I Received System to Become Dragonborn-Chapter 1191: Pressures

The clash erupted the instant the massive monsters surged forward.

Their roars thundered through the corridor, shaking stone and bone, but what followed struck the fighters deeper than sound alone.

Dense Magic flared from their bodies, erupting in violent arcs and compressed blasts that ripped through the air. Dark energy slammed outward, cracking the floor and tearing chunks from the walls as several attacks detonated directly against the formation.

Shock rippled through the fighters.

They had expected brute force, not coordinated Magic of this magnitude!

Sylmira reacted first. She forced space to bend again while Adrius layered barrier upon barrier and Saeldir reinforced his seals.

The defenses held but only barely. The monsters slowed, yet still faster than the waves before. The heavier and more suffocating pressure pressed inward at them.

Aurdis felt her breath catch for a heartbeat.

"They’re capable of using Magic at this level..." The realization sent a chill through her chest.

Adrien narrowly twisted aside as a dark blast scorched past him and exploded behind the line.

"If this keeps up, we won’t outlast them," he thought grimly.

Billy snarled as a shockwave rattled his bones, exhaustion drowned by rising adrenaline.

Aerchon felt a sharp thrill cut through his fatigue. Fear and excitement twisted together as he raised his sword again. "So this is the true test!" He thought.

Arty staggered when a massive shadow loomed over her, a crushing blow slamming down hard enough to send a tremor through her body.

For a split second, doubt crept in. "What if this is too much?"

But she saw no one retreated.

Steel met armored flesh in deafening impacts. Magic detonated at close range, flashes of light and shadow tearing through the corridor. The ground shook violently as the monsters pressed in, their strength far exceeding anything before.

The formation buckled.

One of the giants smashed through the slowed field and struck Aerchon head-on, sending him flying backward before he skidded across the stone.

Another slammed Adrien into the ground hard enough to fracture the floor beneath him, blood spraying as he rolled aside.

"Guarkh!" Adrien groaned.

Billy took a clawed strike across the shoulder, his clothes tearing as pain flared through his body. He staggered but refused to fall. Arty screamed as a Magic blast struck her side, hurling her into the wall with brutal force.

Wounds spread quickly among the ranks.

Aurdis moved without hesitation when she saw that.

She forced her way through the chaos, light surging from her hands as she reached Aerchon first, then Adrien. Warm power flooded outward, sealing torn flesh and knitting shattered bone back together through sheer will.

"Sylmira!" Aurdis called, voice sharp. "I need help!"

Sylmira turned, eyes narrowing as she assessed the line holding by sheer stubbornness alone.

Adrius met her gaze, jaw tight. "Go," he said firmly. "I’ll hold it with Saeldir."

Saeldir gave a single nod. His seals flared brighter, anchoring the battlefield even harder despite the strain tearing through him.

Sylmira did not hesitate after seeing their confirmation. She moved at once, bending space around Aurdis and the wounded, shielding them from the incoming attack as healing light surged stronger.

Behind them, the monsters roared again and advanced.

The fighters were bruised, bleeding, and exhausted.

Some felt fear claw at their thoughts. Others felt grim resolve, or burning excitement, or desperate determination.

But none of them broke.

They rose again, lifting their weapons, Magic flaring through pain and fatigue.

And they charged straight into the storm once more.

From above, Erend watched the battlefield tighten into chaos, and his restraint grew heavier with every wound he saw open and close.

His body leaned forward without him realizing it. Every instinct in his body screamed louder and sharper than before when he saw Arty slammed into stone, Billy staggered under torn flesh, and Adrien disappeared briefly beneath a giant’s shadow.

Erend’s hands curled until his nails bit into his palms.

He wanted to move. He wanted to descend and end it in a breath. But he still forced himself to stay still and just watched.

"They will be healed after the level," he reminded himself, jaw locked. "They will recover."

However, knowing it did nothing to dull the pain in his chest. Seeing Arty bloodied and thrown around while he stood above, untouched, felt like driving a blade slowly into his own heart.

Beside him, Aesa watched with equal tension, her fingers clenched at her side.

"If that were my sister down there," she said with an even voice, "I would rush in. Even if I knew it was meant to make them stronger."

Erend did not answer immediately.

Aesa continued, her gaze never leaving the fight. "But I know why you’re holding back. And I... admire it. Letting your own sister suffer for her growth takes conviction."

Erend’s jaw tightened further.

"I don’t like it," he said flatly. "Not even a little."

A bitter thought crossed his mind. "If Mother ever sees this... if she knows what Arty endured while I watched... she would kill me herself."

He exhaled slowly, forcing the thought down.

Eccar, on the other hand, looked almost relaxed.

He leaned back slightly, arms crossed, eyes calmly following the flow of battle below.

"They’ll heal," he said casually. "And they’ll come out stronger. You know that."

Erend glanced at him.

Eccar shrugged. "You can’t carry them forever. So you might as well watch." A faint grin tugged at his lips. "Think of it like watching them training for their own good."

Erend said nothing.

Below them, the monsters roared again, and the fighters surged forward once more.

Above them, Erend stayed still with a heart heavy, watching them grow the only way they could.

Then at last, the pressure shifted.

The monsters faltered, their advance breaking as wounds piled high and their roars lost cohesion.

One by one, the massive bodies staggered, then fell, shaking the corridor as they crashed into stone.

The fighters pressed forward through pain and exhaustion, forcing the giants back step by step.

Blood soaked the floor, Magic flickered weakly in the air, and the roar echoed before fading into silence.

When the last monster collapsed, the corridor stood ruined and still, and the fighters remained standing. They were wounded, trembling, but victorious.

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