CHAPTER 152: CLIMAX
Looking at the ten-meter-high behemoth surrounded by an armor, with red fire running across its stony cracks, the survivors cried and ran in despair.
Even the elite-rank boar charging towards them had changed its direction slightly to run around the domain that had formed near it, prolonging its arrival for a few extra seconds.
Elena quickly barked at the others.
"Run away! Do your best to escape this place. Rose!"
Her eyes met with the little girl's, who nodded at her after a few moments. The Ruinsteed at her side raised its front hooves up before charging forward, with Rose doing her best to keep up. Sophia was also riding the stallion, together with Natalie and an unconscious Nathaniel.
Claire stuck close as she formed a barrier before survivors who found themselves in danger as they escaped. A few notable figures who contributed to the retreat were Ben, Iris, and Principal Martin.
With two stumps for arms, Ben's balance suffered greatly, but he gritted his teeth and did his best to keep up. His soul weapon, the liquid mercury-like substance, spun around him, forming shields of defense when danger approached, or spears that he used to occasionally kill the undead.
The eyes of the now two male survivors who surrounded Iris glowed with a deep pink light. Emboldened by whatever strange skill was acting upon them, the two males fought without any regard for their lives as they did their best to protect Iris, like loyal soldiers willing to give their lives to save their Queen.
The principal's rings danced around the fleeing group. Any zombie who drew closer found itself swallowed by an expanding ring of purple brilliance, as they were embraced by the dark void. Sometimes they found themselves far away from the group, sometimes, they found themselves high in the air, free falling from the skies. If not that his soul weapon only worked on one target at a time, not to mention, they consumed a lot of mana depending on the person who was targeted, the old man alone would have made their escape far easier.
Still, If it wasn't for the old man, Py, and surprisingly, a cloaked Rachel, many of the remaining survivors would have long died.
But even then, Rose could feel that the group was reaching its limits.
Her dark-as-night eyes lingered on Rachel, a flicker of surprise flashing in their depths. Still, she pulled her focus away from her and instantly made her decision.
'There is no need to save up on mana now! It's now or never, or we will all die!'
Her eyes erupted with a furious pink glow even as she ran.
Then, in a turn of events that almost made the group stop in astonishment, the more than twenty undead chasing after them abruptly came to a stop.
Then they turned and formed a wall around the group as they defended against any other approaching zombies.
"Don't stop! Keep running! Those who can still fight, support my new minions!"
It wasn't until they heard Rose's shout from behind that they understood what was going on, feeling a surge of shock and admiration, because each of the undead, despite being mainly common-rank, was above level 70. Most importantly, they felt hope, because they could finally see a chance to survive.
Darting through the tall grasses, the group steadily pulled further away from the main battlefields, only occasionally encountering undead pulled by the noise of the great clash.
"Let's return to the road!" the principal suggested, and the group quickly followed.
Now on the dirt road, wide enough for two cars to move freely side by side, the group's retreat increased with no need to force their way through the tall plants.
But that also made them vulnerable to sudden and hidden attacks from enemies.
"Look, a house!"
The Academy might have been located in a secluded area, but there were still a few who lived in this region and enjoyed the comfort and peace of being far away from the chaos of the territories.
The group quickly approached the two-story building, and Rose ordered three of her undead to enter the home first to ensure there was no unwanted ambush.
After a minute of quickly combing through the devastated home, they found the house to be safe.
Still, from the half-destroyed furniture and dried bloodstains on the walls and floors, it didn't take a genius to imagine what had happened to the original owners.
Many of the survivors collapsed on the ground as they burst into quiet sobs. Watching the people they had struggled with and survived with for so long get torn apart left an indelible mark on the minds of the students and even the female teacher.
Rose ignored the half-survivors, and Claire and Sophia moving from one person to another to help and heal the wounded, and instead surrounded the house with her new minions and the RUINSTEED.
Now that she had used up all her mana to form new mind sigils to control the undead, she could only down a few mana potions and wait for her natural mana regeneration to do its job.
Still, she moved quickly to the roof of the house, lay down prone, and watched the battle in the distance through the scope of her soul weapon.
She ignored the clashing undead, boars, and bears and instead fixed her gaze on Alice's battle.
Every time the bear lowered its raised front paws, jets of rolling magma shot into the skies, with boulders of stones rising and being sent smashing towards Alice.
Yet Alice's five-meter figure deftly moved around the edge of the domain as she dodged the massive projectiles and took a stance, her feet spread apart, with one planted in the front. She raised her long rapier, having switched her short blades for it, and thrust it into the air forward at such a speed that her big right hand was only a blur.
The rapidly shuffling boulders were destroyed and ripped apart by a piercing force, and soon after, a barrage of muffled thuds echoed out as the bear was sent retreating a few steps back, stone chips cascading down from the armor before its chest.
The bear roared in anger and finally ignored her brother, who had been spinning around it. The bear had first acted to squash her annoying bug of a brother, but Kael was just so nimble and fast, not to mention too small compared to the bear's titanic size, that its attacks we're almost useless.
Fed up, the bear instead charged towards the far-away Alice. The sight of a ten-meter bear, whose magma armor now had wisps of bronze aura rising up from it, barreling towards a smaller yet still five-meter-tall human figure surrounded by golden flames was a breathtaking sight to behold.
Rose shifted her scope momentarily away and focused on the new battle now being fought on another side.
Elena had long unsummoned her violin, leaving her graceful style of fighting for a more brutal and savage one.
The blonde senior screamed at the top of her lungs, the soundwave blasting into the ears of the massive bison and making it stiffen in place. More than twenty blades flew around her, grabbed by the hands of her telekinesis and gracefully controlled to tear across the hide of the bison. Yet the attack only drew scratches, as the beast boasted even more enhanced defenses than the epic-rank bear, despite how far weaker it was to the latter.
The blood creature whose lower torso was connected to Daniel through a trail of blood fought by the beast's side, its bloody scythe spinning through the air and leaving cuts across its hide. Yet, Daniel opted to remain away from the battle, only occasionally launching blood spears from afar.
Finally, there was Nathan, the one who made their resistance even possible. The young senior's five figures surrounded the bison, drawing its attention away and allowing the others' attacks to land.
Yet, while it seemed that the three had the advantage, the truth couldn't have been further from it.
Each stomp of the bison formed pits on the ground, with massive spikes of earth jutting out from the ground and filling the surrounding area.
The group was clearly on their back foot, as one of Nathan's shadows was crushed before it could dematerialize in time, the helper soon returning to Nathan's feet, indisposed for a while.
With no choice, Rose took a deep breath and started charging her attack. A low pink glow erupted from the mouth of her barrel, and a suffocating pressure started building up.
It was time to show these creatures why snipers were among the select few who could compete with Sword Cultivators in terms of attack power!