From the top of Base’s massive walls, a scene could be seen that would make any sane person think about running away.
Endless waves of Thunder Spine Serpents were flowing through the plains like a living river.
Their bodies covered with blue and purple scales were shining under the sunlight.
Among them, Ironhorn Marsh Drakes with their massive bodies and natural armor were charging at the defensive walls again and again.
Each collision shook the ground, but despite all of this... the base had still not fallen.
The mana towers were firing without stopping, blue, red, and golden beams were exploding among the monsters one after another.
On the walls, high-ranking mages were raining down fire, ice, and lightning on the attackers.
The level thirty-seven commander was personally present in the center of the field, and whenever a dangerous attack formed, she would step in herself.
On one of the defensive lines, Kael and his group could also be seen, Bren was standing like a steel wall in front of several monsters.
Rhea and Zak were moving non-stop among the enemies, Elias was helping other healers treat the wounded.
And Kael himself, every few minutes, would bring down a massive thunderbolt from the sky that would destroy dozens of monsters at once.
The battle was heavy, it was bloody, but they had not lost yet, and they were not going to lose at all, their enemy was certainly powerful, but they were sure that in the end they would win.
Lian looked at the battlefield for a few minutes and then whispered quietly.
"At least one day." His gaze moved across the defensive lines.
"If this continues like this... they will hold out for at least one more day." He paused briefly.
"I have to be back by then." He had no plan to run away like a coward and leave the base alone.
But unfortunately, when Kain’s condition is critical, he could not ignore his friend either, his priorities were completely clear.
He had to save his friend first, and then he could come back here and help in defeating these monsters.
It was not like he was not helping right now either, he planned to at least reduce the number of monsters a little before leaving here.
Before leaving the base, he checked Kain’s status once more, the holographic screen appeared in front of him.
A few seconds passed, and then the information appeared.
[Status: Semi active/Decreased]
He took a deep breath, fortunately the condition had not worsened, Kain was still alive, and he still had time, and that was enough.
A few minutes later, he was standing on one of the remote towers.
Below him... thousands of monsters could be seen, a sea of flesh, scales, horns, and teeth, everywhere he looked, only monsters could be seen.
But a faint smile appeared on Lian’s lips.
"Time to go." Mana began to flow in his body.
[Abyss Veil Activated]
Shadows rose from around him, crawling over his body like black liquid, his presence faded, the sounds around him disappeared, and a few moments later, even the sense of his existence was removed from the environment.
Then he activated the second skill.
[Fallen Wolf Speed]
Mana exploded, his muscles stretched, his bones trembled, the wind around him began to move, and the next moment... he jumped off the tower.
No monster noticed his passing, his speed was so high that even the eyes of many hunters could not follow him.
He moved among thousands of monsters, like a shadow passing through fog.
Like a ghost that does not exist, but every time the system found a suitable target... the story changed.
[Thunder Spine Serpent - Level 21]
The massive serpent raised its head, its forked tongue moved in the air, but before it could sense anything...
Glacial Reaper Claw was activated.
An ice claw shot out from the darkness, a blue line formed in the air, and the serpent’s head was severed.
Its massive body moved a few meters forward and then finally fell to the ground.
A few seconds later.
[Ironhorn Marsh Drake - Level 20]
The giant crocodile was busy attacking the wall.
Thunder Calamity gathered in Lian’s fist, white and blue lightning twisted around his arm.
Then the strike, the sound of an explosion echoed in the air, and the monster’s skull shattered like glass, its body was dragged several meters on the ground and remained lifeless.
One.
Two.
Three.
Ten.
Twenty.
Monsters fell one after another, without even understanding what had killed them.
All their attention was on the base, no one noticed the invisible hunter among them.
EXP was received.
Stats were received.
Notifications appeared one after another, and Lian continued moving without stopping, killing every monster below level 22 that he saw without hesitation.
Minutes passed, kilometers were left behind.
Dark forests, rocky hills, small rivers, burned plains, all passed by his eyes at high speed.
Along the way, every monster that got in his way was killed.
Not for revenge, not to be a hero, just because it was in his way, and when he finally distanced himself from the last ring of the siege...
For the first time, he stopped, there were no monsters around him, no sound of battle could be heard, only wind and silence.
He opened his status screen.
[ Stats points : 503 ]
There was no reason to keep them, and with the current situation he was in, the best thing to do was to use all of them to increase his power.
He immediately started distributing.
100 → Mana
100 → Physical Strength
100 → Resistance
50 → Spirit
77 → Speed
At that same moment, a wave of power covered his entire body.
His mana became denser, his muscles became more compact, his endurance increased, and his speed... his speed entered a new level.
He opened and closed his fists, the feeling of increasing power was intoxicating every time, but now was not the time to get addicted and drown in it.
He looked at the remaining amount and decided to keep the rest for when he needed it.
[ Stats points : 76 ]
"I have to get there faster." And he moved again.
This time he chose the river route, in normal conditions it was more dangerous but shorter, although now that no monsters were left there, it was considered completely safe.
And now time was the most important thing. Along the way, he saw signs of old battles many times.
Giant bones, claw marks carved into rocks, and trees whose halves had been destroyed.
And sometimes remains of creatures that he could not even identify.
But he did not stop.
The sun was slowly moving toward the horizon, orange light was falling on the river, and after hours of running... he finally reached his destination.
Lian landed on the branch of one of the massive trees, his breath was completely calm, and his body still had plenty of energy.
And his gaze fixed on the area ahead, broken pillars, carved stones, architectural traces that nature could not have created.
The signs were real, the same things Seraphina had described.
"So this is it." He had reached exactly the destination he was aiming for, he could easily see all the signs.
These were really classic signs of ancient ruins and remnants of destroyed civilizations.
But there was one problem, the ruin had still not been found, and this was only the area where the signs were seen.
The ruin itself could be hidden kilometers away, and he was now more than seven hundred kilometers from the base, but the real search had just begun.
The evening breeze moved among the branches, Lian looked at the horizon, then remembered Kain’s condition.
"I hope you are really here..." he whispered under his breath.
The problem was that he had not come here because he was sure his friend had come here, he came here because the only documents and information he had showed that this place was the most likely location for Kain.
Any possibility existed, Kain could have completely changed his path before reaching here and gone another way.
And all his efforts would be completely meaningless... but he had no choice, he could only hope that his friend was here.