Chapter 7

At both ends of the bridge, magic arrays emitting black light appeared. The magic array on one side of the passage was nearly ten meters in diameter, while the one on the side of the stairs was only about one meter in size, but there were many of them. Among the countless small magic arrays, a large number of sword-wielding skeleton monsters, "Skeleton Soldiers," appeared. Their hollow eye sockets glowed with a dark red light, like eyeballs, scanning the surroundings. The number of them had already exceeded a hundred, and they continued to increase. However, compared to the hundreds of Skeleton Soldiers, the situation on the passage side seemed even worse, and Aichi thought so.

From the ten-meter-wide magic array, a four-legged beast about ten meters long emerged, wearing something like a helmet on its head. If compared to an existing creature, it would be a triceratops. However, it had many additional features: eyes glowing with a dark red light, sharp claws, teeth clashing with a metallic sound, and horns extending from the helmet, spewing flames.

When Team Leader Merudo muttered "Behemoth," the monster took a deep breath and let out a terrifying roar.

"Raaaaaah!"

"–!?"

The roar seemed to clear his mind, and Team Leader Merudo began issuing orders in quick succession.

"Alan! Lead the students through the Skeleton Soldiers! Kyle, Ivan, Gail! Use all your strength to create a large barrier! Stop that thing! Hikari, retreat to the stairs as soon as possible!"

"Wait, Mr. Merudo! We want to fight too! That dinosaur-like thing is the worst, right? We can help..."

"Damn it! If that thing is really Behemoth, you can't handle it now! It's a monster from the 65th floor. Even the adventurers once called the 'strongest' couldn't defeat it! Run! I can't let you die!"

Seeing the grim expression on Team Leader Merudo's face, Hikari hesitated for a moment but then said, "We can't abandon them!" and stood firm. Just as Hikari was about to say, "Let's find a way to retreat," Behemoth roared and charged forward. If this continued, all the retreating students would be crushed. But the multiple barriers created by the kingdom's top fighters would not allow that to happen.

"Reject all hostility and malice, the absolute protection of the divine children, this is a sacred place, the enemies of God are forbidden to pass, [Holy Absolute]"

The magic array drawn on a two-meter square piece of the highest quality paper, along with a four-line incantation, was activated by three people simultaneously. An absolute defense that could not be broken by anything appeared, a pure white, dazzling hemispherical barrier that stopped Behemoth's charge!

At the moment of impact, a terrifying shock wave occurred, shattering the ground beneath Behemoth's feet. Despite the bridge being entirely made of stone, it shook violently. The retreating students screamed and fell, one after another.

The "Skeleton Soldiers" were monsters from the 38th floor, and their combat strength was clearly different from the monsters they had encountered before. In front of them were the terrifying skeletal monsters, and behind them was a terrifying aura that kept approaching. Most of the students were in a state of panic.

Ignoring the formation, they all rushed toward the stairs, the target, without any regard for order. Alan, a member of the knight team, tried his best to calm the panic, but no one listened to him in the face of the imminent danger. Among them, a female student was pushed from behind and fell. She groaned and looked up to see a Skeleton Soldier raising its sword over her head.

"Ahh!"

As she screamed, the sword swung toward her head. At that critical moment, the ground beneath the Skeleton Soldier suddenly rose, causing it to lose balance. The sword grazed her face and clattered to the ground. More ground rose, and several Skeleton Soldiers were swept away like waves, eventually falling into the abyss.

About two meters from the edge of the bridge, Aichi was seen panting. Aichi continuously used alchemy on the ground, using the principle of a slide to push the monsters off the bridge. Unconsciously, his alchemy proficiency increased, and the range of his alchemy also slightly expanded. Aichi, eating a magic recovery potion, ran to the fallen female student, pulling her up with a glove that incorporated an alchemy array. Facing the dazed student, Aichi smiled and greeted her.

"Come on, let's go. It's okay, those bones are nothing if you stay calm. Everyone in our class except me is a B!"

The female student, staring at Aichi's confident chest-thumping, responded with energy in the next moment, "Okay! Thank you!" and ran off.

Aichi secured the area where the surrounding Skeleton Soldiers' feet had collapsed and stopped to observe the situation. Everyone was in a state of panic, swinging their weapons wildly, and casting spells haphazardly. If this continued, someone would likely die. Knight Alan tried his best to control the situation, but it was not going well. During this time, the magic arrays continuously sent reinforcements.

"What to do... strong leadership... firepower to clear the way... Amagawa-kun!"

Aichi ran toward Hikari and Behemoth.

Behemoth continued to charge at the barrier. The impact created a powerful shock wave that spread around, causing the stone bridge to groan. The barrier was already showing cracks, and it was only a matter of time before it broke. Team Leader Merudo joined in maintaining the barrier, but it was like a drop in the bucket.

"Damn it! We can't hold much longer! Hikari, retreat quickly! Everyone, go!"

"No! We can't leave you behind! We must all survive together!"

"Ku, this isn't the time to be stubborn..."

Team Leader Merudo's expression was like he had eaten a bitter pill. In this confined space, it was difficult to avoid Behemoth's charge. Therefore, the best time to escape was when the barrier was compressed by the pressure. However, this subtle timing could only be grasped by experienced fighters, and Hikari and the others were not capable of it. Despite the simplified explanation to urge them to retreat, Hikari seemed unable to understand the concept of "leaving" and had a clear aggressive look in his eyes, thinking he might be able to defeat Behemoth. There was no choice; he was still too young and overly confident in his own strength. The strategy of praising Hikari and the others to boost their confidence seemed to have backfired.

"Hikari! Retreat as Team Leader said!"

Shizuki, who understood the situation, advised Hikari and held his arm.

"Heh, Hikari's recklessness didn't start now, did it? I'll stay with you, Hikari!"

"Ryotaro... thank you."

Hearing Ryotaro's words, Hikari became even more determined. Meanwhile, Shizuku clicked her tongue.

"Are you drunk?! Understand the situation! You big idiot!"

"Shizuku..."

Shizuku, agitated, and Shizuki, worried. At that moment, a man flew in front of Hikari.

"Amagawa-kun!"

"Ah? Nangumi!?"

"Nangumi-kun!?"

Everyone was surprised, and Aichi was frantically gesturing and speaking.

"Retreat quickly! You can't be here! Hurry!"

"What are you talking about? Instead of that, why are you here! This isn't a place for you! Leave it to us, Nangumi..."

"Is this the time to say that!"

Aichi, who had always been calm and smiled at things, now spoke with a tone of unprecedented chaos, interrupting Hikari's urging for him to retreat. Hikari, who had always seen Aichi as calm and composed, was taken aback by this contrast.

"Can't you see! Everyone over there is in a panic! Just because the captain isn't here!"

Aichi grabbed Hikari's collar and pointed, indicating the direction where the students were running around, surrounded by Skeleton Soldiers. They were fighting in a chaotic manner, as if they had never been trained. The speed at which they defeated enemies was not fast enough to keep up with the reinforcements, so they couldn't break through. The high-grade barrier had saved their lives, but it was only a matter of time before it broke.

"A powerful strike to break through is needed! A force to dispel everyone's fear is needed! Only our captain, Amagawa-kun, can do this! Don't just look ahead, look behind too!"

Hikari, stunned by his classmate's chaotic shouting, shook his head and nodded at Aichi.

"Ah, I understand. I'll go right away! Team Leader Merudo! Sorry!"

"Retreat!"

"Sorry, I'm retreating" As he turned to Team Leader Merudo, the barrier finally broke, and a storm-like shock wave hit Aichi and the others. Aichi immediately used alchemy to create a stone wall, but it was easily shattered and blown away, though it did reduce some of the impact... The dust was blown away by Behemoth's roar.

There, the team leader and three knights were lying on the ground, groaning, unable to move due to the shock wave. Behind them, Hikari and the others had also fallen but quickly stood up. It seemed Aichi's stone wall had been effective.

"Ku... Ryotaro, Shizuku, can you buy some time?"

Hikari asked, approaching the two, who still looked pained. With the team leaders down, there was no other choice but to find a way to solve the problem themselves.

"We have to do it!"

"Let's try to think of something!"

The two launched an attack on Behemoth.

"Shizuki, heal Team Leader Merudo and the others!"

"Okay!"

Following Hikari's instructions, Shizuki moved. Aichi had already reached the team leaders. To avoid being caught in the battle's aftermath, Aichi created a stone wall. It was like paper to Behemoth, but it was better than nothing. Hikari, now preparing to cast his ultimate spell, began the incantation.

"Divine will! Bring the light that destroys all evil! Breath of God! Blow away all the clouds and fill this world with sanctity! Divine mercy! Forgive me for using this strike to punish all evil! [Divine Might]!"

With the incantation, the holy sword emitted a powerful light. It was a spell of the same system as the previous [Heavenly Flash], but the power was vastly different. The light that shot out shook the bridge, gouged out stones, and charged straight at Behemoth. Ryotaro and Shizuku had already disengaged from the battle by the time the incantation ended, but both were exhausted and had taken considerable damage in that short time.

The light attribute attack hit Behemoth directly, turning the area white. The intense shock wave caused cracks to appear on the bridge.

"Like this... hahaha"

"Hmm, I should have done this earlier, right?"

"Phew, but..."

Ryotaro and Shizuku ran back to Hikari, who was panting heavily after expending a huge amount of magic. The attack was Hikari's true ace, and his remaining magic was almost depleted. Behind them, Team Leader Merudo and the others, who had finished healing, stood up.

Soon, the light subsided, and the dust was blown away. There, Behemoth, un