The Author's Viewpoint-Chapter 113 - The Chaos We Chose

The demon they were fighting wasn’t just strong, he was smart. A Gaia Grand Master, with sharpened instincts and the kind of battlefield experience that made him deadly.

That’s why he didn’t waste time clashing with the frontliners. He broke through, rushing past Darian and Finn, blades flashing, and headed straight for the team’s heart: their support.

In a heartbeat, he was already in front of Lina, both swords raised, ready to strike.

But just as his blades came down. Light flared beneath his feet.

A magic circle burst to life on the ground, its radiant glow wrapping around his body in an instant.

A trap!

He froze mid-strike, snarling in frustration.

Well, If the demon was smart... Then so were they.

Before the demon could even regain his control, Velion burst forward, delivering a heavy blow that knocked the demon back.

Darian and Finn moved immediately, flanking from both sides, striking in sync. They weren’t giving him a second chance.

"Filthy humans and elves!" the demon howled, slashing wildly. "You’re nothing without your numbers! My kin will find you. And you’ll all die screaming!"

But his words fell on deaf ears.

The team closed in. Darian and Finn locked him down from both flanks, cutting off his movement.

Others rotated in, striking when the demon left even the smallest opening.

Their strategy held, tight, structured, and relentless.

Bit by bit, the demon’s armor cracked, then shattered. His blades, once deadly and fast, were knocked from his grasp.

Then. Velion moved in.

With one clean motion, he drove his blade into the demon’s neck from behind.

In perfect unison, the rest followed.

Swords stabbed. Spears pierced. Arrows landed.

A final roar tore from the demon’s throat before his body collapsed, slamming hard into the earth.

One down. One less threat.

And the first victory of the night.

There was no time to rest.

Even as the demon’s corpse hit the ground, a fresh wave of danger rose. Three more demons broke free from the Swamp Hydra’s grasp, their bodies bruised, soaked, and trembling with fury.

They hesitated, caught in a brief moment of indecision.

Their burning eyes flicked between the Hydra, still coiled around their struggling allies, and the group of humans and elves who had just slain one of their own.

But before they could regroup. Movement stirred in the forest.

Tave’s eyes caught it instantly. From the dense brush and shadowed undergrowth, five sleek, scaled figures emerged. Low to the ground, quiet, almost serpentine. Charging Lizards. Drawn by the chaos.

And the moment they laid eyes on the exposed demons.

They struck.

The reptiles launched forward like living missiles, teeth bared, claws slashing.

One of the demons bellowed as a lizard slammed into him, tearing across his shoulder.

"Kill the lizards first. NOW!"

"Ugh, where did these pests come from?!"

"Break the heads off those swamp freaks!"

"No! Help them. Pull them out of the tentacles!"

"We don’t have time! They’ll die either way if we don’t kill these damned reptiles!"

"We’re surrounded. How are these creatures everywhere?!"

"Shut up and FIGHT! Rip their throats out!"

"We need to regroup. This is a trap! A damned trap!"

In the chaos, roars mixed with curses. The demons were being forced into three battles at once. The Swamp Hydra, the charging lizards, and the lurking threat of Tave’s team.

It was chaos. But it was their chaos.

And for Tave and the team, it was the kind of chaos that worked in their favor.

The battlefield had turned into a brutal free-for-all, where enemies were too busy tearing each other apart to focus on them.

The demons. The charging lizards. The Swamp Hydra. All colliding. All bleeding.

The lizards were growing slower, their scales cracked, claws dulled. The demons, though relentless, were burning through stamina fast.

That’s when the team acted, striking with precision from a distance.

Each attack measured, each choice calculated. They focused fire where it mattered. One enemy at a time.

Their goal was to kill them all.

And then. The moment Tave had been waiting came.

Standing beside Panpan, he swiftly formed a set of hand seals, his left hand trembling from exertion. With a final motion, he tapped the base of Panpan’s arrow, and a small flicker of black flame burst to life at its tip. Soul Fire.

No words were needed. Panpan understood immediately.

She pulled the bowstring tight, eyes locked on her mark. Then released.

The arrow sliced through the dark, curving under the cover of chaos, and struck the base of the Hydra’s neck. Where the monster core pulsed beneath thick, wet flesh.

Tave’s heart jolted.

His core burned wildly as he forced it to channel more than it could bear.

He needed this. Even if it exhausted him completely.

He dropped to his knees, breath torn from his lungs. Sweat ran cold down his face. But he didn’t stop. He pushed the flame deeper, into the Hydra’s body.

Around him, the team surged forward.

"Stay together!" Velion commanded. "Panpan. Stay back. Protect Tave!"

They advanced, one group dealing with the last of the demons, the other intercepting the dying lizards. Wounded, battered, but focused.

The Hydra, enraged and wounded, lashed out one final time. One team member was struck hard, sent crashing back, grievously injured.

But they held their ground. They fought through it.

And finally. After what felt like an endless fight. The Swamp Hydra collapsed.

Tave, half-conscious, slumped to the ground. Everything inside him felt burned out. His vision blurred.

And in front of his eyes, a notification flickered into existence:

[ You have successfully defeated Epic Swamp Hydra – Lv. 45 ]

His body ached, but a weak smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

Oh damn it. They’d actually done it.

The Swamp Hydra lay dead. The demons were defeated. And the Charging Lizards were wiped out.

Across the battlefield, the team dropped to the ground, gasping for breath, faces twisted with exhaustion. Yet unmistakably relieved.

Tave could see it clearly. They were still alive.

And somehow, so was he.

His core had survived the overload, barely. Though his body trembled, and every muscle felt scorched from the inside, none of his cores were fully exhausted. That alone was a miracle.

The monster’s level had far outclassed them, but their combined effort had been enough to bring it down. They’d pulled off the impossible.

Now, the team began to move again.

They searched the wreckage, dragging away fallen demon bodies, looting what they could from the hydra’s corpse and salvaging anything of use.

At least the demons left something useful behind.

Unlike monsters, they carried weapons. Crafted gear that could be salvaged, possibly enhanced, and shared among the team. These were Gaia Grand Masters, after all.

But when it came to Monster Cores or Soul Stones. Intelligent creatures like these rarely left cores intact. Their core collapsed with death. Nothing to extract.

Meanwhile, Lina rushed to the most critically injured. Her hands glowing with soft healing light as she worked to stabilize them, sweat beading on her forehead.

Tave’s eyes locked on one of the fallen. A member of the team, his chest torn open, blood spilling in thick pools into the mud. Too much. Even for magic.

It was a heavy cost... But considering what they had just taken down, even one critically wounded felt like a price they could accept.

Then, after a tense moment. Velion knelt beside Lina, watching her struggle to heal.

"Lina," he said. "Can it be treated?"

Lina’s face was pale. She didn’t answer with words. She just shook her head.

Tave’s stomach tightened.

But before he could stand or move to help. Another voice cut through the air, hurried and sharp.

"I only count seven demon corpses."

Everyone’s heads snapped toward the speaker.

"One of them’s gone," he said, voice tight. "One of them escaped."

Velion shot to his feet.

"Are you sure?" he growled. "We have to find them! Before they call for backup or bring more demons down on us!"

But Lina’s voice cracked behind him. "Velion. Please."

Everyone turned.

She was still hunched over the injured, her hands trembling, blood on her clothes.

"We need to move Eron now."

From Lina’s expression alone, it was clear, their teammate was in critical condition. Eron, who had been groaning moments ago, had gone completely silent.

That silence was worse than the screams.

"We return to our hideout," Velion said firmly, then turned to Tave. "What do you think, Tave?"

Tave nodded. "Yes. We retreat. Regroup. Heal up first."