Montis raised his hand and balled it into a fist, signaling everyone behind him to stop. He turned around and gestured towards his pack. He called out two other people and whispered. "One Petrify Solution on the face and one Galaxy Solution on the body. Ready? Go."
The three of them moved together to the side using the trees as the cover. They moved silently like shadows while each of them stalked their unknowing prey.
Montis was the first one to charge. He activated his Tenro and moved like a flash. He threw two bottles almost simultaneously towards the beast closest to him.
Shatter! Shatter!
One hit its face while the other landed on its neck. Just as planned.
The contents of bottles were splashed on the beasts' skins.
Crystals rapidly formed on the creature's face and it held its mouth shut. It had only been able to make a few groaning sounds before its entire head was devoured by the crystals. In order to make sure that it wouldn't be able to struggle out of its grasp, the hallucinogen that would limit its movements to some extent also assisted.
The exact same thing happened to the other colossal beasts.
In the end, the three monsters became large sculptures made entirely of crystals.
The battle had started and ended in just a few seconds.
Everyone heaved a long sigh of relief as they moved out once more. At first, they were doubting the capabilities of the solutions they were holding onto. They questioned its effectivity when contesting against colossal beasts.
Now, however, after witnessing the first battle, all of their doubts went away.
Unfortunately, trapping the beasts with the help of crystals did not equate to killing them. There was still a large possibility of them escaping if another colossal beast would accidentally bump into them, breaking the crystals. Aside from that, they should die on their own through suffocation.
The group of 40 or so researchers had saved swiftly traversed the mountain. After all, they weren't just some random damsels. The weakest person among them was a D-ranked mage.
After a few minutes, they had finally left the coverage of the Eclipse. Almost all of them tested their magic as soon as they got out and they all heaved a sigh of relief after they were able to use them.
To some, their worries were already over; to others, they were just about to start.
The easy round was over. It would only become an uphill battle starting there.
Aeon subconsciously caressed his blades as he sat down to rest. They were his trusty companions, and they might be the only ones he could trust after he would embark later on. No one knew about his special mission, not even Montis.
They were expecting another person to be at the peak of the mountain, probably with the person he had to save, but there was also a chance that they would abandon him to preserve the members of the rescue unit. Asking for others to assist him might also be useless. They didn't owe him anything. Certainly, they didn't owe his father as well.
Once again, the group of 30 moved up the mountain using the detour that had walked through earlier. After reaching the same spot they were in earlier, where they saved the researchers, they decided to split into a smaller group. Montis' logic behind that action was that they couldn't be discreet if they all moved together.
They would still be heading in the same direction, but they would come in by batch.
The rest would only rush to catch up or return if they felt like something happened to the others who lead the way.
The team split into smalls groups of five. The first one to go forward was Montis and Aeon's group. Montis chose the most suitable people so that they could move relatively swiftly without being detected. Luckily, or as Montis had expected, Aeon fit in with the group and was able to perform equally as impressive as the others.
Thirty minutes of complete silence.
No unusual shaking of the ground or any blood-curdling screams.
Everything proceeded smoothly.
Mt. Eirene wasn't really a tall mountain. It was just so-so. Nevertheless, it was still a mountain and not a hill. As long as the number of beasts there did not reach a thousand, there was still a chance of not bumping into them at all.
Unfortunately, the probability did not lean in their favor.
They had finally arrived at the spot where the second group of researchers was trapped in.
However, its backyard was crawling with magical beasts, both large and colossal ones. Moreover, some of those large beasts already had one foot in the world of the colossal. They could only thank Hecate that they were still sleeping.
If Montis remembered correctly, the cave he was eyeing used to be the one that had always been empty because it was allocated as a detention cell.
It had never really been used before. Now, it appeared that it had finally served its purpose. The Head Researcher, Wilhelm Hugh, must've locked up the researchers who had opposed him and didn't want to offer their service voluntarily.
A showdown was inevitable. They couldn't take a roundabout path because it was a cliff on one side. It was not too steep, but if they were found out, they wouldn't have the terrain advantage. Their only choice was to break through the beasts.
The first group silently waited for the others to arrive. After a few minutes, the second group finally came. They were about to wait for the others when the ground suddenly started shaking violently. The beasts who had been sleeping in the open area right next to them woke up one by one and went straight towards the commotion.
In other words, the beasts were heading their way.
Montis and Aeon cursed at the same time.
The other groups must've encountered some of the beasts and had failed to keep them at bay. Now, they were forced to engage with more than 10 at the same time.
It wasn't the time to keep quiet anymore.
"Spread out!" Montis yelled. "Avoid teaming up! Lock onto a single target each to avoid wasting the solutions!"
Aeon swiftly broke away from the group. He circled around as the beasts move forward. He took the initiative to save the trapped researchers while the others were still facing the large beasts. Aeon could hear the bottles breaking with a clinking sound, but he paid no attention to them.
Then, for the first time, Aeon heard the first explosion.
BOOOOM!
A person had used the Burst Solution, though it didn't come from the first and second group. It came from a distance so it was slightly muffled.
They had all been oriented by Montis about when to use the solutions. He had instructed clearly that, as much as possible, they had to avoid using the Burst Solution to avoid luring in some more beasts as they fought.
Someone using it could only mean that they were already in a lot of trouble.
Aeon reached the back of the open area. Without a second thought, he slashed at the walls as he did earlier. This time, he didn't take the time to make it as quiet as possible. He kicked down the rectangular block and it crashed with a boom.
Curious voices echoed through the tunnel.
After a couple of steps inside, Aeon saw the people. However, they were still trapped behind bars.
At that point, the trapped researchers had already found out that they were being saved. Unlike the first group, they looked much weaker. It seemed like the amount of oxygen in that specific cave wasn't as abundant as the first one. If they wasted any more time, some of the people there might've died already.
"Stand back!" Aeon yelled. Verdure and Zephyr fell.
Ding! Ding! Cling!
The metal bars fell, bumping against each other and making a melodious ringing sound.
"Step outside and be careful," Aeon instructed, "follow me!"
Instead of heading on the same path he used earlier, Aeon jumped and slid on the wall of the cliff. It was too steep to climb but was just right to slide down on. His boots scraped against the wall as he leaned closer.
The researchers who had obviously seen the battle did not care to dally. They were smart enough to realize that those few people facing the beasts had the means to defend themselves and attack. On the other hand, they were empty-handed. They followed the young lad who jumped on the cliff. They also slid on the cliff wall and slowly descended.
After they all reached the bottom, Aeon started jogging downward. He needed to at least get them to safety. But where was a safe place? It should be away from the loud noises.
By staying ahead of the group and using the elevated area to his advantage, Aeon was able to check if there were beasts ahead of them. He momentarily activated his Tenro to calculate how much time before any beast could fill the current area he was looking at. He factored in the speed at which the researchers were moving and determined that it was safe.
He turned towards 28 researchers. "Head straight down this path until you reach the base of the mountain then go west. You'll meet the other researchers who had already gotten out there."
The moment Aeon turned around, a researcher asked, "How about you?"
Aeon looked at the man whose clothes were greasy and covered in dirt. Despite this, he still looked very respectable. Aeon felt comfort that a person was worried about his safety. "I need to help the others."
Without wasting any more time, Aeon bolted towards the members of the rescue unit. He wasn't really capable of slaying a colossal beast just yet, but maybe with his pestering, he could create an opening enough for the others to exploit. Aeon did not activate his Tenro.
There were explosions everywhere and some of the trees were already burning. He looked left and right only to see people running away while tossing a glass bottle. To Aeon, it seemed like these people were just playing with balloons filled with water. However, they were playing the game against magical beasts.
Statues made of crystals were all over the place, but they were still quite a few beasts that were still moving.
Aeon used Shooting Star as an opening for his first attack. His twin swords crashed heavily on the neck of a colossal beast, though it didn't do quite much. But this was not Aeon's main purpose.
His swords buried on the creature's flesh. He kicked against the neck and pulled his swords out at the same time. Aeon gracefully landed on the back of the beast. He scaled its body all the way to its head and stabbed one of its eyes.
Aeon didn't stick around to see what it was about to do. He used another Shooting Star to switch targets. The beast that Aeon had left was immediately subdued.
This time, Shooting Star directly took Aeon on the head of the beast. The problem was that no one was focusing on it. He was left with no choice but to use his own solutions. Aeon took two out from his fanny pack. Instead of pouring the Galaxy Solution on the beast, he coated his blades with it. He did this as he rode on top the colossal beast's head.
After he had finished coating his swords, he stabbed both of them on the same spot where Shooting Star had pierced. The beast began to slow down until it completely stopped. Aeon did not stop there and threw down a Petrify Bottle.
He jumped down from the beast, as the crystals formed.
Aeon landed safely on the ground. Coincidentally, he landed on a spot where there was a bloody fanny pack lying down on the ground. Its real owner must've fallen to the beast already. He immediately took it and started running amok one more time.
The Galaxy Solution on his blades had yet to expire.
….