Seth knew all along that they would confront a Defiled at some point. That was unavoidable if what the Origin Crystal said was true.
But he never expected it to be so soon.
[Name: Seth
Race: Human
Rank: Shackled]
[Attributes:]
Strength: 87
Defense: 91
Speed: 88
Intelligence: 81
Vitality: 71 / 68
Essence Unit: 84 / 71
His stats were nowhere near where he wanted them to be before a confrontation with a Defiled.
His grip on his sword tightened, his palm beginning to sweat from anxiousness.
"This is bad. Really bad," Seth muttered as a pure aura of corruption, unlike any he had sensed before, wafted from the feasting Defiled.
Suddenly, the creature stopped. Its head snapped at an odd angle, neck crackling as it twisted 180 degrees.
Its bloody maw warped into a sickening grin as its hollow sockets stared directly at Seth.
At that moment, Seth went stiff, as though a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured over him.
The monster had no nose, only a pair of holes above its cursed, lipless mouth.
The holes flared as it breathed in deeply, basking in an intoxicating aroma.
Fear. It was reveling in the torrent of fear emanating from Seth's figure.
Biting his lip, Seth used the pain to jolt himself out of paralysis.
By now, the entire area was silent. Battles with the mini bosses came to an abrupt halt as a wave of dark air washed over the battlefield, sending chills down the students' spines and making the corrupted more docile.
Everyone stared at the source in horror: the Defiled.
A thick carpet of dark clouds slowly blotted out the skies, turning everything dark in an instant. It was as though the heavens themselves couldn't bear to watch what happened next.
The monster's bladed arm swung, discarding the half-eaten corpse dangling from it.
Its body slowly turned, finally matching the direction its head faced.
The twisted grin remained haunting, its aura so stifling Seth felt that any carelessness might make him forget to breathe.
His heart hammered against his ribs, heat burning in his kidneys as adrenaline and noradrenaline flooded his system.
He didn't dare summon his armor now. Unequipping his current weapon and equipping another took a split second — a moment one couldn't underestimate.
Even a mini boss could deliver a fatal strike in that brief time, let alone a Defiled.
So Seth took a stance, blade raised toward the monster. He didn't dare let down his guard.
The silence stretched as the Defiled basked in what it felt was an intoxicating quantity of fear.
All mini bosses shivered under its presence. The students even more so.
Sweat pooled from Seth's pores, streaming down his forehead.
Drip…
A salty drop trickled into his eye, forcing him to blink.
That was all it took.
"Fuck!" Seth cursed inwardly. The Defiled was gone.
His hair stood on end. Thick strands of bloody veins filled his eyes, clouding them red. His vision spun as he swung his head from side to side in panic.
He didn't have to search for long.
Squelch!
A wide crimson blade sank into the skull of the fear-paralyzed Helen, piercing effortlessly.
It was only natural. Not everyone could overcome the instinctive paralysis of encountering a predator of this level.
She couldn't even let out a sound. Her once bright pink pupils dulled, and she died.
Even Uriel felt goosebumps, despite his recent gene skill evolution. He could tell this thing was just as fast — if not faster — than him.
Weak lightning bolts sparked around him as his apprehension deepened.
Brandon, meanwhile, faced another crisis entirely.
A bright prompt, burning sapphire in his retinas since the battle began, started to glitch.
[Inheritance Quest: Prove you are worthy to be the Great King of Myriad Flames' heir!]
[Clear Requirements: Slay 5/0 Corrupt Mini Bosses!]
[Error##-#&#&#]
[Error@#$_§£€°π€]
[Clear Requirements has been reassigned!]
[Clear Requirements: Slay 1/0 Defiled!]
[Reward: Access to the First Level of Burning Paradise!]
Brandon blinked, staring at the changes in his quest.
His gaze turned to the Defiled, its blade arm still lodged in Helen's head.
He swallowed hard as waves of corrupted essence poured from the creature. Y-you want me to kill that?
No matter how muscle-headed he acted, attacking corrupted on sight without hesitation, before a Defiled was where he drew the line.
His mind spun, trying to process an outcome where they survived.
Thinking quickly, he nudged Elaine, snapping her out of her daze.
"So what's it going to be? Retreating or fighting?" he whispered faintly, terrified of catching the abomination's attention.
Elaine shook her head, her solemn gaze relaying her reply.
Could they even escape such a creature?
If they tried, wouldn't that make it easier for the monster to pick them off?
Their options were clear:
Retreat and die faster.
Fight? Maybe they had a chance.
No matter what, this thing was Shackled Rank.
They should have a chance… right?
Brandon's thoughts halted as a figure rushed forward — speeding straight at the feasting Defiled.
It was their junior, Jack.
"What balls!" Brandon's eyes glinted as he laughed, abruptly suppressing his fear.
Jack's movement was timely, breaking the hesitation in the rest.
If a junior could remain unfazed in the face of hopelessness, then his seniors couldn't falter.
Six figures — Jack, Seth, Elaine, Uriel, Brandon, and the silent vice captain of Class 12D, Hubert — streaked forth, powering their attacks as they tore through the wind, converging on a single entity.
A brilliance of colors bloomed as they arrived before their foe.
A shadowy fog billowed from Jack's figure, fists drawn back.
Seth, clad in gothic abyssal armor, radiated a gray aura that stripped the world of color.
Elaine, not as close, pulsed a simmering blue beam from her palms, carrying an unbelievable cold that promised to freeze all.
Brandon's fists flamed like homing missiles, streaking toward the abomination.
Uriel's form cackled with blinding lightning. His pupils vanished, eyes burning bright blue as a pulsing bolt grew in his hands. He leaped, arm stretched back, the bolt growing brighter and more dangerous each second.
Hubert arrived, his arm cracking as fur grew in waves, transforming into a bestial claw that swiped down.
Despite all this, the Defiled barely looked bothered. Retracting its bladed arm from Helen's corpse, it let her slump to the ground.
It suddenly stared at the sky, maw opening in a horrendous screech. Inky black essence roared to life across its figure, flaming around it like a halo of death.
The ground beneath cracked as waves of corrupted essence billowed furiously, washing over the six.
They felt a quantity and quality of essence they could never hope to
match.
The clouds churned into a spiral in response. A heavy gale raged as a storm brewed.
The Defiled's head tilted, hollow sockets turning toward one of its prey.