The arena began to change. The platforms that were drifting all slowed into a stop, no matter their size. The marked ones looked around, unsure of what to make of the sudden lull. They no longer feared falling into the rift of red below, as the ground below them was sturdy without the loftiness from before. However, their regained steady foothold did not give them any sense of security.

The silence could be heard in the still air. It was sung without a voice and soothed without dispelling the tension. The chorus of the silence came in the form of slowly rising platforms, ones that were shattered and consumed by the red below. They rose to fill up the gap created by the guardian during its first crashing submerge.

Those platforms were no doubt what remained of the initial center platform, the parts that were large enough to become platforms themselves at least.

Then, hostility once again flared and directed towards the marked ones. Every one of them tensed and raised their weapons, but the attack that they expected to come from below came from outside of the area.

The monster once again jumped out of the earth and soared over the walls and remained in the sky with its perpetual grin. It remained still until the sound of flesh broke the silence. The shell of the monster began to consume the body, or rather, the shell began to crush and ground the flesh into chunks of paste. The nauseating smell and sickening sight of chunks of pink and blue began to fall like a torrent of rain.

The marked ones raised their guard, but it was seemingly unnecessary. The slime did not damage nor did it even stain. The flesh simply slid off of the humans and the earth and into the chasms, as if it were slithering.

The self-cannibalization of the monster continued until only the shell remained in the air. It did not attack or did anything after it rid itself from its flesh. It was waiting. The marked ones looked to Hamilton for instructions, but even he was unsure of what their next course of action should be.

Rana felt the same, but for entirely different reasons.

Hamilton most likely knew that carelessly attacking could lead to devastating results for them. The unknown was dangerous, after all. However, there was also the chance that the guardian was biding time, and them doing nothing would be a bad decision.

Rana on the other hand wanted to find out what the guardian was planning, not how to deal with the next phase. Still, there was no time to ponder as the sound of someone falling to their deaths broke the marked ones’ indecision. She and those on the walls had the high ground and saw what happened.

Something began to claw itself upwards from below. They were grotesque limbs protruding from bags of flesh, beating and bleeding as if it has a heart pumping out blood. The congregation of shattered bones and meat had a humanoid form, but one could not tell which part was which as the only discernible feature was their smile.

The monsters climbed up the platforms and began to assault the marked ones. They rushed forward with all of their mismatched limbs and latched onto the humans, opening their mouths to bite at their jugulars.

The initial wave managed to take a few marked ones down, but the damage to their numbers was surprisingly low. The frontlines of the marked one groups were made of warriors-class marked ones, who easily repelled them back into the depths, even if they were latched on. The only deaths were those out of position and without a guard. Those who did not deal with the previous phase well.

When the monsters fell into the depths, they simply latched onto the cliffs of the platform and climbed back up to restart the attack, but it was a fruitless endeavor from the monsters as the humans quickly settled into a rhythm.

However, the giant shell above made no moves.

Rana realized why and soon too did the marked ones in the arena.

The platform was descending ever so slightly, but there was no doubt it was moving downwards. The speed of its fall was based on the size of the platform and the weight on it, including the monsters. The marked ones could not simply throw the monsters off, and not only would they have to destroy the monsters, but they also had to attack the guardian above. It was a timed phase, one in which the result was clear to those who have the high ground. The red below were like saws that cut and shattered everything that it touched.

The impatient ones who realized what was going on rushed forward, which left their formation open to attack, as even though they could not see what was happening below, they knew it meant their death.

Hamilton cried out the order and the marked ones resumed attacking, including those on the walls. The marked ones formed a circle and guarded the damage dealers in the middle, who focused on channelling their mana to unleash their offense against the shell above.

The first Spell was fired and the outer crust of the shell fell onto the platform. The large fragments did not disappear, however, as they contorted and bent themselves into shapes of prowling beasts as fleshly ligaments held together their form like an armour. These beats were quick and slashed around, wreaking havoc in the middle of the marked one formation and disrupting their damage dealers and also increasing the speed in which the platform fell.

Some of the marked ones on the walls decided to descend into the arena to help, and the commander cleverly sent the reserves in numbers that would not increase the burden of the platforms. However, not every one of them made it. Those who stayed too long near the walls were suddenly burned by shades of red lashing out from the walls.

Of course, the guardian would not allow the humans to cheat their way to victory.

Rana decided it was time to step in. She had second thoughts about the raid fight and the intentions of the guardian, but all that would be pointless if the guardian was not defeated. The marked ones had to achieve victory.

Rana paused. Defeat? Victory? No. There was something off about it all. Those were the desired results, but whose desire? What was the next part she missed?

Whatever the case, the answer would come soon.

Rana took out the communication ward and proceeded to inform Hamilton of her request.

“Have Taye meet me near the platform below me. I have an idea.”