Chapter 1036: Lira and Nova
Arrows of light poured from the sky. At first, Drifters turned away, shielding themselves, but belatedly noticed it was only the front section of the wall.
The space from the front all the way to the forest that darkness had consumed was being battered by a rain of arrows.
Slowly, the Drifters stood upright, relieved, staring and muttering.
"Wait... those arrows..."
"No way! Sael of the White String."
"Tharion Citadel is sending their elites?! We’re saved. We’re going to win this battle."
"I can’t believe it—for a moment, I almost nutted in my pants. Shaa, let’s fight like hell!"
The soldiers rose again, their eyes blazing. They drew their arrows and aimed downward.
However, someone else landed on the edge of the wall.
The figure made them pause, freeze, and almost forget to breathe.
A slender young lady with sharp-cut bangs and twin buns. Her amber-orange eyes were intense, calculating, and dangerous.
She wore a bodysuit that seemed out of place in the surrounding culture: a cropped, asymmetrical combat top with shoulder cutouts—tactically bold for unrestricted movement—and high-waisted tactical pants with glossy finish, side buckles, and harness details.
She opened her hands, revealing small colorful balls between her fingers. Immediately, she dropped down the wall.
The moment they made contact with the first monster, a chain of explosions erupted and the entire wall trembled. The sound was thunderous, swallowing everything within the vicinity.
Everyone clutched their ears and crouched from the deafening noise—everyone except her, who stood on the edge of the trembling wall, staring down with a sweet, playful smile.
The explosions were radiant and colorful like her eyes.
As they receded, she clapped happily for herself, dancing tenderly on the wall’s edge like a ballerina, never missing a step.
With just two members of Tharion Citadel’s Elite team revealing themselves, the situation had stabilized.
Such was the power of the Citadel.
Another member revealed herself. No one knew she was there until she spoke.
She sighed.
"I can’t believe I was useless."
The orange-eyed lady, Nova, tilted her head and stepped down from the wall’s edge, walking to her friend.
"No need to worry. I’m sure the headmaster knew what he was doing when he grouped us together. I mean, you’re a Master, yet even Sir Sael isn’t as skilled a combatant as you are."
She stared at her friend.
"You really suck at making me feel better."
Nova grinned.
"I’ve never actually tried."
The entire place quaked again, causing Nova to look around with confusion.
"My explosions should be finished though?"
Lira frowned. At that moment, someone was walking toward them. She grabbed Nova by the shoulder, pushed her aside, and streaked forward like lightning.
As she reached the wall’s edge, she collided with something.
Something none of them could see. It caused a massive shockwave, and the wall shook again.
Sael glanced down and narrowed his eyes, white light glinting in them.
"What? A monster capable of invisibility?"
He knew that was terrible news—first of all, and secondly, the monster had to be at least a Destroyer. That was bad news. Lira was a prodigy, but even she couldn’t defeat a Destroyer.
’I need to get down there!’
However, the moment he decided, something plunged out of the shadow storm and headed straight for him.
He immediately spun, wrapping himself in a violent gale of wind and somehow shielding himself as the monster crashed into him and hurled him downward toward the city.
Meanwhile, the creature that faced Lira and Nova was revealing itself. Glistening azure skin came into view, glowing maliciously beneath the radiant moon.
It wasn’t completely standing on the wall—its upper body was already on the wall, its head raised, yet it already looked like a living fortress.
Its limbs were like massive columns, fracturing the wall as it struggled to pull itself up.
Lira had collided with it, causing its invisibility to be undone. However, that hadn’t done any damage to it.
As the monster was revealed, Nova shouted:
"Everyone! Fall back!"
Without delay, people began to step back and retreat behind the wall.
Meanwhile, Lira was already moving forward. She streaked like a bolt of light, and as she approached the monster’s forelimb, she was already swinging something from her back.
It was a collapsible spear, but she wielded it strangely. She swung it at the monster’s forelimb and immediately lightning exploded from the strike. She staggered backward, and the monster’s beautiful azure skin was shredded and charred, but drew no blood.
The monster’s gaze was cold, calculating, almost cruel. Each of its breaths was like distant rumbling thunder.
Slowly it shifted its long jagged head toward Lira. At that moment, it was as though her legs went cold, unresponsive.
"Lira! What are you doing?! Get out of the way!"
The monster had raised its long neck and head and was already striking down. It was only by last-moment reflexes that Lira leaped and rolled away from the path. The monster crushed its jagged teeth onto the wall.
However, as Lira leaped away, Nova pulled something from her waist belt and threw it up. The balls unfolded into sophisticated drones with sleek designs.
The drones began firing rapid shots at the monster, circling it from all sides.
The monster was stuck, trying to stand up, but the drones were disruptive. It shifted, tried to adjust, but the drones were fast, the shots were rapid, and they weren’t stopping.
No matter how it tried to smash the drones with its sharp, long teeth, they were incredibly evasive, and it only seemed to grow frustrated.
With that distraction in place, Lira entered its space again. Her spear changed structure, getting longer, but the larger part of it was a cold, bluish blade that seemed to crackle with lightning.
She leaped into the air and fell down with the spear, driving it into the monster’s scales and forcing it down.
Now, the monster truly bled.
It let out a terrifying, thunderous cry of pain.