Moments later, Victor appeared within an isolated ruined sector far away from the main battlefield. Broken stone walls surrounded the area while traces of previous monster attacks covered the ground entirely. The distant sounds of explosions and roars continued echoing endlessly across the horizon.

Without wasting even a second, Victor sat down cross legged immediately.

He needed to comprehend the new spells as quickly as possible.

The current battlefield situation was deteriorating too rapidly. If humanity continued losing strength at this pace, the frontlines would eventually collapse completely.

Fortunately, Victor possessed one enormous advantage over ordinary mages.

His physical body was absurdly powerful.

Even many Adept Rank awakeners lacked his level of bodily durability and mana circuit resilience. That was the main reason Victor believed he could forcibly comprehend higher ranked magic without instantly crippling himself.

Then the system notification appeared before him.

[Ding! The selected spells significantly exceed your current realm.]

[Ding! Forceful comprehension may permanently damage your mana circuits.]

[Ding! Do you still wish to proceed?]

Victor closed his eyes calmly.

"Yes."

The two spell crystals instantly shattered apart afterward.

Massive streams of information exploded directly into Victor’s consciousness like violent rivers breaking through a dam. Countless light elemental formulas, mana circulation pathways, spell structures, and elemental compression methods flooded his mind simultaneously.

Pain surged through his entire body instantly.

Victor felt as though countless burning needles were stabbing directly into his brain.

His mana circuits trembled violently while blood slowly leaked from the corners of his mouth.

However, Victor merely gritted his teeth silently.

Then he began comprehending.

Meanwhile, the battlefield had already descended into absolute chaos.

Human casualties increased continuously with every passing minute. Entire squads vanished beneath the overwhelming monster tide while countless awakeners died screaming amidst the collapsing frontlines.

Just when despair began spreading across humanity’s forces again, a terrifying pressure suddenly erupted from the center of the battlefield.

The supreme general of the Federation Army finally unleashed his full strength.

Alexander Bello slowly raised his gigantic sword toward the sky.

Fire mana exploded outward instantly.

At the same time, violent wind currents wrapped around the blazing flames continuously. The two elemental forces fused together perfectly and transformed into a terrifying storm of burning destruction.

Alexander was one of the rare geniuses born with dual elemental affinity.

Not only that, he could merge those elements together naturally.

His combat ability vastly surpassed ordinary Epic Rank warriors.

The general stared toward the approaching monsters with bloodshot eyes before roaring furiously.

"Come then, you bastards!"

Boom!

His body shot forward like a meteor afterward.

The gigantic octopus monster standing ahead barely reacted before Alexander’s flaming sword descended.

Slash!

The enormous A Rank monster was cut apart completely.

Its massive body separated cleanly into two halves before collapsing into the ocean below. Black blood exploded everywhere while burning flames devoured the remaining flesh instantly.

The surrounding awakeners immediately erupted with excitement.

"The general killed it instantly!"

"Humanity still has hope!"

However, Alexander did not stop moving.

His blazing sword swept across the battlefield repeatedly while terrifying wind blades followed behind each slash. Another A Rank monster lost its head instantly while a gigantic armored shark exploded apart moments later.

Within seconds, Alexander killed five A Rank monsters consecutively.

The battlefield pressure immediately eased somewhat afterward.

Humanity’s morale surged once again.

However, at that exact moment, Alexander’s instincts suddenly screamed violently.

A small ape had somehow appeared directly behind him.

Nobody saw when it arrived.

Nobody sensed its approach.

Alexander’s face changed instantly.

"Not good."

The pressure radiating from the ape was horrifying.

S Rank.

Before Alexander could even react properly, the ape casually threw a punch forward.

Boom!

Alexander’s body blasted through the battlefield like a cannonball.

The ground exploded apart repeatedly beneath him while countless monsters and awakeners were blown away from the shockwave alone. His armored body finally crashed into a distant mountain and buried itself completely inside solid rock.

The strongest Epic Rank warrior of humanity lost consciousness from a single punch.

The battlefield instantly became silent.

Cold fear spread across countless hearts.

Above the battlefield, the expressions of the three remaining Sages darkened immediately.

The S Rank monsters had personally entered the battlefield now.

One of the warrior Sages instantly descended and confronted the ape monster directly. However, before the battle could even stabilize, more terrifying auras began appearing throughout the battlefield continuously.

One.

Three.

Five.

Ten.

Ten S Rank monsters.

Only three Sages remained behind. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

The atmosphere immediately became suffocating.

The weaker awakeners could barely breathe under the overwhelming pressure radiating across the battlefield.

The three Sages were individually stronger than ordinary S Rank monsters. Each one could potentially handle two enemies alone.

However, that still left four S Rank monsters completely unchecked.

At that moment, one of the Sages roared furiously toward the rear lines.

"Elite Suicide Squads! Get into formation immediately!"

There was no longer time for hesitation.

If they delayed even slightly longer, humanity’s forces would be annihilated entirely.

Instantly, three elite squads rushed forward.

Each squad consisted entirely of Epic Rank awakeners.

They immediately formed complicated mana formations around their designated casters while enormous quantities of mana began flowing continuously toward the center.

At the same time, the remaining Legendary Rank Suicide Squad also targeted one of the S Rank monsters directly.

Boom!

Terrifying mana fluctuations erupted across the battlefield.

The pressure alone vaporized countless nearby monsters instantly.

Those awakeners were literally fighting while gambling their own lives away.

The three Epic Rank squads also continued charging their combined spells desperately.

They understood clearly that they possessed only one chance.

If the attacks failed, they would die in vain.

Meanwhile, the three Sages fought like gods amidst the battlefield.

They were completely surrounded by ten S Rank monsters simultaneously.

Space shattered continuously around them while enormous shockwaves flattened entire regions of the battlefield. Blood gradually appeared on the bodies of the Sages as the battle dragged onward.

However, they continued fighting desperately.

They needed to buy enough time.

Three minutes later, one of the Sages finally roared loudly.

"Now!"

The three elite squads unleashed their attacks simultaneously afterward.

Three devastating beams of light exploded toward the heavens before crashing directly into three S Rank monsters.

BOOOOOOM!

The entire battlefield shook violently.

The attacks successfully injured the monsters heavily.

However, they failed to kill them completely.

The wounded S Rank monsters immediately retreated from the battlefield afterward while roaring furiously.

Meanwhile, the three primary casters of the elite squads collapsed onto the ground completely paralyzed.

Their bodies twitched violently while blood poured endlessly from their mouths.

Still, the battle was not over.

Seven S Rank monsters remained.

One of the exhausted squad members gritted his teeth afterward.

"We cannot stop now," he said weakly. "Humanity’s future depends on them."

Another awakener looked toward him helplessly.

"But we have not comprehended the Sage Rank spells. The Sages only transmitted the foundations into our minds."

The first awakener clenched his fists tightly.

"Then we will combine our attacks instead. Even if we cannot kill them, we can at least create openings for the Sages."

The others immediately nodded afterward.

"Good idea."

They formed new attack formations immediately despite their collapsing bodies.

Meanwhile, far away across the world, the remaining nine Sages arrived at the Federation cities.

Each city was already under attack from a separate S Rank monster.

Diana instantly found her own target.

A gigantic wolf monster larger than entire buildings stood amidst the destroyed city ruins. Dark energy condensed inside its mouth continuously while preparing a devastating attack.

However, before the monster could release the attack, Diana vanished instantly.

Boom!

She appeared directly above the wolf afterward.

Her twin swords descended simultaneously.

Slash!

The gigantic wolf’s head separated cleanly from its body before crashing onto the city below.

Diana immediately stored the corpse and prepared to return toward the battlefield.

However, at that exact moment, two even more terrifying auras suddenly descended nearby.

Diana’s expression changed instantly.

"What is happening?"

Even she felt genuine shock now.

Still, she immediately prepared for battle again.

...

Three hours later,

The battle finally began stabilizing somewhat.

The three remaining Sages successfully killed three S Rank monsters while heavily injuring the others. However, the price was catastrophic.

All three Sages suffered grave injuries themselves.

After forcing the surviving monsters to retreat temporarily, the Sages finally collapsed from the sky entirely.

Throughout the battle, the Sages intentionally targeted large concentrations of A and B Rank monsters repeatedly using enormous shockwaves.

As a result, almost no monsters above C Rank remained on the battlefield anymore.

Only Elite Rank monsters and below continued fighting.

However, their numbers were still overwhelming.

Meanwhile, humanity’s strongest combatants were already completely exhausted.

The Sages lost consciousness.

The Suicide Squads collapsed.

The Epic Rank elites could barely stand.

One injured Sage looked toward the younger generation weakly.

"Youngsters... humanity now depends on you..."

Then he lost consciousness entirely.

The academy geniuses and surviving Elite Rank awakeners stared silently at the devastated battlefield around them.

For the first time since the battle began, they realized nobody stronger remained to protect them anymore.

They needed to survive through their own strength now.

One Elite Rank genius suddenly roared furiously.

"What are you all waiting for?"

"If we do not kill them, they will kill us!"

Instantly, the younger generation charged forward again.

The battlefield descended into chaotic warfare afterward.

No formations remained.

No commanders remained.

Everyone fought desperately amidst blood and destruction.

However, the monsters still vastly outnumbered humanity.

No matter how many they killed, more monsters continued emerging endlessly from the distant ocean.

Despair slowly spread once again.

Then suddenly.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Countless gigantic swords made entirely of condensed light suddenly descended from the heavens.

The attacks obliterated entire sections of monsters instantly.

Elite monsters exploded apart like fragile insects while enormous craters appeared throughout the battlefield continuously.

Everyone immediately looked upward afterward.

Then they saw him.

A young man floated calmly in the sky while long dark hair danced behind him endlessly. His purple eyes radiated cold sovereign pressure while countless glowing light swords revolved around his body like divine weapons awaiting command.

Victor had returned.