Eternal Freedom's Ascension-Chapter 67: Gate Closure (2)

As soon as they stepped through the gate, the world around them changed. Not just the surroundings, but in quality too.

It felt like leaving the waters and escaping onto the shore.

"Everyone, hold."

Liam’s voice resounded at the front, prompting everyone to stop moving. They immediately began observing the surroundings with wariness, in case there was a surprise attack.

The dungeon was just like any other regular dungeon, situated inside a wide, branched cave.

Red crystals growing on the rocks illuminated the cave, allowing them to see a bit.

Hazel’s eyes narrowed, and she summoned a ball of fire above her palm. The conjured flames roared to life, and immediately chased away the lingering darkness.

"Heck!"

Eric shouted, spotting over fifteen creatures lurking around. They looked like dogs, had no fur, and possessed sharp canines that extended to the sides of their jaws.

"Kill them!"

A girl shrieked, and Logan immediately pounced at the pack of hounds. His action was reckless, and it was too late for Liam to control him.

"Astron, support him from behind. Eric, Jose, let’s go. Everyone else, wait in a tight circle."

Liam shouted, then rushed at the hounds. Eric and Jose joined him, each holding their weapons grimly.

Seeing them like this, Liam was relieved that they could be serious for once.

Ahead of them, Logan had already engaged with the pack. With silver clawed-gauntlets in his hands, he pounced at one of them. The hound snarled and snapped its jaws at him. However, Logan dodged quickly, grabbing onto its front paws and kicking its underbelly.

The force lifted the creature off its feet. Without missing a beat, Logan raised it in the air and slammed it to the ground with a punch.

Bam!

The skull caved instantly, blood and brain matter splattering onto his arm.

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Fanged Hound]

With his red eyes burning with a fierce light, he immediately attacked another hound.

At this moment, Liam, Eric, and Jose arrived beside him to join the battle. Together, the four of them cut down the pack of hounds, with Astron’s arrows helping them kill the injured ones.

In less than five minutes, the fighting ceased. Blood pooled at their feet alongside the carcasses of the hounds.

"Logan, I’d appreciate if you don’t run into battle alone next time. It could be dangerous."

Liam said seriously, sheathing his sword in its scabbard.

"Hah?" Logan scoffed. "Why shouldn’t..."

However, his words died in his throat when he spotted the look in everyone’s eyes while looking at him.

"Fuck it!"

He cussed, then folded his arms. Although he didn’t like to be bossed around, he decided to comply for now.

Liam was satisfied with the outcome, and turned to the others. "Let’s keep moving. We can’t dawdle around."

The whole class of thirty walked deeper into the cave, lead by a student who had an affinity for sensing pure essence.

"This cave."

Standing before three different tunnels, Jim pointed at the left tunnel, ushering everyone into the tunnel. As they walked, Kaiser suddenly looked up.

"Danger above!"

Astron’s warning was timely as bat-like creatures descended on them with harrowing cries. Their pitch black skin was menacing, coupled with their sharp talons.

"Ranged attacks! Now!"

Liam shouted, dismissing his sword to exchange for a bow. The bow fit into his hand, and he immediately fired shots into the air. The others joined him, arrows and several projectiles flying to welcome the descending creatures.

Krieek-!!!

Shrieks filled the air as blood rained. Several Nirad Creatures died, with the system accurately announcing the death of each one to their killer.

The battle was chaotic as the creatures were numerous, almost drowning the Class-E students with their numbers.

At the cost of danger, a human’s strength was displayed. The students fought back seriously, their blades and weapons tearing through the hides to skewer or tear apart the creatures.

Hazel’s battle-axe split one of them into two, its dark blood splattering onto her armor.

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Scream]

Hazel gave the strange name a glance, then ignored it. Getting a moment of respite, she looked around. Everyone was fighting, each one consuming essence for each kill. Logan and his friends were at a corner, decapitating as many Screams as they could. Although they weren’t that flashy and strong, they were still efficient working together. Liam and Kiera were at the forefront, working together flawlessly to exterminate the Screams swarming them.

Kiera’s blood-related ability allowed her to make the creatures bleed profusely even from slight cuts.

Meanwhile, Liam’s ability let him empower every student, giving them a 15% boost in overall stats.

At another angle, Sebastian was dazzling brightly in his gold armor. With the cape flowing behind him, he flamboyantly slaughtered the Screams around him, creating a small hill of corpses.

Several others were also working seriously, reducing the numbers of the creatures greatly. Even then, energy was being consumed greatly.

’At this rate, we won’t even be able to create the Winning Formations anymore.’ Her expression darkened, ’Wait. Where’s that guy?’

She looked around, then immediately spotted Kaiser in the middle of the chaos. He was standing alone, with no single Scream coming near him.

"What is he...?"

She felt confused, wondering why it was so. Could he have activated some kind of ability that made him invisible or something?

Suddenly, one of the flying creatures veered off from the others and shot at him. Kaiser didn’t react, as if unaware of the approaching threat.

’...!!!’

Hazel’s eyes widened, and her body moved. Unfortunately, she was quite far away and couldn’t reach him.

Time slowed as she watched the sharp beak and talons reaching for his face.

Pa!

The next moment, Kaiser’s hand moved like it had a mind of its own. It dodged the talons, then clasped around the creature’s throat.

He tightened his grip, and with a creaking sound, the neck snapped.

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Scream]

[You have received a...]

’Is he finally taking action?’

Hazel watched in anticipation, but unfortunately, she was disappointed.

Eerrrrkkkkk-!!!

A loud scream echoed from the dark ceiling above, and the Screams began retreating. The battle slowly seized, until all was left was battered and exhausted students of Class-E. Some collapsed to the ground, panting or wincing from their wounds.

Finally, the silence was broken by someone.

"Hm. That was refreshing. However, you all look ugly compared to my noble self."

Sebastian grinned brilliantly, adjusting his hair while checking a mirror. True to his words, his body was without a single scratch or a drop of blood. Unlike the others who were covered in blood and gore, he looked like a flower in a pool of mud.

"Who cares? Let’s rest up and strategize. We can’t continue chaotically like this." Hazel addressed everyone with a frown. "No one waited for orders or coordination, just fighting by yourself like you could kill the whole swarm. That’s something stupid to do."

Some lowered their heads in shame, while some took it very personal.

"Are you saying we’re stupid?" Kim scowled at Hazel, displeasure in her eyes.

"Tch, don’t talk to us like you’re some boss. Everyone fought with their best." Anya chimed in, rising to stare down at her.

Hazel frowned deeply, turning to the two girls. "What do you mean? You don’t think rushing forward without a plan is stupid?"

More people turned to look at their argument, but it was obvious they didn’t support Hazel at all. Filled with grievance, they ignored the truth behind her words and stood against her.

Seeing the hostility and displeasure in their eyes, Hazel felt annoyed. Were these the people she had to lead to Class-A? Even at the first evaluation, they were already proving difficult to control.

"Fools..."

She growled angel, her hand tightening around the pole of the battle-axe.

"Hah? What’d you say?" Kim sneered, unwilling to hide her displeasure.

Before the mood could worsen, Liam interrupted quickly.

"Wait a minute! We shouldn’t fight among ourselves." He stepped between the two girls. "Everyone has faults in this and it’s not the time to chastise one another."

Ysabella approached too, her eyes showing worry. "Let’s just rest for now, okay? It’s too early for argument and unnecessary accusations."

With their intervention, the atmosphere softened, and everyone returned to their respective corner to rest.

Hazel sat alone on a piece of stone when Ariel approached her. Standing at her side, he remained silent until she spoke.

"What exactly is wrong with these imbeciles?!"

He sighed, already expecting this. There was no way Hazel wouldn’t be irritated by people who were lazy and unprincipled like her classmates.

"There is nothing wrong with anyone. It is just that your minds are different, and you each have several different thought processes."

Ariel explained, looking at those who had argued with her earlier.

"They might want the promise behind graduating as Class-A, but they do not possess the same drive as you. They only want to graduate from Class-A as easily as possible."

Hazel fell silent, realizing he was right.

"And that makes me curious, Hazel. For what reason do you want to become Class-A?"