Immediately, Alicia rushed to where the speakers were located. Vivian was in the process of selecting a new song, now that the current was about to end, but Alicia quickly stopped her. Heaving, she leaned over and hastily made a request.
"President Alicia? What's the matter?"
"I've to make an announcement. It's an emergency!"
Vivian remained confused, but she didn't argue. Nodding, she moved over to allow Alicia full control of the sound system, offering a microphone to her president. Alicia accepted it gratefully and hurriedly thumbed the switch.
"Everyone! I'm sorry to interrupt you all, but there is an emergency! There is a high ranked monster approaching our position at the moment! Everyone, please prepare for combat!"
A silence filled the air shortly after Alicia's announcement. Only the sounds of the crackling flames from the campfire and sizzling barbeque pits could be heard.
"She's right." Craig let go of Sheila and glanced toward the edge of the barrier. "I can sense something extremely powerful and demonic heading in our direction."
"What should we do?" Sheila asked, trying to suppress her panic when she also detected the vague but unmistakably evil aura from a distance.
"We fight!" Dong Fang Yue Chu declared boldly. At his side, still holding his hand, Lily nodded.
"That's what we mages are trained for!"
"But from the aura, this monster doesn't seem like something we can handle," one of the other party-goers murmured.
"Yeah, it's too strong!"
"Rank B monster, at least." Elliot had stopped roasting a row of skewered meat to assess the situation. "It is way beyond anything students like us can handle."
"But there's so many of us!" another party-goer argued. "There's no way it can defeat all of us! As long as we all work together, even a rank B monster won't be able to withstand our combined forces!"
"Actually, our numbers might not matter." Nicholas was pale as he trembled from fear. "A rank B monster is categorized above Elemental-type monsters because they possess more than enough power to destroy half a city on its own. If I'm not mistaken, rank B monsters are more commonly known as Fiend class monsters."
Everyone fell silent at that.
"…if it's so powerful, why didn't we sense it until it was so close?" someone from Holy Saints asked nervously, hoping there was some sort of mistake.
"The barrier." Alicia looked grim. "The same barrier that protected us and rendered us invisible to low and mid-ranked monsters also closed off our senses and isolated us inside this space. However, we can sense it now because the barrier is…crumbling."
To their horror, they realized that Alicia was right. The barrier had been steadily weakening ever since the Fiend-class monster made its approach. As it drew closer, the barrier began to dissolve under its mere presence.
"What the hell?!" Pearl murmured as she stepped away instinctively. She had been dancing with a guy from Super Power Society, and the both of them had to hold each other up to prevent themselves from toppling over. "Did it just destroy our barrier with its demonic aura alone?!"
"…it really is on a different level altogether," Jin Hao muttered in fear. Beside him, Aoi nodded frightfully, her complexion ghastly. The two of them had been dancing when this intrusion occurred. And now no one was in the mood to continue partying.
Not when there was such a formidable foe approaching.
"Does it matter?"
Fortunately, there were some who were still resolute in the face of overwhelming strength. Craig stepped forward with a determined scowl.
"Either we run, or we fight. There's no use whimpering around. That monster is getting closer even as we waste time crying and whining. Those who want to run, hurry up and get away. I don't know how far you'll get before the Fiend catches up with you, though. Those of you who want to make a last stand with me, let's begin getting into formation."
Drawing his crimson spear from his spatial pouch, Craig activated it, allowing it to lengthen and glow fiercely in the gloom of the campfire.
"That's right!" Sheila also gained some courage from her president. She also took out a spear and a shield. "We stand and fight!"
"I'm with you!" Dong Fang Yue Chu agreed as he began casting fire spells. Flames wreathed his fists as he got ready for combat. Seeing their president prepare for battle, the other Ultimate Outcasts joined him.
"If only the vice-president is here. Do you think his soul beasts are capable of destroying a rank B monster?" despite his fears, Harvey still somehow remembered me. Stan scoffed.
"I guess we'll never know. Vice-prez is lucky. If he was here, he might end up getting killed along with us. He probably had the right idea to give this party a miss."
"Wasn't he supposed to come?" Wang Fei asked, puzzled. "I thought he was on his way."
"He better be smart enough to turn tail and run if he senses this monster on his way here," Stan muttered, his voice surprisingly free of resentment. There was little point in having everyone die here together.
Everyone made their own decisions. Several decided to take their chances and cowardly flee while their schoolmates held the monster off for them. Many resigned themselves to their fate and drew their weapons, getting ready for combat.
The dreadful, evil presence permeated the entire area, now that the barrier was finally destroyed. The party-goers were glancing around, gripping their weapons tightly as they sought out the location of the monster.
"…I don't see it."
"Where is it coming from?"
"But…it feels so near."
"Yeah, why does it feel like it's practically on top of us?"
"But I don't see anything. Don't tell me it's invisible?"
"Don't screw with us! How can there be a monster with perfect invisibility?!"
Despite their training and constant ranking matches in the arena, the vast majority of students did not have practical experience in the field. Relatively few of them took any missions. I mean, in my Ultimate Outcast Society alone, only I ever took to the field. Dong Fang Yue Chu, for all of his training under my dad, never actually took a mission. And first-year students weren't allowed to participate in missions, for good reason.
Not that it would actually help much in this case. Even those who regularly took on missions, like Elliot, Nicholas, Jin Hao and many of Black Rose members, knew they were thoroughly outmatched by the approaching monster. They weren't confident of destroying a rank C monster, never mind rank B monster.
The only ones who ever had experience defeating a rank C monster were Craig, Dong Fang Yue Chu, Pearl and Theodore. However, Theodore wasn't present, and the guy who nuked the rank C Crimson Spider King – yours truly – was absent at the moment. And now they were facing a monster that was on a whole different level.
"…?"
Even as the majority continued to search for the source of the immense demonic aura, a few began to hope that the high ranked monster had overlooked them, and had no intention of attacking them. Perhaps it was just passing by, and they happened to be on its route. The students were probably so insignificant, akin to ants and a human, that the monster probably didn't even notice them.
If that was the case, then it would be great. They would be able to preserve their lives.
However, Craig and many of the seasoned veterans were not as naïve. They vigilantly scanned the area, watching the cliffs just in case the monster emerged from there. A good number of them kept an eye on the forested edge that formed a wall against the valley they currently resided in, anticipating the monster to emerge from there. And others watched the skies, just in case the monster was a flying type. It was not unknown for winged monsters to dive down from above to seize unwary prey. And a scant few were glancing at the mountains, trying to ensure there weren't any caves from which the monster would emerge from and surprise them from behind.
They were all searching the wrong places.
Something erupted from the ground beneath them, knocking several mages off their feet and sending them flying like pins in a bowling alley. Hissing, it faced down the panicking teenagers and reared its claws back for an attack.
"What the hell is that thing?!" someone yelled.
The monster was…in one word, alien. Totally black from head to toe, its head was elongated and shaped like a banana, as well as totally eyeless. Its huge jaws yawned wide, revealing another set of inner jaws embedded inside it, even as drool dripped off from its serrated fangs. A long, giant tail thrashed about, its spiked end leaving deep marks in the ground. Even though it towered over the students, it was only about three meters high at most.
That wasn't surprising. Most Fiend-class monsters were much smaller than their Elemental-class counterparts. Apparently, they had reached a level high enough where they attained the ability to compress all of their demonic power into a small, compact form in order to achieve maximum effectiveness in combat.
Of course, there were exceptions, and as with most matters regarding monsters, they didn't follow any set of logical rules. Rank A monsters, known as the Behemoth class, were much larger than Fiends, often towering over whole buildings. Sort of like the kaiju in giant monster movies. Such terrifying monsters could raze entire cities with their immense sizes alone, and were practically unstoppable.
Fiend class monsters were not as huge, but as Nicholas pointed out, they were capable of laying waste to half a city by themselves.
"I've never seen anything like it before!" one of the mages yelled, his nerve failing him as he turned to run. The monster was upon him within seconds, virtually disappearing and reappearing at his position. The guy screamed as the monster's claws raked his back, sending a spray of blood high into the air. Wailing, the maimed guy toppled over.
"Bastard!"
Craig lunged forward with his glowing, crimson spear. Thrusting it at the monster's chest, he sought to impale its heart.
The monster turned around and seized his weapon before the tip could reach its black exoskeleton. Almost as if it was grinning, its hideous lips pulled back before the inner jaws shot out and smashed into Craig's face. The spearman's reflexes saved his life as he suddenly sensed the danger and skidded to a stop, but even so blood streamed down his face as he pulled back.
"Fucker!"
Twirling his spear, he swung it in a vicious slash to cleave the monster apart. The Fiend stepped back to avoid his strike, but Craig still succeeded in grazing it. Yellow-green blood splattered across the ground, some of it hitting the Crimson Spear Society president.
"Hah!" Craig crowed. "If it bleeds, we can kill it!"
Sizzle…
Acrid fumes rose from the ground where the potent, acidic blood corroded through it. Craig also began yelling as the monster's blood burned through his skin, and he collapsed.
"Craig!"
Sheila raced forward, with Pearl right behind her. Pearl had been tending the guy who tried to run away from earlier, but it was too late for him. His spine had been torn out, and he was dead by the time she reached him.
Even if she was a healer, she didn't possess the ability to bring the dead back to life.
Fortunately, Craig was still alive. He had lost consciousness from the excruciating pain, and lay collapsed on the ground.
Screeching in triumph, the monster stomped toward him, but Sheila dashed forward and blocked its claws with her shield. However, the tremendous strength from the monster flung her aside and she crashed over a hundred meters away. Slamming her head on the ground, she lost consciousness, blood dripping from her mouth.
"Sheila!"
"Focus, Pearl!"
Dong Fang Yue Chu had also dove in to intervene, his flaming fists striking at the monster, but with little effect. Even so, the monster was still annoyed by his attacks, and spun around to face him.
"That's right! Over here!"
Dong Fang Yue Chu finally completed his spell and he unleashed a ferocious torrent of flames that washed over it, engulfing it in destruction.
"Hah! That should teach you!"
And then a spiked tail whipped out and struck him, hurling him several meters away. He slumped down, dazed, his eyes glazed over as he clutched at his wound.
"What the fuck…"
And toppled over.
"President!" Harvey hurried over to help him. He was relieved to see that Dong Fang Yue Chu was still breathing.
"Don't tell me that stinger on its tail is poisoned?" Stan murmured.
"Or maybe President Yue Chu went into shock?" Wang Fei offered.
Stepping out of the inferno, the monster screeched furiously. Its black carapace was fuming, smoke pouring off its heated surface, but it seemed otherwise unscathed. Snarling, it turned to face the trembling campers.
A few other students continued to stand and fight. A coalition of Black Rose and Holy Saints members gathered to blast the monster with spells. Various elemental attacks raced toward it, ranging from ice, fire, lightning, wind, and earth. Alicia and a few magic gunners let loose with their mana bullets, hoping to strike its vulnerable spots.
The monster disappeared.
Within moments, the Fiend tore three mages into ribbons before they could fire off a second spell. The others retaliated, launching whatever magical projectiles they could produce, whether they were fireballs, ice shards, vines, lightning, bullets or whatever else they could throw at it.
They were too slow.
The monster was already gone before their attacks reached within a foot of its original position. The students couldn't even follow its movements. They were barely able to catch a glimpse of a black blur before the monster was in their midst, tearing into their ranks. It swiped at a couple of mages with incredible speed. They went down instantly, blood violently spurting from their wounds.
Spells gave way to screams now. Their nerve broken, the students dispersed and fled. Everyone was panicking and running for their lives, no longer bearing the pretense of courage and determination to fight the monster.
Even as they ran, the demonic creature threw its head back and let out a monstrous screech of triumph and malevolent delight.