Skill Hunter -Kill Monsters, Acquire Skills, Ascend to the Highest Rank!

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A new phase of the battle began. They still fought, but less often than before. Now, their times in battle were interspersed with long breaks, as Ike and Wisp brought centipedes out from the earth to join the fight. Ike led the expeditions; as the fastest, he was best suited to kiting the centipedes. Wisp also made a lot of sense, with her full freedom of motion and the traps she could set to close off tunnels, so she came along too. Mag remained on the surface. His wings did little in the depths, and his long-range spells were better suited to air-to-ground combat, so he remained on support with whoever was fighting. Scar had asked to come along, once, but when she couldn't keep up with Ike and Wisp on the way out, she'd turned back rather than risk jeopardizing the mission. Rufus had the good graces to not ask to begin with, or maybe he was just too ashamed to spend too long around Ike alone, or considered the bugs beneath him. Whatever the reason, he never showed any interest in the centipede-gathering quests, and neither did Ike invite him. He didn't need to babysit anyone, for one, and for two, if Scar couldn't handle his speed, he was sure Rufus wouldn't manage it.

The monsters got stronger and stronger. There was no denying it. But with the centipedes, they could hold the line. The only question was: would the centipedes run out first, or the monsters? Both seemed endless, but both must have an end. Comparing two infinities against one another, Ike found himself praying that his infinity was larger.

At the same time, everyone was slowly growing stronger. Not at the same rate as the monsters, but nonetheless, stronger. It was barely noticeable at first, but the longer they fought, the more obvious it became. Their mana and aether pools increased. Their bodies strengthened. Even their minds expanded, as they were forced to focus at battle-pitch for extended periods. If not for the centipedes, they would have died regardless. It was only thanks to the centipedes, forming a buffer to buy them time to rest and heal, that they were able to keep fighting on. Ike was able to push himself harder, because he knew he could rely on the centipedes to buy him some rest time. Without that, he had to conserve some energy in case things went sideways. With the centipedes, he could go all-out and fight recklessly, pushing his absolute limits, since he had the safety rails of the centipedes to fall back on while he retreated to rest. Still, he couldn't throw all caution to the wind. Someone had to collect the centipedes, and by that, he meant himself.

The centipedes began to grow sparser. Ike had to run farther and farther to find them. But at the same time, the monsters showed signs of ending. They grew fewer, but stronger. And then the monsters… stopped.

Ike struck down a monster. Ashes flew, embers scattered, and for the first time in a very, very long time, the forest stood silent. He stood, looking around. No more black smoke poured out from the horizon. No more thunderous footfalls. Birds sang in the trees and insects cried out from the undergrowth, but no monsters stomped forth.

Wisp drew up alongside him. "What's going on? Did we win?"

Ike shook his head. "I don't know." There were no more monsters, but he hadn't seen or heard any messages yet. That mysterious voice hadn't declared the round over. He couldn't be sure, but he didn't have a good feeling about this, either. The monsters wouldn't just… stop coming. There had to be something more. Until the man announced his victory, Ike wasn't going to let down his guard.

"Hmm." Wisp crouched next to him, squinting up at the sky expectantly. Beside her, Ike stared into the forest, waiting.

The two of them waited. And waited. And waited. Between Ike, who was sure this wasn't the end, and Wisp, the ambush predator, the two of them settled in to wait until something definitive happened.

Leaves crunched behind them. Scar cleared her throat. "So, uh, is that it?"

"We're waiting," Ike said.

Wisp put her finger to her lips. "Shh!"

"Oh. Okay." She leaned in. "Why are we being quiet?"

Ike shrugged. He didn't know what was coming. There was probably no reason to be quiet, but he didn't have a reason to be loud, either. And with the risk of an unknown foe before them, he was more inclined to wait quietly than to fill the silence.

"Is the trial over?" Rufus shouted, his voice echoing from the castle's walls.

"We don't know!" Scar shouted back.

Ike and Wisp exchanged a look. Wisp tutted. "All these humans being absolute humans. You're the only one who even comes close to getting it."

"I know, right?" Ike replied, shaking his head back at her.

The sky darkened. All four of them gazed upward, waiting.

There weren't clouds. Ike would have been happy if there were. Instead, it was the sky itself that darkened, changing from blue to pitch black, as though night had abruptly fallen. But there were no stars in this pitch. No twinkling lights in the depths. Nothing but pure, utter, complete blackness.

"Uh oh," Ike muttered.

"No kidding," Wisp replied.

A bright red light shattered the pure black. Like cracks through glass, it spread through the black sky, twisting and cracking further with every moment. The sky bulged outward, as if something pushed on its other side, and the red light glowed brighter as the cracks widened. Something creaked, horribly straining, barely containing whatever awaited on the far side of the sky.

A voice sounded in Ike's ear. "This, we could not kill. This, we had no choice but to seal away. With every year, the binds grow weaker. Now, they are pushed to their limits. The ropes fray. The manacles rust. Slay it, O hero, or next year, there might not be a trial, but instead, a slaughtering."

Ike glanced around, startled, expecting to see the others reacting as well, but instead, they all gazed upwards, eyes blank. He touched his ear. Am I the only one who heard that? Then… am I the only one still valid to complete the trial?

Or… is this even part of the trial? He gazed upward like the others. The sky groaned again, and he swallowed. A monster they couldn't defeat. For a long time now, he'd suspected one thing: that the trial was formed from a fallen city, a city overwhelmed by a vastly more powerful force. At first, he'd thought it was mortal in nature, another mage army that slayed the city in ordinary combat. But as the waves of enemies marched on, he'd started to suspect something else, something more nefarious… His eyes tracked upward. Something terrible enough to make the sky shatter.

There was only one way out. They were locked in here until the trial ended. Either they killed this thing, or this thing killed them. Ike clapped, putting his aether into it. A thunderous boom rattled over the forest, and everyone stared at him.

"That thing up there—that's the end of the trial. That's the final boss we've been working toward. This is it—this is the end. Do or die. We kill this thing, or die trying. Don't hold back. Holding back means death. Fight until your last breath. If you've held anything in reserve, any equipment, any technique, hold it in reserve no longer." He made eye contact with Rufus, far away on the castle wall. "I say this not to empower myself, but to preserve your own life, and the lives of everything and everyone you know and love. That thing destroyed the city that stood here—the powerful city, ruled by a king strong enough to unite this entire region. We are now the only thing that stands between it, and escaping to ravage the region once more.

"This isn't my hometown. This isn't my battle. But I came here to fight, and I will fight to the death for you. For those who live here—treat this as the existential threat to your entire livelihood and bloodline that it is. Do you understand me?"

To his surprise, a hearty Yes! Returned, all the warriors speaking at once, whether Scar's, Rufus', or Ike's own men.

Ike turned back to the sky. A horrible tearing sound echoed, and a gash ripped open the heavens. A clawed hand pierced through, rushing toward the small collection of warriors. The hand was as large as the castle they protected, blackened to molten ash, and emanated a fierce aura of at least the Rank 4 level—and that was the hand alone.

Ike braced himself. His eyes lit with battlelust, and in his hand, the Hungry Sword sang as all its teeth trembled in sync. He didn't flee, but lowered his sword, circulating his Hammer Sword technique throughout his whole body, his all put into the oncoming strike.

Beside him, all the others did the same. Auras glowed and weapons hummed. And still their energy did not outstrip the raw power of that one hand.

Nonetheless, I will destroy it, Ike resolved, and leaped to meet it.