"Spear of the Crimson Cloud: Blazefury!"
The ground beneath Chelsea rumbled, and a second later, a large column of fire erupted from the earth. Chelsea wasn't engulfed by the column of flames, instead, she was lifted until she was higher than the 100-meter-long Wyrm.
Those on the wall were left in awe by the beautiful scenery. Chelsea shone like a sun in the night sky, doing her bloodline name justice.
The engravings on her spear thrummed with an intense dark light, and the temperature on the battlefield once again rose.
"Fire Intent!" Dontrall exclaimed in shock. He didn't notice it earlier, but she was using Fire Intent this whole time.
Chelsea gathered all the Fire Energies in the vicinity to prepare for her strongest attack. However, the Wyrm was not going to let her do it easily. It deftly moved its long body, coiled up, and displayed its three rows of sharp teeth. With its powerful muscles, it lunged forward in an attempt to bite Chelsea.
Its striking speed was extremely quick and would reach Chelsea before she could finish gathering enough Fire Energies for her attack. Fortunately, she wasn't alone.
*Thwip* *Thwip* *Thwip* *Thwip*
4 Arrows cut through the air at mind-blowing speeds and pierced the scales of the Wyrm before…
*boom* *boom* *boom* *boom*
…they all exploded. Unfortunately, only a black mark remained on the Wyrm's scales. Fortunately, it did impede it from striking Chelsea.
Dontrall let out a sigh of relief when his arrows successfully halted the Wyrm, giving Chelsea a chance to gather enough Fire Energies for her spear. When she thought her attack was ready, using her feline-like flexibility, she bent back as far as possible before using all her momentum to throw the spear at the Wyrm, which was already jumping at her again.
The spear fell towards the Wyrm like a comet, creating a beautiful red and orange streak in the night sky. Sensing danger from the spear, the Wyrm quickly closed its mouth and bowed its head slightly. The grey scales on its body started transforming into a deep blue colour, and a large bubble of water appeared, entrapping the entire Wyrm inside.
When the spear pierced the bubble of water, it began to slow down and the bright red radiance it was shining with before, dimmed slightly. Due to the searing heat that the spear was emitting, steam started spreading through the area and the Wyrm's bubble slowly shrunk, evaporating into the air.
"It can use Water Intent?!" Someone spectating on the wall exclaimed.
"Wyrms are known to be excellent users of all four basic elements. It's a pity we didn't have another 1 or 2 disciples that's at the peak of the Nebula Realm like Chelsea and myself." Dontrall lamented their luck, making everyone's already sombre mood even more depressing.
Just then, they heard the words that sounded like God sent.
"I'm done! The formation is set up!"
Dontrall was the first to react, dashing towards Glenn, the only formationist in the mission squad.
"Give it to me!" He shouted, and without delay, Glenn threw a bag with 9 flags inside to Dontrall.
"You need to plant each flag around the beast. Once every flag is planted, it will automatically activate." Glenn quickly explained, and Dontrall nodded in understanding before jumping off the wall with the bag strapped around his back.
Running through the battlefield, weaving through cultivators and beasts alike, he used his Earth-grade movement technique to blitz towards the Wyrm.
Like an arrow cutting through the air, Dontrall zipped above the ground. When he was more or less 100 metres away from where the water bubble was trying to slow down the spear aiming to end the Wyrm's life, Dontrall reached for the bag on his back and pulled out a metre-long flag pole with a red flag.
He quickly stuck the flag into the earth and moved to the next location without delay.
Chelsea saw this and released an internal sigh of relief before doubling her efforts. She made a pattern of intricate hand signs, and the spear that had nearly come to a halt inside the water bubble shone brighter and hotter than before.
The Wyrm was too busy fortifying its defence to notice the small human planting flag after flag around it, and when it did eventually notice, it was nearly too late.
Dontrall had just planted the 8th flag and was about to carry on to the next position when the Wyrm finally caught on to his actions. It released a Dragon-like roar while still submerged in the bubble, unlike its earlier hissing, causing the stupefied Gorilla to snap back to reality. It took only a second to realise it was still alive and another second to grasp the current situation.
Quickly checking his arm, he noticed his skin was still slowly disappearing and he made an 'in the moment' decision to dismember his left arm before it got worse.
Roaring with all his strength, he chopped off his left arm with his right hand before moving to intercept the human with a bag on his back and a flagpole in his hand.
Dontrall felt the hair on his arms stiffen when he heard the huge Gorilla barrelling towards him, but he carried on running with determination. He would get this flag down even at the cost of his life!
*Roar!*
Terra, the red and yellow striped tiger, came to his rescue and tackled the Gorilla, sending them both tumbling over each other.
Dontrall thanked the tiger in his heart and continued running.
The Wyrm, feeling desperate as it watched the Gorilla fight the tiger, made a hasty decision. It disabled its defensive bubble, which allowed Chelsea's spear to pierce its body.
*GRRRRAAAAAUUUUUUHRRRRR*
The Wyrm let out an earth-shaking roar as the spear embedded itself into its skin, piercing through its scales like hot butter. It ignored the burning pain spreading through its body, changed the colour of its scales from blue to green, and like a ghost, it vanished from sight.
Chelsea's slit pupils dilated in horror. She rotated her body on top of the pillar made of fire to face Dontrall.
"Dontrall watch out!"
She desperately shouted when she saw the Wyrm floating mid-air above the 49th-ranked Outer Haven Disciple. By using Wind Intent, the Wyrm was able to keep its massive body afloat, but not for long.
Dontrall heard Chelsea's voice and looked up, not expecting a 100-metre Wyrm to be there.
"Fuck me, is this really how I die!?" He screamed and pushed his legs to run even faster.
Chelsea panicked and started performing another set of hand signs.
"Burst!" She shouted, and the spear released a flurry of fire energies, burning the insides of the Wyrm.
The Wyrm squirmed in pain and released a roar before falling from the air.
"Ahh, Fuck no!!! If there really is a God, I promise to never hit on another man's woman, please save me aha aha!" Tears fell from Dontralls eyes as he watched the Wyrm start falling.
*Bo-Boom!*
Dontrall's eyes lit up in glee when he heard the thunderous explosions above him. He rotated his head slightly, and out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a small figure catapulting towards the falling Wyrm.
The figure was nude from the waist up, and their body was mangled and bloodied.
"Wassup Bitch! Remember me?"
The Wyrm didn't even have time to react when it felt the fist of the human it had squatted away just minutes prior.
Performing the 'Art of Sun and Moon' technique to stimulate his Inner Yang energies and grant him a burst of much-needed strength while also infusing his punch with his Advanced Wind Will. It was safe to say that his fist packed quite a punch.
*DOOF!*
His fist connected cleanly, and although the Wyrm felt barely any pain from it, the punch did, however, send it barrelling to the side.
The Wyrm suddenly found itself back where it started and tried to once again, use its Wind Intent to quickly move away, but suddenly exactly 108 swords, measuring 10 metres, formed from thin air around the Wyrm.
Dontrall had successfully planted the remaining flag, and the formation automatically activated!
"Hahahaha fuck you, you overgrown earthworm! Hahahaha!"
Dontrall laughed hysterically while mockingly pointing at the trapped Wyrm.
"This is the '108 Swords of Gods and Demons' formation. Although not at full power, it's still enough to kill your ass!" As his words finished, the first of the 108 swords descended and stabbed through the tough scales of the Wyrm with ease. Followed by another, and another, and another.
"Even if you try to ignite your bloodline, it won't help. You should've killed us when you had the chance!" Dontrall rubbed salt to the wound and watched in glee as the Wyrm continuously got impaled by the intimidating swords.
–––––
Meanwhile, Vasari slowly fell from the sky and prepared for a rough landing when he suddenly felt a pair of soft yet strong arms wrap around his body.
"Ah, thanks for saving me." Vasari teased, but the recipient didn't seem to find it amusing.
"I thought you died," Chelsea said with a frown, but there was some relief in the depths of her slit pupils.
"Haha, as if a little slap like that could kill me. Miss Covington used to punch me harder than that." Vasari proudly responded and tried to look like he was okay, but the blood constantly leaking from his open wounds had the opposite effect.
"Just shut up already. I'm taking you back to the wall and giving you a pill for your injuries."
"Injuries? What injuries are you talki-ow ow ow, your claws are stabbing me!"
"Those stab wounds seem really bad. We need to get it checked out."
"Ah, but what about your mount? It could need your help dealing with the big monkey."
Vasari's words managed to halt Chelsea's steps, and she had a conflicted expression on her face.
"I'm fine, really. I can get myself to the wall with no problems." He said with a genuine smile, and Chelsea relented. She put him down, and before she left, she gave him a brown pill from her spatial ring.
"Swallow this, refine it, then go to the wall."
"Aye, aye captain."
Chelsea rolled her eyes, and a small smirk tugged on her lips. She then left Vasari to help out her beast companion, who was still fighting toe to toe against the Gorilla.
Vasari played with the smooth pill in his hands for a few seconds before chucking it into his spatial ring. He felt that he didn't need the healing pill right now and decided to use it for something else when the opportunity arises.
He slowly made his way to the town wall. Occasionally an Adult-stage beast or an early Beta-stage beast would attack him, but he easily dealt with them even with his injuries. Upon reaching the wall, Hiromi immediately embraced him as tears streamed down her face. After comforting and persuading her that he was perfectly fine and that the injuries weren't as bad as they looked, Vasari re-joined the battle against the remaining Beta-stage beasts.
He still had Cloud Points to earn.
Twenty minutes later, the battle between beasts and cultivators concluded with the cultivators claiming victory. They had defended the town wall and successfully protected the town of Grimdale.
Chelsea, with the help of her beast companion, had defeated the peak Beta-stage Gorilla and the Wyrm lay motionless on the bare earth with exactly 108 swords ruthlessly penetrating its body.
The battle showcased the effectiveness of formations and formation masters but also revealed a key weakness: the time it takes to set up a formation. This delay could be fatal, making formation disks highly valued as they eliminate this glaring weakness.
Currently, the disciples of the Cloud Haven Sect were resting atop the town wall while Chelsea and Dontrall went to confirm that the Wyrm was dead.
4 disciples, including Dontrall's friend, were killed in this beast tide and many cultivators from the Grimdale Defence Team lost their lives. 2 of the Nebula Realm cultivators, who were citizens of Grimdale also died in battle.
"Hozumi, I'm impressed, you and your team managed to kill 7 Beta-stage beats, one of them was even in a late rank." Vasari praised his mother-in-law while his head comfortably rested on Hiromi's lap.
"Aww please, you should've seen you go. Even with those injuries and the fact you joined late, you still managed to kill the most Beta-stage beasts out of everyone." Although downplaying her feats, she was still extremely proud of the progress she made in recent times.
Also wanting to be praised, Kurumi told Vasari about her feats with the crossbow, which caused Hiromi to also tell him about her improvement in comprehending Advanced Bow Will, leaving out the parts where she went completely blank from shock.
While having a casual chat and sharing their stories about the beast tide, a sudden explosion took place at the forest entrance, causing a body to be hurled towards the wall like a ragdoll.
The body severely crashed into the wall and lifelessly bounced off it before falling to the ground.
All the disciples on the wall rushed to the edge to see what exactly happened, and what they saw left many utterly stunned with some even fainting from shock.
"Chelsea!"