Magus Supremacy

"Crap! We're all going to die if no one stops that beast!" Arthur cried out, his voice cracking with panic.

"Wh...what do we do? I...I don't want to die," Vanica stammered, trembling as her wide eyes locked onto the monstrous glob of green goo steadily expanding above the arena like a gathering storm.

"Do I look like I want to die too?" Max snapped, before trailing off. His gaze shifted frantically over the edge of the spectator stands until he spotted Charlotte.

Clad in glistening water armor that shimmered under the fading sunlight, Charlotte darted through the battlefield like liquid grace.

Her movements were swift and seamless, each dodge a ripple in water, each strike a crashing wave. Everywhere she flowed, beasts dropped like leaves in a storm.

"So what do we do?" Scarlet shrieked, clenching her crimson hair in frantic frustration. "That thing isn't done charging its attack! We can't get near it, and we can't escape—people will die either way! So what the actual hell do we do?!"

Max's eyes narrowed as he turned toward the heart of the arena, where the real chaos reigned.

There, at the far end, sat Captain Amir, cross-legged and motionless, immersed in meditation as he struggled to recover his Qi.

Max took a deep breath. "Everybody!" he shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. His voice thundered across the battlefield, causing the ongoing clashes to momentarily cease.

Heads turned. Mages paused. Eyes widened.

Above them, the sky had grown dark—ominously so. And suspended overhead was the monstrous glob of goo, swirling and churning with a lethal presence that loomed like death itself.

"Wait... Max?!" Charlotte muttered as she momentarily hovered above the battlefield. Her brows furrowed in alarm as she looked up.

"Run away while you still can! If you stay, we are all going to die!" Max bellowed, his voice trembling but forceful.

"Run away?" Dave growled, his expression contorting in fury. "Like hell I would! Screw you and your coward's warning!"

In defiance, the battlefield erupted once more. The beasts that had momentarily paused now charged in with renewed savagery.

"Run away? It's not like we even can!" Dante roared as he slid beneath a hulking ogre that attempted to crush him with its steel hammer. The weapon crashed into the ground with a thunderous boom.

BOOM!

The ground trembled as deep fissures split the earth. But Dante was already airborne, propelled by the shifting terrain he controlled.

He launched an earth spear with ruthless force—its impact so devastating it skewered the ogre's skull, sending the beast crashing down with a seismic thud.

"Exactly!" Lyra shouted from atop her wind dragon, which roared and spiraled in the air. She unleashed torrents of destruction from above—tornadoes, vortexes, slicing gales—tearing through the monstrous horde with elegant ferocity.

"We can't run! Not with these beasts chasing us! Our only option is to wipe them out!" she declared, slicing a charging wolf cleanly in two with a flick of her wind-forged blade.

"Besides," Raze added, gritting his teeth as he clashed with a trio of beasts, dual metal swords gleaming in his hands, "the portal's still open. More monsters will keep spilling out. If this spirals any further..."

He grunted, narrowly dodging a massive gorilla's charge.

BANG!

The ground cratered as the beast struck, but a metal platform lifted Raze midair. He spun with deadly grace, his blades slicing in precise arcs until the gorilla's head was severed cleanly from its shoulders. Blood splattered across his face, but he didn't flinch.

"...If it gets worse, the Emperor himself might be forced to intervene. And if that happens, it'll prove just how weak and unreliable we are."

"Agreed!" Dave roared, bursting into the midst of a dozen beasts like a raging storm.

Blood ran down his face and arms from wounds reopened during the fight with Grey, yet he charged on. His body begged for rest. But he refused. Each step was defiance. Each strike, fury.

He ducked a steel axe, slid under a sword swing, and used the ogre's own body as a launchpad. In a fluid motion, he brought his axe down, cleaving another enemy in half.

More beasts charged.

Lifting his bloodied axe high, he brought it crashing down as metal spears rained from the heavens—impaling the beasts around him with brutal precision.

"One thing I dislike after peasants, are weaklings and being called one. So I rather die than have the powerhouse of our kingdom, label me as one." Dave said, his eyes twitching in pain before he forced himself to dash forward again.

"Damn it!" Max cursed, kicking a steel chair, sending it clattering across the stands. "You Lunaria Academy fools are too damn stubborn!"

"Guess we got that from Grey, huh?!" Greg grunted through the pain. "You think that peasant would run away if he were awake?"

"Yes! Yes, he would!" Max snapped, eyes blazing. "You think you know Grey? You don't! He wouldn't sacrifice himself for this academy! He'd be the first to flee!"

His voice echoed over the battlefield.

"You can't protect Grey, prove your strength, or survive... if you're dead!"

He turned to Charlotte. "Lil' sis, listen. If the others want to die here, fine. But we're leaving now. Grab Grey, and let's get out of here before that thing finishes its attack!"

Charlotte, still mid-battle, didn't look up. Her voice was calm but resolute.

"I'm not that little girl anymore, Max. I can make my own choices—and I've chosen to stay. I'm going to protect this academy and everyone I care about."

Max clenched his fists. "Damn it, you don't under—"

A shrill, blood-curdling screech cut through the chaos. The hawk-beast had finished charging. A deadly silence fell as every eye turned skyward.

The green goo shimmered with volatile energy, and then—

"Damn it," Max muttered as lightning burst across his body. Greg mirrored the gesture, their auras igniting like blazing storms.

Without a word, Max zipped toward Arthur and Vanica. Greg followed, dashing straight for Scarlet. In the blink of an eye, they'd rejoined the others on the battlefield.

"Uhm... guys?" Jay muttered as the group gathered. A hundred beasts growled just meters away, but the real threat loomed above.

The massive goo dropped toward them at terrifying speed—massive, inescapable, deadly.

"I can help," Dante offered, raising trembling hands as he began manipulating the ground beneath them.

"No, you can't," Max snapped. "It'll melt through whatever you create."

"No, I—"

"You don't get it!" Greg interrupted furiously. "That thing melted Vorden, Gordon... the whole damn spectator stands in seconds!"

"Wait—Vorden?" Jay whispered, his throat dry as he frantically scanned for his friend.

"There's no time for this!" Lyra shouted as she landed, wind dragon snarling beside her. Her face paled as she looked skyward.

"If I die, just know I'll haunt every one of you in hell for dragging me into this mess!" Max shouted.

The hawk screeched once more.

And then it launched the attack.

The cocoon of death descended like a meteor, consuming the air as it screamed toward them.

"So... so we're just going to die like this?" Dave whispered, hands clenched around his axe.

Everyone shut their eyes.

And then—

Tsk.

"You're all so pathetic," a voice scoffed from above. "So weak. So pitiful. I always have to descend just to save your sorry hides. How weak can the weaker generations be?" A voice scoffed at them all. And a massive shadow flared above them all.