Mares' short words took away any small amount of hope the students could still be holding.
"Well… fuck, didn't think I would go out like this."
Luo said. It was hard to say if he was joking or not.
"Can you raise a barrier?"
Mares asked Lhian, that was still in his arms, but she didn't reply. She had frozen, not being able to react seeing the students she was supposed to lead being taken by the Void Beasts, one after another, while she could do nothing about it.
"Lhian!"
But her thoughts were interrupted by a scream and a shake of her body. Lhian realized she wasn't in the same place as a moment ago while also noticing a strong arm holding her. The silver-blue haired blinked and looked at the voice that called for her.
Of course, she could not see Mares' expressions, however, she was immediately attracted to his shining silver eyes. And even during that situation, she could not help but be surprised by what she saw.
Mares always had shown her more rigid eyes, always looking serious. When they were attacked before, he wasn't fazed. Even when he was fighting in the coliseum, he seemed to keep the same attitude, not worried about anything and keeping utmost confidence. In certain ways, Lhian's perception of Mares was someone that he would always keep some distance and be indifferent towards his surroundings.
She did not expect to see pity in his eyes. And even so, the blue-haired could also see the same unwavering confidence that he always seemed to carry.
"Create a barrier around us, but let a way out. We can't stay here any longer, I can't protect all of you."
She took a moment to react to his words.
"But-"
She was about to say something when Mares interrupted her.
"They are not going to be killed now!" Noticing the look of surprise on Lhian's face, he continued. "They are doing this under a higher-ranked beast order. If any of your classmates get eaten before the right time, they will probably be killed."
As he said that, he used his air-ring abilities to kill more beasts surrounding them, as well as shooting the monsters with his most recently acquired skill.
Mares' words ascended a new hope in Lhian's eyes. She looked at his back, surrounded, but fighting unwavering, with the confidence that nothing would take him down.
'We can still do this…'
She couldn't quite understand it, but having someone like Mares by her side, made her feel endless confidence to face any challenge.
"That's all nice and good, but how the fuck do we get out of here?"
Clest asked aggressively, as she did her best to cut down the beasts approaching, while also trying to dodge the attacks directed at her. It should be quite easy with her speed, but they were getting less and less space to move, limiting her mobility. Her body was already full of scratches and smaller injuries.
"I can take care of that, but I will need time!"
Winna said, desperately trying to push the beasts back so that they could get some footing back.
"Ok, we will give you that time."
Mares declared while cutting three beasts in half.
And just as he did his declaration, a huge roar is heard, a battle roar. Dozens of meters away from them, the trio of ranked three Void Beasts starts moving in their direction. Behind them, it was possible to see the knocked-out students being carried by the omnivores, Ka-rhions.
"How much time?"
Lhian asked.
"Two cycles."
Was Winna's reply.
'Five minutes.'
Esen translated to Mares.
"We will try."
The silver-eyed said, aiming his spear at the beasts.
The lower-ranked void beasts that surrounded the group retreated, as the pressure of the three Earthly Brutes scared them, while the three walked towards the students.
They were imposing, not putting Mares, Lhian, or the delinquent group in their eyes. And their confidence was not misplaced as the students really couldn't deal with them, and even Mares was uncertain if he had a chance against the three at the same time.
This did not mean he would hesitate.
Without warning he moved forward, covering his body with air rings and filling those same air rings with his projections of pure astral energy, at the same time that he enhanced his physical capacities, using three techniques at once.
From Lhian's perspective, in a moment Mares was in front of them, and in the following second, he was gone.
Void Beasts had more sensitive instincts and the Earthly Brutes rapidly noticed something was about to happen.
The one in the middle of the three did not hesitate to raise its four arms in front of its chest while covering its body with the Void Armor.
Mares hit it, managing to push the Earthly Brute back a few feet, with sparks flying as he rotates as a drill on the monster's armor, not seeming like he was losing momentum even if he was stopped.
But still, it only served to create cracks in the armor, not even actually injuring the beast. The difference between an established third-ranked Void Beast, and the ones Mares fought previously, was massive.
Roaring, furious that its armor was damaged by Mares, the Earthly Brute throws its arms forward, throwing the silver-eyed back, and stopping his rotation. The beast made a motion to try to grab Mares, however, in the middle air, he adjusted his position to face the void beast.
His chest went upwards, as if he was taking a deep breath, and then opened his mouth widely. A beam of concentrated silver Astral Energy went hitting the unprepared Earthly Brute in its left eye.
Another roar, this time deeper and full of rage, came from the beast. Its lava-like blood started to flow from the injured eye, contrary to the small damage to the armor, which was very painful. It was holding its face as screamed, but it soon stopped, retaking its composure.
But Lhian, Luo, Winna, Clest, Vessino, and Calon could all feel the rage and hostility that started to emanate.
"Boss sure is different…"
Luo said, his expression was full of admiration. He wanted to jump there and fight himself, but he knew he wouldn't be able to help a lot, as he was currently.
"If you want, we could…"
Vessino seemed to offer something to him, but Luo shacked his head.
"It wouldn't be of help now."
He simply said.
Lhian was confused as to what they were talking about but didn't ask further.
While this all happened, Winna had already started preparing the spell. She initiated the confection of its equation, using her Astral Gate to reunite the necessary energy. The wind in the surroundings was moving towards her and increasing constantly.
Besides the time it would take, another downside was that another mage couldn't use their own Gate as that would mean competing with Winna's for astral energy, but they were "lucky" that there was no other user of Gates now.
Mares was fighting the three Earthly Brutes at the same time. After he manage to destroy one of the three beasts' eyes, the other two no longer just watched. They acted as a pack, attacking the long-haired with good coordination.
Mares was constantly using his multi-weapon to change from sword to spear while using his technique to shoot concentrated shoots in the beasts' vulnerable parts, though it didn't seem to work, as they always avoided those attacks.
Mares was undoubtedly having a hard time. Strength, speed, resistance, stamina, battle judgment. The barely evolved beasts he fought with before could not compare with the three he was facing now, and that was perfect for him.
'Fuu, you truly are a battle maniac… There is no more hope for my Mars…'
Esen said, joking even in that situation.
'Sorry, but I was needing this.'
A few days ago he was complaining about how he had nowhere to use his strength, and now he was facing one of the narrowest battles he could have asked for. That annoying feeling of being full of energy, of having power but nowhere to use it, was gone, and Mares felt much better. At the same time, he felt like he was improving.
One of the Earthly Brutes had his fists falling in Mares' direction, and instead of dodging or using his weapons, the silver-eyed replied by punching back. His body was reinforced with his strengthening technique, but even so, it was something greatly reckless to do.
When their fists meet, the beast didn't move, but Mares was pushed back for several meters, destroying the ground he was standing in. His left arm got broken by that punch, but behind his mask, his expression didn't change.
'So that's a rank three, and a true Void Armor.'
He thought while applying Astral Energy in his arm to accelerate the regeneration. In seconds his broken left arm was back to normal, no, actually, it was even stronger.
Three minutes had passed, and the wind got worst, almost as if a storm was about to happen. The lower-ranked void beasts were uneasy with that weather as it seemed unnatural.
The problem was that they still had two more minutes to go, but the Earthly Brutes seemed to be getting impatient.
While the two went to attack Mares, the third one decided to finally focus on Lhian and the delinquent group.
"Fuck!"
The silver-eyed murmured under his breath as he tried to disengage to go help the students. This resulted in one of the Earthly Brutes managing to get a hit, and almost sending him further away.
Thankfully he pierced his spear into the ground, not moving very far from his position, but he was spitting blood from his mouth and felt some of the left part of his body with various broken bones. At least his regeneration would deal with it quickly, but he wouldn't be able to help the others.
When Lhian saw that happening, as the Earthly Brute went in their direction, entering the ground and moving in it like he was swimming in the water, she raised her hands with cold sweat running from her forehead.
"Relax."
Clest said suddenly.
Contrary to Lhian's tension, the delinquent group didn't look too nervous.
"What is wrong with you all?"
Lhian asked, shocked to see how nonchalantly they were. Luo was sitting on a rock, Venissimo seemed to be looking at something in his arms and Clest was sharpening her blades. Lhian almost couldn't process how casual they were acting.
"I will be going then."
Calon announced as he walked forward, seeming as non-worried as his friends. As he walked, he got a ring out of his pocket and put it on his middle finger. With Lhian paying attention she noticed the ring starting to glow.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
Lhian screamed seeing her colleague proceed with no care.
The beast was about to stretch its arm to reach and smash Calon when the gray one spread his arms around his body and six disks appeared floating, three on his left and three on his right. The disks started rotating and pointed at the beast.
The Earthly Brute stopped in its tracks. For a moment, everything was still. And then the monster started screaming, putting its hands around its ears and frenetically moving its head around, seemingly to be in great suffering.
Lhian, that was about to move before this, stopped in her tracks with widened eyes. Mares, that observed everything from the corner of his eyes, was just as surprised.
"Let's begin."
Calon said, with a huge smile.