Caen's eyes gleamed with a newfound interest. He had expected a one-sided slaughter, but the mortals' tenacity had impressed him. He decided to lend them a helping hand.
With a wave of his hand, Caen summoned a burst of energy that enveloped the mortals, granting them even more temporary enhancements. Their strength and speed surged, allowing them to land more powerful blows and evade the Nightmare Beasts' attacks with greater agility.
The mortals fought on, emboldened by this sudden surge of power. Their swords struck true, attacking the Nightmare Beasts' defenses and inflicting more substantial injuries. Roars of pain mingled with triumphant cries as the tide of the battle slowly began to turn.
Caen, Elysia, and Fortunay watched as the mortals, against all odds, managed to hold their ground. It was a testament to their resilience and the untapped potential within humanity.
As the ten-minute mark approached, the first Nightmare Beast, something suddenly changed again.
Caen revealed a devilish grin as he removed all the restrictions he had applied on the Nightmare Beasts.
In an instant, the speed of the Nightmare increased to the point that the mortals couldn't even see it.
The mortals who were barely putting on a good battle until now found themselves helpless. They couldn't even see the enemy. It was like a nightmare, where they were fighting against a ghost.
With each passing second, a scream was heard as one of the humans had their neck ripped apart.
The screams came from within the entire domain. The First Nightmare Beast swiftly killed everyone who chose to fight him.
On the other hand, the second Nightmare Beast killed the ones who chose to escape.
After a long time, the cries of help and the screams had stopped. Every single human within the domain was killed.
"Nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds... What a pity," Fortunay replied, as if he was sad. However, his eyes revealed that he had quite a lot of fun.
These humans never had a chance to survive ten minutes. They only helped them fight for so long to give them hope, since seeing humans fight with their lives on the line was fun. Especially the moment when all that hope was taken away when they were on the verge of success!
.....
Thousands of miles away, in a different city, a car was driving down a quiet street.
The sports car was one of the most expensive models available in the market, as well as the fastest. However, the person driving the car was only in his early twenties, seemingly belonging to a very wealthy family.
The young man was dressed in professional attire, as if he was just returning from a business meeting.
The compressed cube that was casually tossed by Caen came flying like a high speed projectile, soon traveling from one city to another, before its descent began.
Thanks to the speed of the projectile, it had even caught fire, despite being made purely of metal. It was as if a ball of fire came crashing down from the sky.
As the flaming cube hurtled towards the city, the young man in the sports car noticed the strange sight in the sky. He instinctively hit the brakes, pulling over to the side of the road, watching the fiery object with a mix of curiosity, he stepped out of the car.
"A Meteor?" He initially wondered, watching the ball of fire coming down.
The cube descended rapidly, and as it neared the ground, the young man realized it was heading straight toward him.
With the force behind that metal cube, it was strong enough to destroy the place it fell, leaving a crater behind. However, the place it was to fall was right over the expensive car.
While the young man was focused on the projectile in the sky, his phone started ringing.
He pulled the phone out of his pocket, placing it over his ears.
"Yes Mom."
"Ah..." The man scratched the back of his head, smiling wryly. On the other side of the call was his mother, who was scolding him for being late.
He patiently listened to all the scolding, without showing any complaint.
At the same time, the projectile came even closer to him with a force like never before.
"I... Right... Yes... I understand mother... Ah, yes. I'm sorry... I'll be right there. No, not at all. Of course I'm not at work... Yeah, I'm on my way back."
The Projectile came awfully close to Nyx, as if it was going to crash after a few seconds but Nyx didn't move.
While he kept listening to his mother, he raised his left hand toward the projectile.
It was as if time stopped, and the space was sealed in his surroundings. The flaming projectile stopped mid-air.
Nyx's eyes glowed with an otherworldly aura as he controlled the cube's descent with a mere gesture. The flames ceased to spread, and the projectile hung frozen in mid-air, suspended by some mysterious force.
His mother's voice continued to pour through the phone, blissfully unaware of the incredible scene unfolding just moments away from her son.
Nyx concentrated, focusing his thoughts on the cube, attempting to analyze its properties. There was something peculiar about it.
Initially he thought that it was a Meteor, but he soon realized that it wasn't the case. Instead, it was an extremely condensed piece of metal. Moreover, he could also feel that the compression didn't happen through ordinary means. Instead, it felt quite familiar.
The cube floated closer to him. It soon landed on Nyx's left hand.
"Yes Mother, I know how dangerous it is. Yes, I understand I should be back on time. I'm sorry to make you worry. I'll be more careful next time. No, don't worry. I won't use my abilities unless absolutely needed."
On one end, Nyx talked to his mother, while on the other, he observed the piece of metal in his hand which had gotten a lot colder as soon as it touched his hand.
