and Liiza remained stunned in front of that serious statement. Liiza even sniffed before performing a respectful nod to show her appreciation.
"[Also, for what it's worth, I'm happy that you have found someone who can make you smile]," Ilman continued. "[I'm even happier that the honor went to Khan. You couldn't find a better human or Niqols]."
"[You are making me blush now]," Khan joked, but Liiza pulled his hair to make him shut up.
"[Thank you, Ilman]," Liiza responded. "[I'm sorry I couldn't give you what you wanted]."
"[Nonsense]," Ilman contradicted. "[You more than anyone else deserve happiness, and I'm glad that Khan can give it to you]."
Ilman took a few steps back to return among the crowd watching the higher-ups, and the couple watched him getting too far away to hear their comments.
"[He isn't a bad guy]," Khan said while focusing on Liiza to see if that interaction had improved her mood.
"[He is cute]," Liiza commented before wearing a faint playful smile at the jealousy that flashed in Khan's eyes.
Liiza approached her mouth to Khan's ear as he turned to look at the battlefield again and whispered words that sounded far more captivating than the scenes unfolding in his vision. "[Don't forget that nothing can stop us from sleeping together now. Can I ask you not to leave me alone at least tonight]?"
Liiza appeared almost scared to ask that favor. Her suppressed begging tone made Khan give up on any training he had planned for when Yeza brought the students to a safe location. His girlfriend needed him, and he wouldn't deny her his company.
The two ended up exchanging a long kiss without bothering to worry about their surroundings. The higher-ups seemed on the verge of defeating all the monsters by themselves since those creatures kept charging at them. It was hard to feel in danger when Yeza and Captain Erbair made giant lizards explode every time they moved.
Similar thoughts spread among the rest of the group. They might not need to abandon the valley if everything continued to progress so smoothly. Still, both students and recruits ignored something that only those with vast knowledge of monsters could guess.
The mutated Tainted animals were usually quite independent, especially those that managed to develop abilities. They created packs to improve their hunts, but they would never charge toward certain death. Their survival instincts would prevent that.
Nevertheless, the monsters kept charging at Yeza and Captain Erbair recklessly without caring for their lives. Their dead companions had already shown them how the two warriors were unbeatable at their level, but they continued to shoot toward them as if driven by an unreasonable hunger.
It turned out that hunger wasn't their drive. The mutated Lysixi were attacking out of fear of something that showed its face only when the pack had almost disappeared.
A mountain right behind the palace opened into two parts before revealing a massive cavity that contained countless mutated Lysixi. Those creatures came out of their lair to storm the valley and uncovered a pair of shining dark-grey reptilian eyes that made all the snow in the area light up as their glow intensified.
The event made the entire valley tremble. The snow started to move on its own and generated multiple avalanches that threatened to submerge the dark-green plains among the mountains.
A primordial aura that everyone could sense also spread from the mountain with the massive crack as a giant set of claws came out of its dark insides. Those talons appeared as big as the short buildings behind the palace.
****
Author's notes: I didn't forget about the 5 chapters. I've only slept for a very long time. Of course, this doesn't count among the 5.
