Myriad Devils-Chapter 123: The Final Hour (4/4)

Date: 18/11/83

Time: 12:01 a.m.

[Congratulations on completing October’s Assessment.]

[The theme of this assessment followed survival within the Blood-Drip Jungle.]

[Students to’ve passed this assessment are asked to exit the Blood-Drip Jungle as soon as possible.]

...

In the Blood-Drip Jungle, amongst many beasts and beast commanders, there were also the overlords of this territory, the beast generals.

And amongst beast generals, there were still few that stood out as creatures residing on a different level compared to those of equivalent rank.

Naturally, one would be able to find such beast generals in the very depths of the Blood-Drip Jungle, a place where academy students should, feasibly speaking, be unable to reach.

Yet, such a scenario was currently unravelling itself.

Chased by an innumerable number of one-winged monkeys, the duo traversed the terrain of the Blood-Drip Jungle on foot, utilizing the cover of the jungle’s towering trees to evade the eyes of the one-winged monkeys that flew in the clouds above.

But there were still hundreds, if not thousands, rampaging across the earth as they hurriedly pursued the two stellar fighters.

A droplet of sweat formed on Anon’s forehead, trickling down his cheek. The air in the vicinity had grown humid over time.

After all, not only were the one-winged monkeys spitting out blue flames, he would sometimes resist their magical attacks with the red flames of his magic pillar.

There was a scorched trail that had been left behind in their wake.

"Hmm?" Seth suddenly hummed out loud, knitting his brows tightly.

Anon glanced towards him, asking, "What’s the matter?"

Seth was just about to reply, but then...

A humming sound loudly reverberated in the surroundings.

It was so loud, and sudden, that for a moment, the duo felt their minds blanking.

Anon’s face paled at the thought that these one-winged monkeys were actually capable of another type of attack.

But whether it was something to be relieved about or not, such a thought was ultimately incorrect since even these beasts, numbering in the thousands, were caught by surprise by this sound.

Some beasts found themselves stumbling to the ground after losing balance, whilst some of the flying beasts descended rapidly to earth after their minds blanked out.

Only after a moment had passed did they regain their senses and stabilize themselves, but it was already too late...

Anon and Seth were simultaneously assaulted by a wave of intense heat originating from the earth beneath their feet.

A sense of dread immediately welled up in their chests as they looked down in terror, at the ground which struggled to restrain a blinding light which threatened to burst forth.

The duo acted out of instinct, drawing power from their respective principles and rapidly ascending into the sky as the earth underneath exploded into scorching flames that pursued after them, rising high into the night skies!

On the land, there were hundreds of one-winged monkeys chasing after them, and in the blink of an eye, their bodies were swallowed and devoured, disappearing from sight, and most certainly, eternally disappearing from the physical plane.

Ascending from the earth was over a dozen white pillars of flames that shot straight into the sea of one-winged monkeys high above.

And like a plague, the flames entered the sea before spreading with incredible speed to all corners of the swarm of flying beasts.

Pained growls and suppressed roars resounded out as the flames disintegrated their bodies with such speed that their blood evaporated, and their bones became ash at a rate visible to the naked eye.

At the same time, the flames that were in pursuit of Anon and Seth slowed its chase, and instead began retreating back to the earth.

And as the white flames consumed the entire swarm of one-winged monkeys, it began its retreat back to the earth in a similar manner.

Expectedly, Anon and Seth were not curious enough to find out what was taking place.

They hurriedly continued their escape even though there was a lack of one-winged monkeys to pursue them.

They used this opportunity to alter the direction in which they had been going. So now, they were in a rush heading towards the Core City.

However, the moment that the white flames had perceived their presence, their fate was already damned.

The dark nightly skies, although appearing empty in their vision, was suddenly lit up brightly by a blazing white flame.

This flame quickly spread out into the horizon, spanning hundreds of meters as it blocked off the path leading to the Core City.

From behind them, there was a small ball of white flames that constantly underwent changes in its shape whilst growing in size.

As it grew, the aura that it released also grew, and soon enough, Anon and Seth sensed it.

"Shit!" Anon cursed loudly once he recognized this growing flames. The white flames began taking the shape of a humanoid creature, but it had already grown way past the size of a human.

Ten meters... thirteen meters... seventeen meters...

An explosion of aura occurred, spreading out into the surroundings and beyond. It was like the weight of a mountain came crushing down, striking the duo ruthlessly.

It was so hot that they could not breathe in oxygen, and at the same time, the growth of the humanoid mass of flames began slowing down, until it finally stopped at thirty meters!

Thirty meters!

Anon and Seth looked upwards at the behemoth that stood in the skies before them.

Its body was of white flames and its flaming eyes was the brightest part of its body. From its eyes, the heat was the most tremendous, to the point that the environment around its eyes was constantly buzzing and trembling.

There were spiderwebbed cracks that formed in the sky as the creature focused its gaze on the two.

Anon and Seth were too weak.

They simply could not perceive its movements.

To them, nothing had changed, and the creature was still standing in the air, menacingly staring at them.

In truth though, it had already stretched its flaming hand out towards them!

Though its outstretched hand approached them slowly, as it drew closer to Anon and Seth, their skin began releasing a hot steam.

Though their facial expressions remained the same, seemingly almost stuck in time, their bodies were boiling up, and threatening to explode from the immense heat that was building within.

However, just as the creature’s hand was about to wrap around their bodies, the environment around the two suddenly appeared illusory.

Soft, seemingly harmless ripples in the air had swallowed them before spreading out towards the approaching hand.

And as it and the hand of white flames made contact, the ripples continued its path, appearing to phase through the hand, before making its way to the rest of the creature’s body.

The menacing expression on the creature’s face changed slightly as it attempted to grab hold of Anon and Seth, and yet, failed to do so. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Since only the founder is able to see what takes place in October’s assessment, I was quite curious why he ordered me to retrieve you two, but I understand now."

When these words fell, Anon was able to take in a deep breath and observe the truth of his surroundings.

Though he was within the palm of the humanoid beast, he remained unharmed. In fact, though these flames crackled with intensity, they did not touch him nor Seth.

’Its similar to when we’re using the clear heart crystal. It’s almost as if we’re in a different realm within the physical world.’ Anon deduced internally.

While the clear heart crystal hid their presence, it seemed that the beast could still perceive them, and yet it could not touch them.

At the same time, Anon looked towards the source of the voice. As he expected, it was the dean of year one, Veerabhadran Rao.

The dean, standing in the air with his hands clasped behind his slightly hunched back, had a calm smirk that played on his lips.

Practically ignoring the presence of flaming beast, he gazed affectionately at the two students who had instigated such a commotion.

"A Cinder Fiend, now tell me, how did you two come across such a creature?" As he said this, the flaming beast released a deep growl.

More than loud, the sound of the growl carried a mysterious power that caused the sky to tremble and for the constant flow of ripples in the air to come to a halt.

However, before the creature could attack, Veerabhadran Rao clicked his tongue in amusement before casually waving his hand in the air.

The white flames that was swarming from all directions vanished instantly, and this included the beast made up of white flames!

"Eh?!" Anon widened his eyes in utter disbelief.

"Instant kill!" He exclaimed in awe. He looked around in confusion before turning toward the dean; he could not help but feel a sense of trepidation in his heart.

"It is very well still alive." Veerabhadran Rao saw Anon’s face and immediately understood what the latter was thinking.

He explained, "All I did was put it to sleep."

’Oh.’ Seth nodded his head inwardly, ’He’s capable of influencing a beast general’s senses... Interesting. There are a limited number of principles that have such capabilities.’

He had remained silent since the appearance of the dean.

In fact, although he had shown a great amount of emotion, since the beginning, he was not truly worried.

As for the appearance of the Cinder Fiend, since its appearance, Seth was especially unworried.

Maybe if it appeared before they had passed October’s assessment, it might have been slightly worrying to him.

’Once the notification had reached us, it was quite obvious that we’ll be safe. Expressing fear was only an act that I’m sure, Anon also, intentionally produced.’ He silently concluded.

"May I ask why you’re here, Sir. Veerabhadran Rao?" Anon asked.

"Obviously to retrieve you two. It’s time to return to the academy!" Veerabhadran Rao chuckled and waved his hand casually.

At the same time, both Anon and Seth vanished without any trace!