Chapter 561: What a Mess

Chapter 559

While his squad pushed themselves to their absolute limits, Captain Raze was barely taking the battle seriously.

With his suit fully activated, the man was casually dispatching these creatures with single, devastating attacks. In a way, he was almost like Ray. To both of them, these Aberrants weren’t particularly worth their time.

The difference, however, was in how they approached the battle. While Ray had allowed his fury to consume him, Raze fought with a cool head, relying on years of experience, precise movements, and ruthless efficiency. Every movement served a purpose, and not a single attack was wasted.

A massive fist came hurtling towards him, forcing the Captain to raise his battle-axe and deflect the incoming blow. The impact rattled through his weapon, but Raze barely shifted his footing. He twisted his wrist, redirecting the axe in a vicious arc that tore through the Aberrant’s arm and ripped it clean off.

Before the creature could react, Raze pushed off an earth pillar and shot behind it. His battle-axe flashed once, tearing through the nape of its neck. He immediately leapt sideways as another Aberrant came crashing into the pillar, its enormous body smashing against the structure and bringing it down in a cloud of rubble.

Whoooosh!

Before Raze could even turn towards his next opponent, two arrows sliced through the air and struck the fleshy portions of two Aberrants’ bodies.

BOOM! BOOM!

The explosions tore through their flesh with such force that parts of their internal organs were exposed. Blue blood gushed from the wounds as both creatures staggered, their massive bodies momentarily thrown off balance.

Raze cast a brief glance in Chloe’s direction.

The girl wore specially designed gloves that allowed her to draw and release her bowstring repeatedly without stopping, sparing her fingers from the strain of continuous firing. She remained focused on supporting the others, carefully choosing her targets while keeping herself out of the Aberrants’ immediate line of sight.

A faint smile threatened to form on Raze’s face, but he quickly returned his attention to the battle.

He slammed his battle-axe against the earth pillar beneath his feet. The ground responded immediately, earth surging upward and wrapping itself around the blade, reinforcing its cutting edge.

With a sudden twist of his body, the Captain whirled towards an approaching Aberrant. His axe tore through its arm, splitting the rocky armour and flesh apart before he followed through with a fluid spin. The reinforced blade carved upward from the creature’s lower torso, ripping open its chest in a brutal sweep.

The Aberrant staggered, blue blood spraying across the battlefield as its massive frame began to topple.

Raze was already gone.

Soon, the Captain began streaking through the battlefield, moving from one enemy to another with frightening speed. He became a blur of steel and earth, his battle-axe flashing through the air as bodies crashed to the ground around him.

Unlike the others, who were often forced to target an Aberrant’s exposed heart to secure a quick kill, Raze deliberately focused on their spines.

Even when a creature’s heart was exposed and offered him an easier target, the Captain would sometimes challenge himself by going for its spine instead. He had spent years fighting these monsters, and he knew precisely how much force and control were required to tear through their bodies.

It wasn’t recklessness. It was confidence born from experience.

And because of him, the number of Aberrants on the battlefield was beginning to fall rapidly.

Even so, there were still around eighty Two-Spined Aberrants remaining. With their strength, numbers, and growing ability to coordinate their attacks, thinning out the horde would take a considerable amount of time.

But Raze didn’t stop.

He didn’t pause to catch his breath or waste a second surveying the destruction he had caused. His battle-axe continued to rise and fall in a controlled rhythm, tearing through flesh and rocky armour while blue blood sprayed across the battlefield.

Not a single creature had managed to lay a finger on him.

Angling his head slightly, Raze allowed a pair of enormous claws to rush past his face. The attack missed by a hair’s breadth, but before the Aberrant could retract its arm, the Captain slammed his weapon against its hand and knocked it aside.

The earth rumbled beneath his feet.

An earth spear shot upward from the pillar, surging directly into his waiting hand. Without hesitation, Raze drove it into the Aberrant’s neck, piercing deep through its flesh.

He released the spear and followed up with a fluid swing of his battle-axe.

The blade tore through the creature’s neck, splitting its head open as the massive body shuddered and began to collapse.

Raze landed on another pillar, his boots scraping against the rough surface. He steadied himself and cast a quick glance across the Wall, finally taking a moment to assess the condition of his squad.

What he saw wasn’t particularly reassuring.

His subordinates were struggling.

Every one of them was pushing themselves far beyond their limits, fighting through exhaustion and injuries just to keep the increasingly aggressive Aberrants at bay.

Two hours had passed since they first landed on Wall Rose.

Two entire hours of continuous combat.

Their VMS boots were running low on gas, and the power reserves of their suits were dwindling just as quickly. The mechanical systems were beginning to overheat under the strain, yet the teenagers continued fighting with everything they had left.

They couldn’t afford to slow down. Not with so many enemies still surrounding them.

Above the battlefield, the clouds had grown increasingly dark, gathering into a thick blanket that threatened to unleash a downpour at any moment. The dimming sky cast long shadows across the ruined Wall, making the battlefield appear even more ominous.

Raze’s eyes narrowed slightly.

They couldn’t keep this up forever.

Before he could give the matter further thought, a metal pole came swinging towards the back of his head.

Without turning around, the Captain raised his battle-axe and deflected the attack, sending the pole skidding off to the side.

CLANG!

Sparks burst from the point of impact, briefly illuminating his face.

Raze immediately twirled around, his body spinning with tremendous velocity as earth surged towards his foot. The soil and stone gathered around his leg, hardening into a dense coating that reinforced the force of his next attack.

He whipped his leg forward.

BANG!

His earth-coated foot smashed into the Aberrant’s arm with tremendous strength. A loud crack rang across the battlefield as the limb was violently flung to the side, its rocky armour splitting beneath the impact.

And Raze wasn’t finished.

In the same breath, he planted his other foot against the pillar and launched himself forward. His knee slammed directly into the Aberrant’s jaw with devastating force.

BOOM!

The creature’s head snapped backward, its massive body stumbling under the impact as Raze drove straight through its guard.

Backward...

’I’m looking backward, right? Wh-why can I still see him?’

Blue.

The world turned blue in the Aberrant’s eyes as a sudden chill crept down its spine. It staggered, its vision fading as something cold seemed to run down its back. Before it could make sense of what was happening, its massive body crumpled to the earth with a heavy THUD.

’Faster. I need to deal with these ones faster.’

....

"Haaa....haaa....haaa..."

Chloe’s ragged panting echoed as she leaped off the building she had been standing on. She tucked her body inward and landed on the neighbouring rooftop in a firm roll, using the momentum to absorb the impact before springing back onto her feet.

She had barely completed the manoeuvre when—

CRASH!

Her previous position was reduced to rubble as an Aberrant came crashing into the building. The enormous creature had been punched away by Felix, its body ploughing through the structure with enough force to shatter the rooftop and send fragments of concrete tumbling into the streets below.

Unfortunately for Chloe, escaping one disaster only brought her face-to-face with another.

An Aberrant loomed before her, its claws racing towards her face.

’Fuck, fuck me.... I don’t have any combat experience like Trisha.’

She clicked her tongue, refusing to freeze in place despite the panic threatening to overwhelm her. Her hand moved swiftly, pulling an arrow from her quiver before she nocked it against her bowstring and released.

To her utter horror, the Aberrant didn’t attempt to catch the arrow like the others she had encountered before it.

Instead, the creature ducked.

The arrow whistled over its head, missing by a narrow margin, and the Aberrant immediately followed up with a counterattack. Its tail whipped forward, blurring through the air as it rushed towards Chloe.

"Shit!"

She barely managed to bring her bow in front of her face before the tail connected.

BANG!

The impact sent her hurtling off the rooftop like a projectile. Her feet left the ground, and the world spun around her as she was blasted backwards, unable to control her trajectory.

She was a second away from colliding with a window when she finally regained enough composure to activate her ability. Telekinesis caught her mid-flight, stabilizing her body and slowing her momentum just enough to prevent her from smashing straight through the glass.

But the relief lasted barely a heartbeat.

A massive fist came rocketing towards her head.

’Fuck my damn luck. Fuck me, fuck Ray and most especially, fuck the Captain for putting us in this mess.’

She had barely twisted her head to the side when the fist struck the window behind her.

CRASH!

The glass exploded outward, countless shards scattering through the air. Several fragments sliced into Chloe’s back as the force of the impact sent her staggering away from the shattered window.

Crimson liquid trickled down her back, staining her clothes as pain flared through her body. She clenched her teeth, frustration burning through the fear.

She couldn’t afford to stop.

With her telekinesis, she pulled an arrow into her grasp and guided it onto her bow. Her breathing remained ragged, and her back throbbed with every movement, but she forced herself to focus on the enemy in front of her.

’For any archer, distance is much more profitable.’

The Aberrant was already preparing another strike, its enormous arm drawing back as it moved to finish her off.

Whoooosh!

Chloe drew the bowstring with all her might and released the arrow.

It shot forward at tremendous speed, cutting through the space between them before slipping straight into the Aberrant’s eye.

The creature recoiled, its head jerking as the arrow buried itself deep within the vulnerable flesh. Its hand immediately rose towards its face, fingers reaching to pull the projectile out.

Meanwhile, Chloe’s ability gave off a few sharp beeps as she used telekinesis to propel herself higher into the air.

She shot upwards, clearing the shattered window and the space where the Aberrant’s next attack might have caught her. Then she came crashing down onto the rooftop of the neighbouring building, landing hard before catching herself against the ground.

Pain shot through her body.

Blood dribbled down her chin as she forced herself upright. She didn’t wait to see whether the creature had recovered. Turning away, she immediately began running across the rooftop, desperate to put as much distance between herself and the Aberrant as possible.

Then—

BOOOOM—!

An explosion erupted inside the creature’s eye.

The blast tore through the vulnerable area, damaging its brain and sending blue blood spraying into the air. The Aberrant lurched backwards, its arms flailing as it struggled to maintain its balance.

It stumbled into a half-raised structure behind it, its enormous body crashing against the exposed poles and steel beams. The metal supports pierced into its back, holding it momentarily in place as its weight drove it deeper into the wreckage.

With a final, heavy shudder, the creature collapsed against the structure.