Chapter 263: Manifestation (2)

The massive crowd was incredibly different from last time. If one could compare, the one that besieged them last time was just small fry, and this one was the real army.

Judging from the mana concentration alone, there were quite a number of higher-ranking espers. Not to mention three S-rank espers leading the crowd.

Rise only knew one of them, while the two were quite old, probably already retired, and someone Rise would not bother to remember.

Sweeping his gaze, everywhere he looked, there were massive crowds staring at them. Just by the size alone, it was truly intimidating.

The fellows behind him were already overwhelmed. He could not blame them. Rise had to admit. It was such a sight to behold. If not for the malice wanting to stick with him, Rise wanted to admire the crowd with a few more glances.

The tension reached a new height as they faced each other. With only a dozen or so metres of distance, which was already negligible given the higher-ranking esper’s eyesight. It was almost the same as looking at each other closely.

The expression of the crowd was almost the same as last time, if not more murderous at the sight of Rise.

Rise did not say anything to welcome them, and even more so, his attitude did not waver in the slightest when facing such a crowd filled with killing intent.

This made the crowd particularly displeased, especially the S-ranks at the forefront. Their voices, filled with righteous indignation, resonated in the air.

"Rise! You traitor, colluding with nobles alone is already a grave treason, and you even corrupted your father and Guild Leader Thalia."

"Right! Surrender quickly and receive punishment for your crime!"

The crowd also jeered at them.

Needless to say, their words were truly something that made Rise cringe hard. Was their script just hastily updated by the author?

Most of it did not even make sense and only bombarded Rise with words they could think of. They did not even mention Kamille’s name at all, though the noble in their words should be him.

Rise did not bother to exchange words with them. What for? It was like talking with mindless NPCs. Everyone was now only programmed based on the world’s malice and the person behind it.

Their purpose was singular: Kill Rise and everyone in his camp.

Rise also found this situation just right. If they could waste time by listening to such mindless ramblings, then they did not need to fight.

Of course, it rarely went according to his plan. Rise had long since prepared for that. The sky, which shrouded the sun, made the malice locking in place extremely suffocating.

It lingered in the air and made the whole crowd mad. The moment that Kamille started channelling the gate, they uniformly roared and, as if on cue, started their siege.

The massive crowd did not consist only of espers, but a large part of them were forcefully awakened by the world. Still, the majority still consisted of ordinary people.

Those were not really something to be worried about. Only those S-ranks were troublesome. No longer needing instructions, their side also prepared for battle.

Rise at his peak condition was truly a monster. His forcefield covered a large area, encompassing their surroundings completely. With him at the core, the others could fight much more smoothly.

The S-ranks’ combat ability had lessened significantly when they entered his forcefield. They needed to use a portion of their strengths to resist the pressure and keep themselves steady.

Thalia and Niftan joined forces against the S-ranks, utilising Rise’s ability. The others were focusing on the higher-ranking espers who wanted to enter the core area and reached Rise.

Rise’s ability to hone to an extreme degree was as easy as breathing. Without losing his focus, he managed to multitask. Making sure the core force field was stable and also supported his allies.

With his gaze, unfortunately, A-ranks could not help but collapse on the ground, their breathing extremely difficult. He purposely targeted those with strong mana concentration in their bodies while leaving those small fry with others.

It was a chaotic battle, and their side had also started having casualties. This was inevitable, as some would certainly have managed to escape Rise’s attention.

The crowd was just that massive. Just stabilising the core force field was already taking a lot from him. Rise’s gaze wandered and then lingered on the S-ranks constantly pushing inside.

Thalia and his father could handle one, but all three were impossible. Only because of Rise did they manage to somehow stall their approach.

And yes, they could only stall with a few minutes given by Kamille, but letting them defeat the espers was not an option. Though far from their peak, they were S-rank espers for a reason.

Their side was outnumbered in the first place.

Rise’s relaxed expression had long disappeared on his face, replaced by a solemn look. The consumption of his ability was not small. It was only because he was a guide himself that he seemed to have infinite stamina, constantly replenishing himself.

A minute or two... they only needed that time. Rise could now feel the strong mana concentration behind him, which meant the gate was almost finished.

His eyes observed the gradually intensifying battlefield. Even for him, the scale of it made his scalp tingle. The sight was truly terrifying. Everyone was unafraid of death, even if they saw the others in front being killed or stopped, they would not stop at all.

They only had one purpose: stop whatever Kamille was doing and kill Rise.

The casualties the crowd caused amongst them were even higher than those they truly killed. After all, they were only a few among tens of thousands gathered here. It was just a drop in a bucket.

Soon, his brow furrowed. Rise looked up, which was something he would not do in front of a battlefield. However, it was something that he could not help, no matter what.

The ominous feeling inside him grew as the darkness of the sky turned the morning into night completely. Something shrouded the sun completely. The air also blew intensely, slowly gathering in one direction in the sky.

Even with darkness, Rise could see just fine, as most espers do. Only those ordinary people in the crowd went a bit stiff with their movements, but none of that was important anymore.

Rise’s heart sank, and his expression became grave.

For a moment, the battlefield slowed down, and the frenzied attacks also stopped, and they looked up. This startled their side, but they also soon raised their heads to look at the anomaly in the sky.

Exactly as Kamille finished stabilising the gate, a massive face formed from ominous vortexes appeared in the sky, looking down on them.

Rise felt Kamille’s presence beside him; the two of them stared directly at that gaze filled with malice toward them.

Oh, you finally showed yourself...

Rise, without being told, could recognise who that face belonged to. The author finally manifested.