Madam Mary appeared above the large screen, "The first sign of this wave was around 8 years ago. It was the Phantom Wave."

"Phantom Wave," Jyorta muttered, possessing a vivid memory about it. It was one of the first terms he heard when he gained lucidity in the body of the previous Jyorta. Every time he travelled in the metro train, the adults would always mutter this term.

"The Phantom Wave was the Skeps probing our lands to see if the genetic material here would be the key to finishing their evolution. Now that they have decided, they have launched an all-out assault." Madam Mary unleashed another wave of psychic energy, healing the students until they were feeling better.

She then nodded once, "The screens here will play everything that happens in this Wave 24x7. See it and grasp as much information as possible. After all, once you graduate, you will be required to participate in it through some form or the other. Since Mila Marble has been injured, the Graduation Ceremony for the August Batch will be held in the fifth layer of the Labyrinth of Frenzy. Exploration of the Labyrinth will not be allowed on the 20th for the September and October Batches."

The large screen was divided once again. Each smaller screen—40-metre wide and 10-metre tall—displayed various scenes. The Swarm consisted of three types of beasts this time.

The first was the flying types. They possessed a body similar to a stingray, but more rounded. The round bodies spun at terrific speeds, hovering in the air. Hung from the centre were tentacles, their ends attached with sharp spikes, and seemed denser than the rest, weighing as much as the rest of its body.

Hidden within the roots of the tentacles was a large protrusion, shaped into a cone. It was its sensory device. Its surface was fully covered with fins that faintly trembled, emitting an ultrasonic wave that it used to perceive and transmit information.

The tentacles spanned thrice the radius of the body. The sizes of their bodies varied from three metres to 20 metres. Occasionally, mixed among them were Frenzy Beasts, their sizes surpassing a hundred metres at Tier 3.

Crawling on the ground were eight-legged beasts. Their feet were webbed, their bodies covered by fins that flapped, producing a faint sound. They used the sound similar to the flying types, for both perceiving and transmitting information.

Their bodies were shaped similar to a reptile, but had long sturdy legs akin to frogs. Using them, they were capable of jumping as high as 50 metres. Their skin was fully covered by scales, tough like steel. Their tongues were the same as frogs, capable of expanding up to 10 times their body length.

Their bodies ranged from 10 metres to 30 metres in size. They were hulking fortresses. When they hopped, they released faint toxins into the air, polluting it, making the environment dangerous.

The final type was shaped like a frog with the head of an octopus. It possessed thick, stout legs that supported its massive frame and a long tail to balance its actions. It was fully armoured from head to tail, its defences the strongest among the three.

Its head was almost one-fourth its body while it possessed two bellies. The underbelly was full, housing something while the upper belly expanded to twice its body size before contracting. When it contracted, the beast opened its mouth and shot out a large spike.

The spike flew with tremendous speed and impacted the city walls. After launching the spike, the beast inhaled again, causing its upper belly to inflate once again. A couple of seconds later, it exhaled while opening its mouth, shooting forth another spike.

The 200-metre-high magenta walls resisted the attacks without suffering a single scratch. From its surface extended a psychic energy dome, shielding all the attacks from the air. When the attacks on a part of the dome increased in intensity, it turned magenta, resisting them all. When the soldiers fended off the attacks, the part of the dome reverted to being transparent.

'Only the vertical part looks magenta while the remainder is transparent. Is it to allow sunlight to pass through? But, just by this scene, it seems Psychic Ancestor Marble's marble barrier is shaped into a dome or possibly a sphere.' Jyorta thought, feeling his heart thump with powerful momentum.

Madam Mary spoke at this time, "We gave them the code name of Stingray, Frog, and Armadillo respectively. Based on what we have probed, 36 Skeps are behind the force attacking us. There are 16 behind the force attacking the Spindle Bees and 44 behind the ones attacking the Floating Spiders."

"This time, their primary target seems to be the Floating Spiders." She concluded, "All Cadets can continue to watch it or resume the activities they were doing before. As for the September Batch, they will be informed about their Graduation Ceremony tomorrow morning."

Her voice then resounded with unwavering firmness, igniting the fighting spirit of the students, "This is what you will be hearing and speaking about for at least two years, so etch this in your minds. We have termed this disaster the Lacquer Wave."

"Lacquer Wave…" Jyorta and co. muttered the word, watching Madam Mary disappear from the scene. Jyorta stared at the sky, 'She could influence our emotions like it was child's play.'

The moods of everyone were heavy, no longer wishing to converse. A terrible war ensued at their doorsteps, so they were unable to calm down.

Moreover, as they witnessed the scenes in the screens, their moods further worsened. Until now, Marble City hadn't suffered any casualties. The soldiers only threw out attacks from within the city. Even the Espers only used their reach to attack from afar, not daring to linger beyond the walls for more than a couple of seconds.

If any beast came alarmingly close, they flew out and sent it flying, retreating behind the safety of the walls immediately. There were just too many enemies to fight.

It was a Swarm!

Among the soldiers, Jyorta noticed many panting in exhaustion as they retreated. A new batch of soldiers replaced them immediately, erupting with attacks instantaneously. Since Warriors were close-combat units, they used their tough bodies to carry heavy machine guns that sprayed out bullets.

But, they limited the use of guns, unwilling to waste resources too much at such early stages. After all, based on past experiences, the Lacquer Wave would continue for a long time. Bullets were expendable resources, but they were finite.

As they were easy to use, the military kept most of it as a reserve, planning to use it in dire situations. Developers and above stood at the periphery, pointing their arms at the Swarm outside. One by one, they unleashed their Tier 3 Skills.

Among the Skills Nurtured by Warriors, only their Tier 3 Skills were emission-based. Therefore, they resorted to using them. Suddenly, the students clamoured, shouting with high spirits as they pointed at a certain screen.

In it, soldiers dressed in turquoise coloured armour, donned with stars that glistened with purple radiance appeared. They formed a neat file, pointing their hands at the Swarm in unison. To their front stood a Transformer, a figure familiar to every student in the military academy.

"It's the Vice Principal." A Warrior student shouted; the others too echoed his shout, causing the mood in the area to enter a fervour. The Vice-Principal of the military academy in the 7th Ring, Cosmi Tumbler was a Transformer who had recently retired.

A person was said to have retired when he/she consumed a Cleansement Fruit. As Cosmi Tumbler did the same, he had lost all his Nurtured Skills. But seeing him stand on the frontlines, the students were surprised.

They then witnessed Cosmi Tumbler point his hand forward, shouting with a valiant posture. As there weren't any sounds generated from the screens, they couldn't hear his shout. But, the image itself caused them to hallucinate his voice.

At the next moment, the air around the soldiers trembled, converging into a cocoon that morphed into a cone, with its tip pointing towards the Swarm. The cone spun and shot out as a beam with a spiked tip, burrowing everything under its fluctuations.

Tier 3 Skill—Mental Frenzy!

It drowned everything in its way, impacting the ground with tremendous power as it splashed around. Standing atop the city walls, Cosmi Tumbler shouted once again, directing his aura into the splash.

Aura Personification—Mental Frenzy!

It was such a clear outcome that even Jyorta could guess the aura personification, surprised at the Vice Principal's choice. As for those ignorant about aura personifications, they could only stare in confusion.

'He developed an aura personification the same as the Tier 3 Skill, Mental Frenzy. So, that is why he stood there despite losing his Nurtured Skills.'

The splash was like a tsunami, drowning the Swarm from all sides. The moment his influence entered it, it changed. A serpent grew out from the tsunami of energy, resembling a cobra. The cobra looked at the Swarm, spreading its hood while it opened its mouth and hissed.

It took flight, targeting all the Stingray as it passed through them. The Stingrays were incapable of guarding against this energy attack, only able to depend on the aura in their bodies to resist as much as possible. Soon, they were affected by the Skill.

The Stingrays were no longer sane, attacking their closest targets. Immediately, a significant portion of them turned on each another while the remainder attacked the Swarm on the ground. To defend against the attacks, the Armadillos focused their projectiles on the Stingrays.

Within a couple of seconds, the situation morphed into a dogfight. The enemies fought within them, tearing at each other. But, Cosmi Tumbler didn't express any joy. On the contrary, his expression was solemn. A thin streak of sweat slid down his face as he looked at the unending Swarm behind the ones his attack had affected.

"So, this is a Wave," Jyorta muttered, clenching his hand into a fist, feeling his insignificance once again. This was a war where their foes pitted their sheer quantity against the trained soldiers.