A whole week had passed since the digging began, and today we were finally starting the plan, just as we had prepared.
"Everyone, take your positions! We'll lure the monsters through the broken gate, then split in all directions. That way, we'll make sure they spread across the city."
I pointed toward the map, drawing explanatory marks.
"Elena and I will take the central routes, while Klaus and Ronan handle the outer sides. Luke will watch from the rear, make sure all monsters pass through, and send us the signal to begin."
I stared at Luke firmly — he had to understand the importance of his role.
"Listen, Luke. You won't be in danger. You've used your shard, so you can focus on your position. You must not make any mistakes, understood?"
Luke nodded seriously. The reason I chose him was because he was slower than the others — but his shard was useful for surveillance.
"When Luke gives the signal, we'll dash out from the other side as fast as possible and regroup at the dirt mound we made. There, Elena will strike the city, triggering the chain collapse. Make sure you reach the site within ten minutes — or we'll start without you. Understood?"
Seeing the serious expressions on everyone's faces, I sighed in relief.
"Good. Everyone, move immediately. I'll take the crystal once everyone's in their position."
At my command, they all moved quickly. Within five minutes, everyone was in place.
I wasted no time — I went to the altar and took the crystal. The moment I did, I felt the ground shake — the monsters were moving.
I enhanced my body and ran toward the destroyed gate with all my strength. As soon as I arrived, I saw the monsters approaching like rabid dogs.
"Everyone, when the distance hits one hundred meters, run as we planned!"
I shouted loudly as I calculated the distance.
'Five hundred… four hundred… three hundred… two hundred and—'
"Now!!"
I yelled as I turned around and sprinted inward. The others followed, keeping a steady pace. We had to make sure the monsters chased all of us and spread around the city. If they gathered in one spot, the city would collapse from their combined weight.
"Arrrggghhh!!! Wraaaghhh!!!"
The maddened screams of the monsters echoed behind us as they destroyed everything in their path. The Flower clearly intended to take the key no matter the cost.
'Damn it… if this keeps up, they'll destroy the city themselves.'
I shouted in frustration, throwing spears of darkness behind me and killing some of the monsters that got too close. By now, I was alone — the others had already split up, taking groups of monsters with them.
The monsters were diverse — humanoids, dogs, cats, bears, even insects and twisted abominations.
My instincts screamed — I bent down just in time to dodge a claw that suddenly appeared behind me.
"You again, damn bastard!"
I cursed, releasing a surge of darkness that impaled the monsters. The shadows blocked their path, buying me some time to run again.
"Damn me and my plan… I just hope no one dies."
I shouted in deep frustration. I knew how dangerous and reckless my plan was — but there was no other choice.
"A drowning man clings to a straw, huh…"
I muttered bitterly. I was desperate. The gate was too dangerous, and time wasn't on our side. Maybe it would stabilize in a year, but I didn't want to live here for that long. The Flower had the advantage the longer we waited. I might survive… but what about the others? What about Elena? They'd die one by one — and in the end, my survival would be meaningless.
'All that damned Flower needs is to bind me or control my mind. It would be so easy to throw me into the Sea of Darkness and kill me.'
I kept running, occasionally stopping to block attacks. I couldn't just dodge — if I did, their blows would hit the ground and accelerate the collapse. But I also had to be precise with my own attacks so I wouldn't damage the terrain further. It was exhausting.
"Damn it, Luke! When will you give the signal? Are you trying to get us killed?"
Fifteen minutes had passed since the monsters entered — by now, they should've all gone through. The silence made me uneasy.
'What if more hordes appeared… or the Flower got Luke?'
I thought, leaping aside to dodge a giant bee's stinger dripping with venom.
As the situation worsened, I noticed something in the sky — an arrow flying high above from the direction of the gate. I instantly knew what it meant. I had given Luke Riana's bow and crafted a special arrow for him — it was the signal.
"Finally! That son of a bitch did it!"
I smiled in relief, enhancing my body further, sprinting toward the dirt mound. It was only five minutes away.
Elena and Klaus had already arrived and were holding off the monsters. Moments later, Ronan joined them.
"Damn it, Nox is late!"
Klaus complained, blocking a bear's strike with his massive sword. The impact sent him stumbling back.
"He's carrying the key — most of the monsters must be after him. Of course he'd be delayed," Ronan said, releasing three blades of wind that cut through the wings of a giant fly.
"He's here!!"
Elena shouted as she saw the approaching horde, then leapt onto the city walls. The others did the same.
As soon as I arrived, I jumped up the wall too. Elena turned toward me.
"Elena, get to the mountain and prepare the strike!"
Elena moved as I ordered, climbing to the peak of the mound and beginning her preparations for the final attack.
The number of monsters kept growing every second — it wouldn't be long before they all reached the edge.
"What do you think of this?!"
I shouted at the monsters, summoning a horizontal wall of darkness along the edge of the wall. It blocked their climb and delayed them a little.
'Damn it, this is exhausting. I keep renewing the wall, but they destroy it so fast.'
I gritted my teeth, enduring the fatigue consuming my body.
"Everyone, come! I'm ready!"
Elena's calm voice echoed across the area. Her expression was cold and deadly as her destructive aura spread everywhere. Behind her, a massive sun of light formed, illuminating the entire surroundings — it looked like daylight had finally returned to the temple after years of darkness.
The three of us moved to her side, looking toward the grand temple.
'Now that I think about it… wasn't the Flame God's manifestation also a giant sun? Fitting that the Temple of Courage will be destroyed by a sun as well.'
As that useless thought passed my mind, Elena threw her sun with all her strength toward the temple.
BOOOOM!!!
The blazing sun crossed the distance instantly, hitting the temple with an earth-shattering explosion that lit up the world. A storm of dust and debris filled the city, followed by multiple collapsing sounds.
CRASH! CRASH!
Like falling dominoes, the pillars collapsed from the shockwave and the temple's fall. The ground sank in the center, spreading in all directions like an abyss devouring everything.
The monsters screamed as they fell, disappearing under the rubble. Their attempts to flee only made things worse — the ground shattered even faster.
We stared down in complete disbelief — thousands of horrifying monsters were dying everywhere without resistance.
'My plan was brilliant, wasn't it?'
I thought happily, watching the scene. If those monsters had message notifications, Elena would probably be flooded with thousands right now.
When the destruction finally stopped, silence fell. The dust storm slowly cleared.
I turned to Ronan and ordered, "Ronan, clear the dust."
Ronan summoned a tornado that swallowed the dust cloud, revealing the ruined city beneath. The ground was utterly destroyed — barely recognizable. Only the walls remained standing, guarding nothing.
'Well, it never had a gate anyway, so it doesn't matter if there's nothing left to protect.'
I thought mockingly as I scanned the area to make sure the monsters were dead.
"They're all dead! Amazing!"
Klaus cheered, bumping fists with Ronan beside him. Luke soon arrived, staring at the destruction in awe.
"Nox, your plan was like a death trap!"
Elena approached me with a bright smile, clearly impressed.
"Thanks for the compliment, but I'd rather we start moving already."
The others stopped celebrating when they heard my words.
"As you command, leader," Klaus said with a mock salute.
"Cut it out and move," I scolded him, descending the dirt mound with Elena. Our next destination was the Temple of Truth — we could reach it by bypassing the mountain range.
"That battle ended quickly, didn't it?" Elena said quietly, walking beside me.
"Yeah, you're right. Is that a problem?" I tilted my head, confused.
"No… but I expected the plan to fail, you know? I imagined some giant monster leading the horde — like a boss."
I froze at her words, then turned around in panic.
'Damn it! How did I not think of that? There's no way the Flower would send all those monsters without a commander! But where is it?!'
I looked around nervously. The others stopped, sensing my tension.
"Nox, what's wrong?" Ronan asked, staring at me as if I'd gone insane. I ignored him.
"?!!"
A shadow fell over us — I looked up quickly.
High in the sky, something made me shiver in fear. The others looked too — and froze in horror.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
Klaus muttered, trying to regain control over his trembling body. The sheer pressure made his limbs heavy.
It was a harpy — with wings spanning three meters, sharp talons attached to them, but the body and face of a human woman.
"It's a Harpy!!" I said, recognizing the monster.
The harpy had a grotesque face that sent chills down our spines. A beautiful white flower grew from her right eye — a disturbing contrast to her hideous form.
She looked at us like a predator eyeing prey, then grinned wide, revealing sharp, oversized teeth. Her face grew uglier by the second.
She leaned forward and flapped her wings—
"This is bad! Everyone ev—"
Before I could finish, the harpy appeared in our midst, slamming her foot down and blasting the ground apart. The shockwave sent us flying.
'Damn it! That's a Stage 6 creature! How the hell are we supposed to kill that?!'
I stared in horror as the harpy stood in the crater, still smiling wickedly.
'Calm down. Control the situation.'
I gathered my strength, drawing my sword and shouting to the others:
"Listen! It's a Stage 6 harpy, but don't panic! It's a flying monster — if we stop it from taking flight, we can cripple it!"
Without waiting for a reply, I dashed toward her, summoning chains of darkness to restrain her. The harpy glanced at me calmly, then gently flapped her wings.
Whooosh!!
Blades of wind shredded my chains and nearly cut me in half — I barely dodged in time.
The harpy's grin widened, but she sensed something behind her. She turned just in time to block Elena's glowing sword with her claws.
Ronan moved in as well, sending wind slashes at her wings, trying to cut them off. He was used to fighting stronger monsters, so he reacted faster than the others.
The harpy countered with another wing beat, neutralizing Ronan's attack, then struck Elena with her other claw, forcing her back.
As soon as Elena retreated, the harpy flapped her wings hard, soaring into the sky, glaring down at us with fury.
'Damn it… this is going to be tough — especially since I'm not alone.'
I looked up, trying to think of a way out.
Screeeeeech!!!
A piercing scream tore through the sky, nearly bursting our eardrums. The harpy shrieked with full force, releasing her aura completely.
The world trembled — it felt like a mountain fell on our shoulders. Everyone dropped to their knees under the crushing pressure, except me and Elena, who barely managed to stay standing. It felt like invisible hands were gripping our hearts, ready to crush them.
'If it weren't for the killing intent in my sword, I wouldn't even be able to stand… how the hell is Elena enduring this?!'
I clenched my teeth so hard that blood ran from my gums.
The harpy finally stopped screaming. Her presence changed — she was now a true Stage 6 monster.
The real battle was just beginning.