Experienced soldiers wouldn't have the time to react to the sudden event, let alone realize what was happening. Yet, the Thilku had witnessed a similar scene multiple times already, and it never failed to shock them.
Reassurance arrived as soon as the Thilku saw the iconic purple-red color. That shade didn't belong to the monsters anymore after the recent battles. Khan had monopolized it, turning it into an ally in the Thilku's eyes.
The half-formed spears detonated, sending scorching and violent mana that took the shape of unstable pillars. The explosions enveloped the first lines of monsters, killing them and setting their fur on fire before threatening to expand toward the Thilku.
Nevertheless, the Thilku had already lifted their arms and weapons to protect their faces or other sensitive spots. That wasn't their first rodeo, and no surprise arrived when the violent mana stopped expanding a meter from them. Khan had calculated his attack properly, showing unbelievable precision for such a massive and wild offensive.
The pillars acted as a defensive barrier for the Thilku's team, protecting it from the rest of the monsters. The aliens waited for their eyes to get used to the blinding light before lowering their arms and straightening their weapons, but the wild mana didn't give them a chance to do anything else.
Khan was in a completely different situation. The Thilku were safe and waiting for the wild mana to disperse, but he wasn't limited to the ground. No barriers existed near the ceiling, and monsters were still coming out of the tunnels.
The environment was full of Khan's will, unaffected symphony, and ripples. It was a chaotic environment where harmony and intensity were struggling to coexist. One was bound to fall prey to the other, but that worked fine for Khan.
'Flow!' Khan ordered to himself, splitting part of his brain from the burning sensation caused by the previous attack.
The entirety of the symphony transformed into meanings and patterns that guided Khan's actions, telling him where to go to activate his will. He shot forward without looking at the path ahead before lifting his right hand to touch a strand of natural mana he had affected.
The strand of mana shook at the gesture, churning and transforming until the mere air began to shine with colors that normal soldiers could see. A purple-red glow appeared and flung downward, generating an explosion as soon as it touched azure fur.
Khan had moved above an area filled with monsters, so the explosion expanded in the middle of the pack. The pillars had made the Tainted animals lose track of the Thillku, so the new attack moved their attention toward the ceiling.
A hundred more beasts had entered the underground hall while Khan's offensive unfolded. The explosions had killed many monsters, but the pack remained a mess of odd heads, bodies, and fur that struggled to get to the frontlines.
That mess worked in Khan's favor, preventing the monsters from reacting to the new attack in time and spotting him right away. He only had to tap the air to disappear before the first set of eyes pointed at the ceiling, and dying howls followed.
Khan barely kept track of his surroundings or position. Wet rocks pressed on his shoes, and fur brushed his face. He had landed without knowing why, but that didn't matter. The symphony had guided him there, and his will flared.
The spherical version of the Wave spell expanded from Khan's figure, killing and pushing away many monsters. The technique added chaos to the symphony, conveying Khan's wills and affecting the natural mana, which became ready for a following attack.
The spell had cleared Khan's surroundings, but his eyes were on the spots of the symphony that had fallen under his control. They didn't have enough mana to turn into big explosions, but his order made them give birth to multiple needles that followed the gravitational pull.
The needles stabbed a few wolves before detonating, but Khan ignored them to continue moving. The Tainted animals around him did the same, fueled by their reckless hunger, and many dared to pounce at him since he was in sight.
Seven wolves jumped, landing on the same spot only to hit mere rocks. Khan had disappeared, but one beast stopped moving. Its head suddenly split in half, too, and the cut stretched through a third of its body before exhausting its energy.
The pillars' wild mana eventually dispersed, freeing the Thilku of their defensive barrier. The aliens were ready for that moment and jumped forward as soon as the purple-red color lost most of its intensity. However, nothing could have prepared them for the scene waiting for them.
The monsters knew the Thilku were behind their barrier, and more creatures had arrived to refill their ranks. The pack outnumbered the troops four to one, but none of those Tainted animals were looking at them. A single human had monopolized their attention.
The Thilku felt shocked seeing the monsters past the burned corpses showing their backs to them, but that didn't make them hesitate. The aliens advanced, jumping over the dead Tainted animals to deliver killing blows meant to maximize their deadliness.
The pack suffered countless casualties in a single assault, and many monsters turned to focus on the Thilku. Still, the latter retreated, rearranging themselves into a defensive battle formation that limited their openings.
The monsters didn't care about the Thilku's superior battle strategy and leaped forward, jumping over their dead companions to launch a reckless offensive. Numbers were still on their side, and their best bet was overwhelming the aliens with that.
However, purple-red flashes ran through the leaping monsters, cutting their limbs and heads or generating explosions. An invisible figure had disrupted the creatures' advance, greatly reducing their danger.
The Thilku didn't even think. They saw an opening, so the team leaders shouted orders that their underlings followed. The Thilku could rely on their strong physique, so many stepped forward to clash with the remaining falling monsters.
Khan wanted to do more for the Thilku, but the symphony was clear. If he decided to limit their casualties, the monsters would overwhelm them. Disrupting the pack from the inside was the only strategy that could lead to victory and allow his companions to survive.
The Thilku and Khan fought different battles. The alien team struggled fiercely to protect their position against the waves of monsters jumping over the corpses accumulating in their surroundings.
Instead, Khan continued to run and fly, cutting or destroying anything on his path or daring to walk below him. Simple monsters were powerless in his presence, but he still did his best to maximize his deadliness.
Time was against Khan since the monsters threatened to submerge the Thilku. He had to kill as fast as possible to reduce the number of opponents his companions had to deal with, so he often opted for vast explosions.
The hall inevitably began to shake due to the unrestrained mess. Cracks opened among the rocks, and the issue wasn't limited to the floor. The walls, tunnels, and ceiling also began to suffer from the same fate, and occasional pebbles fell as more tremors spread.
Of course, no one in the area minded that trend. Actually, Khan was the only one with enough time to notice it, but his hands were tied. He was limiting the explosions to the floor and crowded areas, but everything else was up to the hall.
A few tunnels crumbled, and rivers crossed their edges to expand through the new cracks. Water splashed everywhere, and monsters and Thilku alike lost their footing when the environment changed.
The trend seemed unstoppable, but things soon quieted down. The number of monsters diminished to the point their stomps couldn't produce tremors anymore. The explosions also grew rarer, allowing the hall to regain a part of its stability.
The Thilku had long since stopped being able to see their surroundings. Since they were fighting in the same small area, the monsters' corpses kept accumulating around them, creating a hill that acted as a gory barrier.
The monsters still climbed the hill to dive at the Thilku, and their recklessness was often rewarded. Tainted animals were literally raining on the troops, preventing them from deploying most ordinary countermeasures.
The aliens still did their best with spells and martial arts, but a few soldiers among their ranks died anyway. That was impossible to prevent, but the offensive grew weaker sooner than the Thilku expected before stopping completely.
The temporary peace didn't break the Thilku's battle stances, but the silence that followed and stretched for multiple seconds eventually made them curious. The team leaders exchanged nods, sending a few soldiers toward the gory hill to inspect the world outside.
The soldiers had an easy time climbing the corpses with their big and strong bodies, but those masses of muscles froze when they peeked at the rest of the hall. They also became unable to speak since the scene mesmerized them.
Eventually, someone at the top of the hill made an approving gesture, so the team worked together to open a path among the corpses. The Thilku created a gory and bloody passage, giving them access to the same mesmerizing scene.
Slightly more than four hundred monsters had invaded the underground hall, and most of those specimens were still there, lying dead among cracks, rocks, and water.
Dark shades tainted the rivers, with some directly carrying masses of fur away. The underground hall was big enough not to feel cramped with so many bodies, but fuming and on-fire hills still existed and spread everywhere in the Thilku's vision.
That scenery was nothing strange for the Thilku. They saw something similar every night on the surface, and the same went for the figure standing among that slaughter. Khan had landed on a pile of fuming corpses, and his knife's handle rubbed his hair as he stared into the distance.
The Thulku's arrival made Khan turn, and a mixture of happiness and sadness invaded him. The team had almost lost twenty soldiers, which wasn't much for the threat they had to face. Yet, every life mattered to Khan.
It didn't help that the battle's aftermath added details to the symphony. Khan could get a clearer idea of the tunnels, and his unreasonable urges made him voice a simple statement. "[We must advance]."
