Meld, who usually appeared calm and collected, providing a sense of security to the students like a towering tree, was now covered in sweat and looked anxious.
This was enough to show how terrifying this monster was.
"Roar—"
After taking a slow, deep breath, Behemoth let out a fierce roar, as if declaring the start of war!
"!?
The roar brought Commander Meld back to his senses, and he immediately began barking orders.
"Allen! You lead the students to break through the Skeleton Soldiers! Kyle, Ivan, and Weil, put all your effort into deploying the barrier! You must stop that thing! Kouki, you all hurry to the stairs!"
"Please wait, Mr. Meld! We want to fight too! That dinosaur-like guy is the hardest to deal with, right! So we…"
Amanogawa Kouki was unwilling to just run away like a coward.
"If that truly is Behemoth, it's impossible for you all to win right now!"
"That thing is a monster from the 65th floor, even the strongest adventurer in the past couldn't do anything against it! Go! I can't let you die!"
Commander Meld roared.
PS: A little late, brothers don't mind *
Chapter 11 Behemoth!
He clearly knew how precious these students were; for their sake, even if all the Heiligh Kingdom Knights had to sacrifice themselves here, he could not let them be in any danger!
Seeing Commander Meld's soul-stirring expression, Kouki flinched slightly.
Just as Commander Meld was about to persuade Kouki to retreat again, Behemoth roared and charged forward. If this continued, all the retreating students would be crushed by its massive body and impact force!
However, the Heiligh Kingdom's strongest combat forces poured all their strength into deploying multiple barriers, absolutely not allowing Behemoth to succeed.
"Grant the child of god absolute protection, rejecting all hostility and malice. This place is a holy domain, where enemies of god may not pass, Holy Severance!"
The magic circle was drawn on a two-meter square piece of top-grade paper, the incantation consisted of four verses, and it was activated by three people simultaneously. Although the defense was only for one time and lasted only one minute, it displayed an absolute protective power that no one could break.
The glistening hemispherical barrier blocked Behemoth's charge!
The moment the two collided, a violent shockwave was generated, shattering the ground beneath Behemoth's feet.
Although the entire bridge was made of stone, it still shook violently. The retreating students screamed and fell down one after another.
Skeleton Soldiers are monsters that appear on the 38th floor, possessing combat abilities completely different from previous monsters. Faced with the terrifying Skeleton monsters blocking their path, and the horrifying aura closing in from behind, the students fell into a state of semi-panic.
It was then that they finally realized they were in a real world.
"Help! I don't want to die!"
Everyone ignored formations and scrambled desperately towards the stairs, and the scene quickly spiraled out of control!
Skeleton Soldiers are monsters that appear on the 38th floor, possessing combat abilities completely different from previous monsters.
Faced with the terrifying Skeleton monsters blocking their path, and the horrifying aura closing in from behind, the students fell into a state of semi-panic.
Everyone ignored formations and scrambled desperately towards the stairs.
Allen, one of the knight squad leaders, struggled to control the situation, but influenced by the fear right before their eyes, not a single person listened to him.
"It's all my fault...."
Nagumo Hajime watched this scene with a pale face; it was all because his thoughtless actions had triggered the trap, and a wave of self-reproach overwhelmed him for a moment.
At this moment, a Skeleton Soldier slowly approached him from behind, but as its rusty sword was just raised, it was taken out by a fireball.
"What are you spacing out for? Do you want to die?"
Hiyama's voice brought Nagumo Hajime back to his senses.
"Hiyama-kun, I'm sorry.... I."
"Instead of apologizing, think about what you can do now!"
Hiyama said coldly.
If Nagumo Hajime wasn't the original protagonist, he wouldn't bother with this useless person.
"Hiyama-kun... you're right!"
"I know what to do now!" Nagumo Hajime's eyes gradually cleared after hearing Hiyama's words.
Then, as if he had made some kind of decision, he hurriedly left Hiyama's sight.
Hiyama didn't bother with him either; at this moment, a large number of monsters surged towards him like a tide.
But fortunately, he had conserved a large amount of magic power beforehand, and Hiyama effortlessly continued to release fireballs to kill the Skeleton Soldiers.
A female student was knocked down from behind. As she groaned and looked up, a Skeleton Soldier was raising its sword right in front of her.
"Ah"
As the female student let out that sound, at the same time, the sword swung down towards her head.
"Am I going to die?"
The girl watched in despair as the rusty iron longsword in the Skeleton Soldier's hand descended.
"Gah?"
The Skeleton Soldier's empty eye sockets only saw a huge fireball smashing into its face, and then with a "boom," the Skeleton Soldier was blown into pieces.
The girl's eyes searched through the crowd, and just as she found the caster of the fireball, she realized that Hiyama had already gone in another direction.
"Thank you, Hiyama-kun...."
She couldn't even finish her words, and she didn't know if Hiyama had heard her.
On the battlefield, Hiyama was like a Humanoid turret, continuously releasing fireballs, blocking the advance of many Nightmare Warriors.
If Hiyama were to check his status panel at this moment, he would definitely find his level skyrocketing like a rocket.
Hiyama cast spells while looking around.
Everyone was panicking, wildly swinging their weapons, and casting magic without any strategy. If no one could step up at this moment, it was highly likely that deaths would occur very soon.
And on the other side.
Nagumo Hajime finally pushed through the crowd and ran to Commander Meld.
He said breathlessly,
"Commander Meld, this is all my fault, please let me distract Behemoth!"
"Everyone, take this chance to escape!"
Seeing Nagumo Hajime's remorseful expression, it was clear he felt extremely guilty.
"What's going on!?"
Hiyama, who happened to see this scene from not far away, was greatly alarmed.
Isn't this the original plot!
The most terrifying thing was, was he, the culprit, actually responsible for all of this?
It was because of what he said to Nagumo Hajime that stimulated Nagumo Hajime to take such action!
Because the people of Japan themselves have a twisted culture that advocates seppuku as an apology, it was not actually surprising for Nagumo Hajime to make such a move out of guilt.
But perhaps the storm stirred by him, this butterfly, was not strong enough, and the history of this world seemed to have forcibly corrected its course again?
No matter what, Hiyama couldn't let the plot go back to how it was!
"Ding, please choose"
"1. Escape while Nagumo Hajime distracts the monster, gain a bar of soap, and receive the title 'Little Brother'!"
"2. Secretly cast a fireball to attack Nagumo Hajime while no one is paying attention, gain a geoduck, and receive the title 'Little Brother of Little Brothers'!"
"3. Replace Nagumo Hajime to block or kill Behemoth, gain a divine magic – Equip Magic · Knight (from Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail)!"
Equip Magic!
Anyone who has watched Fairy Tail would be familiar with this magic.
This is the magic of S-class Mage Erza Scarlet, which allows her to instantly summon weapons and armor collected in her magical space for equip, to adapt to different combat needs. *
Chapter 12 Retreat!
With this magic, combined with Vibration Magic, Hiyama could completely go down the path of a close-combat mage and never look back.
As for the remaining two options...
Hiyama's face darkened; what were these first and second options all about?
Neither "Little Brother" nor "Little Brother of Little Brothers" were clearly good titles!
Hiyama even suspected that these two titles had various debuffs attached to them; who the hell would choose them!
"I choose three."
Hiyama said decisively.
"Commander Meld, I can stop this Behemoth."
Hiyama walked up and said calmly.
He had to do it himself!
Nagumo Hajime, standing nearby, instantly looked dumbfounded; someone was actually fighting him for this suicidal task?
He stammered: "But, Hiyama-kun..."
"Nagumo-kun, don't say anymore, I have it under control."
Hiyama interrupted Nagumo and said.
"Besides, how can I just stand by and watch a friend go to his death?"
"Moreover, compared to Nagumo-kun, my unique magic is more capable of stopping Behemoth's advance."
As Hiyama spoke, a small white halo appeared on his finger.
The power contained within it sent shivers down one's spine.
The situation was critical, and Commander Meld quickly made his decision.
"Alright then, Hiyama kid, as long as you can hold it for five... no! Three minutes will do!"
Compared to Nagumo Hajime, who would just be giving himself away, Hiyama Daisuke, with his unique magic, was clearly more suited for this task.
Seeing this, Nagumo Hajime had nothing more to say.
West end of the bridge.
The Behemoth continued to charge towards the barrier.
Each time it crashed into the barrier, a strong shockwave would spread outwards, making the stone bridge emit a grinding sound.
The barrier was already covered in cracks, and it was only a matter of time before it shattered.
Commander Meld led Hiyama to support Kouki and his group, who were struggling to hold on.
"We can't hold on any longer! Kouki, Kaori, hurry and retreat!"
"No! I can't leave you, Mr. Meld! Everyone must survive!"
Amanogawa Kouki seemed to believe he had a way to deal with this Behemoth, his eyes filled with an aggressive glint.
"What did you say!?"
Commander Meld didn't expect to be flatly rejected by Amanogawa Kouki.
This was troublesome.
Initially, to instill confidence in Kouki and others who had no combat experience, they adopted a training policy of encouraging growth through praise.
But now, it seemed to have backfired