Chapter 311: Primordial Terror: Unbreakable Vanguard

The five blasts smashed into her, a concentrated barrage of dark energy that defied all known physics of Galaxy Fall. The shockwave spreading all over the place, utterly destroying the whole cavern, reducing ancient rock to fine dust. Mirabella vomited a mouthful of blood, her internal organs ruptured despite her constitution. She was staring as the rocks fell down on the Cocoon, bracing for the slaughter of the trapped humans, but to her surprise, thick, pulsating black webs covered everything, protecting them from the rocks. The entity wasn’t just a mindless beast; it was fiercely protective of its harvested livestock.

​".....?!"

​SCREECH!!!!!!!!!!

​A loud, mind-rending shriek sounded all over the place, vibrating not just in the air, but in the very law of the world. The next moment, two screams sounded above her in the vertical escape shaft.

​’Master!! Carl and Grace fainted, they can’t handle the mental pressure!!’ Adira’s panic voice sounded in her mind through their spiritual link. The sheer aura radiating from the abyss below was too toxic for their lower-level minds to process.

​’Just get them to the surface.’ Mirabella yelled mentally, gritting her teeth against the retreat, and shot into the hole.

​"Hehehe... You actually survived five of my energy blasts, impressive."

Mirabella heard the voice echoing directly against her consciousness. She could felt something cold and ancient trying to invade her soul, and head defenses, seeking to overwrite her very identity. But due to her immunity and past-life soul tempering, she was unharmed by the mental intrusion.

​’What sort of creature is that?! One of its attacks can give five hundred million damage, all my defense stats is wiped out, and my health is 2 billion lower. If this continues, I might die without even knowing what is attacking me.’ She thought, wiping the blood off her lips with a trembling hand. She was staring at Adira and Cupcake who were moving rapidly ahead of her in the dark shaft. Both Carl and Grace were secured on Cupcake’s massive back, both completely unconscious.

​Her mind raced through her remaining arsenal. ’Adira could use Paradigm shift and reverse the time, but that is useless here! First, I don’t know the enemy; second, that attack came from different directions; third, it used it continuously, meaning it doesn’t have a cool down. And Adira can’t use that skill continuously!! I will have to know my enemy before thinking of a strategy.’ She looked up, finally see the faint grey light from the hole leading to the ruined estate.

​WHOOSH!!!

​Mirabella lowered her gaze to the ground, her eyes widening as she saw a blinding red light shooting towards them with twice their speed, completely ignoring the gravitational laws of the world.

​’What the hell is this thing! Is it another monster from the fourth world?!!!’ She thought in confusion, a knot of genuine dread forming in her stomach as Cupcake and Adira shot out from the whole, breaching the surface.

___

​Mirabella flew out of the whole, falling heavily on the ground in a tangle of broken armor and blood. She forced herself to her knees and turned her gaze to her stunned teammates who had been waiting in the courtyard:

​"ALL OF YOU!!! RUN!!! GET OUT OF HERE!!!!" She screamed at them, coughing up blood, her voice laced with a genuine, desperate panic. It was a sound none of them had ever heard from their invincible captain.

​{Warning!! Host’s Health point is 20%!}

​{All Defense armors and stats has been completely destroyed.}

​"Hehehe... So fun."

​The voice vibrated through the rubble, followed instantly by a cascade of apocalyptic system alerts that froze Mirabella’s blood.

​{WARNING!!!}

{WARNING!!!!}

{SYSTEM ADVICE HOST TO ESCAPE!!!}

{A DOMAIN RANK ENEMY DETECTED.}

​"Domain rank?! What the hell is this?!!" She asked in shock, her vast knowledge of the realms suddenly feeling terrifyingly inadequate. The term broke the established hierarchy of Beast, Realm, and World Bosses.

​{Domain ranks are the peak of existence, these are monsters born from heaven and earth. They have been from the very start of the universe.}

​’Born from Heaven and Earth?’ Mirabella was stunned. This wasn’t a product of the world’s integration or a spawned dungeon boss. It was a primordial anomaly, a cosmic error walking on the surface of Queens.

​"Captain!!"

​Her team rushed towards her, ignoring the suffocating aura of death rising from the crater. Their faces filled with shock and disbelief at the sight of her mangled state.

​"What happened?!" Rose asked in shock, her hands trembling as she gripped her legendary staff.

​"Didn’t you hear me!! I say run! Get out from here!!" She yelled at them, desperately trying to push them away before the primordial entity ascended.

​The group stared at one another, a silent conversation passing between the eight students, then at Mirabella, and shook their heads in absolute defiance.

​"We won’t leave you! If we’re going to die, we will die together!!" Austin yelled, his muscles straining as he was assisting the bleeding, unconscious Hitachi.

​"Yes!!" Daniel added, his face pale but resolute, also assisting Hitachi.

​"You, you guys?" Mirabella was speechless, her mind failing to process the illogical variable of their loyalty.

​In her previous life, survival was a cynical, mathematical equation. When faced with an unbeatable foe, her teammates poisoned her, and used her as bait, so they could escape with their lives. Betrayal was the foundation of the old world’s vanguard. But in this team, standing in the ashes of the apocalypse; they will rather fight and die with her than run. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

​She clenched her fists, her teeth gritted in a mix of terror and rage: "No! I get you all want to help, but don’t give your lives--"

​SLAP!!

​"...?!!"

​The sharp sound echoed loudly across the dead courtyard.

​Mirabella, Cupcake, Adira, Austin, David, Daniel, Precious, Kent, and Aurelia were stunned. Mirabella was utterly dumbfounded, her cheek stinging violently from the physical impact.

​’Did I just got slapped?’ She asked herself in shock, slowly turning her gaze to Rose. The team’s mage was breathing heavily, tears streaming down her face, having just struck the most powerful sovereign on Earth. Rose snapped at her:

​"Who do you think you are?!!! Do you think you’re an immortal?!! Do you think your life is worthless?!! Do you think we are cowards?!!!" She yelled, her voice breaking with emotion, her words stunning Mirabella into utter silence.

​"Look! We aren’t going anywhere! We don’t care how powerful the monster is! Not only that, but we owe you our lives, so why would we run?!! Even if we will die here, we will gladly die with you!!! Don’t think your life isn’t precious, to us, the whole dragon team! You are more than our classmates! You saved, trained and even helped us levelled up! How would we live with ourselves if we abandon you behind?!! So just get it in your head, we aren’t leaving you!! Not ever!!!"

​She yelled the final words with everything she had, declaring war not just on the primordial horror beneath them, but on Mirabella’s deep-seated logic. Behind her, Austin, David, Daniel, Precious, Kent, and Aurelia tightened their grips on their weapons, while the rest nodded their heads in unwavering agreement.

​Mirabella moved her gaze around the group before her, staring into the eyes of the warriors she had forged from soft academy students, utterly and totally speechless.

​’They are this determined?’ She thought in profound surprise, the cold, calculating ice around her reincarnated heart finally cracking.