Location: Jakartha City – Protection Barrier Walls
Time: 1:00 AM
The night had lost its silence.
The shimmering blue barrier of Jakartha City pulsed like a heartbeat against the encroaching dark, casting eerie light across the bloodstained battlefield. Magic lamps flickered atop the towering walls, their glow illuminating weary eyes and steel-stained armor.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
The second wave was over. The ground was littered with the scorched corpses of 2nd Star magical beasts bodies still smoldering, fangs shattered, claws melted to bone. And yet… the air never relaxed.
Because the third wave had arrived.
BOOOOOM!!
The earth quaked as two hundred 3rd Star magical beasts emerged from the Jakartha Forest, their howls rolling like thunder across the battlefield. Each one pulsed with savage power, emanating killing intent that made even seasoned fighters flinch.
And leading them?
Ten monstrous beasts each at Peak 3rd Star walked with intelligence in their eyes and bloodlust in their aura. They weren't just wild animals anymore. They were generals.
Jakartha's Adventurers stood with grit in their bones and fire in their eyes… but exhaustion clung to them like chains. Most were barely hanging on Peak 2nd Star, out of potions, out of breath, but not out of resolve.
They stood anyway.
Team 4 regrouped.
James locked his gauntleted fingers around the hilt of his sword, cracks forming in the dirt under his boots. Emma reloaded her spell catalysts with trembling fingers, then downed a bitter blue mana potion, followed by a vial to clear her mind.
And Jack?
He knelt beside the still-warm body of a colossal bear beast, his hand pressed against its steaming chest.
CRACKLE... SSSHHHH... DING!
Crimson energy surged from the beast's corpse, spiraling into Jack's core. His wounds sealed. His mana surged. His stamina reignited. His eyes, those eerie, gleaming eyes snapped open with cold precision.
Then, silently, he drank a mental fatigue potion, letting its chill wash over his senses like icy rain.
He rose slowly.
"...Ready," he murmured, voice sharp as steel.
Emma shot him a sideways glance and smirked, though it didn't reach her tired eyes. "Do you monsters even need rest?"
"We do," Jack said simply. "Just not… in the middle of an instant death battle."
WHOOOOOOOOSH!
Suddenly, horns blared from atop the city walls, echoing across the war-torn plains.
BOOOOOM!
"All extermination teams disband! I repeat all 500 Otherworlder Ascendants are to gather at the front! The Third Wave has begun!"
The voice came from the Guild's enchanted loudspeakers, trembling with urgency.
There would be no backup.
Samsara world's Ascendants could no longer intervene. Soul contact prevented them from direct action in Otherworlder conflicts.
The fate of Jakartha City now rested in the hands of 500 exhausted warriors… against 200 apex beasts.
500 vs. 200.
But the odds weren't in their favor.
CRACK!
RUMBLE!
THUMP!
From the depths of Jakartha Forest, the trees parted.
The beasts emerged like nightmares from the abyss snarling, slithering, screeching.
Wolves with magma breath. Manticores wreathed in lightning. Winged jackals with obsidian claws. Glacial serpents that breathed frost and death. Beasts that flew on wings of bone. Others that skittered with limbs too many to count.
The very ground shuddered under their approach.
CRRRRRK…
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
Some marched like armies. Others slinked like shadows.
All carried the bloodlust of a hundred massacres.
The air thickened with malice. Mana screamed through the atmosphere.
The forest behind them began to darken not from the night, but from the presence of something deeper… something worse.
A silence fell just before the storm.
And Jack stood there, eyes narrowed at the sea of death rushing toward them.
His heartbeat slowed.
His grip on his dagger tightened.
His clones shimmered into being beside him with a
DING!
Of raw energy.
James cracked his knuckles, his body already pulsing with Phoebus and Erebus fusion aura.
Emma twirled her staff, a cyclone of flame and wind gathering around her.
This was it.
No room for fear.
No space for hesitation.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The third wave struck.
And the battle for Jakartha's future began.
----
Jack's golden eyes gleamed brighter, sharper.
The Eye of Truth activated. Time slowed.
His Sea of Knowledge blazed to life.
Information surged into his mind.
[Stormbloom Raven] – A small raven with crackling feathers and electric talons. Fragile but blindingly fast.
Threat Level: Low 3rd Star
Drops: Thunder Feathers
[Ashfang Viper] – Charred scales. Venom-laced fangs. Ember-sparking tail. Swift and surgical.
Threat Level: Low 3rd Star
Drops: Ember Venom
[Daggerthorn Mantis] – Camouflaged predator with razor-edged arms and thorny exoskeleton. A whirlwind of slashes.
Threat Level: Low 3rd Star
Drops: Thorn Blades
[Icefang Wolf] – Frost-crusted fur. Howl's that are called blizzards. Hunts in coordinated packs.
Threat Level: Low 3rd Star
Drops: Ice Fangs
[Earthclaw Rhino] – Rocky armor. Tremor-charging horn. Bulldozer in beast form.
Threat Level: Low 3rd Star
Drops: Quake Horn
[Blazeclaw Jackal] – Burning claws. Molten fur. Attacks in searing, frenzied packs.
Threat Level: Mid 3rd Star
Drops: Magma Claws
[Frostmaw Drake] – Winged beast with freezing breath. Territorial cave sentinel.
Threat Level: Mid 3rd Star
Drops: Frost Scales
[Shadowfang Panther] – Veiled in shadow. Cursed claws. Master of silent death.
Threat Level: Mid 3rd Star
Drops: Shadow Claws
[Stormtalon Hawk] – Carries wind. Strikes like thunder. Dive-bomber of the skies.
Threat Level: Mid 3rd Star
Drops: Storm Talons
[Cinderthorn Boar] – Sparks with every stomp. Tusks of fire. Destructive and relentless.
Threat Level: Mid 3rd Star
Drops: Ember Tusks
More entries incoming…
Jack blinked. The golden glow faded. His mana pulsed, strained but held.
He turned to James and Emma, his voice calm but heavy.
"Every single beast here... could slaughter dozens of 2nd Star Ascendants. Don't hold back. This is life or death."
Emma clenched her staff, face pale yet fierce.
"Then we fight. For the city. For our loved ones."
James cracked his neck and grinned, wild light in his eyes. "Let's show these bastards what real warriors look like."
In his Blessing of Symbiotic Empowerment, Beast form he looks badass.
The barrier behind them shimmered. And then…
The Third Wave hit.
SCREECH!
ROAR!
BOOM!
Lightning cracked. Fire raged. Frost howled. Shadows danced. Blades clashed. Flesh tore. Blood spilled.
The night didn't fall. It exploded.
Chaos had arrived. And it wasn't leaving quietly.
-------
To Be Continued..!!