Chapter 308: Glory of a Brave Warrior
"If this continues, the fragment of the Tree of Life won't be able to keep up!"
Rinloran could feel his hands turning cold as ice.
The fragment of the Tree of Life was quickly exhausting its essence, but the onslaught of arcane energy continued and showed no signs of stopping.
The screaming around them slowly disappeared, until the battlefield became eerily silent. Due to the volume of death, clouds of necrotic gas gathered to form a lingering thin mist over the battlefield.
"A team managed to survive… this exceeds my expectations…"
At this time, a sigh abruptly rang out beside them.
"Who is it?"
A cluster of bright yellow light reminiscent of a massive dragon's eye emerged before Ayrin, Rinloran, and Stingham's eyes and floated towards them.
"It's Holy Dawn Academy's team?!"
Ayrin and the others couldn't see who was hidden within the cluster of bright yellow light, but whoever it was, they were able to immediately recognize Ayrin's group.
"To think that you youths also entered this place. Ah, forget it. Since it is like this, you kids, live well so you may fight again for the peace of Doraster."
The person within the cluster of bright yellow light released another sigh.
The cluster of bright yellow light abruptly scattered and transformed into countless strands of gentle yellow light, completely enveloping Ayrin and the others.
"It's blocking the arcane energy…"
Rinloran's breath caught in his throat as he felt the gentle yellow light around them completely stop the onslaught of arcane energy.
"He…" Ayrin gasped as his body abruptly stiffened.
As the light scattered, Ayrin was able to catch a glimpse of the person within. It was an arcane master wearing the golden robes of Golden Stag Academy. But before he could clearly see their face, their body disintegrated into nothingness.
Several seconds more, and there was no longer any trace of the Golden Stag Academy arcane master.
"To save us… he let himself die?" Stingham was stunned motionless as a feeling he had never felt before pervaded his body.
Ayrin tightly clenched his fists, cracking his knuckles.
This arcane master was likely one of the elite teachers of Golden Stag Academy, which had some enmity with Ayrin due to its connection with House Baratheon. So why did he give up his life to save theirs? They hadn't even interacted before!
Was it due to his convictions as an arcane master, for the sake of protecting the future of Doraster? Did he sacrifice himself because he believed that they were a greater threat towards the Evil Dragon Followers than he was?
"Live well so you may fight again for the peace of Doraster.…"
The arcane master's last words incessantly rang within Ayrin's ears. He suddenly looked up to the sky and roared, "I vow to one day become a true brave warrior like you! I swear my life towards maintaining the peace of Doraster!"
As Stingham and Rinloran watched Ayrin scream towards the heavens, teardrops couldn't help but fall from their eyes.
……
A few more minutes later, the arcane energy of Apocalypse finally began to dissipate.
A ruinous scene emerged before them. It seemed like the world had come to an end – the ground was covered by the corpses of bats, arcane masters, and various other living organisms and the roars of zombies rang out across the former battlefield.
The bright yellow strands of light enveloping Ayrin and the others slowly disappeared.
Ayrin, Rinloran, and Stingham silently observed their surroundings.
Finally, their gazes all fixed onto the position of the Abyss of Evil at the very center of the battlefield.
Although it seemed to be quite a bit thinner than before, the dark purple pillar of gas continued to surge forth from within, bringing along with it various flames formed of fragmented particles. It was still an otherworldly sight to behold.
Ayrin took a deep breath and clenched his fists once more as he looked towards Rinloran and Stingham and asked, "Should we just charge in?"
"Although this skill slaughtered a large number of our arcane masters, and those from the Kingdom of Doa, it also did the same for the Evil Dragon Followers. Thus, it is likely that this skill was saved as a last resort for if they couldn't hold on anymore. There must be a decisive battle going on within the Abyss of Evil," Rinloran slowly reasoned, his voice ice cold. He nodded his head and said without any hesitation, "We charge!"
"I just knew you guys would say that!" Stingham cried in dismay as he looked at Ayrin and Rinloran. "I must have gone crazy to believe that following you guys in there is correct."
"You idiot!" Rinloran groaned, but his eyes were filled with warmth as he looked back at Stingham.
"Charge!"
Rinloran put his hand out before Ayrin and Stingham.
Ayrin hesitated, and then put his fist over Rinloran's hand, "Charge!"
"If we charge, then we charge! If we die, then we die! We almost died just now anyway!" Stingham shouted, an expression of apprehension as he closed his eyes and put his hand on top.
"Charge!"
The three youth began running across the ruinous plain.
The Dark Queen Mermaid followed behind them. As for Lotton, his figure disappeared from view, but he was surely with them.
"When the darkness before dawn twisted and whirled, And the Evil Dragon's forces gradually unfurled…
A world-destroying crisis, despair uncurled, be a flickering flame of hope in the verge of extinction;
Arise and fight, brave warrior!
Fight with courage, brave warrior!"
"Even when my body is drenched in blood, the light of the Holy Dawn will never fade…
The glory of a brave warrior remains forever!
Fight courageously, brave warrior!"
As they charged towards the Evil Dragon Abyss, Ayrin shouted at the top of his lungs.
At first, it was only him. But Rinloran and Stingham quickly joined in.
An imposing aura began emanating from the three youths as they sang in unison and charged forward!
……
"It's the anthem of Holy Dawn? Where is this coming from, why is it so loud?"
Three arcane masters wearing the robes of the Office of Special Affairs stood beside the edge of the Abyss of Evil, surrounded by hundreds of zombies.
Although these three arcane masters managed to survive the terrifying taboo skill, they had consumed many of their arcane particles in the process. Combined with their consumption during the earlier fights, they were practically completely exhausted.
As a result, the three were currently relying on their physical abilities and close combat skills to ward of the incoming zombies.
Although these zombies created by Apocalypse were rotting and dripping with bluish yellow pus, they were in fact many times physically stronger than their living counterparts.
This was mainly because they didn't feel pain. Even if a part of their body was pierced or broken, they would continue to attack without pause.
And the moment the three arcane masters received the slightest scratch which allowed the bluish yellow pus to infiltrate their bodies, they would immediately transform into a zombie.
"Which team of Holy Dawn is it?"
On the verge of exhaustion, the three arcane masters were barely holding on. But as they heard Holy Dawn's anthem ringing through the air, they immediately became invigorated once more, their hands and feet regaining their vigor, sending any zombies which charged towards them flying backwards. To their pleasant surprise, the singing also attracted the attention of many of the zombies on the outside of the encirclement. As the sound of heavy slams and collisions rang out in the distance, the three arcane masters felt completely alive. Whoever this new arcane team was, they were like a spear piercing through.
But less than half a minute later, the eyes of these three arcane masters all widened to their limits.
"This?"
"It's not a team of elites? It's the team of students from the national tournament?!"
The ones sending zombies flying in the distance were not elites and teachers of Holy Dawn Academy whom they were familiar with, but three baby-faced students!
And even more shocking was their momentum going forwards. The three youths seemed to not know exhaustion. They quickly recognized Ayrin, who had become famous during the national tournament due to his fight against Rinsyi.
Maybe they were too loud, or maybe they just seemed to be too threatening, but before long, all the zombies surrounding the three arcane masters had changed targets.
"That… that is a Dark Queen Mermaid?"
"No way?"
"But those are definitely dark arts…"
"Why would it wear robes and follow their team?!"
Finally able to relax, the three arcane masters' eyes scanned across Ayrin's group. Upon seeing the Dark Queen Mermaid following behind Stingham, their eyes widened once more.
"So deep…So this is what the Abyss of Evil looks like!" Ayrin exclaimed as he looked around while continuing to knock down the zombies which approached him.
He closely observed the staircases which spiraled downwards into the dark purple smoke. There seemed to be a circular altar or platform of some sort which gave off feelings of individual arenas located at the end of every section.
The stairs themselves were purplish red and looked extremely oily. It was as if the aura of evil had seeped into the stone.
It was evident that there were many people fighting at the bottom within the smoke.
At this moment, Lotton's voice abruptly rang in Ayrin's ear, "I sense that the presence of Evil Dragon particles has abruptly increased. Stop tangling with these zombies! Charge down there with them!"
At the same time, pale white particles abruptly covered the heads of the three zombies before Ayrin. Three headless zombies fell to the ground.
"The presence of Evil Dragon particles has increased? Are the Evil Dragon Followers trying to awaken something?!"
"Rinloran! Stingham! Follow after me!" Ayrin shouted as he shot through the gap created by Lotton towards a nearby staircase.
"You zombies, come with us! As for you guys, hurry and leave!" Rinloran shouted, first towards the zombies and then towards the Office of Special Affairs arcane masters who had exhausted their arcane particles.
The three arcane masters sucked in deep breaths of air and then began fleeing as Ayrin and the others began quickly descending the dark purple stairs towards the depths of the abyss. The zombies streamed after them like an unstoppable flood, with several falling into the abyss because there were simply too many of them to fit on the staircase.
"Come with me!" Lotton said as he suddenly emerged from a cluster of pale white light before Ayrin.
