The lizard felt threatened and summoned even more monsters from the ground, pointing in our direction. All of the monsters immediately moved and charged at us.
They formed a vortex that separated us, and I was thrown out by the force of it. Unable to see inside, I asked Umbros to act as my eyes from above.
Arthur hurled attacks with his spear, unleashing high-voltage lightning magic that instantly wiped out a large portion of the monsters. But they seemed endless, continuing to pour out without stopping.
This caused the distance between him and the lizard to widen, giving it plenty of time to gather energy. The lizard devoured the weaker monsters, and its body visibly cracked open as its skin turned red, indicating another stage of its form.
"This is bad. My Mana is running low, and I've already used all the potions we have," Arthur said.
Even if we waited for the teachers to arrive, we might be wiped out before that. How could we divert the lizard monster's attention?
I looked left and right and spotted a hall at the far end of the area, untouched by the monster attacks.
Then I remembered something. From the very beginning, the lizard's goal was to kill Beatrix, so… maybe Beatrix could be used as bait to break the monster vortex.
"Stay here!" I shouted and ran off. Lyena, Fernando, and Orchid were already helping Arthur. Someone weak like me was useless here.
I ran into the hall where the students were sheltering from the battle and searched for Beatrix. With her blonde hair, she wasn't hard to find, sitting behind a door on the far end.
"Seriously? You're sitting here so you can be the first to run if the monsters come?" I said to Beatrix. She was trembling in fear when she saw me.
"What do you want, pervert!?"
Despite her resistance, I forced her to stand. It hurt when she hit me, but I threatened her.
"Keep resisting, and I'll throw you straight into the mouths of those monsters," I said, and she immediately obeyed.
"What are you trying to do?" Umbros asked, and I just laughed. Maybe I had gone crazy in this second loop. But I would fight with everything I had in every loop. I didn't want this story to repeat endlessly like the first time.
I dragged Beatrix outside, stopping at a distance suitable to attract the lizard's attention. Even though I knew Beatrix understood what that monster was, I couldn't let the original story play out where she joined Dark Divine. It was dangerous, but I had to gamble.
"Hey!" I shouted at the lizard monster controlling the flow of the monster vortex. It turned toward us, and its dense killing aura made me want to vomit, but I forced my legs to keep standing.
"Are you insane!? You'll get us killed!" Beatrix struggled as I started vomiting from the overwhelming killing intent. But with Umbros' power flowing through me, I endured all the pain.
The lizard looked down from atop the building and saw Beatrix, letting out a furious roar. It pointed at us, and several monsters within the vortex turned their attention our way.
SKRAAA!
With that roar, the monsters immediately began chasing us. They were mostly weaker monsters, but there were countless of them, leaving only a few stronger ones behind to guard their leader, the Hell Lizard.
"Umbros!"
Umbros immediately channeled his power into my legs, and carrying Beatrix, I ran from the pursuing monsters. They chased us like a tsunami, destroying everything in their path.
"Leon! What are you doing!?" Lyena shouted.
"Focus on the lizard! I'll draw away the monster horde!" I shouted back. With that, all the monsters chased after me.
I had to pass through areas far from where the students were hiding. Thankfully, today was a holiday, so the fields and academic buildings were empty.
The reason I drew the monsters' attention was to deal with them all in one strike. When we reached the middle of the field and the monsters surrounded us, Beatrix clung to me, screaming in terror.
"Umbros! Grip my Mana heart!" I ordered.
"Are you sure? That will be extremely painful—"
"Yes, yes, yes. Do it now!"
Umbros flew into my chest. This time, it hurt less than before, but I still screamed with all my strength.
It felt as if my heart was pierced by needles. Immense power surged through me as Mana flooded my body, gathering into my clenched hand.
"IGNITE!"
A tiny spark instantly transformed into a sea of dark red flames, using the monsters' bodies as fuel. They writhed in agony as the fire burned them, refusing to be extinguished even under the heavy rain.
At the same time, I saw several figures flying in from the south.
Mentor Arion and the teachers were approaching, drawn by the flames in the field. They immediately noticed Leon and Beatrix standing amid the burning monster horde.
"Leon! What are you doing here?" Arion said as he landed in front of us.
"Good thing you've arrived. Arthur and the others are fighting the monster boss. You need to go there immediately," I said.
"Where are they?" Arion asked, when suddenly an extraordinary bolt of lightning appeared behind us. It wasn't ordinary lightning. It was as if multiple bolts had converged into a single point.
"What is that?"
Arion and the other teachers fell silent as they watched a giant sword-shaped lightning form in the sky.
It looked like lightning condensed and compressed into a massive blade that split the heavens.
I, however, remained silent. That was Arthur. And what he was using was a secret skill that should only be possible with a cheat. I knew it from one of the Aetherion players. I remembered clearly because that player was incredibly arrogant: [TunderG0d94]. He was the one who told me about that skill.
An attack dealing 1000 damage, instantly defeating the enemy in a single strike. It was powerful, but only I should have known about it, unless…
"Thunder Swordmanship…."
How did Arthur know it? That skill should only exist as a cheat and wasn't part of the original story. It was as if Arthur was being controlled by something. A sharp pain formed in my head, though not unbearable. It felt like multiple voices speaking at once, too noisy for me to understand clearly.
Meanwhile, Mentor Arion began issuing orders to the teachers and mentors around him.
"Sylvana, ensure the students' safety. Everyone else, follow me!" Arion commanded as he flew toward the battlefield.
When they arrived, Arion could only stand in silence at the sight of the lizard monster's corpse split cleanly in two. Lyena and the others looked exhausted and stunned.
Not far from them, Arthur stood unconscious, holding a shattered sword. Powerful electric currents still crackled around his body.
What was even more shocking was the scale of destruction. A building had been cleanly cut in half, as if sliced by something unimaginably sharp.
At the same time, the voices in my head began to fade, disappearing as Arthur lost consciousness. But at the very end, I caught something clearly.
"Nameless Gods."
Arion adjusted his glasses and analyzed the situation. If not for the heavy rain today, they might have been able to prevent damage of this scale. He felt responsible for all of it.
Fortunately, learning that there were no casualties brought relief to the teachers, all except Arion.
"Haaah… it's finally over," I said, tossing Beatrix to the ground.
"H-hey!"
I ignored her protests and rested. I had managed to stop the loop from continuing and killed the lizard monster. With this, maybe this episode was finally over. But it left behind even more questions.
"What were those voices, and who are the Nameless Gods?"
In all the time I played Rise of Altera, there was never any mention of Nameless Gods. Unless this was a game update? No, every version of Rise of Altera shared the same story. There was no way the developers would add something that altered the entire plot.
I also had another question. Why did Travis want to kill Beatrix, and why was Travis' monsterification stronger than before? In the original story, Travis couldn't control monsters. He was just a mindless creature obsessed with stealing women's underwear.
"This is exhausting…."
"You should extinguish the flames. Mixed with my chaotic power, they won't go out unless you give the order," Umbros said as she sat on my chest.
"Then… extinguished?" I said, and the flames died out on their own. I gained something from this too. By condensing Mana, I could now use magic with Umbros' assistance.
"Rest," Umbros said before disappearing into my shadow.
I stayed silent and slowly closed my eyes. Maybe this was the only moment I could rest peacefully. New variables would surely emerge again, and I had to be ready.