A hideous orange boulder appeared 30 meters in the air, emerging from one of the portals. As the orange boulder moved, only becoming larger, deep cavities filled with hair followed. A second later, a giant golden eye even more prominent than the nose appeared behind it. A cyclops that could almost make the massive portal seem small had arrived. However, this was not all as similar cyclops's stepped out from every portal, numbering over a dozen. And yet, this was only the beginning, as they only seemed to serve as tanks. Underneath them surged waves of beasts, many even humanoids, but all ferocious with bloodlust filling their golden eyes.
"Since your race is so desperate to die, I will benevolently grant your wish! After this slaughter, I will ensure that every human left on this petri dish of a planet is nothing more than a food source for our armies."
Even without knowing the outcome of this battle, Terran was confused. While the books he had read were not the most specific, they did specify that humanity had never directly confronted the angels on the battlefield. Instead, they only fought back against the monsters that directly suppressed them. However, if this indeed was a historical battle, then it raised the question, "Why wasn't it in the history books?"
Floating high above the crowd of some of humanity's strongest warriors were seven heavenly beings equipped with white feathery wings exerting a slight glow. The magnificent wings were fully extended in all their glory while remaining stationary. It was evident that they were not biological tools for flying. Instead, they were a representation of their power. These beings were the six angels led by their leader, the archangel Gabriel. They watched from the sky as the waves of monsters collided with the wall that was humanity's finest.
Even with the golden-eyed cyclopes' massive size, they were not making a dent. Each had been received by a blessed that matched them in strength. In fact, most were even being pushed back, while two were being beaten into the ground like rag dolls. The sight was almost laughable, seeing the ugly cyclopes tossed around by humans less than 1/15th their height.
The other creatures were not doing any better as they rushed towards the battle, only to be trampled over by raging flames, crackling electricity, and scythes of blood. Every elemental blessing imaginable was present as they tore through the hoards, claiming lives like grim reapers.
There were many humans on this battlefield that could wield power great enough to wipe an entire city off a map. Of course, they could not be so careless as the monsters had easily intertwined with their allies, restricting their attacks to smaller areas of effect.
Despite this sight, the angels wore nonchalant expressions. These monsters' lives were drops in the ocean, and the thought of facing loss was not even in the realm of possibility.
"Hang in there, I've almost dispelled this accursed barrier," Hayley said, her hands still placed on the runes surrounding Terran, and her brows sweating as she concentrated intently.
Despite an all-out war breaking out, Terran had actually calmed dramatically. He hadn't realized it until now, but after being teleported out, the drain on his life force had stopped. He had initially believed its cause had been the runes surrounding him. However, as they were still there, and the feeling was not, he could only scrap such a theory. Moreover, he had a job to do. Or maybe, for better terms, stress to relieve. While his blessing could only be described as life-preserving, it was still an S rank blessing. Meanwhile, even though many things were uncertain, he was clear that his enemies were in front of him. If all went well, so was the opportunity to break through his blessing.
Right now, life was simple. He only needed to cut down the enemies in front of him. After all, at the end of the day, historically accurate or not, no matter how real everything felt, this was not reality. Dying here would only leave him in a temporarily weakened state with minor defects. The bottom line was that this was quite literally a God-given gift to gain experience and a treasure trove of information.
Out of the blue, Hayley teleported to the other side of Terran's prison. This gave him a moment of panic, seeing her disappear from his line of sight. He worried that he wouldn't escape from the barrier by himself as he was not confident in his non-existent ability to dispel runes. However, this feeling lasted only a second as a blue arrow made of crackling condensed energy whizzed through Hayley's previous location and bounced off of Terran's barrier. Looking around, it was clear this arrow was not actually aimed at her. That being said, it was still a chaotic battlefield brimming with extraordinary abilities. Just because one was not currently engaged in a battle did not mean they were safe.
With the immediate danger out of the way, Hayley's figure reappeared.
While Hayley diligently continued dispelling the runes, something inside of Terran was slowly changing. It was no magical increase in power nor a hidden ability. Instead, a small flame had ignited inside of his heart. Not some heroic flame, but a flame that signaled a switch in his outlook on life.
It was a fact that he still lacked a definite purpose. However, what he did have were questions. In fact, countless questions. But the more he searched, instead of answers, he only seemed to be finding more of these questions. For starters, he desperately wanted to know who he was. While not saying it directly, he knew Sophie believed that he had been abandoned by some family in the Oasis. However, he was sure this was not the case. After all, he had walked in the same direction for two years before reaching the Oasis. But this question was just the tip of the iceberg.
Now he had the system and all of the crumbs it gave him in place of explanations, telling him he needed to bring life back to what amounted to a giant rock. And finally, his current trial. Which was assumedly orchestrated by the same mastermind behind his system.
While small, the metaphorical flame burned bright. This was a flame of epiphany and drive. Despite his short time in the trial, it had pressed an important fact over and over again. The simple yet crucial fact was the point that he was weak. When trapped in the abyss, suffocating by the overflowing emotions and being drained of all his life force, it was a voice that had woken him up. A voice that was clearly not his own by its feminine tone. Even after waking up, he was only a caged bird in front of a tiger. He was not fighting right now. Instead, he was stuck in a barrier while others fought around him. Whether this was indeed an event in his past or not, one thing remained clear, even with healing that almost made him immortal, his life did not rest in his own hands. This feeling was suffocating. Had he suffered in hell for two years just for others to dictate his life? His body consuming itself, his skin falling off his feet, his organs rubbing against each other like an unoiled machine.
One could call it stubbornness, but to Terran, it was the most straightforward decision. Before, he wanted to break the chains that locked him in his body. After finding civilization, he had believed he was free. However, he now discovered even larger chains were just out of sight. So naturally, those chains had to be shattered, and the small price of pain was insignificant if it allowed him to do the job. He would no longer allow others to be in control of his life. He would find the answers to satiate even his smallest curiosities. Even if he had to track them down to each and every corner of Titan until the truths were revealed. He would keep climbing until he could stand above everyone. Until there was no more room for his neck to crane upwards.
"Alright, that should do it! Quickly hold my hand and I'll teleport you to a safe place." Hayley explained as the barrier surrounding Terran disintegrated into a mist.
"Thank you, but I will not be running away from this fight!"
Seeing the determination on the teenager's face, Hayley hesitated. It made sense that if Gabriel had captured him, he would be an extremely powerful blessed. That fact alone would give him the right to fight alongside them. However, while not entirely true, it could be said that this battle was over him as them breaking him out brought the archangels rath upon them. With that being true, shouldn't they keep him in the most protected place, away from the angels' grasp? Then again, there were no safe places left on the entire planet.
In Hayley's moment of indecisiveness, Terran dashed off into the chaos of the battle.