Chapter 84: You Can Try

Alice ate her chips while looking at the circle created by the trucks.

Inside were the refugees, and on the outside were all those who could fight.

All the trucks had shields capable of receiving attacks, but once the barriers overlapped each other, it was possible to generate a dome that covered the refugees from attacks from above, below, or on the ground.

A classic emergency defense formation using the trucks.

Around him, there was a deserted area of about twenty meters and protected by all the members of the caravan who were scattered around him.

It was difficult to tell if the beasts would attack a point or surround the area, but no matter how the creatures attacked, the defense group was fully protecting the caravan.

The barrier was also reinforced by some defense artifacts that had been brought in and mainly by Cardinal Brousseau, who was the main defense to hold the barrier and support.

Alima, who was in the north direction where the creatures were supposed to go and where they believed they would hit the hardest, was also prepared

Even though they had prepared as best they could for the creature’s arrival, Alice could see that both the militiamen and the students were tense.

“Are you ready?” Aurora asked in their direction.

Alice looked at her companions and... She ate some more chips.

She needed to replenish her energy, as whenever she was done fighting she got hungry, so she needed to make the most of every moment she had.

“Sure, I’m looking forward to bringing a ‘Tempest’,” Akira replied with a hint of excitement in her voice.

Liam looked at her for a moment and then sighed, perhaps feeling like the only normal one among the three of them.

“We’ll take care of that Rank S. You can stick to protecting the caravan, boss,” Liam declared, beating his chest to emphasize his confidence.

Aurora’s lips twitched at that response, and then she turned her gaze to Alice.

“Don’t worry, we’ll bring you the creature’s head, boss,” Alice joked, unable to resist.

Aurora gave a smile at the answer and finally waved her hand and ordered. “Go, they’re coming.”

The group nodded and soared into the sky as everyone present watched intently.

Alice didn’t mind the look on the students’ faces as they saw her among the main attack group that would face a Rank-S along with two Ranks-S.

As they approached the horde of creatures that were arriving from the north, believing they had arrived in secret, Liam released drones from his rings.

Large, small, and medium-sized drones.

They had chosen Liam to take on this S-rank creature, and Andrés was the one who stayed behind to take over the command center.

The major reason was that Liam gave his approval for Andrés and the latter had showed his ability to take over the command center that had the duty to keep everyone informed.

Those drones hid themselves by holographic means or by using magical concealment incantations.

Because of his drones, Liam could serve as support, offense, defense, and in this case ‘containment’, which was what she needed.

“Want to make a bet?” Akira asked suddenly as Alice ate some chips.

The enemies were a hundred meters away from them, but Alice thought nothing of it and met Akira’s gaze with interest.

Liam immediately floated backwards, backing away slowly, not wanting to be drawn into their business.

“Whoever finds the S-Rank creature gets dinner with Aurora,” Akira announced confidently.

The ‘object’ of the bet and the ambiguous smile made Liam’s lips twitch.

Alice’s eyes narrowed for a second, before giving a casual smile.

“Pretty bold,” Alice commented and setting her chips aside, determined. “Apparently you want me to prove the difference between us.”

Her tone was firm enough to make Akira shiver casually.

Alice smiled as she noted that, but that bet involved two important points for her.

Her food and the excellent chef her sister was.

*roar*

A mighty roar echoed from where the creatures were, and they moved with great speed as some birds flew in the camp’s direction.

Liam, without hesitation, used one of their drones that they had attached to shoot a powerful laser beam that disintegrated the trees and left a line burning part of the forest.

For his part, Akira stopped looking at her and Alice saw how the temperature dropped and that woman’s eyes turned purple due to the high concentration of psionic energy.

Alice just closed her eyes and concentrated on her surroundings, ignoring the birds that passed by her or tried to attack her.

Liam’s drone generated a barrier and repelled the attacks while he used his scout drones in stealth to search for his enemy.

Their duty was to take care of the S-Rank... And it wasn’t too difficult.

A charming smile appeared on Alice’s face.

******

The beasts charged forward after hearing the roar and the Smilodon Fatalis hid itself using darkness magic.

Hiding its body, it moved around to ambush its attackers from behind and cause serious casualties.

Unlike the other creatures that attacked directly or rank-A minions that were moderately intelligent when attacking, Smilodon Fatalis liked stealth.

No matter how angry and eager for revenge he was to take care of that group of humans that murdered his son, he kept his calm.

He had verified that these humans were the same as the ones who murdered his son that had entered his domain, but he would not risk it just for that.

Humans were dangerous and cunning beings.

Smilodon Fatalis needed to finish them one by one by reducing the danger to himself and using other creatures to erase them.

Hiding with darkness magic and passing through other creatures to surround the human camp, the Smilodon Fatalis on its way noticed how the darkness distorted.

“I found you...” murmured a young human woman as a black hand reached forward to catch him by the head.

The smile for Smilodon Fatalis was terrifying, but with a swift movement, he dodged... Or so he thought.

*BOOM*

A tentacle came out of the young woman’s back and hit her, sending it flying breaking some trees.

“GRrr...”

The Smilodon Fatalis growled as if it was furious, but inside it was watching the young woman intently.

The young woman’s arm was covered by a strange black substance that made her arm grow as if it was a giant’s arm, but in the next instant, that black mass returned to her back, revealing her slender arm of a normal human.

However, from her back, black arms grew out, and she just looked at it with a smile, as if that mighty arm from before had never existed.

Darkness, even purer than her best dark magic spells, spread from her feet.

“It would have been easier if you just stood still.” Murmured the young woman with a little smile that in human terms would be extremely charming.

Which, to the Smilodon Fatalis, was terrifying.

*BOOM*

A reddish pillar created an explosion where the Smilodon Fatalis was standing, but the creature dodged it and started running with all its might to retreat.

He immediately recognized the young woman and the situation he was in.

He wasn’t crazy enough to face the black-armed ‘Protector of Zerzura’ that was said to like to eat the flesh of its prey and worse, he still felt two powerful presences.

Dodging the reddish pillar that scorched the earth and melted trees, the Smilodon Fatalis ran.

He had thought it was a normal group, but he did not expect it to be a human caravan of great importance led by one of the Protector of Zerzura.

Even though there was a Queen in the magical Forest and there were also powerful creatures that served her, someone like Smilodon Fatalis who had reached Rank S and survived for a long time was no foolish beast.

Facing humans prepared for his arrival was the most questionable thing he could perform... After all, it meant that they were prepared and confident to defeat him despite their high number of minions.

Dodging the reddish pillars chasing him, when there was a pause, the Smilodon Fatalis performed a ‘Shadow Jump’ with darkness magic.

Hiding in a thick shadow, the Smilodon Fatalis appeared fifty meters away from the shadow of a tree.

However, instantly following contorted his body and dodged the black spears of the young woman who had also performed the same move had launched, after appearing in another tree.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The irritation of the Smilodon Fatalis rose as the trees snapped at the constant onslaught of the young woman’s black arms, which followed her swift movements.

Using arms to move through the forest with great agility, the young woman watched him as black spear-like arms fell behind her back.

Striking forward, to her side or through trees, the black arms had great speed and power, but the Smilodon Fatalis was faster.

However, after dodging the last black spear, he realized he was being guided to a specific area.

The Smilodon Fatalis’s expression contorted, and he used a tree for support to immediately turn around and, with his claws, slashed, intending to kill her.

The black arms encircled the young woman like a cocoon and the claws of the Smilodon Fatalis pierced the black mass and then had to withdraw as the protrusions came out of the cocoon, piercing the trees and earth.

“Oh, I noticed you. I thought you were just a dumb cat.” mumbled the young woman as her arms went back behind her back.

Just as she finished her words, they created an enormous dome through round metallic spheres that were scattered across the sky and appeared everywhere.

That dome was a barrier that pierced the earth and no matter if they focused it on defense and not attack, what it sought was to contain it... The Smilodon Fatalis growled angrily as it fell for that trick.

Still, it didn’t have time to rage as a wind swept through the surroundings.

It started slowly and then increased in strength as the humidity increased, and the cold air spread.

Snow began to fall and branches shook with the chilly wind increasing in intensity, as if a storm was approaching.

“Damn you!” snarled the Smilodon Fatalis as if it was angry at falling into the trap and charged at the black-armed young woman.

However, after dodging her black spears it did not hit her, but dodged to the side and creating platforms of darkness in the sky rose before the figure that was causing this powerful storm.

The Smilodon Fatalis knew that, if the storm continued, it would surely have no way to escape, that was why it did what it could to avoid it.

Unfortunately, in the sky, there was not only that other woman causing a snowstorm but a man with metallic spheres around him and...

*BOOM*

The metallic spheres opened up and produced a sonic wave that knocked the Smilodon Fatalis back, sending it slamming into the earth.

“BASTARD!” he shouted angrily at the cunning humans and sent a sphere of darkness shooting at the young man with metallic spheres around him.

However, the temperature had dropped and not only brought strong winds but water droplets that froze the area where they fell.

The sphere of darkness froze in the face of the low temperature and then weakly hit the barrier generated by those metallic spheres.

“It’s time for the Tempest!” a voice echoed through the surroundings and a real tempest was unleashed.

A strong wind of snow swept through the trees, dyeing the surroundings white with snow.

Droplets of water turned into mighty boulders of ice that flew around the dome, hiding in the snow that covered the view.

The temperature dropped so much that it made the Smilodon Fatalis feel it even as it strengthened its body with the darkness attribute.

The worst thing was that he could see the young woman with black arms and the young man floating as if nothing happened while the drops of water that froze his body and the rocks that hit him did nothing to them.

His irritation surpassed his boundary line and, looking at them as if he wanted to devour them, he declared. “I will kill you.”

Without needing to hold back to the darkness, he repelled the snow as it gnawed at the earth.

His claws and large fangs turned black as they were infused with the darkness attribute that his species had an affinity for.

The young woman who created the tempest appeared as around her they froze, generating powerful spears of ice.

“You can try.”

With the young woman’s response, the battle began.