Harem Legion: Queens of the Apocalypse-Chapter 65 Climb or Burn

"Go to hell, all of you!"

Fueled by the chaos around him, Magnus roared and launched his boots into the backs of the three inmates blocking Abigail. One kick each - sharp, ruthless. All three were hurled in the air, screaming as they plunged straight into the crimson seawater.

"Grab my hand, quick!"

Magnus thrust his hand out toward Abigail. She stood frozen, eyes wide with fear. He shouted again, voice sharp and furious, "Grab my damn hand! You trying to die?!"

Abigail trembled but reached out. Magnus yanked her hard up onto the platform. The second she was safe, a brutal kick slammed into Magnus’s back - same way he’d kicked earlier.

He crashed sideways into a thin tree Abigail had been leaning on. A sharp jolt of pain twisted through his gut. Coughing rough, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Didn’t matter how bad it hurt or how much blood he lost - he knew damn well collapsing now meant death. One second after vomiting blood, he grabbed the tree trunk with one hand, hauled himself up, and looked straight ahead -

That bastard Ryan.

Ryan wasn’t Awakened, but the guy had been military his whole life - tough body, solid hands. And right now, he wasn’t alone. Two officers flanked him, all three standing cold-eyed at the edge of the platform.

Three against one. Low ground. Crap odds.

Magnus panted hard, coughed again, blood frothing from his mouth. His thumb brushed the black ring on his left hand. Nothing. The Crystal’s power was dead here. Useless.

He cursed under his breath.

Then - rushing water behind him. Magnus heard it. Crimson seawater, just two meters away, closing in. Three seconds ’til it hit. Death, right on his heels.

Think fast.

As the crimson tide stirred, Magnus dropped low, scooped up double handfuls of mud. With both arms, he hurled it at Ryan’s group - mud flying at their faces.

They flinched, instinct kicking in, arms raising to shield their eyes -

Now!

The seawater was less than thirty centimeters behind him, ready to devour. He lunged forward just in time, dodging its first lurch.

His knees hit the ground. Arms extended, he grabbed Ryan’s ankles and yanked down with all his might - then slammed his knees up to raise his hips, creating space under his belly.

That space was Ryan’s trap.

Ryan’s legs shot through that gap, sliding beneath Magnus and straight into the crimson seawater.

Ryan screamed. A raw, horrible sound.

The crimson tide froze. Ten seconds.

Magnus dared not touch Ryan - he pushed off the ground, rolling sideways with a burst of strength. As soon as he stood, Ryan’s two men snapped out of their shock and stepped in to block him again.

Ten seconds tick fast.

No way he could pull another trick like that. No room for sneak attacks anymore. Only way forward - charge head-on. But he knew it. The chances of breaking through now?

Damn near zero. Seconds ticked by. Magnus was on edge, calculating - four seconds tops before the crimson seawater hit. He took a deep breath, ready to charge forward. But just then, the two officers facing him suddenly lunged, catching him off guard. It was Abigail and Emma who had kicked them.

Magnus had never taken his eyes off them. The moment they moved, he reacted. No hesitation. He shot out both hands, redirected their momentum with precise force, and like flipping pages in the wind, he pushed them aside. Both men plummeted straight into the crimson seawater.

"Get up here, quick!"

The Doyle sisters grabbed each other’s hand and reached down to pull Magnus up. He scrambled back onto the white platform, collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.

"Thank you... thank you for saving us..." Abigail dropped to her knees, voice shaking.

But Magnus already had his eyes on the people - over forty of them - scrambling up the white pillars around them. Everyone was trying to climb higher, flee that deadly red tide.

Then a thought struck him like lightning. Could the way out be at the top of the central pillar?

"Don’t say anything, just follow me," Magnus ordered, eyes locked on the central column. He yanked the sisters forward with him.

They barely made it a few steps before Magnus halted and spun toward Abigail. She flinched, startled, as he reached behind her head. Instinctively she dodged, but couldn’t escape. "Don’t move," Magnus growled.

He pulled a sturdy iron hairpin from her bun - same length as his middle finger.

The central pillar already had a handful of people climbing it. If Magnus and the sisters were going up, those others had to come down first. Otherwise, they’d be kicked off halfway up.

The man at the top was already near halfway, around five meters up. Magnus snapped the pin in two, took a deep breath, charged his fingers with every ounce of strength - and hurled one half.

The iron shard shot up and nailed the climber right in the backside. The man screamed, lost his grip, and slid off the pillar - taking the guy below him with him.

Magnus kept the other half. He strode over, no pause, and stabbed it straight into both men’s throats. No mercy, no time.

Then he told the Doyle sisters to strip off their shoes. Leather soles made quick weapons. They followed his lead - and one by one, using the same brutal method, they cleared the central pillar. Not a soul left alive on it.

Only about twenty people remained on the platform now. Aside from the three of them, all were on the smaller surrounding pillars, desperately climbing.

A scream tore through the air. A man covered in flames fell from the top of a small pillar, just like the one Magnus had seen earlier. He rolled, slapped at the fire - useless.

That scene horrified the rest. No one dared climb higher. They froze, necks craned, staring at the five-colored light at the top.

The crimson seawater inched closer to the white platform.

They were out of time.

"Quick! Climb with me!" Magnus shouted at the Doyle sisters.

"But... it’s dangerous above!" Abigail cried.

"Just do what I say!" Magnus roared back. "You think it’s safer down here?!"

The red tide was less than three meters away. Then, just as before, the burning man bought them ten more precious seconds. It was all they had left.