Victor looked at him silently.

Jake had clearly exhausted most of his mana during the first tide. Sweat covered his body while his aura had weakened noticeably.

In contrast, Victor appeared perfectly calm.

Victor had also grown taller recently. He now stood slightly above Jake in height, which only made Jake feel even more irritated.

Victor spoke slowly afterward.

"You should be careful," he said calmly. "You might die in the next tide."

Jake’s face twisted instantly.

"What did you say?"

Jealousy burned fiercely inside him now.

Victor’s appearance had changed drastically somehow. Combined with Diana’s obvious interest in him, Jake felt increasingly inferior despite refusing to admit it openly. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

However, before the argument could continue further, another terrifying roar suddenly shook the heavens.

ROARRRR!

Every awakener on the battlefield froze instantly.

The monster army in the distance began moving once again.

But this time, something was completely different.

The monsters were no longer charging chaotically.

Instead, they moved with terrifying discipline.

Defensive monsters shifted toward the front while ranged creatures positioned themselves behind them systematically. Fast aquatic beasts spread toward the flanks while giant sea monsters remained at the center like generals leading an organized army.

The expressions of the Sages changed completely.

"Something is wrong," one Sage muttered grimly. "How are they cooperating this efficiently?"

"Do not tell me an intelligent commander exists among them."

Fear quietly spread across humanity’s forces afterward.

Because everyone understood the terrifying implication.

Mindless monsters were dangerous.

Organized monsters were catastrophic.

Victor observed the reorganized tide calmly before a faint smile slowly appeared beneath his maskless face.

His eyes began shining coldly.

Finally.

Now the real battle was about to begin.

Victor slowly stepped forward while endless mana surged silently throughout his body.

"It is my turn now," he said quietly.

The second tide descended upon humanity like an organized army of destruction.

The monsters no longer charged recklessly toward the frontlines. Every movement they made now carried coordination and purpose. Defensive beasts with heavily armored bodies formed the outer layers while ranged monsters remained protected near the center. Fast aquatic creatures circled around the battlefield continuously and attacked weakened areas whenever an opportunity appeared.

Humanity’s formations instantly began falling into disorder.

A squad led by an Adept Rank commander attempted to pierce through one of the monster groups from the flank. However, the moment they advanced, dozens of giant sea serpents suddenly emerged from beneath the ground and cut off their retreat completely.

Screams echoed everywhere.

Several apprentice awakeners died within seconds.

"Fall back!"

"Maintain formation!"

"Healers to the rear!"

The battlefield rapidly became chaotic again.

Even the academy geniuses who had dominated the first tide started struggling heavily now. Their attacks were powerful, but the monsters were protecting each other perfectly. Every time a human genius broke through one defensive line, another group of monsters immediately replaced it.

The efficiency of the monster coordination sent chills through countless people.

A prodigy warrior from the Solaris Empire smashed apart an armored crab monster with his spear before three more instantly surrounded him from different directions. Nearby, the assassin genius from the Royal Assassins Academy barely escaped after a hidden eel monster launched a lightning attack from underground.

Even Elite Rank commanders began showing signs of pressure.

One enormous whale monster generated a gigantic water barrier that blocked several combined spells from human mages entirely. Another Elite Rank octopus monster continuously issued strange roars that caused nearby monster groups to reposition instantly.

Arthur observed the battlefield grimly from the sky.

His hands slowly clenched behind his back.

He had expected the second tide to be dangerous, but this level of organized resistance exceeded even his calculations.

If this continued much longer, humanity’s casualties would increase catastrophically.

Finally, Arthur exhaled heavily.

"Let the Legendary Rank awakeners take action."

Several people nearby immediately stiffened.

The battle had barely reached its second phase, yet humanity was already being forced to deploy legendary level combatants. This situation was far worse than anyone had anticipated.

However, before the Legendary awakeners could descend fully into battle, a strange pressure suddenly spread across the battlefield.

A violent current of wind exploded outward from somewhere below.

Everyone instinctively turned toward the source.

They saw Victor standing alone amidst the battlefield while calmly looking toward the advancing monsters.

A single fireball floated above his palm.

At first glance, the spell looked ordinary.

Then the fireball suddenly began spinning violently.

Wind mana erupted around it instantly and transformed the fireball into a rotating typhoon of flames. The air pressure generated by the spinning force alone distorted the surrounding atmosphere.

However, that was merely the beginning.

Victor’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The flames abruptly changed color.

Bright orange fire transformed into dark black flames radiating terrifying heat. The intensity increased so violently that even nearby awakeners instinctively stepped backward.

Still, Victor remained unsatisfied.

Hundreds of tiny metallic shards suddenly appeared within the black flame storm. They rotated at extreme speeds like microscopic blades hidden inside the typhoon.

Lightning followed immediately afterward.

Crackling currents surged throughout the rotating spell and amplified its destructive force even further. Then earth mana condensed around the unstable elements and forcefully bound them together.

The violent spell stabilized instantly.

Next, Victor added a glowing sphere of light at the center.

And finally a sphere of water surrounded the destructive spell so that sea water or other attacks couldn’t reduce it’s intensity.

The surrounding awakeners stared in complete disbelief.

Eight elemental attributes were now fused together within a single spell.

This was something humanity had never witnessed before.

Even the greatest prodigies capable of combining elemental magic could barely merge two attributes successfully. Some monstrous talents could combine three. Above three elemental affinity was considered as trash.

But Victor had fused eight different elements together simultaneously.

No.

There was another hidden fluctuation concealed inside the light sphere itself.

Space element.

Victor had secretly hidden a Space Crack spell within the core of the attack.

Nine elemental attributes.

The spell instantly radiated a monstrous pressure that completely surpassed the Novice Rank.

Even several Adept Rank awakeners felt cold sweat appear on their backs.

Victor looked toward the approaching monster formation and smiled faintly.

"Let’s see how it works."

Then he threw the spell.

BOOOOOOM!

The abomination of spells descended directly into the center of the monster army.

For one brief moment, silence filled the battlefield.

Then the world exploded.

A gigantic black and white mushroom cloud erupted toward the heavens while a horrifying shockwave spread across the battlefield. The ground shattered instantly while nearby seawater evaporated completely from the sheer temperature.

Everything inside the explosion radius vanished.

Apprentice and Novice Rank monsters were vaporized instantly without leaving even ashes behind. Adept Rank monsters suffered catastrophic injuries while countless defensive formations collapsed immediately.

Only the Elite Rank monsters near the center barely survived.

The entire battlefield became silent.

Humanity stared at the destruction with completely blank expressions.

Even the monsters paused momentarily.

Nobody could process what they had just witnessed.

One Sage slowly muttered in disbelief.

"What kind of monster is this boy?"

Far away, the surviving Elite monsters roared furiously.

They had sensed danger from that attack immediately.

Because for the first time, something had pierced through their coordinated defensive barriers completely. Even the barrier they used couldn’t stop the spell.

The surrounding monster groups instantly shifted direction.

Every nearby formation began charging directly toward Victor.