Our goal was accomplished in this little endeavor, but none of us looked to return to the wall. Instead, we all turned to our left, where other groups were struggling to survive. There was a plethora of EXP-full beasts with their backs currently turned to us.

We moved as a single unit and didn’t hesitate to slaughter every single foe in front of us. Had this been a normal grind, the other groups would have complained that we had stolen their kill—their exp. Instead, they praised us and thanked us for the assistance.

Over the course of just ten minutes we managed to move all the way to the back of the fort, and all of us had gained two levels. This was a rate of EXP gain I’d have never even imagined possible.

Current EXP: 33150/159000 LEVEL: 55 Soul Harvester Eternal

HP: 4645/4645 MP: 1609/3458

STR: 56+5

AGI: 55+18

DEX: 40 +5

VIT: 30 +6

INT: 55 +21

Available: 0

Harvest Soul: 1154 HP: 2982 MP: 2982

When I looked back and saw how many monsters of the tide had been killed, I felt for a moment that we had a chance. That hope didn’t last for long, however, as the growing shadows in the distance told me that this was merely the beginning. Just a fraction of what was to come.

As a group we had gotten on top of the invading beasts and were even prevailing. If it wasn’t for the approaching tsunami of monsters, I could have told myself that we had crossed a tipping point where our new levels meant the monsters were a diminishing threat. Our killing speed was accelerating as we leveled. The occasional sign of hesitation disappeared. My fear of pain disappeared.

Yet the wave of monsters broke over us and it was quickly obvious we couldn’t cope. Bryan and Zachary’s clothes were tattered from attacks, and yet Luther healed them constantly. We were killing at record pace and still being overrun. For every beast that fell, three or four arrived to replace them.

The only reason I hadn’t been smashed into the wall behind us was that the narrow pathways and pits of fire between me and the monsters were working as intended. The beasts physically could not approach to surround us, but even that was changing, and fast.

The pits were already filling with corpses, and the fires were burning lower and lower. Within just a few minutes they would be packed to the point where crossing them would be no different than walking on solid land.

“Keep killing!” Bryan yelled at us. We each turned to our own foe and held nothing back. A serpentine humanoid was standing in front of me. I would call it a Naga but it was not quite a Naga. There was no spear, but instead its entire arms were made into scythes as big as my body.

Its attacks were lightning fast and it gave me an unwanted haircut due to my own over-confidence. Maneuverability wasn’t just a problem for our enemies, but us as well. The paths could only hold so many people, and one wrong step would send me plummeting down into a fiery death.

The situation had grown so hectic that I could no longer take the time to cast a single spell. Each second another attack came at me, and my lack of mobility required me to block each blow with Mana Scythe.

I was glad that I had pumped my STR stat as the physical pressure on me was growing. The muscles of my arms were already screaming at me while holding the turquoise scythes of the monster above my head. Fortunately, Mana Scythe was a level above in terms of quality, it wouldn’t break so easily.

In this short period of fighting I had made leaps and bounds in my abilities, and for good reason. My life was on the brink at every moment. Mana Scythe had grown from just being a scythe at the tip of Mana Pulsing Rod, to instead coating the entire weapon. Even the shaft was now as hard as steel, and I could use it without fear of it being cut in half.

The quality of the approaching beasts had grown as well, and this one was by far the most dangerous foe I had faced. Even with my high HP pool I would probably be cut directly in two if it struck me directly, and there was no one to help me.

Bryan and Zachary each had their own foe. Briele and Rot were flinging spells and poison without care at every ranged beast in sight. Vichi was constantly manipulating her treants and vines to bring any foe she could to a fiery death.

Everyone was working as hard and fast as they could to diminish the numbers rushing at us as efficiently as possible. I, however, was forced to defend and look for an opportunity to strike back. The flurry of slashes from this serpent seemed endless, and there was no opening for me to counterattack. No opening for me to even cast a spell.

The only thing that would work against a foe like this was extreme risk, and extreme risk was what I employed. I pushed forward into the furious assault and clashed my scythe against his. The impact was thunderous and it felt like my arms would break.

I mustered every ounce of strength I could and pushed forward, directly against the beast. The plan was incredibly risky, but I saw no other way. We were in a stalemate as my feet inched forward and I found myself within arm’s reach of the monster.

We were locked in place together, my scythe pushing up against his. I changed my stance and extended my knee outward, with all the force and balance I could muster I put the bottom of Mana Pulsing Rod against my thigh. It locked in place immediately, but my foe could not lower his hands.

My left hand held my weapon in place as steadily as possible while I gambled and let my right hand leave Mana Scythe. Flashing my hand to the serpent’s belly, I channeled Fireball into my hand with as much MP as I could muster.

The air between us grew hot, and very quickly the serpent wanted to twist away from the pain, wanted to escape. He couldn’t go forward though. My body was planted like an old tree, unmovable—unshakeable. The fireball against his abdomen was simply to force a reaction, not to kill. It knew, but it had to react or a hole would be burned directly through the now leathery flesh.

My fireball was burning flesh like paper, and the skin of his abdomen was discolored and black. Finally, the moment I was coming for came. The serpent had to retreat, to leave himself open, even if for only a moment.

With his scythe hands above his head and blocked from being lowered, I cast Phase Step and immediately time slowed. My left hand, which was holding the shaft of Mana Scythe, slid down to the bottom of the weapon and pushed it off my knee.

My right hand reached for the middle of the shaft and acted as a pivot around which the Mana Scythe could freely rotate. It spun around my right hand until the position of my scythe had swapped from top to bottom. I twirled the weapon in my right hand as I raised it beneath the serpent’s crotch and ripped up with all my might.

My sense of time returned to normal and the serpent split in two in front of me, each side of its body falling into a different fiery pit. A breath of hot air escaped my lungs as I felt like I would collapse at any moment.

Congratulations! You have reached level 58. As a reward for leveling up, you have been granted three stat points!

The levels were coming so fast I could hardly keep up. I didn’t hesitate to place the new stats into AGI, which was now be at an even sixty.

Harvest Soul was also becoming more and more insane with every passing battle. Each beast was giving me anywhere from 20 to 45 HP and MP. My health was already above Bryan’s and my MP pool was higher than any pure caster here.

The surge of energy I felt with each cast became stifling, and somehow I felt that I was becoming ‘full’. That was the only way to describe the feeling. There was no time to stop and analyze the implications of this as I turned to assist Bryan and Zachary.

There was always a brief moment after each kill that allowed me to turn and look at the situation. The realization had come long before, but it hit even harder now: the number of Adventurers at the wall were dwindling and the beasts were only growing fiercer.

I took out a blue potion and chugged it down. It wouldn’t assist much now, but every little bit counted. I had been gulping them on cooldown for several minutes already. “How are you holding up?” I yelled to Briele and Vichi.

They were both pure spellcasters, and once their MP depleted they wouldn’t be able to fight either. The two of them had been chugging MP potions for the past ten minutes on cooldown as well. “I’m at around thirty percent!” Briele said. “Just fifty MP potions left.”

“Sixty percent!” Vichi said. “I can spare some with you Briele, I don’t spend as much MP as you do.”

“Luther?” I asked.

“Ten percent.” He said with a melancholy voice. “Twenty potions left… Bryan and Zachary require too much healing I can’t keep up!” I looked around again and realized that no one from the surviving groups would be able to spare any for us.

I couldn’t even finish that brief conversation before Vichi began to yell, “Incoming! Turn around! I’ll give my MP potions to Luther for now. Just keep fighting.”

I turned to face my new foe, and it seemed like both Bryan and Zachary would have to contend with one each as well. It was clear to me that our time beneath the wall was coming to an end: our resistance was dwindling fast.

There was a brief moment in which I could cast, and I placed Mark for Death on my foe. That reaper materialized above its head and no doubt left the chill of death on its fox-like nape. The giant beast paused for a moment as though experiencing a weird sensation, and then slashed and swatted at the ghastly figure floating above it.

Only after it realized that the reaper couldn’t be removed did it turn to me with fury. By then, my missing HP was nearly replenished. Mark for Death hadn’t come in use for me that often before, but in a battle of attrition like this, it was invaluable.

Luther had long ago stopped healing me, and he didn’t bother to question why my recovery was so monstrous either. Every foe that approached me tasted Mark for Death if my HP total was not full.

My enemy was a fox, but not just any fox. Its fur was sleek red and shined in the light. It was almost as if each hair was made out of a polished glass. The tips were sharp as anything I’d seen. Its face was a mixture of black and red that gave it a creepy, demonic look. I felt uncomfortable just looking into the yellow eyes of a monster that wanted to eat me alive.

It had more than one tail as well, which put me on high alert. I instantly thought of Naztasha the Shadow Prowler and her ability to shoot out projectiles. Judging by how sharp the ‘fur’ on this fox was I questioned whether I was about to face a similar attack.

The enemy in front of me was strong, terrifyingly strong. I could gauge this based on the Soul Signature, which had me sweating bullets from the get go. Just its piercing stare scared me. I needed to know what I was up against.

Scarlet Devil Fox** LEVEL: 66 BEAST Fire

HP: 233655 MP: 125

STR: 50

AGI: 85

DEX: 60

VIT: 65

INT: 40

A devil-fox that enjoys toying with and torturing its prey for amusement. Its scarlet glass-like hair shines like the brightest of rubies and perfectly embodies its taste for slaughter.

Without even seeing the stats I knew it was nimble. The muscles on its frame were compact and toned like a seasoned athlete. I had witnessed how fast it swiped at Mark for Death when the spell’s avatar appeared.

My biggest asset was my speed, and I wasn’t sure if I could even outmaneuver this creature. Even worse were the multiple levels of attack. It could claw at me, bite me, and probably shoot its fur at me like needles of death.

This was a monster I’d normally desperately defend against, in the hope that Bryan and Zachary would assist me, but I couldn’t do that now. Their full focus was required elsewhere. This had to be my fight to win, and I needed to do it without expecting help.

The Devil Fox stared at me with fangs bared for several moments, possibly weighing its plan of attack, its options in this fight. Possibly too, enjoying the moment as it caught my eye and tried to trigger panic in me its prey. But I was no pushover, not anymore. Like Bryan and Zachary, I would take damage in order to deal damage.

It walked calmly along the narrow pathway towards me with its head lowered. The fur on its back raised slightly and gave it a surreal look, an unnatural appearance. There was explosive power in its legs and the muscles on its frame were taut and ready to explode at any moment.

Quelling my fears, I even managed a smile as I crossed Mana Scythe diagonally in front of my chest and prepared my stance side-on. I had left less of myself open to possible fur missiles, and would have an easier time to react to a swipe of its claws. My HP was full, but the fatigue of my body was building.

This Devil Fox required my full attention now, and my vision narrowed. Nothing else was important, not right now. If I didn’t give it my full respect, I would die. A strong breeze wafted smoke across my face and caused my eyes to itch terribly. I blinked in irritation.

That split second was the Devil Fox’s cue to attack. It rocketed through the air with mouth agape, its teeth fully exposed and ready to clench my neck. Nevertheless, just a quick parry upwards, and I caught its mouth on the blade of Mana Scythe.

To my surprise, the monster didn’t instantly retreat, but instead clenched down with a bite of insane force. Little cracks began to form on the layer of mana covering my rod. It jerked at the weapon in my hand like a dog playing tug-of-war, and the sudden action almost caused me to lose my grip.

I was expecting to have to brace myself from being pushed back, not being pulled forward and my balance was broken. It wasn’t stronger than me, but the benefit of gravity and momentum were on the Devil Fox’s side.

I couldn’t resist the pull, so instead went with the energy, running forward into Fox. The blade of my scythe dug even deeper into its mouth and nearly touched the back of its throat. Its mouth opened wide from the sudden change in force and now it tried to retreat as quickly as possible.

The Devil Fox started to rush backwards even faster, and that’s when I came to a stop. I pulled back with all my might and dislodged Mana Scythe from its mouth, taking a few teeth with me as a prize. It leapt back in annoyance and pain, bleeding from the mouth. Then it lowered its stance again.

Mana Scythe was tilted back and to my side ready to swing out with all the force I could muster, but I didn’t wait for the fox to attack this time. Instead, I lunged forward and used a Phase Step immediately.

The Devil Fox didn’t have such high AGI for nothing. Even though it seemed like it was moving in slow motion, it just managed to dodge my Mana Scythe with a backwards leap. That wasn’t the end of it though, at least not for the fox.

Its tails curled under its body inconspicuously while it leapt back, in a motion so natural that I didn’t think anything of it: a mistake bred from my lack of knowledge of the monsters and one I resolved I wouldn’t make again. Three hairs shot from its tail like bullets, so fast that I couldn’t even pinpoint them during Phase Step.

They were hairs, but it was more fitting to call them glass bolts. They were as long as a middle finger and just a bit thinner than a pencil. Three of them total, one from each tail. Fortunately for me, two missed but the third smashed into my shoulder and directly collided with bone.

An electrifying shock of pain rushed through my body that radiated from my shoulder. These hairs were not brittle like glass, but instead were incredibly hard. It was impossible to know the damage to my shoulder, but I hoped the bone had not broken.

My HP immediately dropped by 500, which wasn’t that big of a hit for me. The biggest issue was the lack of mobility in my left shoulder. Every movement caused my bone to scrape against the sharp tip of the hair and caused excruciating pain.

I retreated several feet in an instant and braced myself for the upcoming pain. A good chunk of the projectile was still exposed above flesh and I grasped it with my right hand as best I could. My eyes never looked away from the Devil Fox as I pulled it out with all my might.

My forehead sweated bullets as the bolt was pulled out in one fell swoop. Some of my blood and flesh came out with it, and I sported a small hole in my shoulder that was leaking blood. I was of the mind to ask Luther for a heal, but he was busy spamming Bryan and Zachary to keep them up.

I tried my best to not show any weakness, but couldn’t help my face from contorting in pain. The only fortunate part of this situation was that the missile did not seem to have contained any poison. I had also gained a bit of insight into the tactics of the monster I was facing.

The Devil Fox had more avenues of attack than I did, and in a drawn-out battle would be able to constantly evade me and also attack from range. It had a limited amount of hairs on its body, sure, but that number was so high I’d be long dead before it was reached.

Judging from the situation, this would probably be my last battle below the wall before we retreated inside. I could afford to lose a little HP to deal some big damage. Mutual destruction wasn’t a concept the Devil Fox would expect or understand.

Lowering my body and I positioned Mana Scythe in front of me once again. This time I would allow the Devil Fox to attack, and even if it cost me half my HP I would deal meaningful damage. The opportunity would come, and I would grasp it.

The Devil Fox was bloodthirsty and agitated. It was used to playing with its food for enjoyment, and yet it had lost several teeth already. Its pupils constricted and the yellow in its eyes grew deep, as if paying me extra attention.

I used that moment to carry out a test, and cast Shackle. I was curious just how quickly the spell would break, and in fact before any slowing affect could even materialize, it had been shattered by a single swipe of the fox’s claws. That provocation sent it into a fury, and it waited no longer.

Every hair on its back stood like those of a porcupine and it rushed me with intent to rip me limb from limb. It bit at me as I stepped back ever so slightly, barely evading each chomp of its maw. Swipes from each front limb came over and over, constantly nicking and brushing against the hem of my robe that left it in tatters dangling in the wind.

It was difficult for me to retaliate against such quick and short attacks. Cutting with Mana Scythe required such a long back swing that the Devil Fox had long retreated before I could bring the blade through. Nevertheless, I stepped back as it drew away from my swing and I cast Glacial Cascade. I wanted to put it off balance, to force it out of position.

A wave of ice rose from the earth and completely covered the pathway we occupied. With the ground rising beneath it with shards of sharp ice, the Devil Fox had no choice but to jump up and land atop Glacial Cascade.

Its claws extended from its paws and dug in deep so as to not slip. There was fear and trepidation in those yellow eyes. It needed to slowly move backwards and escape the treacherous platform it was currently on, but I would not give it that chance.

I bombarded the Devil Fox with one Glacial Spike after another. With reduced mobility it couldn’t properly side step, and sharp shards of ice jutted up and into its limbs and chest repeatedly.

It rushed off the wall of ice as fast as possible but not before taking three or four casts to the underside. Not a substantial amount of damage towards its life, but a good portion of mobility was removed from its front left leg.

A gash had been made that exposed tendon, and blood was dripping from a wound created on its gut. I had always been on a timer since this battle began, but now the Devil Fox shared that negative with me.

There was a sense of urgency on that demonic face that wasn’t there before. I knew from this point there would be no more half-ass attacks, and that was what I had counted on from the beginning.

Glacial Cascade disappeared and the Demon Fox made an effort to position itself in front of me again. It did its best to hide the slight limp on its front leg, but definitely couldn’t mask it completely. Mobility in drawn out skirmishes would be in my favor now. My only fear was that it would begin only attacking from ranged.

I was determined to end the encounter in the very next attack, and prepared to take heavy damage as a consequence. Mana Scythe crossed my chest once again as I lowered myself. My legs were now screaming just supporting my weight. I hadn’t had a breather in what felt like eternity now, even though the reality was that we had been defending the wall for only around forty-five minutes.

The Demon Fox leaned forward again and then bolted in my direction. It couldn’t support its weight with just its one damaged paw, and couldn’t attack with it either. I was prepared for it to lunge out and bite.

I cast Phase Step and watched as its open jaw closed in on me. Earlier, I would have held out Mana Scythe and caught it on the shaft, deflected the attack and drawn out the fight. Truthfully though, my mental fortitude was waning and I wanted this over with.

My right hand left the shaft of Mana Scythe and I balled it into a fist. Time was returning to normal and I cast Phase Step again: I couldn’t afford to miss. My hand rocketed out punched out with incredible force and precision and went directly into the mouth of the Demon Fox.

It didn’t react slowly either, and bit down with utter ferocity. A pain shot up my arm immediately and skin was rent. I didn’t try to pull back, but instead pushed my fist even harder than before.

I shoved it so deep into the Demon Fox’s mouth that it couldn’t even close its jaw to bite. Half an arm entered its throat and I could feel the squirming and convulsing of its neck muscles, its gag reflex doing whatever it could to remove the arm lodged within.

It could only think to retreat, and all it did was back pedal. Its panic was so immense that it stopped trying to bite, stopped trying to attack: it only wanted to flee. But I would not miss this chance.

I couldn’t cast Glacial Spike to places I couldn’t see, but I could definitely cast it at the end of my hand, and that’s what I did. Glacial Spikes formed at my finger tips and began growing from inside the Demon Fox.

One, two, three casts and then a shard of ice burst from its back, and then its side, and then its belly. On the fifth cast guts fell from within its abdomen and splattered onto the floor. The yellow of its eyes quickly faded and its menacing stare became dead.

Congratulations! You have reached level 59. As a reward for leveling up, you have been granted three stat points!

I couldn’t stay standing a moment longer and fell to my ass, hand still buried in the monster’s throat. I took care as I removed my hand from its mouth, and I did my best to not tear any more of my flesh upon its razor-sharp teeth.

Lacerations went up my wrist and nearly to my elbow from digging in so deep. Warm blood mixed with viscous saliva ran to the end of my fingertips and splattered onto the floor below. I was at the end of my rope.

Current EXP: 22320/171000 LEVEL: 59 Soul Harvester Eternal

HP: 1450/5470 MP: 1207/4283

STR: 60+5

AGI: 60+18

DEX: 40 +5

VIT: 30 +6

INT: 55 +21

Available: 3

Harvest Soul: 1187 HP: 2982 MP: 2982

The damage had I received in my final attack was immense, and my HP were still going down as I was currently bleeding. I fumbled for a white pot and chugged it down and then cast Soul Harvest on the Devil Fox. Fortunately, the beasts nearby had paused at the savagery I had displayed.

My head leaned back and I nearly passed out from the dizziness, “Lutherrr! Spare me a heal please!” I shouted.

He didn’t speak a word, but a white light enveloped me that instantly cleared some of the fog slowly covering my brain. The pain subsided and I managed to stand. My eyes looked around at the mayhem and the severity of the situation. We were one of very few groups beyond the wall. Most had already retreated, and those that had not were all missing members. I could see dozens of lifeless bodies on the path, a casualty of this brutal fight for survival.

My focus shifted to Bryan and Zachary whom were both in life-or-death battles. Zachary looked worse for wear, as Bryan had returned to minimizing damage taken. It was impossible for him to dispatch foes of this caliber alone using that strategy though.

Zachary however was trading blow for blow like a madman. Dried blood now caked his mostly exposed back. His arms that once moved with swiftness now looked lethargic and dead. I grasped Mana Scythe and rushed to assist the two.

“We have to retreat now!” I yelled at the two of them. They carefully stepped backwards while deflecting blows and I stepped in to assist. Zachary had already done most of the dirty work, and it merely took a slash across the back to finish his current foe.

Bryan however was a different story. His foe was mostly exhausted from attacking him fruitlessly and less from any wounds he inflicted. Zachary and I surrounded it before mincing it into pieces.

“Briele, cover!” Bryan yelled. Briele stopped her assault on the ranged beasts and then casted a wall of earth behind us. As if everything had finally led to this state, Bryan nearly collapsed where he stood. I caught him with my arm and helped drag him to the ladder pushed against the wall.

Vichi didn’t waste any time and summoned a wall of vines around us that allowed us to safely climb to the top and over. We were being over-run. It was the beginning of the end.

“RETURN TO THE WALL!”

“RETREAT INTO THE CAMP!” Panicked voices shouted out across the wall and echoed all the way to the front.

Moments after the last moving Adventurer had been helped back inside the camp, the Adventurer’s Guild Master’s gravity barrier encased the camp from wall to wall. Any beasts coming up and over would find their fighting much more difficult. Our defense wasn’t quite done with yet.