Rana ran towards where the behemoth raged.

The ground shook as the waves of stone pillars crashed and slid against the surrounding terrain. She rolled whenever a wave in the distance came crashing down, her staff steadied her steps whenever the pillars rose and shook the ground. She had to stay on the move and maintain her balance and momentum in order to avoid being consumed by the cracks opened by the tremors.

The Chrysalis Abominations continued to kill. It swam in the earth and chased the insignificant humans like a shark circling its prey. It hid beneath the scattered groups of humans, their frantic fleeing was futile and the monster savored their terror. The humans could not escape as the distance they could cover was barely enough to leave the shadow of the monster’s fin.

Every surfacing of the monster scattered groups. The weaker marked ones lost limbs and lives, the stronger marked ones were thrown in every direction, and the unlucky ones among them were sent flying upwards with the return down being a crash and splat on the already blood-soaked earth.

That was not to say every group was met with the same outcome. There were groups that made it to safety through sheer luck by winning the game of not getting chosen by the monster. There were also groups that put up a fight and successfully survived an attack, and one of them, was the group sent to aggro the monster by the Fire Shield Guild.

Taye and her shield warriors charged in just as the earth shook. The behemoth breached the surface with its tail and swiped at the marked ones. The warriors raised their shields as the giant fortress wall of a tail crashed down. Their knees and feet sunk into the earth and no doubt their health was damaged, but they all survived.

Even if the tail was large and the force even greater, in the end, it was still a numbered Stat. With the aid of Support Defence and combining the strength of dozens raising their shield, the damage was mitigated and death was avoided. However, they were not done and the monster as well. She quickly barked out orders to the other marked ones not part of her forces and put them into formation and began an orderly retreat. The monster continued several attacks, but with the increased manpower, the humans were able to fend it off. Taye did try to command a counter-attack, but with the monster’s swift attack and never surfacing more than it was necessary for when it did, the result of aggression was that of the humans suffering unecessary damage.

Taye quickly readjusted her approach and focused on defending and getting the marked ones out of the carnage. She and her shield warrior would charge in towards where the monster hostility was the strongest, raising their shields and converging with the scattered marked ones, to save as many as possible. With her leadership, she managed to get into the fray and extract the humans under the attack of the monster.

However, how Taye approached the fight was a mistake.

The idea of extracting every marked one was flawed to begin with, and such a flaw brought more harm than good in the long run. It was a failed strategy. Currently, the most elite and powerful force on the battlefield was the Fire Shield warriors. There was no doubt strong individuals scattered among the carnage, but as a whole, those lead by Taye were the most valuable for the fight against the monster.

There was little reason for Taye to fight the monster for the lives of every group. The health points of the warriors under her command were more valuable than many of the people she was trying to save. Having 10% more health for the vanguard in the final confrontation is far more beneficial than a completely uninjured low level marked one that could not even get past the enemy defense.

The other issue was that every clash with the monster was not fought under the same condition. Whenever the monster attacked, the group of warriors lost health and their condition worsened. The marked ones they picked up were also not of uniform quality. The inclusion of even one dead weight could lead to the collapse of their retreat formation. With every fight, the warriors would get weaker, and then a single break could lead to the wipe of the entire team.

Rana saw Taye and the fight her group put up. They were valuable, but without the proper strategy, the result they could achive would not be optimal for their current situation as a whole.

She rushed forward, dodging the debris being thrown across the air as the monster attacked. One of the Fire Shield warriors was about to lose its footing as his legs began to buckle under the weight of the enemy attack. If he broke formation, his allies would suffer heavy damage because not only would they share more of damage, the strength required for a single individual to muster in order to repel the attack would also greatly increase.

She shot forth her wards and slammed them into the back of the faltering warrior. There was no consideration for courtesy. She unleashed the ghost chains but not towards the warriors. She didn’t need to. The Spell itself opened a portal in space to summon the chains, so when the ward was released, it also anchored in space, giving the warrior a push so that he would stay in formation.

Taye and her warriors managed to repel the attack. When they turned around to see who their mysterious helper was, most of them frowned.

“You’re Welcome,” Rana said as a greeting. She then walked up to Taye to address the leader of the group. “You won’t be able to hold on for long if you take every fight and hit as you have.”

“I know,” Taye said with a click of her tongue. Her face was hidden behind her helmet, but it was easy to see the grimace behind it. “However, there is not much else we can do. The monster is something we’ve never seen before and have little information about it. I also don’t know of the other’s and their capabilities, so this I think is the best way to ensure we rescue as much of our fighting force as possible.”

“The life points of your warriors are more valuable than some of the marked ones here,” Rana said as she glanced towards some of the surviving marked ones, earning her several angry glared. “If you continue your course of action, I do not believe our frontline would hold if we must confront the monster.”

Taye was silent, but Rana could tell the woman agreed with her assessment.

“You are a mage-class, no?” Taye finally said. “If you are skilled enough to participate in the rescue operation, we might stand a better chance. I understand my allies to be valuable, but you do have to agree that manpower is equally as important against such a monster.”

“That is true, but manpower is only considered if there is value the individuals behind it could offer,” Rana said, agreeing with parts of the statement. However, there were secrets that need to be kept. She hid the truth in some obvious but irrefutable lies. “However, my mana is limited and the jacket I am wearing is a cursed item and I was cursed to not be able to heal. It does not matter much since I am mainly an offensive caster, but in this situation, I won’t be of much use if we continue your plan”

“So, what do you propose?” Taye asked, catching the hidden meaning behind Rana’s words.

“I do have an idea,” Rana said with a smirk.