It took quite an effort for Makayla to stand up, she felt as if her body would give in at any moment, but, she held on purely based on her willpower.
She gave one last look at the cave entrance, which was still covered with the dust from the spells earlier, and returned his gave to the black tendrils that squirmed around.
She only had the Star Tainted Sword to use, as she had thrown her dagger, so she had to use hand-to-hand combat, something that she wasn't too good at.
Makayla took a deep breath and conjured one of the spells she was most familiar with: Flame Guard. Her arms ignited in flames forming a small fiery armor, and only then she finally made her move, she wasn't too fast nor too slow, being careful to not exceed the limits that her body could now withstand.
She quickly approached the black tendrils, which began to split into various smaller tendrils and began to whip at her. Makayla was surprised by this, but, she didn't have much difficulty dodging the first few strikes as they were quite clunky at first, however, the speed at which the black tendrils whipped at her slowly began to grow, making it harder for her to evade all of the strikes.
Makayla grinned as one of the tendrils hit her back with full force, a burning sensation quickly took over her entire back, yet, this mattered very little and she continued to press forwards in Isabella's direction.
She flailed her arms around, trying her best to block all the black tendrils, which kept striking at her without stopping. The smaller tendrils had less resistance, and could be dealt with if Makayla put some effort, but, they quickly regenerated even after she had burned them to a crisp.
Makayla fought bravely, each strike of the black tendrils only made her even more resolved to save Isabella, and after almost a whole minute of battle against the tentacles, she was finally able to reach Isabella, who barely looked to be awake.
-" Hang on! I called for help" Makayla stood in front of her friend and gazed at the black tendrils, which stopped attacking as if they were observing them.
Makayla took this opportunity to finally take a few breaths, yet, what she thought was a moment of relief suddenly turned into a nightmare, as the mysterious monster at the cave's entrance began to finally make his move.
-" My Liege is running out of time..." A shrill voice echoed inside the cave, there was a strange coldness to the monster's voice." I can't play with you any longer."
Makayla gazed at the monster in shock, his body was covered with pitch-black scales, which looked to be made of tar, and his hands were long and slim, with heinous claws instead of fingers, yet, what made her even more shocked was that the monster was capable of speech.
-" Your Liege?" Makayla had already heard about monsters that were able to speak with humans, but, they were all legendary existences that were said to be unrivaled in power. " For something like you to have a Liege." Makayla shivered in fear, death was almost a certainty for her.
-" There is always someone stronger, or someone worth serving." The demon smiled as he swept his hands, causing the black tendrils to reunite and began to expand.
Makayla grabbed Isabella and tried to jump back, but, the cave's space was too little and she was backed into the wall. Makayla bit her tongue in anguish, just earlier today she hoped to meet Henry after the tournament, but, it looked like she wouldn't have the opportunity.
The black tentacles returned to the ground and took their previous shadow-like state, but, this time took the shape of the strange monster.
Makayla didn't even react as the shadow began to expand and engulf her, little by little sucking her deep into the shadows.
The demon licked his lips as the girls were completely devoured by the shadows and left the cave. He moved rapidly through the desert, capturing any of the students close to him.
Henry watched in awe as a strange body emerged from the ground, questions kept popping up in his head, he wasn't sure what the hell was happening, if his sister was okay, or even if they would survive this cursed night.
-" Hugh?" Henry looked at the old man with his face full of emotions. "
-" I'm sorry, Venerable H..." Hugh felt so much shame that he wanted to bury himself in some hole, in the whole history of the Royal Academy this was the first time that someone attacked one of their tournament. " I will deal with this!" Hugh knew that every second was crucial in the search for the students, so they couldn't waste any time on the new threat. "Squadrons! I will deal with the situation here, go save the students!" Hugh shouted bravely as he floated up to the sky, three big magic circles appearing under him.
Henry looked at the strange monster in worry, he had grown quite close with Hugh the past few months, so he didn't want the old man to be hurt, however, he soon became at ease as a few more people appeared on the walls of the building.
-" Mister Hugh! What is happening?" Abel shouted in anxiety, the entire building was engulfed in chaos, this coupled with the earthquake made everyone notice that something had gone wrong.
-" I'm not sure myself..." Hugh didn't even look at the group and continued to stare at the strange worm that towered over everything in size. " The only thing I know is that we are being attacked," Hugh opened his arms widely and began to conjure a spell.
Another magic circle appeared, yet, this time just above the titanic worm, which let out a screech as he felt the magic gathering above it,
Hugh's casting speed was superb, and the 100-meter-wide magic circle was quickly completed, causing waves of energy to fall down on the gigantic monster.
The worm growled in pain, as it felt the already unbelievable weight of its body suddenly increasing several folds, even the sand dunes on the ground began to compress and the worm eventually faltered and its head plummeted straight to the ground.
Tremors filled the area once again as the titanic worm shook in rage, and in a desperate attempt for freedom, the monster let out a deep cry.
The whole area was engulfed by sonic waves of the beast's cries, causing everyone present to bleed from the ears, even Hugh's magic circle was affected by it, weakening the spell effect slightly.
Hugh bit his lips as he tried to reinforce his spell, yet, the worm was still able to wrestle out of the spell's controls and was about to burrow into the ground once again.
-" You won't escape!" Abel shouted in rage, his hands moved rapidly as he performed a few runes. " Everyone! We can't let this thing return to the underground! Let's help Mister Hugh." Mana shackles emerged from the ground and warped around the worm.
Abel used his whole strength to pull the worm, he knew that if the monsters burrowed once again, they would all be sitting ducks waiting for its next attack.
-" Such an ugly beast!" Lilia jumped up, and a long sword suddenly appeared in her hand. " Ignition Point!" A small ball of blazing energy shoot out from the tip of her sword and exploded on the body of the beast.
Many of the nobles followed Lilia and also began to use their best attacks, creating an impressive barrage of magic spells that kept bombarding the worm.
Hugh sighed in relief, he knew that the nobles' attack would mostly buy him time, but, this was enough as he now could concentrate on his next spell.
Hugh's eyes shone with a blue light as the mana around him began to flow like a violent wind. The density of mana around him was so great that it was even visible to the naked eye.
Hugh opened his arms once again, and this time he didn't chant nor made runes, but, just closed his eyes and breathed slowly as he kept gathering energy.
The nobles watched the scene with excitement, Mister Hugh's signature spell: Spatial Sundering was famous even beyond the Thule Kingdom, especially for its destructive power.
-" Keep the pressure!" Abel knew that their job was just to hold the titanic worm on the surface, as Hugh was the only one who could actually kill the worm. " We just need to hold on until Hugh finishes the spell."
Henry had come outside to watch the incredible battle, he had previously been very impressed by Peter's power, but, the scale of the power of the nobles was something else, even the weakest of them was still way stronger than Peter.
Yet, what made Henry truly speechless was Hugh's performance, the vast waves of energy flowing around him gave the impression that he had infinite power, and could smite to oblivion whatever came at him