The Gamer's POV-Chapter 273: Battle of the Lords: Main Event

"What?"

Cedric’s surprise was visible on his face. "You have an essence core?" he asked, arching a brow.

Aurora nodded and replied, "Yes. I seem to have developed one some time ago."

Cedric blinked.

’Uh... that’s new?’

In the game, Aurora didn’t develop an essence core until much later, when they reached the second ring. In fact, she didn’t develop one until she was a Grade Five. So, this was indeed a major change. However, thinking about it, nothing was really the same as it had been in the game anymore, so he shouldn’t be too surprised.

’Could she have awakened it because of how big of an influence she was on the hope and morale of the cadets?

’I mean... many of the cadets wouldn’t even have come all the way here if not for her. And also, her attribute, Battle Cry, did revolve around hope in her, so... maybe?’

All of a sudden, Cedric realized that the reason Aurora always spoke to the cadets, motivated them, and stood at the front as a beacon of hope wasn’t entirely out of pure selflessness. If her subjects of influence were those she inspired hope in, then the stronger their belief in her, the more essence she got.

’Ah...’

After the thought, Cedric slowly nodded. "Okay."

The princess then leapt down from her Frostfang Saber. Then she tapped the creature’s rough cheek twice, looked at Cedric and said, "Glacier will go with you."

Cedric looked at the creature, then nodded.

Her eyes returned to Glacier, and she added, "Be a bad boy, okay?"

The creature growled, exhaling a thick mist of cold frost.

After a brief moment, Aurora turned away from the creature, then began taking steps toward the rest of the chaos on the bridge.

As she did, a surge of mana suddenly erupted from her core. It spread in waves, and covered a large portion of the bridge around her. Then, in a low voice, she whispered, "Pale Panoply. Release everything I have in the first vault."

At that moment, ice weapons of different sizes suddenly began to materialize around her and at different points on the bridge. There were about fifteen halberds, twenty-five longswords, twenty tower shields, ten greatswords, and thirty throwing spears.

While this was happening, Cedric turned his horse around then yelled, "Vanguards! With me!"

As the command rang out, all the cadets who were with him, and were not fighting began charging forward.

Celeste too was part of the vanguard, and so, she too was going to join them as they rushed toward the shoreline.

However, just then, she did something that surprised everyone who knew her.

She suddenly let out a roar, spreading her arms, and then massive bat-like wings began to unfurl from her back. They were leathery and dark, spanning wide enough to cast a shadow over the cadets nearest to her. They had what looked like curved, obsidian talons at the joint of each wing, glinting like daggers in the dim light.

With a powerful beat of her new limbs, she took to the sky, leaving a trail of embers in her wake as she soared over the heads of the startled Vanguards.

’What the...’ Cedric thought, his eyes widening. ’She had wings?’

He had barely had the thought when Evelyn looked at him and shouted over the wind, "She had wings?"

He shrugged, then thought to himself. ’Did she somehow get an upgrade or something?’

Just then, Leon answered Evelyn’s question, "I heard that all those with transformative bonded abilities kind of evolve as they advance."

"Really?" Evelyn asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Leon nodded as he kept his pace. "Yeah. I think you’ll get an upgrade too since you are a vampire."

A large, excited smile grew on Evelyn’s lips as she gripped her weapon tighter. "Ah, now I can’t wait."

The cadets passed the archers of the Hollow Ones.

Since most of the archers had long run out of arrows, they took out the spears from their backs and used them to defend their line.

Because of them, Cedric and his vanguards were able to push through until they finally got to the White Shore of Ophidia.

***

At the far end of the shore, perched atop the limestone cliffs, eight figures watched the battle unfold with detached interest.

Two sat perched on the jagged edge of the precipice, their legs dangling over the drop. Another two leaned against the weathered white stone with their arms crossed, their eyes tracking the chaos below like they were watching a slow-moving play. Two more stood motionless not too far from them, while another sat on the ground, busy tapping away at a mobile phone some meters from the edge.

The last of them lay flat on their back, staring up at the stormy sky as if the war below wasn’t even worth the effort of looking.

"See? I told you the ambush would make for quite a sight."

Min-hyuk, a man in his twenties with neatly trimmed hair, spoke as he observed the battle through a pair of heavy military-grade binoculars.

Beside him, So-young, a lazy red-haired lady, sighed and rolled her eyes, then forcefully took the binoculars from him.

"Give me that!"

She then peered through the lenses, adjusting the focus as she muttered, "Uh... huh... ah, yeah."

She then clicked her tongue, her expression shifting from boredom to a slight, crooked grin. "Yeah. I have to admit you are right on this one."

"When am I ever not?" Min-hyuk smirked as he pridefully put both hands into the pockets of his charcoal-grey suit.

Not long after he did, Hana, a beautiful blonde-haired woman who was sitting on the edge with her legs dangling, looked back at Min-hyuk.

"Are you guys really getting joy from watching kids suffer and die?" Her expression twisted into a mask of pure disgust. "Since when did you guys become savage animals?"

So-young brought down the binoculars slowly, then turned her gaze toward Hana with a cold, empty stare. "Since we began living with savage animals. Tsk."

At that moment, Lee Lim, who stood motionless with his hands in the pockets of his coat, turned to the man lying on the floor.

The stately man was dressed in a white open suit, a red inner shirt, and a white newsboy cap. When he felt Lee Lim staring at him, he slowly turned his head toward the leader. "What is it, Hyung?"

Lee Lim replied calmly, "I want you to do something about those statues, Dae-hyun. They are becoming a pain."

Dae-hyun groaned, forcing his neck up just enough to catch a glimpse of the battle below, then he let his head drop back against the limestone with a heavy sigh. After a long moment of resistance, he finally pushed himself up into a sitting position. He scratched the back of his head, stood up, and took a long, slow stretch that made his joints pop.

After that, he slowly walked up to the edge and looked down at the tiny figures battling on the shore. As he did, a wicked smile began to grow on his lips. Then he yelled at the top of his lungs:

"Clear the way, you squirts! The main event is here!"

Mid-yell, he suddenly leapt off the cliff. He went so high into the air that he was able to cross a great distance toward the middle of the white sand where the battle was most heated.

As he descended, he pulled a flail from his inventory, its heavy iron ball and rusted chain rattling in the wind. At the same time, his body suddenly began to expand, growing larger and larger with every foot he fell. When he finally landed on the ground, it was like an earthquake had suddenly hit the island.

When he stood straight, he was twenty meters tall, matching the height of the ancient statues, and the flail in his hand had also grown into a massive, mountain-crushing wrecking ball.

Then, like someone who had suddenly been possessed, Dae-hyun yelled in Korean as he began spinning the flail. "Let’s get this party started!"

He swung the iron sphere in a wide, horizontal arc, and the nearest obsidian statue shattered into a million pieces.

"One!"