Chapter 123: Chapter 123- Crushing Despair
Chapter 123: Chapter 123- Crushing Despair
The woman's cold and aloof aura was long gone, replaced by a wretched anger and hatred that seeped into her aura and her very presence.
Just a mere glance at her made the scientists freeze in their place in terror. They didn't know how their abductor was that heavily injured and they didn't frankly care as they were now terrified for their lives more than anything else.
Time passed slowly for the poor humans. They wanted to run for their lives but their legs refused to move.
'Why?! Why is she here?!'
'Move! You useless legs! Fucking move!!'
'No… Please, no…'
They realized the huge disaster they were in.
As for the woman herself, no one could read what was going through her mind. But, it was clear that it wasn't a pleasant thing at all.
'That bastard… Did this to me!! I won't forgive him! I won't forgive him for it as long as I'm alive!! I will tear him limb by limb! Just like what I'm going to do to his stupid clones!!' She cursed as she clenched her teeth.
Her anger reached the boiling point and soared far beyond. This was the second time in her life she felt this humiliated. To get beaten by a weakling ten levels beneath her in terms of power and not even be able to kill him. It was a horrible feeling. She had been working hard her entire life, day and night, to ensure that no one could truly exceed her talent.
Yet, out of all the people that could beat her, it was HIM. His face and silhouette were engraved in her mind a second time and she hated it… God, did she hate it.
But, for now, she knew that she couldn't put her focus on him. She needed to heal and she had what she needed to make a full recovery really quick. All that she required to heal herself were a few sacrificial lambs.
Luckily, she didn't have to look too far to find them. There were three perfect prey standing in front of her.
"You…" Slowly, she moved her hand and pulled her sniper rifle before aiming it at them.
Seeing the muzzle of the weapon, the scientists flinched as their faces turned even paler.
"Move inside… Hah, hah… Now…" She said in a tired tone.
'They don't know that the weapon doesn't have any bullets. It should be easy to scare them.' She thought to herself.
In her condition, she knew that she could barely move. Catching these three was going to be a tedious task.
"... *Gulp*"
"I said… Move inside… Now!" The woman threatened.
Her words boomed in their heads and made them instinctively step back. They had two choices, either to listen and walk back inside their prison, or get shot to death.
Each choice was more horrible than the other. Yet, that's what they had.
"Let's get inside…." One said.
"But, we're definitely going to get killed! Look at her!" The other replied.
"Do you have any other suggestions?! We're going to die either way! I would rather prolong it! Who knows if someone would come to save us."
"There is no wa-"
"Look at her… She's heavily injured. Who did that to her?" The female scientist said in a whisper as she took a peek at their abductor.
She was in such a horrible condition that she was surprised she could still move. That wasn't some kind of accident. There were injuries on her body that were the result of sharp weapons.
Just imagining who could've inflicted such injuries on her was terrifying.
"Let's get back inside…" In the end, she decided to follow her coworker.
"You two…"
"If you want to die, go ahead."
Then, they started slowly moving back inside the building, leaving the third one alone. He had a dark expression on his face.
"I won't repeat my words…" Hearing that threatening cold voice, he cursed his shitty luck. He wanted to just die right there and then. But, in the end, he knew that he cherished his life too much to throw it this easily.
'Please… Anyone out there… Help us… Please!'
***
The battle continued for another 30 minutes. During which, no side was able to fully overpower the other and claim the victory.
The humans fought with every ounce of power they had. Many fell injured and dead and even more were traumatized beyond repair. But, they still fought, killing endless numbers of enemies.
They were tired, in extreme pain, and terrified to the bone. But, was there really another choice? Weirdly enough, none of them contemplated the idea of running away.
For them, escaping was akin to admitting that all their hard work, their determination, and their desire to get their lives back was all a bunch of nonsense. If fear was the only trigger they needed to simply revert to their past selves then they might as well never even do all of this. Death was a far easier solution.
But, they didn't want that. It was a nightmare far worse than being the target of a giant one-eyed bear.
"Don't let them break through!! Support the left side!" As Hyun-Jae fought, she also gave instructions to her army.
'Hah… Hah… This isn't good at all… We're still being pushed back. The first line is going to break any time.' She thought to herself as she wiped the sweat from her face.
Hyun-Jae's Aetheris reserve was on the verge of being completely emptied. It turned out that Lightning Step consumed far more energy than she expected and it took an even bigger toll on her already wrecked body.
Standing on her feet became such a tedious task that she was amazed she didn't crumble yet. Even with her iron will, Hyun-Jae knew that what she was doing right now far exceeded her limits. Surprisingly, even in that situation, her desire to fight was still over the roof.
'I can still keep going! I can do it!'
At first, she didn't know where all that motivation came from. But, she soon realized that the reason for it was far simpler than she thought.
'If I don't fight… I won't be able to protect him when he needs me…'
She had sworn to be next to him for a very long time as he strode the path of power. Seeing Talon grow that strong so fast made her realize that soon enough, he might never need her help. That thought alone terrified her to no extent and she didn't know why.
So, at this moment, when she knew he needed her, how could she not step up for it? Even if it was a losing war. Even if she could simply buy him time till he could move again… She was ready to put her life on the line to do it.
*ROAR*
So, with all those thoughts running through her head, she sliced down the monsters in her path before flashing forward.
But, at that moment, her body suddenly froze mid-fight as she looked up with a strong frown on her face. Out of nowhere, multiple terrifying presences suddenly appeared in the area. Their auras gave her chills just by merely feeling it.
'Is it that woman?' Hyun-Jae quickly looked up, only to realize that she was wrong.
*SCREECH*
In a split second, from within the forest, massive creatures crushed their way through, kicking all the monsters around them away with ease.
'What the fuck are those?!' Hyun-Jae cursed.
The monsters that appeared were massive, standing at 6 meters tall or more. They had the rough shape of humans with extremely ugly features and a single eye.
In their hands were giant tree trunks that they used to smash their way through the horde, aiming for the survivors.
"A horde of One-Eyed trolls…" Acrypha's calm expression broke for a moment when she saw them. "Of all things that could appear in this world…"
One-Eyed trolls were violent monsters that lived in groups and hunted down anything that moved. They were barbaric abominations with an insatiable desire for blood and war. However, the worst detail by far was their levels.
From what Acrypha could see, the weakest troll in this group was level 22… Far stronger than the strongest student in the survivors' army.
"Holy shit!!!"
Seeing the massive group of enemies charging at them, the students freaked out as they instinctively moved back.
But, by the time they realized the horrible disaster that befell them… It was already far too late to retreat.
The group of trolls reached them in a few seconds before they swung their giant wooden bats.
*BANG*
"AGH!!"
Students were sent flying like ragdolls left and right. In a single moment, the first line of defense was completely shattered.
But, the trolls didn't stop there as they immediately moved deeper into the army lines, rampaging as they wished.
In a matter of seconds, all the momentum they were building up was completely crushed under the overwhelming force of these giants. Many students were killed with each swing as the stench of blood filled the air.
"No…"
Hyun-Jae watched the scene with a pale look on her face. It happened too suddenly that she found herself unable to move for a few seconds. The monsters had completely shattered their defenses… The only layer that kept everything intact. Now, the backlines were being ravaged endlessly.
"Help! HELP!!!"
*BOOOM*
"AGHH!!"
"No…" Hyun-Jae clenched her sword even tighter.
For the first time in her entire life… She felt crushed.
(A//N: I know I ask too much and it might become annoying, but still, I'm a shameless author. If you like the story, don't forget to support it with Golden Tickets and Power Stones. It means a lot to me :P)