Whoosh!
Similar to what had transpired earlier during the first wave, a wave of dark energy appeared in response to the activation of Valyr's skill, though the size of the wave this time around was considerably smaller than it was earlier. This was due to the fact that he had activated the skill without activating any buffing skills beforehand, which Valyr had no problem with.
After all, the power behind the attack was still more than enough to clear out the third wave.
"Graaaooo!!!" Surprisingly, rather than flee from the sight of the dark wave that had killed their comrades from the first wave, the monsters that were directly in the trajectory of the dark tide seemed to have gained determination out of nowhere as they gave off the feeling that they would try to disperse the dark tide no matter what.
Naturally, Valyr and the others noticed how the monsters did not turn tail and run back to the main tide, instead wanting to face against the wave of dark energy head on as they all let out beastly roars with all their might. From the energy they were giving off in response to the dark tide, the defenders at the frontlines felt like the monsters had a chance to disperse the tide of death for a second, considering that the monsters making up the current wave were Level 20, monsters that were close to reaching the peak of Rank 1.
Of course, reality proved them otherwise, with the dark tide instead welcoming the monsters crashing against it head-on as it engulfed them without hesitation, killing them in one hit as it quickly began to spread throughout the battlefield within seconds.
At that moment, as if a switch was flipped in their brains, the monsters, who had made a foolhardy decision by deciding to charge at the wave of dark energy head-on instead of running away from it, began to feel immense fear once more as they watched their comrades disappearing into nothingness under the clutches of the dark tide. Without any other thoughts lingering in their minds, they began to turn around and dash as fast as they could en masse, wanting to get away from the wave of dark energy as much as possible.
Unexpectedly, as if the wave of dark energy had a mind of its own, the speed at which it expanded underwent a marginal increase, allowing it to catch up to the monsters that had decided to run away. With that, the dark wave had gone on a frenzy once more, killing every monster it came in contact with, eventually killing all of the monsters making up the third wave once more as no traces of their existence had been left behind.
"Haah…" Seeing as the dark wave started to dissipate on its own accord after doing its job, Tristan let out a long sigh as he shifted his gaze towards the young man that was making their way to where he and Myst stood. With a slight grin, he then said to him, "Now that I've seen it up close, I've made up my mind."
Hearing his words, Valyr raised his eyebrow in curiosity, wondering what Tristan meant by that. Though, not long after hearing the man's continuation, the former let out a brief cackle, while Myst beside Tristan listened to the side with a wry smile.
"I definitely don't want to fight against you, especially now that I know you have a move like that always at the ready." As these words came out of Tristan's mouth, the expression on his face was as serious as it could be, causing the cackle Valyr let out to grow louder as Myst continued to wryly smile at the conversation of the two.
"As if I don't know you still haven't unleashed that powerful skill your gloves have." After he was done laughing at Tristan's words, Valyr responded back as he looked at the metal gloves Tristan wore. "If anything, I'm the one who'd rather not fight against you."
"Though I'd hate to interrupt the conversation you two are having…" Seeing as they were still in the midst of defending against the monster tide, Myst decided to cut their conversation short as she brought up the topic of the upcoming wave. "We still have two more waves to fend off… I think."
"Do we have two more waves left?" At Myst's words, Tristan posed a question to Valyr, considering that he was the only one among the three of them who had an idea on how the waves would progress.
"Yeah." Nodding in response, the expression on Valyr's face gradually turned solemn. "There's the wave of Level 25 monsters I mentioned earlier, plus the final wave against the Tidemother."
"Did you and Damian get any information on how strong the Tidemother is?" Tristan asked in response, prompting Valyr to nod back, only for a bitter smile to adorn his face not long after.
"Remember how strong the Lesser Tidemother we fought during the previous monster tide was?" Asking this question to the two, Valyr was not surprised to see the two of them nod, considering that both of them were part of the main attack force back then.
"Level 25, no? The peak of Rank 1," asked Tristan.
"The Tidemother we're going to fight this time around is also at the peak," said Valyr as he nodded in agreement with Tristan. "However, instead of the peak of Rank 1…"
"It's at the peak of Rank 2."
"Level 40, huh?" Pondering over Valyr's words in silence, Tristan eventually let out a low sigh as he thought about their chances of winning against a monster like that. However, the slight despair he felt quickly disappeared once he looked at Valyr, recalling the monstrous power the young man had shown during the first and third wave.
At this realization, Tristan let out a chuckle in disbelief before letting out a sigh once more. "For some reason, I feel like I'm not even needed for the final wave."
"What makes you say that?" Though Valyr had an idea why Tristan said that, he definitely wasn't planning on doing something like that. "Just because I have the power to kill the Tidemother on my own doesn't mean I don't want you guys to help me out."
"What are we going to do for the final wave, then?"
Rumble…
Coincidentally, just as Valyr was about to tell Tristan and Myst of what he had in mind for the final wave against the Tidemother, the fourth wave had begun, with monsters at the peak of Rank 1 proceeding to head where they were.
"Let's save that conversation for later." Seeing as they would have to fight once again, Myst decided to take initiative as she got into a battle stance. Looking at Valyr, she then asked him, "Are you going to use that skill again?"
"I could… but I'd rather not." In response, Valyr briefly smiled before shaking his head. Tightly gripping onto his spear, he soon got into a battle stance as well as he turned his head to look at the monsters that were heading their way. Then, looking at Tristan and Myst beside him, he grinned.
"After all, it would be a waste to not fight against them alongside you guys."
