Chapter 200: Facing An Army Of Monsters

Chapter 200

Alex stared at it for several seconds. He had seen many strange things since gaining the System.

He had fought monsters from the training realm, seen people with extraordinary abilities, and he had even personally reached a level of power that ordinary humans could barely comprehend.

Yet seeing an actual portal floating in front of him still left him stunned.

What the hell? This looked like something straight out of a movie.

Alex’s expression slowly hardened. If that really was a portal, then there was only one important question.

What was on the other side? He just hoped it was just a strange phenomenon caused by an Awakened, or something. Even though he himself had trouble believing it.

Just then a low growl filled with ferocity and power echoed from within the portal, making everyone to be at alert. Alex’s eyes narrowed as the growl continued to grow louder and louder as if something was getting closer. Then all of a sudden something moved inside the distorted yellow portal.

A large greyish hand slowly emerged from the portal. Its fingers were thick and clawed, while strange green and purple veins pulsed beneath its rough skin.

The unknown creature pulled itself forward, causing its massive body to finally emerge from the portal.

The sight made Alex to suck in a deep breath, the creature, if you could call it that, stood at approximately five meters tall and possessed a terrifying appearance that immediately reminded Alex of the monster he had once encountered inside the system’s training realm.

However, this creature was different. It was much bigger and far more imposing. And judging from the pressure radiating from its body, much stronger.

Especially with those Black, bony-like armor that covered almost its entire body, forming natural-looking plates across its chest, shoulders, arms, and legs. Four demonic pitch black eyes that stood out menacingly from its monstrous face, while an enormous mouth filled with rows of jagged teeth that looked sharp enough to tear through steel.

In one of its hands was a strange sword the size of a man. The weapon itself appeared almost as monstrous as its wielder, with an irregular black blade that seemed to absorb the light around it.

Alex’s pupils contracted. That thing was definitely an Ascendant-level creature judging by its presence. And it had just come through the portal.

For a brief moment, nothing else happened. Then another growl came from inside the portal, making all the newcomers’ expressions change to one of disbelief.

"No way..."

Within seconds, the portal erupted with movement as countless monstrous figures began rushing through it like a flood.

There were at least a couple thousands of them, with each creature standing roughly at two meters tall, except for a few exceptions that were three meters, and possessed a terrifying appearance similar to the larger monster that had just emerged first.

But unlike the first one which was apparently their leader, the hordes’ bodies were covered in greyish bony armor instead of black. Even more disturbing was the fact that each of them possessed four powerful arms.

Their monstrous mouths opened simultaneously as they charged forward, producing a deafening collective roar that shook the surrounding ground like a magnitude 6 earthquake.

Alex’s face became completely serious as the horde all came rushing out of the portal. The pink-haired man stared at the incoming horde for several seconds before his face twisted into pure disbelief.

"What the fuck? You’ve gotta be killing me!" he yelled, his voice almost getting drowned out by the thunderous roar of the approaching monsters. "What the hell are those things? You guys never said anything about fighting some couple of freaky-ass monsters!"

"Shut up, Gab!" Phil immediately barked, his expression becoming stern. Unlike the pink-haired man, he seemed completely focused on the battlefield ahead. "The horde is not the problem. The smaller ones are monsters with Early Realm strength, while the slightly bigger ones are only at the Vanguard Realm. It’s the gigantic one that’s the real problem. It is the only thing at the Ascendant Realm level."

Gab’s eyes widened even further.

"Not a problem?! Captain, there are like a thousand of those things! How do you expect thirteen people to face all that?"

His words immediately caused several of the other new members like Drew and Stephanie to glance nervously toward the approaching horde.

Alex noticed it instantly. That stupid Gab’s panic was beginning to spread and affect the morale of the others.

"Enough!" Sylph suddenly shouted.

Her voice carried enough authority to cut through the chaos around them, immediately drawing everyone’s attention.

"Gab, stop demoralizing everyone."

Gab opened his mouth as though he wanted to argue, but one look from Sylph made him swallow whatever words he had been about to say. Sylph then shifted her attention toward the battlefield, her honey-colored eyes narrowing as she calmly assessed the situation before her.

Then Sylph looked toward Phil.

"Phil."

Phil nodded.

"I already understand."

"Good."

Sylph’s gaze moved toward Alex.

"And you."

Alex calmly nodded. Already beginning to understand what she was on to. Sylph then raised her voice so everyone could hear her.

"Phil, Alex, and I will deal with the Ascendant-level Vile Bone Demon General."

Alex’s eyebrows lifted slightly at the creature’s newly assigned name. Bone Demon General? That sounded rather... fitting because of the bone armor covering it.

Sylph continued without wasting any time.

"Claire, you’re also an Ascendant Realm Awakened, so you’ll assist the others with the smaller Bone Demons. Use your fire ability to eliminate as many of them as possible before they reach the others. Everyone else will deal with whatever manages to escape your flames."

Claire nodded confidently.

"Understood."

Sylph looked at the remaining members.

"Don’t try to be heroes. Stay together, cover one another, and don’t allow yourselves to become surrounded. These creatures may be weaker individually, but their numbers make them dangerous."

The members nodded. Alex glanced toward Mia, Stephanie, Drew, Allen, Ella, Chris, and Tonya. They all looked tense, but with Sylph’s powerful words, none of them looked ready to bolt away. That was good. As for the Gab guy, he still looked frightened but surprisingly he didn’t try to escape. Maybe the guy wasn’t so pathetic after all.

Sylph lowered her stance.

"Move!"

The moment she said that, her figure shot forward. Phil immediately followed, and Alex himself also pushed off the ground a fraction of a second later.

The three of them crossed the battlefield at super sonic speed, with their figures becoming little more than blurs as they rushed toward the Bone Demon General.

Behind them, the horde finally collided with the remaining Awakeneds. Alex briefly glanced over his shoulder to see how Claire and the others were doing. But the sight immediately caught his attention.

Claire had stepped forward like a fearsome general not afraid of anything. If anything she seemed to be smiling wickedly, and raised both hands, causing an enormous surge of crimson red flames, hot enough to be felt from this distance, to erupt around her body.

The flames rapidly expanded outward before twisting together into a gigantic rotating column of pure destruction. A massive fire tornado appeared in the middle of the battlefield.

"Go!" Claire shouted as she thrust both hands forward.

The fire tornado roared across the battlefield, and almost a thousand Vile Bone Demons were instantly swallowed by the flames. If anyone could look inside that blazing mass of fire, they would first notice that the monster’s bone armor began glowing red from the intense heat before their bodies were completely consumed.

The fire tornado continued sweeping through the horde, leaving scorched earth behind it with nothing as much as an ash from the monsters.

Alex’s eyes narrowed slightly. Damn. Now that was some serious firepower.

When the flames finally disappeared, only a small portion of the horde remained standing. Less than thirty monsters had managed to survive the attack.

Alex gave Claire a deep look. So that’s her ability. He silently memorized what he had just witnessed. Definitely worth copying later.

His gaze then shifted toward Mia and the others. Gab and Drew looked at Claire as if she were a peerless war lord while Stephanie looked speechless.

With Claire having eliminated almost the entire horde, the remaining monsters shouldn’t be too difficult for them to handle.

Alex turned his attention back toward the Vile Bone Demon General. The massive creature had finally noticed the three approaching Awakeneds.

It released a terrifying roar before charging directly toward them, making the ground tremble beneath each of its enormous footsteps.

Phil was closest to the creature so he rushed to meet it head on. His expression remained completely calm as he continued rushing forward.

Then a golden light suddenly appeared around his right hand. With the energy rapidly condensed into the shape of a sword.

Within seconds, Phil was holding a magnificent golden blade that looked as though it had been forged entirely from pure energy.

The Bone Demon General raised its enormous sword. The black blade seemed to swallow the surrounding sunlight as it was lifted above its head. Then it came crashing down.

Phil’s eyes narrowed as he stayed still. At the final moment, he abruptly shifted his body to the side.

BOOM!

The enormous sword slammed into the ground and the impact it generated created a deafening explosion that sent dirt and shattered stones flying in every direction.

A massive gash appeared across the earth, with the gaping crack stretching for almost a hundred meter, cutting through the ground like someone had carved a giant scar into the earth.

Phil didn’t waste the opportunity. He immediately stepped forward and swung his golden sword toward the monster’s leg. Aiming to bring it down while the others finished it off

The blade struck the creature’s black bone armor with tremendous force.

CLANG!

Sparks exploded from the point of impact. The golden energy sword managed to sink into the armor slightly, but it failed to cut deeply enough to sever the creature’s leg.

Phil’s expression changed slightly.

"What incredible defense."

The Vile Bone Demon General looked down at the comparatively tiny figure attacking its leg. Its four black demonic eyes suddenly burning with fury.

A deafening roar erupted from its mouth. Then the creature raised one enormous hand.

Phil’s pupils contracted.

The gigantic palm came swinging toward him with enough force to shatter a building with one hit. Phil immediately tried to retreat, but the monster’s attack was already upon him. Just as Alex was about to use Void Step, Sylph made her move...