Chapter 254 — Despair II
5 min read ·
[The Circle Tightens - Horror Intensifies]
Rain fell harder.
Mud was ankle-deep now, mixed with blood, making every movement exhausting.
Lightning illuminated frozen moments of horror.
A boy watching his best friend being eaten alive, unable to help, legs trembling so badly he couldn’t move.
A girl curled in a fetal position, hands over her ears, rocking back and forth, mind broken by the screaming.
A student just standing with his weapon lowered, tears streaming, whispering "I want to go home" over and over.
****
CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH
A student went down.
Ten creatures piled on him.
Time seemed to slow down as all nearby students watched.
His ribs breaking one by one as they tore into his chest.
His lungs visible, still expanding and contracting, trying to breathe even as claws ripped them out.
His heart beating in a creature’s hand for three seconds before it stopped.
His mouth opening and closing, trying to scream but having no lungs to push air through.
He died watching his own heart stop beating.
****
"AHHH! MY LEGS! THEY TOOK MY LEGS!"
A girl trying to crawl away, leaving a trail of blood, both legs severed at the knees.
Creatures following slowly, taking their time, knowing she couldn’t escape.
"SOMEBODY KILL ME! PLEASE! JUST KILL ME!
Nobody could reach her.
They listened to her scream for a full minute as the creatures ate her alive, starting with her feet and working up while she was conscious the entire time.
****
"Boss."
Zavier’s voice cut through the chaos, calm despite everything.
His eyes were locked on Lysa, on the creatures getting closer to her position, on the shields beginning to fail.
Damian looked around coldly to see if any Noble was trying to conserve their strength secretly.
Seeing that almost everyone was at their limits, he gave his Mafia the permission as well.
"Do it."
Zavier’s spear ignited as his Inferno Piercer weapon art activated to full power – no holding back and no conserving strength.
Red flames wrapped around the weapon, the heat so intense the rain vaporized before touching the metal.
He moved...
Not with restraint but with violence that bordered on artistic.
SLASH!
His spear cut through three creatures simultaneously, fire cauterizing as it went, the bodies falling in pieces.
THRUST!
The blade pierced a creature’s chest, the fire exploding outward, immolating five more behind it.
SPIN!
His weapon became a wheel of flame, cutting a circle of death around Lysa’s position, the burning corpses creating a temporary barrier.
But his face...
His face showed that same creepy smile from the tournament.
The one that scared everyone.
Because he wasn’t just fighting.
He was enjoying this.
"COME ON! COME ON, YOU FUCKING MONSTERS! I’LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!"
His laughter mixed with the screams, high and manic, the sound of someone who’d already broken and just hadn’t realized it yet.
He killed dozens.
But even that wasn’t enough.
****
Ronan activated Titan’s Wrath at full power, his frame swelling, earth Aura coating his fists.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Each punch cratered the ground, sent shockwaves rippling outward, launched creatures into the air.
Edrin’s Tempest Edge created wind-blade barriers, his twin swords moving so fast they were invisible, cutting down anything that got close.
Lysa had long since stopped calling out positions – they were already completely surrounded.
Unlike the others, she didn’t wait for permission from Damian.
Her arrows kept on raining, each one finding targets with precision born from her sensory abilities.
Damian’s Omega Point fired constantly, his bullets curving around allies, dropping creatures at critical moments.
They made a difference.
But compared to the Imperial heirs who killed hundreds?
They were barely noticeable and the gap was obvious.
Imperial bloodline skills were simply on another level.
****
Lightning flashed, illuminating the battlefield in frozen clarity.
Edrin saw it all at once:
The remaining students – maybe one hundred eighty left – pressed into a circle barely fifteen meters across.
Creatures surrounding them completely, a sea of white eyes and dark flesh and knife-claws, thousands strong, pressing inward with patient hunger.
Corpses everywhere, mud churned red with blood, the rain unable to wash away the evidence of slaughter.
Students crying, screaming, begging for rescue that wouldn’t come.
Imperial heirs fighting with everything they had, powers that would be legendary in normal circumstances, barely keeping the formation alive.
And beyond the firelight, beyond the Aura-glow, beyond what they could see clearly...
More creatures.
The horde seemed endless.
His tactical mind ran the calculations.
Came to one conclusion.
’We’re going to die here. All of us. There’s no escape. No rescue. No miracle. We’re all going to die and be eaten by these fucking monsters.’
The thought was crystal clear.
****
Thunder boomed and rain fell harder.
The mud rose to ankle-depth, making movement nearly impossible.
Every step was a struggle, every swing slower than the last.
Exhaustion setting in and Aura reserves empty.
Bodies pushed beyond their limits.
And still the creatures came.
Cassius emerged from the shadows, his imperial skill already deactivated.
Jonathan landed, his wings disappearing entirely, unable to maintain flight anymore.
Ben’s flames sputtered, barely more than normal fire now.
Raymond’s wind barriers collapsed, his Aura too depleted to maintain them.
Alexander’s shields were breaking faster than he could form them.
David was healing almost randomly now, just trying to keep anyone alive.
Sophia had stopped using telekinesis entirely, the mental strain too much.
The Imperial heirs – humanity’s finest, trained since birth, wielding powers that normal students could only dream of – were failing.
Not from lack of skill and not from lack of will.
But just from overwhelming numbers.
Edrin looked at the approaching wave.
Saw creatures climbing over corpses of their own dead.
Saw white eyes in the darkness, thousands of them, patient and hungry.
Felt his team around him – Zavier still killing with manic laughter, Ronan’s fists still smashing, Lysa’s arrows still flying, Damian’s gun still firing.
All of them were fighting.
All of them refusing to give up even when logic said they should.
His voice came out as a whisper, barely audible over the rain, stating the thoughts everyone had in their mind.
"Are we... are we about to die here?"