Kael’s feet touched the earth.
For the briefest of moments...
Nothing happened.
The battlefield seemed to fall into an unnatural silence. The charging monsters remained frozen mid-stride. Dust hung motionless in the air. Even the wind appeared to hesitate, as though the world itself had sensed what was about to unfold.
Then the earth answered.
BOOOOOOOM!!
A deafening detonation erupted from beneath Kael’s feet.
It wasn’t fire.
It wasn’t lightning.
It wasn’t some dazzling display of elemental brilliance.
It was raw, overwhelming earth energy released in its most violent form.
The ground collapsed.
Rock shattered.
The very land seemed to explode upward before crashing back down like a furious tidal wave.
A massive crater spread outward from Kael’s position as cracks raced across the battlefield in every direction, splitting the earth apart. The beasts closest to him didn’t even have the chance to scream. Their bodies burst apart instantly, reduced to clouds of crimson mist and mangled flesh beneath the overwhelming force.
Bones.
Blood.
Chunks of shattered armour-like hide.
Everything was swept away by the expanding shockwave.
The beasts farther away fared little better. They were hurled into the air like leaves caught in a hurricane, their bodies smashing into one another before crashing lifelessly onto the ruined ground.
The advancing tide of monsters was ripped open in an instant.
A gap.
Hundreds of metres wide.
Appeared within what had once been an endless sea of monsters.
The shockwave didn’t stop there.
It continued travelling across the battlefield until it slammed against the towering fortress walls.
RUMBLE!!
The walls trembled violently.
Loose stones tumbled from the battlements.
Inside the fortress city, countless hunters and soldiers staggered as the violent tremor swept beneath their feet.
"What the hell was that?!"
"The wall’s shaking!"
"Did another high-level monster appear?"
Panic spread almost immediately.
Many instinctively reached for their weapons while others looked toward the forest beyond the walls with pale expressions.
Just moments ago they had been preparing themselves for a desperate battle.
Now...
Something far more terrifying seemed to have arrived.
Only Victor Smith and the soldiers standing atop the wall knew the truth.
Their eyes remained fixed upon the lone figure standing beyond the fortress.
Then someone pointed into the distance.
"Wait... look!"
"There’s someone there!"
Every gaze followed the direction of the trembling finger.
Standing alone at the centre of the devastation...
Surrounded by shattered earth, broken corpses and rivers of blood...
Was a single young man.
Kael.
The explosion had completely erased every beast within the surrounding area, leaving an empty circle with him standing calmly at its centre.
Although the distance was great, everyone could clearly make out his silhouette.
"A... human?"
"What is he doing out there?"
The question had barely left the speaker’s mouth before he felt foolish.
Doing?
Looking at the wasteland surrounding that young man, wasn’t the answer obvious?
The destruction itself spoke louder than words ever could.
Someone suddenly remembered the youth who had leapt onto the wall only moments earlier.
"Isn’t... isn’t that the same guy?"
"It looks like him."
"It has to be!"
Murmurs rapidly spread through the gathered hunters.
The fear that had gripped their hearts moments ago slowly began to disappear.
In its place...
Hope.
That single attack had told them everything they needed to know.
Whoever that young man was...
He was powerful.
Ridiculously powerful.
Perhaps...
Strong enough to stop the beast horde.
Atop the fortress wall, Victor Smith remained completely speechless.
His mouth hung slightly open.
The composed authority he had maintained throughout the entire crisis disappeared without a trace.
He simply stared.
"This..."
His pupils trembled.
"That level of destructive power..."
There was no mistake.
He had seen S-Rank Hunters fight before.
This...
This was unquestionably within that realm.
Perhaps even beyond what some newly advanced S-Ranks could unleash.
But that only made everything more unbelievable.
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
Every hunter entering or leaving this rift was documented.
If an S-Rank had entered today, he would have known.
There wasn’t a single one.
And yet...
This young man, whose face Victor couldn’t even recognise, had just unleashed an attack capable of instantly annihilating a section of an advancing beast horde.
Could he be some hidden S-Rank?
Someone who deliberately concealed his identity before entering the rift?
It was the only explanation Victor could think of.
If someone had walked up to him at that moment and claimed Kael was merely an F+ Rank hunter who had awakened not long ago...
Victor would have laughed in their face.
The idea was simply too absurd.
His hesitation lasted only a second.
Then his eyes sharpened.
Whether Kael was truly an S-Rank or not no longer mattered.
Results spoke louder than speculation.
That single attack had already proven everything.
Victor drew in a deep breath before roaring at the top of his lungs.
"ALL UNITS!"
His voice echoed across the fortress walls.
"FALL BACK!"
"Signal the retreat immediately!"
"Archers, maintain your positions! Give that man a clear lane of fire!"
"Do not interfere with him!"
The orders spread rapidly from officer to officer.
No one questioned them.
No one argued.
Anyone who had witnessed that explosion understood exactly why the command had been issued.
Getting anywhere near that battlefield now was practically suicide.
The beasts hadn’t even left complete corpses behind.
Most had simply become blood mist.
No sane person wanted to discover whether a human body would fare any better.
The soldiers engaged with the first wave immediately disengaged, retreating toward the fortress wall in disciplined formations while covering one another.
The hunters who had just been assembled into assault teams were also halted.
Their roles changed instantly.
Instead of charging into the battlefield...
They would hold the defensive line.
Support.
Reinforce.
And pray.
Pray that the lone young man standing before the endless beast horde possessed enough strength...
Enough stamina...
To keep fighting until reinforcements finally arrived.
# #
[AN_ Hey everyone!
Event update: 5 bonus Chapters unlocked thanks to Elemak’s Super Gift! 🔥
Release is moved to the weekend because my device broke. All bonus Chapters will be posted together then.
Let’s strive to hit more goals!]