Cracks spread like a spiderweb, and a deep rumble echoed from the bottom of the pit, as if some ancient, slumbering heart had begun to beat once more.
A gigantic hand covered in dark purple carapace, with seven twisted clawed fingers, suddenly reached out from the pit’s edge, gripping the ground.
Stones shattered and flew.
Then came a second hand.
Next, a head slowly rose—its shape beyond words.
It bore the contours of a human female, but with no facial features—only a mouth, massive and torn nearly to the ears, brimming with spiral fangs. Six pairs of compound eyes were symmetrically arranged on either side of the head, each one shining with a different, eerie hue.
Beneath the neck, the body was an even more twisted conglomeration: the torso, armored in dark purple carapace, sprouted dozens of irregular tentacles, each ending in claws, pincers, or suction-cup-like organs. Its lower half resembled a spider’s, with eight jointed limbs, every one gleaming like metal.
Ninth-rank Magical Beast—Dark Chimera.
It crawled out of the pit completely. Once it stood upright, it towered over twenty meters tall, its vast body occupying nearly a third of the ring-shaped chamber.
An indescribable sense of oppression spread out.
The Potioner and his elite subordinates stood frozen in place, as if turned to ice, unable even to breathe.
Even Victoria and the Beastmonger, locked in battle in the distance, unconsciously ceased their fighting.
The eyeless head of the Dark Chimera slowly rotated, six pairs of compound eyes scanning the entire chamber.
It “looked” at the Potioner.
“You…”
The Potioner’s voice trembled. Under that crushing aura, he forced a twisted smile.
“We’ve come to set you free! The Dark Magical Beast Legion can give you freedom, as long as you’re willing to jo—”
Shh.
A tentacle stabbed through the Potioner’s chest without warning.
Its tip opened, revealing layer upon layer of sharp teeth within, and began gnawing from the inside.
“Ugh… ah…”
The Potioner couldn’t even scream; his body shriveled visibly, and within three seconds, only a loose human skin and clothes were left on the ground.
The tentacle withdrew, wriggling in satisfaction.
The other elite subordinates finally reacted, screaming as they tried to flee—but it was too late.
More tentacles shot out from the Dark Chimera, like a hunting octopus, each one precisely piercing a would-be escapee, then devouring them.
Ten seconds.
The Potioner’s squad was annihilated.
The compound eyes of the Dark Chimera shifted, fixing upon the Beastmonger and his remaining mutant beasts.
The Beastmonger’s face turned deathly pale. Without hesitation, he turned and ran, even abandoning his precious creations.
Victoria had no mind for pursuit; she merely stared fixedly at the monster before her, silently taking up a defensive stance.
The Dark Chimera slowly turned its head, its six pairs of eyes locking onto her.
Killing intent thickened in the air.
But the Dark Chimera did not attack at once. It could sense that this human was no weakling. Having just broken its seal, its own strength had yet to fully return. It did not wish to clash with a formidable foe.
It threw back its head, emitting a silent shriek.
The frequency was far beyond human hearing, but its effects were devastating.
The entire underground space began to shake violently, the ceiling cracking and collapsing.
Then, all eight of the Dark Chimera’s limbs launched at once. Its massive body shot upward like a cannonball.
Boom!!!
It crashed through dozens of meters of rock and earth, bursting out into the open air.
Sunlight poured over its twisted body.
The Dark Chimera hovered in midair, its six pairs of compound eyes surveying the vast testing grounds below.
It could feel them.
Countless weak life forms scattered throughout the mountain forests and swamps below—those… were that woman’s students.
Vengeance.
Devouring.
Destruction.
The Dark Chimera once again released its silent shriek.
This time, with the soundless scream, dark purple viscous liquid began to ooze from the cracks in its carapace.
The liquid dripped to the ground, wriggling, swelling, and reshaping itself as if alive.
Beasts with warped forms crawled forth from the fluid—wolf-shaped, bear-shaped, serpent-shaped, insect-shaped… a vast array of monsters, but all with the same blood-red eyes and ferocious aura.
One, ten, a hundred, a thousand…
The beast tide had begun.
At that moment, within the shelter.
The instant the shaking began, Camilla rushed to the window.
She saw it.
That twisted, gigantic figure in the distant sky.
And the dark purple surge spreading across the ground like a tide.
“What is… that…”
Elena’s voice quivered.
Lilian’s face was as white as paper, her pale gold eyes fixed on the Dark Chimera in the sky.
“Ninth rank… no, maybe even stronger…”
Ophelia already had her sword drawn. There was no fear in her ice-blue eyes—only a grave fighting spirit.
“Professor Maureen!”
She turned toward the female professor.
“We have to organize a full evacuation! That monster is summoning a beast tide!”
Professor Maureen gritted her teeth and nodded.
“Everyone! Emergency evacuation! Hurry!”
Chaos erupted within the shelter.
Students surged for the exits in a panic, but quickly recoiled—already, the vanguard of the beast tide was visible outside.
Dozens of dark purple wolf-like beasts charged from the forest, lunging at the shelter.
“Formation! Defend!”
Professor Maureen shouted, rapidly forming hand seals. A pale golden barrier rose around the perimeter of the shelter.
The first wave of beasts crashed into the barrier, letting out piercing howls as they clawed madly, gouging cracks into the shield.
“This won’t hold for long.”
Ophelia looked at Camilla.
“Do you have any ideas?”
Camilla took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm.
She looked out the window.
The main force of the beast tide hadn’t arrived yet—these were just the advance scouts.
But if they kept hiding here, and let the horde surround them, there would be no way out.
“We have to break out.”
She spoke quickly.
“While the beast tide hasn’t fully formed, we gather our strength and punch through a gap—head south. The terrain there is complex, with rivers and canyons. It’ll buy us time.”
“To the south…”
Professor Maureen hesitated for two seconds, then nodded decisively.
“Do as she says! All students able to fight, prepare to break through! The wounded in the center, I’ll bring up the rear!”
The orders spread swiftly.
If it weren’t for the Tyrant, they might still have been able to shelter in the school district, but the teaching buildings there had already become a battlefield—even more dangerous than here.
Half a minute later, about fifty students who could fight, plus several lightly wounded professors, managed to form a breakout team.
Camilla’s squad and Ophelia’s squad were naturally included.
“In three minutes, I’ll temporarily drop the barrier and unleash large-scale Phantom Mist to disrupt the beasts,” Professor Maureen explained as she arranged the preparations. “Seize the moment and charge south with all you’ve got—don’t look back, don’t linger!”
“Understood!”
Three minutes flew by.
Professor Maureen drew a deep breath, then suddenly flung her hands wide.
“Go!”
The pale gold barrier vanished in an instant.
Almost simultaneously, she exhaled a vast cloud of pink mist, which rapidly spread to shroud a hundred meters around the shelter.
The leading beasts plunged into the mist and instantly became disoriented, turning on one another in a savage frenzy.
“Now! Move!”
Ophelia charged ahead, her longsword sweeping out. Waves of ice-blue sword energy sliced through, cleaving multiple beasts in half.
Elena followed closely, her thunder whip lashing out in arcs, detonating clusters of lightning roses and blasting open a path.
Camilla hugged Rimuru, and together with Lilian and Emma, shielded the wounded as they quickly passed through the gap.
The formation pierced the edge of the beast tide like a spear.
But the beasts soon shook off the effects of the Phantom Mist, beginning to flank from both sides.
“Leave the left to me!”
Ludmila’s low voice rang out—the purple-haired girl had somehow rushed to the left flank, wielding her greatsword (taller than herself) with a howl that tore the air, each swing shattering incoming beasts.
Salina held the right, her vampiric power making her blindingly fast, the Crimson Battle Axe effortlessly rending through beast armor.
Shana, though still injured, was aided by her blood wolf, now recovered. The pair barely managed to hold the right flank together.
The team pushed forward with difficulty.
Every meter gained was paid for dearly.
A student from the Warrior Department was pounced upon by a beast. Though his companions pulled him free, his arm was torn off, blood gushing.
A Mage, drained of mana, collapsed in exhaustion, dragged onward by two classmates.
Camilla, running and tossing items from her satchel—flash bombs, smoke grenades, acid vials—anything to slow the pursuing beasts.
Rimuru proved useful too, shifting forms—sometimes a shield to block ranged attacks, sometimes a sticky net to entangle pursuers.
But there were too many beasts.
Kill one, and ten more surged forward.
Their progress slowed to a crawl.
But just as disaster seemed imminent, a sudden sound split the air from afar. In the next moment, more than ten figures streaked from the sky like shooting stars.