“So, this is a Calamity?” My voice shrunk and my throat tightened as I saw the beast. The beast was a giant centipede, each leg being around ten meters, along having a horrendous black color that faded to a muddy brown. The exoskeleton shined like bone and had a golden-brown color. The head was shown to have spots that appeared as a skull staring right into our souls.
The six eyes were jumbled together, each one crimson as blood. The aura it released felt as if it could kill any plant or animal nearby by just feeling it. The cold and sick sensation made us all stay frozen in place.
“You idiots, move!” Iseul shouted as a barrier was formed on top of us. The monster had thrown its tail, but Iseul reacted faster than it. Thanks to her barrier, we weren’t injured, shaking me from my state of fear. Taking a small step back, I began to clench my staff and summon water.
The small ball of water was turn into a spike of ice and with my free hand, I tossed it. The ice spike hit the beast on its exoskeleton but only scratched it. The beasts squinted as if smiling.
Cold sweat ran down my face as I couldn’t believe my eyes. Was this monster real? How can we hope to fight against it?
But just then, Dae-Hyun dashed from where he landed, only to make the beast flinch back as it tried to position itself into a defensive position. Dae-Hyun was faster, his blade stabbing the beast on one of its right eyes, where he began to twist it. The screech that left the mouth of the beast deafened us as it sounded like nail on a blackboard, only hundred times worse.
He let go of his sword to cover his years, only for him to be smashed into the ground as the beast threw its head on the earth. Tae-Soo took a leap and went to help his friend. The teal eyed Tae-Soo was stopped as the monster lifted its head, its mouth beaming red.
“Heat beam!” A soldier shouted. Realizing what this was, Seo-Ji ran towards the beast and pushed her body, slamming right on its jaw. The beast closed its fangs as it shot the beam up into the sky.
“Get the soldiers out of there!” Seo-Ji shouted. Nodding, we began to move the soldiers, and the Masters began to take the artillery where they positioned near the small river. There, I took out the four artifacts. “Good, it seems we still have a chance to kill it permanently.” Aegis said as he lifted the marksman rifle.
“What is that?” Hyun-Ha asked as she pointed her bow. A bow made of what appeared to be peacock feather shaped glass and having the string made of light. The orange and yellow bow truly has beautiful colors, along it brings forth an arrow that seemed to be made of pure fire.
“Artifacts to store Cosmic energy. These are the only ones that were made by the Virtue.” Aegis said as he lifted the rifle.
“So, like storage or…”
“They can bring immense power almost similar to an Overload.” Gram shouted as he pushed another soldier inside the small hole where we hid. The Overload was something we could use if we needed a trump card, or even the last option against all odds.
The Overload let us reach the next level of power, though it could only be used under a minute. After that, we would not be able to use Cosmic energy or even mana. We would be powerless. That is as well, only Dae-Hyun and Seo-Ji were the only two to be capable of unlocking such skill.
“We brought them in order to create blasts strong enough to destroy the body.” Aegis said. Nodding, Bing-Bing seemed to begin to fuse one of the artifacts with Cosmic energy. I could feel how the energy was falling into the crystal, in which I as well began to pour some of my energy.
“Hyun-Ha, give support to the ones fighting Urho.” Gram said as he gave Iseul another crystal. We all three began to concentrate, trying to fill the artifacts.
Then at some point, I finished first as the crystal hummed with a vibration that could be felt in my palm.
“Good, seems it’s ready to use.” Aegis said. “Try and prevent Urho from noticing us. Buy as much time as possible.” Nodding nervously, I gave him the crystal and began to run towards the fight.
Dae-Hyun, Tae-Soo, Seo-Ji and Eun-Ji all were countering and attacking Urho. The beast snarled and was confused as to how they were able to keep on fighting as each one was thrown to the ground and even shot in the air.
Taking a deep breath, I understood that I needed to support them. Everyone will come back alive.
Pushing mana into my staff, I began to create crimson flames. The red burned the snow all around, melting as the temperature of the small flame began to grow. Concentrating with the mana entering my body and becoming the flame, I made a fist.
Floating an inch or two above my fist, I took a stance and shouted. “Everyone, get away!” My classmates looked and with their high enhanced senses, they flew away from Urho, the beast confused as the small fire ball was shot towards its head. The beast didn’t react in time as it landed.
The sound of hissing and burned meat was all I heard and smelled. The shriek of the monster told me it did injure it. Taking no time for it to recover, my staff beamed with fire and began to shoot three fire balls to injure it more.
Dae-Hyun and Seo-Ji both lifted their weapons, summoned crimson fire, and began to throw it into slashes at Urho. The beast only shrieked and wailed as it couldn’t move. But the earth began to tremble, and beneath our feet, I felt as I fell onto my back and the beast slamming its tail with black spike forming around it.
The black spikes began to appear as it hissed and opened it mouth. “Bon-Bon!” Hyun-Ha shouted as the beam began to form and in a second shot towards me. The distance between us was quite far, but that blast was fast enough that I knew I wouldn’t be able to dodge it.
Tae-Soo and Eun-Ji both made a barrier together as they put everything in preventing the blast from injuring us. As the beam stopped, Tae-Soo was stabbed in the left arm by the spike, along Eun-Ji being grazed on his ribs and legs by spikes.
I grabbed both of them as they fell to the ground. Unable to move, Tae-Soo tried to lift his spear but wasn’t strong enough. Dragging both of them away from where we were standing, the spikes spawned around us at random. The fear and adrenaline both heightened my senses and with caution, I avoided each one.
Hyun-Ha shot fire arrows and made Urho lose focus as the beast went into a defensive position as Dae-Hyun sliced at its head. The beast was burning with rage, trying to get back at us as it used its mana to prevent any of Dae-Hyun’s attacked from reaching it.
Tae-Soo and Eun-Ji were already healing their minor injuries, then check them to be sure. “It sure is strange to heal so quickly.” Eun-Ji said.
“There’s no time to be amazed, we need to get back out there.” Tae-Soo shouted. Taking his spear, he went ahead and began to rush into battle again.
“What an impulsive idiot!” Eun-Ji said as he followed behind him. A smirk came to my face, perhaps because I knew they were truly friends on how they don’t think to help each other.
“Idiots.” I said as I began to summon winds. The winds swirled around me as I let out a sigh. My eyes glowed as I began to point and target Urho. The beast was barely able to mover as Dae-Hyun moved at a speed that I couldn’t follow with my eyes.
With a sudden push of mana, the air began to swirl into spheres of wind, along them staring to float above Urho. Dae-Hyun and the others saw what I was doing, and Iseul —who had finished a while ago— began to summon thunder. As our classmates dispersed, we both shot the elements.
Urho snarled and shrieked, yet my fear drained the color out of me. The beast was still in one piece. As it curled and hid its head under its body, the beast’s five remaining eyes glowed crimson as a sudden burst of mana began to emerge from its body.
Aegis and Gram were confused, but I began to feel weak, numb and my mana felt less and less. Then, a noise similar to static roared. The noise made my System begin to sound.
Shit. It made us paralyzed! I was not the only one, Iseul, Seo-Ji, along the rest of the class immobilized. The eyes of the monster narrowed with delight. Disgust slithered in my body as I could tell that the beast was getting cocky. Unable to move, unable to even speak or use magic, I truly felt helpless.
The beast began to use spikes as it placed on each of us on one of our legs. Shouting and groaning made me see red. This beast is a true sadist. I began to look around, but a sharp pain began to swell on my left leg.
Looking down, I saw that a spike was sticking out of my thigh. Grinding my teeth, I took deep uncontrollable breaths. The spikes were already hardening with the few seconds, causing my injury from healing.
So, this is what a Calamity can do? If the spells don’t work, what will? My mind couldn’t think with the pain surging every single second that passed.
Pleasure came from the creature that stared at us hungrily to torture us. The beast didn’t waste a second and began to hiss. As it did, I could see a mist appear.
The green mist began to spread, a yellowish cloud covering the ground. When I took a small sniff, my nose jolted with pain and the smell of something burning took over my nostrils. I began to cough, my lungs barely able to pull air.
As I turned around, I saw everyone begin to cough and wheeze as some threw up bile and others were puking blood. The soldiers were the first to begin dying as they couldn’t tolerate the gas.
I felt something warm in my throat, along my eyes burning up as tears came out. Then, blood began to drip out of my eyes and mouth. I could tell I was getting affected quite quickly as my System began to swarm with alerts of blood loss.
But as the beast hissed in delight, I sensed a mana signature that began to swallow the gravity. Just as I was kneeling, my body got heavier as the mana in the air was sensed by Cosmic energy.
From the side, Dae-Hyun rose with his obsidian blade, his golden eyes began to glow with his body having strange runes all over it. The runes glowed a beautiful golden as the sparks on his blade turned the same color.
True power was shown through his body and weapon, both already reaching peak of its power. This wasn’t Overload, yet it felt way more than that.
This was his fourth Supernova phase, which was already something above everyone else. He trained the most out of all of us. Without a doubt, his power was thanks to the small battle with Urho.
His hand gripped tight his sword, and his eyes glared at Urho, the beast barely able to move. Is it having trauma?
The blade of Dae-Hyun disappeared as he vanished from my sight. Confused, Urho shrieked as it slammed its body to the ground.
Dumbstruck, we all saw how Dae-Hyun began to move and chop off the legs of the creature. Urho couldn’t even react in time as he swirled his blade, the glimmer of the edge flowing like a shooting star.
Urho tried to use its cry once more but was stopped as Dae-Hyun infused his arm with wind and fire. The explosion caused a shockwave that pushed us off our feet. His power was beyond what we could produce. Was it perhaps because he is divine gifted?
Taking his sword, he drove it into the right eye and slashed down taking away three eyes in one slash. His body burned like a sun as his flames began to dye golden. The pure sparkles glittered like stars, and the fire foot was slammed into its head. The beast fell, growling with barely any energy left.
The beast wasn’t moving, but it began to weep, something that even we were caught off guard hearing. We stood still as we saw how the monster began to fall and with it, the spell it casted upon us faded along the toxin disappearing from our bodies. My body began to heal the moment the toxin left.
Dae-Hyun was still glowing like a star, and his eyes moved to check if the beast was truly dead. As he took out the sword from its skull, purple blood dyed him, and he gave a grim expression.
Breathing once more, I placed my hand on my chest and fell onto the ground on my back.
“It’s over.” Aegis said in surprise. The sudden shouts and cries of victory came from us, and everyone began to relax.
II
Gram had called for an evacuation transport a few minutes ago. Because we had some time left, we took those who died and placed them in a single line and prayed for them.
Gram and Aegis both looked calm, but their heartbeats told me they weren’t at all calm. They trained some of these soldiers, and perhaps even knew some. Battles would always leave corpses and loved ones, but also enemies.
Throughout history, it was always war that was noticed the most. Though not only humans live in this world, elves, dwarves, demons, spirits and even children of the fauna, everything was recorded to be shown in history.
It didn’t matter where; humans of our world would cause war just because they have beliefs that are the opposite. This was just the first of the many battles to come, I just hope I get to breathe once in a while.
“Whew, we were lucky.” Hyun-Ha said as she cleaned her face with the water of the river. “Yeah, I thought I was gonna die choking with the monsters fart.” Tae-Soo said picking his nose. A few of us laughed as the others looked disgusted just thinking of it truly was.
“How come we weren’t immune to its poison?” Ji-Hye asked as she lifted her head from the ground. “Because it’s a monster that uses similar energy to us.” Iseul said as she polished her glasses.
“In the files I read, the Calamities aren’t just ordinary monsters, they are children of this planet, almost like the original denizens of this world. Because of that, they are made of the same energy that flows in the universe. Let’s say like cosmic beings.”
Putting back her glasses, Iseul hovered a few inches from the ground. “How is that even possible? This world is supposed to be five times the age of our planet, right?” Seo-Ji asked.
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“Correct but remember. Beings of energy, they basically have longevity. It makes sense that a creature of the origins of the planet could live millions or even trillions of years. The Primordials were said to be gods that existed even before the universe or even creation.”
“Yep, that’s what I would call old.” Tae-Soo scoffed. “Strange how fast we recover. My body feels stronger, just like in those comics. With every fight, we become stronger.” Iseul and the other girls only cringed as Tae-Soo posed as a Greek hero.
Sighing, I took a small peak at my status. I had grown stronger, even if only in mana and skills. Strength and endurance also increased.
The System gave me the info on my progress, along showing me how much experience, I gained. Thanks to that, I was able to understand how much stronger I’ve gotten with this battle.
Hyun-Ha got a piece of cookie that was red velvet, which she broke into two pieces. “Want some?” She said as she finished her piece.
Taking it, I took one bite as it disappeared into my mouth. “Damn. Hungry, are we?” She said in an old man voice. Shoving her shoulder, she laughed as I took in the view. The glacier where we fought was completely destroyed, along the road we took being smashed, leaving craters all around. This was all because of a monster equal to a calamity level, a level that can destroy entire kingdoms and nations. But it wasn’t all that strong, but it was still confusing.
“What are you thinking?” Bing-Bing asked. “Just a gut feeling.” I said. “Is it about Urho?” Iseul asked. Nodding to confirm her question, she took a moment to see the corpse of the beast. “You doubt it was using its full power, right?”
“Yes, the beast seemed like it was rather limited on how it could sense Dae-Hyun, but its body couldn’t react in time. Even when he could use mana shields, it panicked as it couldn’t react in time in the last blow.”
Iseul looked rather more focused, her thoughts circling around the thought of Urho being limited.
“That is true. It could destroy part of Gran’Dal but barely stood a chance against Dae-Hyun at full power. Or is this just like in the games. A mini boss?”
Gram came as we were talking about this, which caused us to stop speaking of the topic. “Well kids, the helicopter will be coming in a few minutes.”
Sighing, Hyun-Ha began to eat again. Observing all around, I began to notice something about the class.
We were all now warriors in the beginning of our adventures. The winter was already a month away from being over, then we would begin to head on to more missions in order to stop the Heroes of Tokyo.
From what I heard; the Tokyo Faction were already all reaching their final phases at the end of the war. Which meant that they haven’t been able to level up any further as they haven’t had any enemies close to their power.
Taking into consideration, we all needed to increase our power as we should begin the battle of the Factions.
“Hey, do you feel that?” Iseul asked. Her eyes darting in every direction. “What?” I questioned trying to sense anything.
“I don’t sense anything.” Hyun-Ha said.
“Yeah, me neither.” Bing-Bing said as she turned her head on both sides. But I began to use my Descry skill. My System began to blow up with warnings.
My blood ran cold as the word Cosmo came to my notices. Turning to see where the skill was detecting it, I looked up above my head, there a single figure with a powerful aura was floating. My heart began to beat fast with a tremor following through my body.
Iseul saw my expression as she looked up. She began to tremble as well. “Master Gram. A Hero.”
Gram looked confused and looked up. He grimed as he stared at the figure. Everyone followed our line of sight, in which ones were confused, while Dae-Hyun and his group of friends froze and began to grit their teeth.
“A Hero?!!” Si-Young stuttered. Everyone didn’t know what to do, but as I saw the figure descend, Iseul and Bing-Bing shouted.
“Master Gram!”
“A barrier!!” They both began to cast a spell; a small bubble of mana surrounded us. The figure landed on top of the small barrier.
His armor was shining gray, and red robes were shown to drip from his chest plate and hips. The horns that curved like a bull’s lifted up front and crimson eyes glowed inside the helmet.
The fur wrapped around his neck was small compared to his shoulders and body. The giant man held a strong and eerie presence.
“Everyone! Get together! It’s a Hero of the Tokyo Faction!” Aegis said as he began to take the remaining soldiers behind him. The man seemed to check around the barrier until he spotted the carcass of Urho.
The sky began to darken as the clouds began to form, and with that, I could sense the man begin to fill with excitement as his laugh was roaring throughout the glaciers. A deranged and deep guffaw left his throat, and with that rush, he slammed his fist onto the barrier.
Breaking like glass, the barrier was destroyed. With raw strength, this man managed to break the barrier.
As the shield broke, we were stunned by his presence. The aura being released from this man was comparable to three times the power of Urho.
His eyes glowed under the helmet, looking down at us as if we were insects. Landing on the ground next to Urho, he put his palm on the fractured head of the beast.
“Managed to defeat the Calamity. Impressive for rookies.” A deep and youthful voice left the man. He was more taken by the sight of Urho, ignoring us. “With how it was only restricted to only half its power, it was still quite easy for you to beat it.” Patting the carcass, he moved over to walk towards our direction. Tae-Soo was the first to lift his spear, along Bing-Bing putting Iseul and Ji-Hye behind her.
Hyun-Ha held my hand, which I tightened as my heart was about to abandon my body to save itself. Aegis didn’t move but only looked distraught.
“Its seems that you are what was brought huh. I heard you were 23. But only 16 are present. Quite the disappointing generation.” His tone was cocky, enough to make me forget I was scared, filling me with a boiling desire to slap him.
His eyes glowed in delight. “Then this will be easier than I thought.” He said. Taking a glance, the man began to set his eyes on Dae-Hyun. As he did, his helmet began to shine and dismantle. As it did, a young face with a scar near his nose crossed and red eyes stared at him. His brown small hair was spiky and thrown back to show his face.
“So, you are the leader of this generation.” He said as he harshly patted the shoulder of Dae-Hyun. “It's good to see that your what I would have expected.”
His big grin left as his eyes locked with Dae-Hyun’s. “Now, I’ll give you the two choices. The first one: come with me and I’ll spare your friends. The second is: resist, bring you by force and all your friends die.”
His smiled creeped again as he looked down at Dae-Hyun. Even if Dae-Hyun was a head and a half shorter than this man, he stood his ground.
“Sorry, but I don’t know you.” Dae-Hyun said mocking him. The man chuckled and seemed genuinely surprised. “Hero Juno, but I’m titled as Berserker.” He said with a hint of venom.
“Sorry to tell you Juno, I’m not obligated to follow what you say. So, you can return to your buddies and tell them to fuck off.” Juno smiled as he heard those words.
“Hoping you would say that. It’s always the prideful ones that fall the hardest.” As he said this, a pressure far greater than Urho’s began to press against my chest.
“You see young man, I didn’t offer you this so you can act cocky, no, I told you the options that would be quite beneficial to your friends. But now, I guess I have to show you who you're going against.” Juno and Dae-Hyun stayed standing there for a few second before Juno shoved him, slamming Dae-Hyun to the ground.
“Don’t do it kids!” Gram shouted, but Tae-Soo and the other boys showed anger and hatred as they blindly went to attack Juno. The giant lifted his hand, an axe of pure crimson with silver shining and pushing every one of them to the ground.
“Welcome to war shit stains. Welcome to hell!” He shouted as he turned to look at us. His sly grin covered as his helmet returned. “Iseul! Barrier!” I shouted.
Lucky for us, Iseul was the fastest in casting spells. His axe didn’t touch us, the barrier making the weapon bounce back. Whistling as if being impressed, Juno took a minute to look at the barrier.
“Ah, pure mana. Spells made out of the mana only.” His index finger touched the barrier, and a loud screech began to deafen us.
“Still needs more density though.” With his index finger, the barrier broke and began to screech out of the claw that was formed in his finger.
Before it could break, Tae-Soo pushed forward his spear, the tip grazing the helmet of Juno. The glowing eyes pointed at our classmate, and an uppercut landed on Tae-Soo. His teal eyes went dark, and he barely could stand.
Kneeing him on the chest, Tae-Soo fell to his knees and landed his head on the ground. Sweat poured from my forehead, and with a deep fear drowning my mind, I began to understand we were truly going to be killed.
His aura vibrated with excitement, his body getting looser as every attack he through began to be agile.
“Master Gram! What do we do?!” Iseul asked as she continued to push mana into the barrier.
“Juno is a tank; he won’t be taken down with normal attacks. We need to use magic enhanced shots. The artifacts.” He said as he gave Bing-Bing one.
“The artifacts will react to his Cosmo, when he lets his guard down, try to use it by fusing it with your energy and shoot it like a normal spell.”
Seeing how Juno was dominating Eun-Ji, I decided on something. “Master Gram, I’m going to aid them. If we don’t stop him, the whole glacier will collapse on us.”
Nodding, Iseul made a small hole for me to go through and rushed to a spot where I could attack. Sprinting, my System began to target him as my enemy.
Tae-Soo was out, Eun-Ji was out, Dae-Hyun and the other boys were left. Seo-Ji and Si-Young were both trying to look for a way to attack from a distance, but now, I began to feel the adrenaline rush.
My staff glowed and the nebula turned purple. The warmth that radiated in my Cosmo began to create purple fire, and creating a single arrow, I shot it.
The purple flame danced in the air and shot directly at the spine of Juno. As Gram said, his body could take attacks of weapons and fists, but it can’t take a direct magic spell. Juno turned to face me.
“A mage-type?” His tone deepened as he grabbed the arm of Dae-Hyun. “Hey, don’t forget about me!” Dae-Hyun punched him, which actually connected and snapped Juno’s neck back.
“Now that hurt.” He hissed. Lifting Dae-Hyun up in the air, he slammed him to the ground. The earth rumbled and broke as Dae-Hyun was thrown to the ground repeatedly.
“Leave him alone!!” Seo-Ji shouted. Her movements were swift, each step leading her close and closer to Juno. As she reached him, Juno tried to grab her, Seo-Ji being sharper, jumped in the air and sliced at his face. The metallic screech of metal on metal deafened me. But a loud groan was heard as well.
Releasing Dae-Hyun, Juno grabbed his face. Now’s my chance!
As I began to summon a strong arrow of pure mana. I pointed and shot. The projectile whistled and got him from the back. He wailed as the arrow came through his left shoulder, nothing but the cries of a bear in pain.
The groans came as I began to check my surroundings. Iseul was ready and Bing-Bing as well. Then, a surge of great mana rose to the surrounding area as I froze in its presence. “Amazing. Just amazing. You are strong boys and girls.”
As he lifted his enormous body, he turned, his helmet having a scar that still hissed from how fast the blade sliced it. His seething red eyes pierced me especially. “Your quite strong blue hair. You remind me of another mage that was a babe, along being a bitch.”
Whistling, the axe missed me by an inch as Eun-Ji pushed me down to cover. Seeing the crimson blade shine with a humming light of mana, I could tell he was aiming to behead me. “He’s fast.” Eun-Ji exclaimed as he crawled back to grab his sword.
“Yeah. He’s faster than Seo-Ji.” I shouted. Lifting my staff, I was preparing a spell, however, Juno was already attacking. Kicking an injured Dae-Hyun, he was thrown towards Seo-Ji and began to run towards me. Unable to move, I was punched, my guts twisting from the impact.
Bile rose to my throat and spat it on the ground. “Gross. You managed to take it with just puking. Quite durable for a mage.” He said as he lifted my head with a kick.
My head span as I looked at the sky. Then, I lifted my hand and shot an ice spike. His expression told me he wasn’t expecting that. Falling onto my hands, I began to spin and backflip.
“BB are you okay?!” Hyun-Ha asked with a terrified expression. “Yeah, just let out my breakfast.” Spitting that taste of my bile, I stared at the injured Juno.
“My, my. You are quite the threat now. You’ll die first.” As he said this, he lifted his hand. “What the—?” My body lifted and I was being pulled.
“You should know this ability.” He said as I got closer. Levitating, I knew this wasn’t elemental magic. But his skill, one that only a Phase 6 Hero can use. “Etheric Sovereignty.” I said through gritted teeth. He eyes shined in delight.
“Quite a smart one. How about taking the deal, I offered your classmate? I promise to treat you really good, if you know what I mean.” I felt my bile rise once more, this time by what this pig said to me.
“Sorry, not interested.” I said as i tried to move. “Hey!” Si-Young said as she punched the lights out of Juno. The grunt left his throat as he released me. “BB, get up.” She said as she stood in a defensive position with her blade.
“We need to hit him all at once.” I spoke. “Yeah, seems he can’t take magic spells all together. We need to use our firepower in order to kill him.”
“Kill?” She asked with a stutter. “Yeah, it's his life or ours.” I said as I began to heal my injuries.
We looked at Dae-Hyun and Seo-Ji, who both nodded. Eun-Ji was ready, along Hyun-Ha ready to give us support. “Seo-Ji, Si-Young, Eun-Ji, attack!”
Leaving their afterimages, Juno was already summoning his axe once more. The crimson blade faded and began to counter each attack. Dae-Hyun used the technique that Gram taught him. The blade began to glow, and like a shooting star, began to turn and slice at Juno.
Hyun-Ha began to shoot arrows made of fire and wind every time our classmates left an opening, each one injuring Juno on his joints. Barely able to lift his axe, Juno began to get angry.
The giant Hero began to keep the pace with the others, yet it felt as if he was beginning to get faster. His axe shined crimson, and with it, flames of the same color glowed and bathed Eun-Ji. Eun-Ji tried to deflect, but was thrown towards a glacier, which began to crack.
“Dammit.” Bing-Bing and I began to rain spells on him, but they were useless. Juno as he began to beat Si-Young, Seo-Ji slipped and was slammed into the ground, vomiting blood.
Dae-Hyun was the last one standing, and with his efforts, began to use all the moves he knew, his blade glowing golden. The golden strokes began to clash with crimson flames.
The sparks hissed at the touch of snow, the glacier cracking from each clash of the two Heroes. “The glacier is going to collapse if this goes on!” Iseul shouted.
“Where’s the helicopter?” Aegis shouted. “It’s coming, but we need to neutralize Juno first. He’ll only hunt us down.”
Clicking my tongue, I knew that Juno won’t go down easily. The glacier began to rumble as the continued battle of the Dae-Hyun and Juno went on.
The golden and crimson auras consumed one another, as if tidal waves crashing against each other. The blade of Juno was already leaving wounds on Dae-Hyun due to him lacking armor.
But Dae-Hyun stood strong as the blade was quicker and even capable to stab through the armor of Juno from every three swings. His eyes glowed fiercely, his movements getting ever so swifter.
Then the sound of cracking began to resound through the surroundings. Rocks the size of the mammoths began to fall, and snow began to rain all over us.
“Its collapsing!” Gram said as he scooped up all the troopers that were just staring like deers in headlights. The rumbling of snow and ice began to fill me with terror as I began to sprint with Si-Young behind me.
Juno and Dae-Hyun stopped fighting as they began to sprint towards the river. Taking a deep breath, I jumped across it. The jump actually made me overpass the river and even part of the other side. Falling on my behind, I checked as the glacier fell onto the destroyed mammoths and carcass of Urho.
Just as I thought that we would take a break, Juno smashed Eun-Ji once more onto the icy ground, his yelp being muffled by the snow. Juno then grabbed Gram and slammed him against Aegis. The troops could only watch as they barely could move from their injuries.
“What’s wrong old man? You can’t keep up?!” He shouted. This guy showed how much he didn’t care for others, which caused me to react the way I did.
Summoning a wind that bit colder than the winter, I slammed Juno’s head against the ground as he did with my classmates. “You are quite the bastard. You don’t feel remorse of what you have done? What about Gram and the other Masters that took care of you—?”
He laughed maniacally as his helmet broke apart. “For a woman, you know how to punch. Plus, that ice magic, it’s really getting on my nerves.” Grabbing me by my neck, he pushed, but I flexed my entire body, which from everyone’s shock, I stopped him completely.
Juno looked at me in surprise, which I slammed my head against his face. The noise of a crack echoed as he fell backwards. The floor cracked as he fell, and I began to freeze the body of Juno.
Everyone chuckled and tried to understand what just happened, but I was quite happy to see that my late-night training was worth it. Taking the gravitational pull exercises helped in me building strength and endurance.
Grunting and groaning was heard as I saw Juno try to get up. “Bitch! Release me!” His body could barely move as the ice didn’t even crack. “We need to retreat. The others won’t be able to continue.” Aegis told Gram.
“You’re right. Let’s get away from here to signal the chopper.” Nodding, Aegis grabbed Eun-Ji who was barely standing. Dae-Hyun lifted Tae-Soo, and I grabbed Seo-Ji.
III
Taking a small sprint, we all left, Juno screaming and beginning to roar like a beast. “Is that really going to keep him there?” Iseul asked me.
“I think so. I put enough layers and condensed it to make dry ice. It will keep him from making any violent movements.” She looked back with doubt.
As we left, the sound of the air whistling, I saw a chopper reach above the glacier. We all wooed and jumped in joy as we saw our escape.
“Lower, it safe.” Gram said through his artifact. The chopper began to descend, the snow making mist around us. “Go, go.” Gram signaled us to head to the back of the chopper. The massive chopper had been hovering a few inches above, which we had to jump. Grabbing Seo-Ji and jumping, we landed inside. The seats were on the sides, and two soldiers were helping with the injured.
They took Seo-Ji as I waited for my classmates to enter. Iseul grabbed my hand as we both took a seat near the hatch. Gram was the last to enter inside. “Everyone is in, we’re clear to go.” Gram shouted. The chopper began to lift.
Strapping my seatbelt, I laid my head back on the cushion and let out a long breath. “Whew! We live baby!” Tae-Soo shouted with slapping Dae-Hyun on the back. Everyone laughed and cheered as we realized how we survived an attack from a Hero.
I looked at my classmates that were gossiping and laughing, the relief of surviving and even being all together till the end. Closing my eyes, I began to emerge in my memories once more.
“Bon-Bon, why are crying?” Her voice was sweet as ever. Her hands holding my shoulders as I kept on weeping. Her hands went to clean my tears; her honey eyes stared at me with concern. ‘I was laughed at school. They said I would be all alone. That when you die, I would follow you.’
My eyes saw my mother get sad, but she wrapped her arms around me. “Oh Bon-Bon, never believe what those kids say, I will never leave you. I may not know what awaits after my life, but I believe, that I will become you guardian angel.”
“Really?” She nodded as her smile came to warm me. “I shall always be there for you, my child.” My eyes opened as the alarms began to go out. Just before I could fully understand what was going on, the hatch ripped, and I found a shadowy figure.
The figure had a strange robe that hid its body, and a porcelain masked covered its face. The mask showed to have lips in a purple color, along blue glowing eyes staring at us.
“Be careful!!” One of the soldiers shouted as she began to shoot her blaster. The shots weren’t affecting the figure. “Another Hero??!!” Aegis shouted. The figure flowed like liquid as it swiftly and began to use magic.
The mana that was released was strong enough to paralyze some of my classmates. “Hey!” I shouted as I pressed my hand on the figure's chest. The ice that was beginning to form stiffened it as it pushed the mana away from my hand. “What the??” The figure pushed me and kept on fighting the rest.
With the hatch broken and open, air was pulling us towards it, one of the soldiers being sucked and thrown out. Using my mana to infuse my body, I managed to press down.
The shadow was already facing against Dae-Hyun and Tae-Soo, in which I tried to use magic. Unfortunately, my mana was beginning to fail as the connection was stopped, and my body could barely stay pressed. Iseul, who was next to me, was trying to grab me.
“Hang on BB!!” Her body glowed white and began to pull. She managed to bring me back to my seat, in which I tried to connect my mana to my circuits once more.
The helicopter then began to lose balance as chains were wrapped around the hanging hatch. The helicopter began to be pulled, something that filled us with dread.
The icy mountains were so close, it gave us a view of Juno who seemed to be in a monstrous form. His horns were bigger, his body even bulkier than before, and his body emitted a terrible aura.
As Gram tried to take out something from his pocket, Iseul seemed to know what to do. She lifted her hand, and the artifact she was given was glowing with pure Cosmic energy. Throwing it with such precision, Juno only could widen his eyes and see the bright light.
As the explosion made him release the chopper, the other figure went to stop Gram from using his. The chaos was already making me panic. Iseul choked and groaned as I saw a chain wrap around her neck.
“Shit!” I said as she was pulled and almost taken. The sweat began to fill my face and my blood rushed though my body as my head span from what I could do.
“Iseul, hold on!” I said as my arm tightened around the steel bar of the hatch. She looked at me, her eyes already watery with tears, her lip quivering. This was the first time I saw her breakdown, but I couldn’t abandon her. She is my friend, and I won't leave her. My body began to take more force, and with all my strength, Iseul was taken back inside.
Iseul coughed and tried to take in air as the chain disappeared. Not taking a second to waste, we both began to get away from the hatch, the air sucking and trying to take us with it.
Iseul looked back, and her eyes became full moons. Hyun-Ha and Bing-Bing both looked at me and looked horrified. As I felt a cold and burning sensation on my legs, all I could hear was the sound of my heartbeat going slow, then my face slammed on the metallic floor.
“BB!!!!!!” That was the last word I heard from Iseul as I fell from the chopper. The sky was already blue, and the clouds gray. I felt the wind whistle and my legs began to hiss with my flesh being burned. Trying to free myself, I realized too late.
My body slammed against the hard ground. Coughing blood and bile, all I could see was the helicopter going farther and farther away from where I laid. The silhouette of a giant came to my right side, and I felt my arm crack from being stomped on.
The scream was caught in my throat as blood prevented me from letting it out. My other arm tried to lift, but the axe haft broke my elbow, and my arm dangled. He began to stomp on my shoulder. Tears filled my vision. Drowning in my own blood, I tried to lift myself, but Juno grabbed me by the throat and infused his arm with mana.
The piercing and sharp pain in my stomach began to creep along my spine and every nerve in my body. His muffled laughter only made me cry more. “C’mon, more, I want to hear you!!” He shouted in a distorted and monster-like voice.
His arm began to warm up, and my guts began to hiss and smell like cooking meat. I tried to flail, kick or even shout, but the pain became too much. I kicked his ribs, but his knee broke my leg. He laughed and slammed me on the ground.
Ripping my uniform, he whistled. “Such a waste.” He said eyeing me. My eyes began to cry blood, my vision as the color of my life’s blood. As he twisted my spine, I began to lose all feeling to my body. All the pain was fading, and the frightening feeling of coldness taking over my body made me cry.
Mom. Will I be able to see you wherever you are? The blood dyed the snow around me, and the only thing I could think of, was in my mother. I wondered if I would be able to feel her embrace once more, be able to speak with her. That simple thought made everything less scary.
Closing my eyes, I waited as Juno lifted my mangled body. Letting go of the breath I was keeping, I accepted what was about to happen. Then, that something never came. My ears which could barely hear anything, began to hear a calm and steady heartbeat. My cheek felt warm even though my body was losing its temperature.
Opening my right eye, I saw that I was wrapped in the arms of someone. I thought it was my mother, but those blue cold eyes glowed with fury and full of life. The thin pupil fell to look at me, in which I felt my cheeks feel warm all of a sudden.
This person radiated a warmth I had never felt before, and I felt as if I could truly be at peace. “Rest.” That was the only word I heard from his voice. A low ethereal voice that left me to take up his offer. Closing my eyes, all I felt was his warmth, and this warmth made the cold touch of death seem like a breeze to the sun that shined in the summer sky.