47) The Behemoth Part 1
{3rd POV}
As Ember dove headfirst into the battle, the war cries of the adventurers behind him erupted almost instantly.
The adventurers who had descended below the city wall finally clashed head-on with the incoming monsters, steel meeting flesh in a chaotic and brutal engagement.
At the same time, the archers stationed on the wall continued to rain arrows down without pause, forming a clean and controlled line of fire.
The arrows landed just behind Ember’s position but still in front of the melee adventurers, ensuring that they supported the front line without risking friendly casualties.
Meanwhile, the mages finally completed their chants, clearly demonstrating just how long proper spellcasting usually took.
Their chanting had taken even longer than normal, since they had deliberately poured more concentration, mana, and intent into their spells to increase their overall power and effectiveness.
Once their chants were finished, the magic surged through their staffs all at once.
Streams of elemental magic erupted forward—fire, light, thunder, wind, and water shot toward the monster stampede in a coordinated barrage.
The combined spell fire completely obliterated the line of monsters advancing behind Ember, vaporizing weaker creatures and tearing apart even sturdier ones.
This sudden magical onslaught created much-needed breathing room for the adventurers fighting near the base of the wall, allowing them to stabilize their formation and regroup.
Meanwhile, Ember continued fighting with everything he had.
His movements became a blur to anyone watching, not reaching the speed of sound but still fast enough to appear overwhelming and unreal to most adventurers present on the battlefield.
He cut down every monster that crossed his path without hesitation, whether they were goblins, kobolds, or even imps that tried to swarm him from multiple directions.
Each strike was precise, efficient, and relentless, showing no sign of exhaustion as the battle continued to escalate.
For the first time in his life, Ember encountered Needle Rabbits on the battlefield.
If he had still been a Level 1, he would have been forced to rely entirely on constant evasion, desperately dodging their lightning-fast charge attacks the moment they launched themselves forward.
However, now that he was a Level 2, the situation was completely different.
He could clearly track their sudden bursts of speed and respond without panic, cutting several of them down in a single second before they could even regroup.
Ember narrowly dodged a heavy swing from an Orc and immediately realized that dozens more had closed in around him almost instantly.
Without hesitation, he pushed his body harder, his speed increasing as his body responded to the intensity of the fight.
With several clean and powerful swings of his sword, he cut down multiple Orcs in rapid succession, their massive bodies collapsing to the ground before they could react.
Twisting his waist sharply, Ember dealt with a kobold that had leaped onto his back, slashing it away before it could sink its fangs into him.
He followed up by driving his foot forward, kicking a goblin with brutal force and smashing its body away in a spray of blood and gore.
Without slowing down, he swung his sword again, finishing off the remaining Orcs that tried to surround him from the front.
Even as he continued slaughtering the monsters in his path, Ember began chanting another spell.
“O’ howling wind, cover your friend in your swirling protection. Embrace thine child…”
Despite chanting simultaneously, his movements never faltered.
He kept cutting through goblins, kobolds, and other monsters that rushed toward him, maintaining complete control of the battlefield around his position.
By the time the chant was finally completed, streams of wind wrapped around his legs, boosting his agility significantly.
With the wind reinforcing his movements, Ember became even faster, diving deeper into the monster horde with renewed momentum.
A loud sonic boom rang out as Ember shattered the sound barrier, the compressed air exploding outward from his sudden acceleration.
The crushing pressure of the wind slammed into his body, yet compared to his inhuman endurance it felt no more than a passing breeze brushing against his skin.
Using that momentum, Ember launched himself upward, leaping into the air with overwhelming force.
His body twisted mid-jump, forming a clean arc as his head angled downward toward the battlefield while his legs lifted above him.
In that brief airborne moment, Ember rapidly assessed the situation below.
His sharp eyes scanned the surrounding area, instantly mapping out the positions of every monster near him—their movements, distances, and threats all registered within seconds.
Then, as gravity pulled him back down, he adjusted his stance and prepared himself for the next clash.
The instant his feet touched the ground, Ember burst forward again.
With a single powerful swing of his sword, combined with his overwhelming speed, the blade tore through several monsters in one motion.
Their bodies were cut down instantly, falling apart before they even realized what had happened. As he moved through them, blood sprayed and bodies collapsed behind him.
As Ember shifted his focus toward a group of Orcs that had turned their attention fully onto him, a loud and piercing screech echoed across the battlefield.
The sound sent a chill through the air.
Ember’s eyes shot upward as the light above him dimmed.
The sky darkened as massive shapes descended from above.
Wyverns—finally reaching the battlefield.
They had originally been flying at the very back of the monster herd, trailing behind the ground forces, but now they had closed the distance and were rapidly approaching the city.
Ember reacted immediately.
Twisting his body at the last second, he narrowly avoided a heavy blow from an Orc charging at him from the side.
Without hesitation, he turned and drove a powerful punch into a Silverback that was rushing him from behind.
The sheer force sent the massive creature flying several meters away, its body crashing violently into the ground like a discarded ragdoll.
Dodging another Orc’s attack, Ember swung his sword in a wide arc, cleanly beheading the creature as it charged him.
The Orc’s body collapsed moments later, its head rolling across the blood-soaked ground.
Ember was already maintaining one active magic to boost his agility, but he knew that alone would not be enough.
The Wyverns moving toward the city posed a far greater threat, and something had to be done immediately.
Without slowing down, Ember began chanting another spell.
“I pray to who gave us light, I pray to the one who brought down the flames…”
A dull ache formed in his head as the strain of using two spells simultaneously began to take effect.
He could feel the pressure building, but he refused to stop.
Ember continued feeding mana into the wind magic, maintaining its effect while pushing through the discomfort.
With controlled and deliberate movements, he cut down two more Orcs in quick succession.
Then, spinning on his heel, he kicked three Kobolds with brutal force.
Their bodies were smashed apart on impact, bursting into gore as blood and torn flesh splattered across the battlefield around him.
“I pray for the flames, I pray for the heat, I pray for the warmth!”
Ember continued chanting without hesitation, his voice steady despite the chaos surrounding him.
His boots, still wrapped in swirling wind magic, remained spotless, as clean as if they had just been forged moments ago.
His movements were sharp and precise, and his attacks became a relentless flurry of strikes that erased any monster foolish enough to step into his path.
Goblins, Kobolds, and Orcs were cut down before they could even react, their bodies collapsing in pieces around him.
“I pray for the light, I pray for what is bright!” Ember shouted, his voice rising as he thrust one palm upward toward the sky.
“Fire Burst!”
In the next instant, a violent torrent of blazing red flames erupted from his palm.
The fire surged upward like an exploding volcano, forming a massive pillar of flames that rose more than a dozen meters into the air.
The heat distorted the space around it as the pillar instantly engulfed three Wyverns that had been flying directly toward him.
Their bodies were incinerated midair, reduced to ash before they could even screech.
However, the attack did not stop there.
The towering pillar of fire split apart, dividing itself into dozens of smaller blazing streams.
These flames curved through the air, forming a wide arc before raining down upon both the Wyverns above and the monsters swarming the ground below.
The battlefield was engulfed in fire as explosions followed one after another.
In mere moments, dozens of monsters surrounding Ember were completely burned away, leaving behind nothing but scorched ground, drifting ash, and the stench of charred flesh.
The pressure around him finally eased as the wind magic wrapped around his legs faded away, signaling that its incantation duration had reached its limit.
He had no choice but to resume attacking immediately, as giving the monsters even a moment would result in being overwhelmed.
While moving, Ember began chanting once more, his voice firm despite the chaos around him.
“I pray to the Great Father of Gods, Zeus—bestow your thunder upon this child!”
Yes, he was once again preparing to use Lance’s magic, and this time his targets were clear.
The Wyverns circling above the battlefield had to be dealt with before they could descend upon the city and cause massive casualties.
Every second tested Ember’s skills to their absolute limit.
He was forced to fight multiple monsters simultaneously while maintaining his chant, something that demanded extreme concentration.
Unlike before, he was no longer facing attacks from a single direction.
Strikes came at him from all sides at once, claws, tusks, and massive bodies lunging toward him in an unending assault.
By now, the weaker monsters like Goblins and Kobolds had completely vanished from the battlefield around him.
Either they had already been wiped out or pushed aside by stronger beings.
Only powerful monsters remained in his immediate vicinity.
Orcs charged wildly with brute force, Needle Rabbits darted in with explosive bursts of speed, and Silverbacks attempted to crush him with their overwhelming strength.
This was no longer the front of the stampede.
Ember had reached the middle section of the monster herd, where only the strongest monsters advanced.
He knew all too well that in a monster stampede, the most dangerous creatures were always positioned toward the back.
Compared to what he was currently facing, the true threat had yet to arrive, and that realization weighed heavily on his mind as he continued fighting without pause.
Thus, even while continuously fighting the monsters closing in on him, Ember did not stop chanting.
His focus was split between survival, offense, and maintaining the flow of mana through his spell.
During this relentless struggle, a new presence emerged from the herd.
A Minotaur roared loudly as it spotted him, its massive frame charging straight toward Ember with earth-shaking force.
Ember finished cutting down an Orc in front of him and immediately reacted.
He leapt in front forming an arc in the air with his head facing towards the ground as the Minotaur stormed below him.
The beast did not stop in time, instead trampling over several Needle Rabbits and violently slamming into an Orc that had failed to move out of the way.
The moment its back was exposed, Ember seized the opportunity.
While landing from his roll, he twisted his body and swung his sword upward with precision, slicing deep into the Minotaur’s exposed spine.
The massive creature let out a final roar before collapsing, its body crashing heavily onto the blood-soaked ground.
“Thunderbolt!” Ember shouted once more, raising his sword toward the sky.
Lightning surged through the blade, violently erupting upward before crashing down upon the sky itself.
The bolt tore through more than a dozen Wyverns in an instant, frying them midair and sending their charred bodies plummeting down into the monster herd below.
Several of the falling corpses crushed weaker monsters on impact, briefly disrupting the stampede.
However, despite the destructive power of Ember’s attack, the result was far from enough.
At most, only around five percent of the entire Wyvern swarm had been eliminated by him alone.
The remaining continued flying forward relentlessly, and worse still, more than half of them had already reached the city wall.
Their screeches echoed through the battlefield, signaling imminent danger for the defenders below.
Grinding his teeth, Ember prepared to cast another spell while continuing to battle on the ground.
Around him, stronger Level 2 monsters closed in without pause, forcing him to maintain constant movement and offense as the battle escalated further.
...
Meanwhile, at the city wall, a fierce clash was unfolding in full force.
From the very beginning, all the adventurers who had descended from the wall faced the incoming monsters head-on without hesitation, forming a solid frontline.
Above them, the archers stationed on the ramparts rained down arrows in perfect synchronization, their volleys flying in steady waves and striking monsters several rows behind Ember’s position.
At the same time, the mages worked together with the soldiers acting as auxiliary archers, repeatedly firing their spells into the advancing herd to thin their numbers.
However, the guild master quickly realized the danger of this approach and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Magicians! Stop wasting your magic! Start chanting and prepare to deal with the upcoming wyverns!”
Hearing the urgent command, the magicians immediately shifted their focus away from the ground forces and toward the sky, where the wyverns were rapidly approaching.
The sight that greeted them was horrifying: there were well over five hundred wyverns flying toward the city, an extremely terrifying number that was more than enough to destroy an entire city if left unchecked.
Despite the overwhelming odds and the sheer pressure of the situation, the magicians did not falter or panic.
They steadied themselves, because they knew that one of their own, the strongest among them, was fighting on the frontlines alongside the adventurers.
All of them had already witnessed his first magic attack earlier, a single strike that had wiped out dozens of monsters and killed them instantly.
That overwhelming display of power had left a deep impression on everyone who saw it, etching the scene firmly into their memories.
It was then that they truly realized that this so-called level 3 adventurer was no ordinary individual.
He was a Magic Swordsman, a rare and exceptional existence.
It was the most difficult role to fulfill in any party, someone capable of chanting powerful magic while simultaneously engaging enemies in close combat.
They were known as the strongest type of adventurers, yet even so, the sheer power of his magic shocked them more than anything else happening on the battlefield.
In fact, his magic was so overwhelmingly strong that the guild master, Jonathan himself, began to seriously wonder whether Ember was actually a mage first and a swordsman second.
Even among other Level 3 adventurers, Ember could easily pass as an exceptionally skilled mage, someone whose chanting speed, control, and output were far beyond what was considered normal at that rank.
This realization did not stop with Jonathan alone.
Many others were struck by the same thought, and instead of fear, it further boosted their morale.
Their fighting spirits rose as they watched him continue to battle at the front.
Some of them even felt a strong desire to chase after his example, to become adventurers like him, and to one day wield magic as powerful as the spells he was chanting so effortlessly in the middle of combat.
His presence became a source of motivation, pushing them to endure the chaos and pressure of the ongoing battle.
Meanwhile, the archers shifted all of their attention toward the monsters on the ground, fully aware that their arrows would be useless against the wyverns.
The wyverns were primarily Level 2 monsters, and their hides were so thick that ordinary arrows could not penetrate them at all.
Even specially made arrows required reinforced crossbows with exceptional firing power just to have a chance of piercing their scales.
Because of this, the archers continued to rain down arrows on the land-based monsters instead, focusing on reducing the pressure on the adventurers below.
As time passed, the clash grew increasingly difficult.
Stronger monsters began joining the assault, pushing forward with greater ferocity.
The adventurers on the frontlines were already showing signs of fatigue, and some had sustained injuries during the earlier exchanges.
Despite this, they continued to fight, struggling to hold the line as the battlefield became more dangerous with every passing moment.
The arrows that had previously been able to easily kill weaker monsters such as kobolds and goblins were now far less effective.
At this point in the battle, they only resulted in injuries, as much stronger enemies like hobgoblins, killer ants, and other high-end monsters had begun to join the assault.
Their tougher bodies and greater endurance made it clear that the fight was escalating rapidly.
While this was happening, the magicians focused on preparing their attack against the wyverns, chanting seriously and trying their best to pour in as much mana as possible before the flying monsters reached striking distance.
It was during this tense moment that they witnessed a truly shocking scene unfold before their eyes.
A massive pillar of flames suddenly erupted from Ember’s position, shooting upward with overwhelming force.
The blazing inferno instantly incinerated three wyverns that were directly struck by it, leaving no trace behind.
Then, as if guided by his will, the pillar of fire curved through the air and divided into several dozen smaller attacks.
These flaming arcs descended upon the surrounding wyverns one after another, tearing through their formation and killing them in rapid succession, all while Ember continued fighting without slowing down.
The guild master was completely stunned by what he had just seen.
He had already witnessed the unknown Level 3 adventurer use thunder magic earlier, a display that had been more than enough to shock everyone present.
Now, however, Ember had unleashed an even stronger Level 3 area-of-effect fire spell, something that utterly shattered the guild master’s understanding of what a Level 3 should be capable of.
Fortunately, his attention was not fully fixed on Ember at that moment, because if it had been, he might have realized that Ember had already used three completely different types of magic during this single battle.
That alone was something only genius mages were known for, and every spell Ember cast was both powerful and highly versatile.
Still, none of the people present knew the full truth—that Ember possessed more types of magic than anyone else in this world.
As the remaining wyverns closed in and came within roughly thirty meters of the city wall, the guild master finally snapped back to his duties and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Now!”
Instantly, the magicians who had finished preparing their spells released the final syllables of their chants.
Many of them had been barely holding that last word back, forcing themselves to maintain focus for just a little longer so they could pour in even more mana and sharpen their aim.
With their minds locked onto the wyverns diving straight toward them, they finally unleashed their magic all at once.
One after another, colorful beams and blasts of magic rained down from the wall, striking the wyverns in midair and annihilating them before they could reach the defenders.
However, despite the impressive display, the attack only managed to destroy a little over a hundred wyverns.
The majority of them, especially those coming from the back of the massive swarm, were still alive and continuing their charge.
“Fall back! Instantly!” the guild master roared, his voice echoing across the wall as he quickly assessed the situation.
He knew that there was no longer any chance for the magicians to chant and fire freely now that the enemy was already upon them.
The moment the wyverns closed the distance, the battlefield turned chaotic. T
he soldiers stationed on the wall immediately dropped their bows and hastily unsheathed their swords and spears, thrusting them upward and forward in a desperate attempt to drive the wyverns away from the wall.
However, the reality was brutal.
How could ordinary humans hope to fight monsters that even Level 1 adventurers struggled to face?
The gap in strength was overwhelming.
The wyverns tore through the normal soldiers with ease, ripping them apart despite the fact that they were wearing full metal armor designed to protect them from blades and arrows.
As if that carnage was not enough, the situation worsened when the wyverns began raining down bursts of fire from their mouths.
Explosions of flame slammed into the city wall, and cracks and scorch marks quickly spread as the structure began to sustain visible damage under the relentless assault.
The guild master finally took direct action.
Swinging his cutlass without hesitation, he began slaughtering the wyverns that came within reach, his movements sharp and decisive as he roared orders across the battlefield.
“Level 2s, follow me! Level 1s, descend down the wall! And mages, fall back and prepare for another magic attack!” His voice carried authority and urgency, leaving no room for hesitation.
The adventurers immediately obeyed his commands, moving as instructed despite the chaos surrounding them.
Even as the death toll continued to rise and the battlefield grew increasingly grim, the adventurers forced themselves to follow orders.
They were made to witness soldiers and ordinary people dying one after another, torn apart by monsters they had no hope of resisting.
The sight was horrifying, but there was no time to stop or hesitate.
In this battle, only death and destruction awaited everyone involved, and each passing second made that reality more apparent.
There was no possible way for normal people to fight against such powerful monsters.
Those who could have turned the battle in their favor, the adventurers themselves, were now being pushed to their limits and steadily overwhelmed.
Wyverns flooded into the city, flying straight over the city walls and spreading out across the streets, immediately beginning to wreak havoc wherever they went.
Below, the adventurers who had bravely descended from the city walls to fight the land-based monsters were starting to suffer heavily.
Injuries piled up as their bodies wore down from the intense and nonstop combat.
Fatigue slowed their movements, and their breathing became labored as stronger monsters began clashing against them. It was only a matter of time before they started falling one by one.
Meanwhile, the Level 2 adventurers were fully occupied fighting the wyverns in the air and along the walls, and even they were gradually being overwhelmed by the sheer number and ferocity of the enemy.
As the death and destruction continued to spread across the battlefield, lightning suddenly cracked through the air, tearing straight through the swarm of wyverns and frying them where they flew.
The deafening sounds of thunder rang out repeatedly, loud enough to be heard by everyone still fighting, even by the magicians who had nearly given up hope.
That thunder could only mean one thing to them: the unknown Level 3 adventurer was still alive, still standing, and still fighting alone in the most dangerous part of the stampede.
“Arghhhh!” an adventurer screamed as he forced an orc back with sheer strength, shoving it away before swinging his greatsword with everything he had.
The blade cleaved cleanly through the monster, blood spraying across his armor and body.
Seeing this, even those who had begun to despair quickly refocused on the fight.
They ignored the pain from their injuries, and they stopped paying attention to the deaths happening all around them.
If the person who was fighting deep within a death zone had not fallen yet, then there was no way they would allow themselves to fall here.
“Everyone!” Jonathan shouted, his voice booming across the battlefield and echoing off the city wall and throughout the outer perimeter of the city.
His shout cut through the chaos, drawing the attention of adventurers who were still struggling to stay on their feet.
“Let’s have an adventure!” he roared with all his strength.
Instantly, hundreds of voices followed after him, joining in with a collective roar that shook the battlefield itself.
The sound was so loud and filled with resolve that even the monsters froze for a few seconds, trying to process what was happening.
Then they watched in shock as the adventurers surged forward in a frenzy, throwing themselves into the fight with everything they had left, determined to stand their ground no matter the cost.
...
Meanwhile, far away from the battlefield, a towering monster roared as waves of high-level magic assaulted its massive body.
The sound of its roar carried for dozens of kilometers, shaking the air itself.
A middle-aged man, his face twisted with urgency and fear, cried out, “Push it away! Push it toward the Kaios Region!” as he directed those fighting alongside him.
“There’s a city along that route!” another person shouted back in panic, fully aware of what that decision would mean.
However, the man did not hesitate as he replied, his voice strained, “We have no other choice! Many of our familia’s high-level members are already dead!”
Saying those words was painful, but it was an unavoidable truth that everyone present understood all too well.
It had become a cruel calculation.
A single city weighed against the lives of countless people across an entire country.
As harsh and heartless as it sounded, the choice was already clear in their minds, even if none of them wanted to accept it.
Under the relentless pressure of coordinated magic attacks, the monster known as Behemoth was slowly but forcibly being pushed in a new direction.
Its massive form began moving directly toward Karuna City, bringing inevitable disaster closer with every step.
To be continued…