(Drake's POV)
The memory fragment ended in that thrilling cliffhanger, as we all regained our senses the moment it ended in that very scene.
We weren't able to speak a word before our surrounding started to become filled with monsters. The crystals spread all around began to shapeshift, giving birth to dozens of monstrous creatures made from them.
Ding!
[The [Crimson Queen] has manifested her Will, covering every place with the red crystals that spread like cancer across the building!]
[She aims for your lives! Stop her army at all costs and shatter the [Crimson Core] to end her invasion!]
[Due to her Will manifesting within this area, all Crystal Monsters Stats have increased by +200%!]
"Alright then, time to smash these bastards into smithereens then!" I roared. "We'll talk about what we saw later, let's get moving!"
As I led the entire party while facing an ever-growing army of Crimson Crystal Monsters, I swung my tail horizontally and clashed against several Crystal Monsters at once.
CLAAASSSHHH!!
The impact was strong, but only a handful were shattered into pieces, while the vast majority survived and started to regenerate right away, my tail was covered in several crystal residues, which burned as much as demon blood and were trying to corrode my flesh!
"Ugh, be careful with the crystals! They are as corrosive as demon blood!" I said, as everyone quickly became much more wary. "Alright, let's sacrifice this tail like a good lizard would do for once!" I laughed, cutting off my tail and sending it towards the crystal monsters. "[Frost Bomb]!"
BOOOOMMMM!!!
I converted my huge tail into a frost bomb, which once exploding, unleashed a shockwave of freezing winds that instantly froze into place a large group of over twenty crystal beasts.
"Let's fight fire against fire then." I smiled, summoning the Demonic Bone Axe I got from that Giant Oni King and swinging it against the frozen crystal beasts -which were already freeing themselves from the frost- while adding some Black Flames of Demise to the mix! "[Divine Dragon King's Battle Arts]: [Black Flames of Demise Draconic Meteor Strikes]!"
CLAASH! CLAASH! CLAASH! CLAAASH! CLAAASH!
With several blazing and explosive strikes using my huge Bone Axe, explosions of black flames consumed the crystal beasts as I made my way through their numbers, looking for the Crimson Core.
However, there was no such obvious target as a huge floating crystal somewhere. It might be hidden among the many crystals spread everywhere!
"SHAAAH!"
And the Crystal beasts kept evolving, some fused together to form larger animal-shaped forms that attacked me from behind, biting my scales off and spreading their cancerous crystals over my body.
"BEGONE!"
I swung my axe against them multiple times with the same technique, explosions of black flames disintegrated them piece after piece, however, without freezing them beforehand, their amazing regeneration could even rival the all-destructive power of the black flames.
"[Divine Primordial Winter Magic]: [Domain of Freezing Winters]!"
FLUOOOSH!
My surroundings were covered on a never-ending freezing snowstorm, slowing down the movements of the Crystal Beasts, giving me enough time to chop them and burn them into pieces one after another!
BAAAM! BAAAM! BAAAM!
As I destroyed everything, the rest of my group was fighting and advancing rapidly. Tyrannus and his men had managed to become Rank 6 after absorbing the reward Divine Power, so they all had become minor gods even if they didn't properly realized.
"Make sure to defend! Channel your power into your weapons! Trust! Alone we are weak, but together we are strong!" Tyrannus led his tropes. "We must not falter against these horrors, our wives, children, and brothers are awaiting us! We will bring them back home no matter what!"
"OOOOHHH!"
Their movements became more precise and strong, and their tactics went well accompanied with their strong equipment. The smaller Crystal Beasts were easy to kill as long as their spears unified and attacked a single target.
"Kate, take care of those! I'll restrain these!" Benladra said.
"Okay big sis!" Kate nodded, charging forwards.
Benladra and Kate remained together near them and Emerald. Making sure to remain away from the crystals, Benladra covered herself on her armor of light and used her powerful spear to pierce the monsters bodies, while stakes of light slowed down their movements by fixing them on place.
At the same time, Kate used her big sword combined with a huge mech she brought out in the form of a dragon to advance fearlessly. The crystals had the power to corrode metal as well though, but with her powers, my daughter constantly replenished the lost pieces of metal while creating dozens of flying metallic weapons to kill as many beasts as possible.
Honestly, the two of them were plain amazing!
Meanwhile, Benladann and Miranda were just as good of a duo.
"I won't let you touch us!" Miranda roared.
"Thanks Miranda!" Benladann said.
FLUOOOSH!
Miranda's body was constantly swirling around in her Miasmic Mold form, resembling a gigantic black slime made of sludge, using her very body to protect Benladann from any attacks, through their [Mold Legion] form.
Any crystal attack simply bounced off her body in this form, it seemed that she was immune to their poisonous or corroding effects, amazingly enough.
Meanwhile, Benladra used her huge axe to hack through the Crystal beasts while bombarding them with hundreds of chaotic flames explosions, giving them no time to regenerate.
"Good thing these things can't seem to be able to catch up with my speed!"
At the same time, Emerald seemed to be cheesing through this by constantly leaping high into the floor using his wind magic, and constantly adapting to its usage, as he started learning how to do Cloud Steps over the air with it, something he seemed to not have been able to do before.
He constantly channeled the Heaven's Wind Magic as much as he could, generating spiraling spears of winds that pierced the crystal beasts multiple times, destroying them into pieces.
And as they fought, I kept fighting larger and larger monsters, until I suddenly felt something, a brighter red light coming from the left!
FLAAASH!
It was a very dark red crystal, shining brightly with an ominous light!
"Found you!"
Swinging my axe as hard as I could, I destroyed the crystal!
CRAAAAASSH!!!
The moment I did that, the rest of the Crystal Beasts instantly collapsed.
Ding!
[You've completed the Trial successfully! You will be rewarded Special Rewards for your efforts.]
[You received: [Technomancy Divinity Fragment] x5 [Dungeon Divinity Fragment] x5 [Divine Treasure Chest (S+++ Grade)] x1 [Staircase Building Materials (1/2)] x1]
[You gained +150.000.000 Divine Power.]
Silence quickly took over, as the rewards were instantly given, a huge metal box filled with a lot of materials emerged in front of me…
"I guess these are the Staircase Materials…" I sighed in relief, sitting over the floor. "Phew… I'm getting hungry."
"That was fast, but it felt harder than before at the same time, those mechs can't compare to the crystal beasts." Benladann commented.
"Yeah, these guys were way too strong." Miranda agreed, nodding.
"Well, I'm getting the hang of my wind magic too!" Emerald seemed to be improving, feeling rather happy with himself.
"A lot happened but… let's keep moving. I'm intrigued what we'll see next." I said, as everyone agreed.
