SSS Awakening: I Can Create Skills By Will-Chapter 98: When Steel Meets Hunger

The battle grew even more intense.

More monsters poured from the broken stronghold, drawn by noise and blood. Vine beasts surged forward in clusters, their tendrils forming a moving forest of blades. Spider creatures climbed over walls and debris, striking from above with terrifying precision.

The brutality of the battlefield continued to reveal itself.

A new explorer failed to react in time. A spider’s leg pierced through his chest, lifting him into the air before tossing his body aside like discarded meat. Blood sprayed across the ground.

Another fighter was caught by multiple vines. The tendrils tightened from all sides, crushing bone with a sickening sound before tearing him apart.

Some froze at the sight.

Fear spread like poison.

"Eyes forward!" Ryn shouted. "You stop moving, you die!"

His voice snapped them back to reality.

The bronze squad answered with renewed focus.

They were called misfits for a reason.

Many lacked the raw talent of higher divisions. Some had unstable mana, some possessed strange or inefficient abilities, and others simply did not fit the structured growth expected by the guild.

But they had something else.

Experience. Persistence. Adaptability.

One fighter used vibration waves to disrupt the spiders’ balance. Another controlled wind bursts that exposed hidden cores. A bulky man with reinforced skin acted as a living shield, dragging civilians behind him while absorbing attacks.

Unrefined abilities, yet deadly in the right hands.

Arthur watched them with quiet respect.

They are not weak.

They simply survive differently.

Ryn’s command tied everything together. He shifted formations constantly, pairing fighters whose abilities complemented each other. When one line weakened, he reinforced it instantly. When monsters adapted, he changed tactics without hesitation.

At one point, three vine beasts merged their tendrils into a massive striking arm that crashed toward the squad.

"Scatter. Fire and pierce," Ryn ordered.

The group split, flames burning the outer layer while precise strikes pierced the exposed core. The creature fell within seconds.

Arthur found himself impressed.

Even he learned from watching.

Nearby, Kael the swordsman moved with growing confidence. The young leader of the new explorers fought with determination, his blade striking spider joints with increasing precision.

He stumbled at times, yet he stood again.

Under Ryn’s guidance, his movements sharpened.

Others followed his example, slowly shedding their hesitation. Fear remained, but it no longer controlled them.

This was growth in the middle of death.

The bronze squads continued pushing forward, guiding terrified civilians toward a temporary safety camp behind reinforced barriers. Some civilians wept. Some could not even walk.

Arthur helped lift an injured child, passing her to a healer without a word before returning to the front.

This is the real mission.

Protect the weak. Hold the line.

Time passed in a blur of battle.

The civilians were finally gathered and secured, and the bronze squads formed a defensive perimeter around them.

For a moment, it seemed they had gained control.

Then the ground trembled.

More monsters emerged from the direction of the dungeon.

Too many.

Even from a distance, Arthur could sense the surge of mana in the air. The silver and gold squads had not sealed the source. The break continued to widen.

Vine beasts and spider creatures flooded into the stronghold in greater numbers than before, drawn by the scent of blood and fear. Their forms gathered like a living tide, surrounding the defensive lines.

The civilians behind them began to panic.

"They’re coming again..."

"We’re going to die..."

Their whispers spread quickly.

Ryn stepped forward, his expression hard.

"Hold positions," he ordered quietly.

The bronze squads tightened formation.

Arthur looked ahead at the approaching mass of monsters.

This... is only the beginning.

The creatures advanced slowly, their numbers growing with every moment. Tendrils twisted together like a forest of hunger, and countless spider eyes reflected the dim light.

Even the experienced bronze members felt the pressure.

They had entered another stage of the battle.

And it didn’t seem like it was ending soon.

But the line held. And the civilians trembled behind them.

The monsters closed in faster than anyone expected.

In moments, the open space around the civilian camp disappeared under a flood of moving bodies. Vine beasts dragged themselves forward like a spreading forest, thick tendrils slamming into the ground while spider creatures crawled over rubble, walls, and even over each other.

"Hold formation!"

"Left flank, reinforce!"

"Fire users forward!"

Commands rang out from every direction as the bronze squads took their positions.

Arthur stood among his squad, scanning the battlefield while tightening his grip on his dagger. Different captains directed their groups with firm authority, their voices cutting through the chaos. He did not recognize most of them.

Except one.

Captain Veylor.

The same bronze captain who had escorted them back from the F rank dungeon the day they awakened.

Arthur’s eyes followed him instinctively.

Veylor stood at the front line of Division Three, his presence impossible to ignore. His armor was already stained with monster blood, yet his posture remained steady and relaxed, as if the battlefield was simply another routine task.

Then he moved.

A vine beast lunged toward a group of civilians, its tendrils snapping forward like whips.

Veylor stepped in.

A heavy shockwave burst outward from his outstretched arm, splitting the tendrils apart while the creature’s core shattered instantly. The force alone pushed nearby monsters back several steps.

Arthur’s eyes narrowed slightly.

That’s... bronze rank?

The strength behind that single strike was overwhelming. There was no wasted motion, no excess effort. Just clean, overwhelming power guided by years of experience.

Another spider creature leapt from above, its massive body crashing down with a sharp screech.

Veylor did not even look up.

His hand rose, and a dense surge of mana exploded outward.

Boom!

The creature was blasted away midair, its shell cracking before it hit the ground. He stepped forward and crushed its head beneath his boot.

No hesitation.

No struggle.

He moved like someone who had survived countless battlefields. Every action showed wisdom gained through years of fighting, and every command he gave carried calm certainty.