Warlock of Oceans: My Poseidon System-Chapter 391: Mutated Second Floor: The Grave of Grotesque Toads (9)
And though the monsters came in waves, endless and relentless, the trio stood strong—undaunted, unbroken, and determined to survive.
The battle raged on with no end in sight, the horde of monsters pressing forward, unrelenting in their assault. Each second felt like an eternity as the trio fought with every ounce of strength they had. Blood and black ichor splattered the ground, and the stench of death filled the air, but there was no time to register it—only survival mattered now.
Cyrus gritted his teeth, sweat dripping down his brow as he parried a lunging beast with a swift, upward slash of his aether blade. The creature’s claws scraped against the energy of his sword, unable to penetrate its glowing surface, and Cyrus used the momentum to spin, driving his knee into the beast’s torso. The force of the blow cracked ribs, and the monster staggered back, giving Cyrus the opening to bring his sword down in a lethal arc that cleaved its head clean off. He breathed heavily, feeling the exhaustion beginning to creep in, but there was no time to rest.
Another creature leaped at him, its fangs bared and claws extended. Cyrus sidestepped at the last second, letting the monster’s momentum carry it forward, and then he planted his foot into its side, sending it crashing into the wall. His aether flared in response, but the strain was beginning to show—his movements were growing slower, less precise. He needed a breather, but the monsters were swarming, and there was no room for error.
Athena was a blur of motion beside him, her lithe form dancing between the monsters with a grace that defied the brutality of the battle. She ducked under a sweeping claw, pivoting smoothly on her heel as she drove an elbow into the creature’s throat, momentarily stunning it. With a flick of her wrist, she conjured a small orb of fire and hurled it into the beast’s gaping maw. The explosion that followed was small but concentrated, blowing the creature’s head apart in a spray of black blood.
"Cyrus, stay close! They’re trying to split us up!" Athena shouted, her voice strained but still sharp with focus. She knew they couldn’t afford to get separated; if they did, the monsters would swarm them individually and tear them apart.
Cyrus nodded, catching his breath for a moment as he weaved through the chaos. He lashed out with his aether blade, severing a pair of claws that reached for Athena’s back. "Got it! We just need to hold this line!" He glanced toward Sylus, who was fighting like a juggernaut at the center of the battle. Read latest chapters at novelbuddy
Sylus was a force of nature, his massive greatsword cleaving through multiple monsters with each swing. His attacks were slow, deliberate, and devastating. He planted his feet, bracing his body as he swung the sword in a wide arc, the aether-infused blade carving through two monsters in one motion. But even Sylus was beginning to show signs of strain. His breathing was heavy, and his golden eyes flickered with exhaustion, though he refused to let it slow him down.
A hulking beast lunged at him, and Sylus shifted his stance, lowering his center of gravity just enough to sidestep the charge. As the creature stumbled past him, Sylus brought his sword down in a crushing overhead strike, the impact sending a shockwave through the ground that shattered the monster’s spine. But before he could catch his breath, another creature was already upon him, this time from behind.
With no time to turn, Sylus twisted his body, throwing his elbow backward into the beast’s snout, feeling the crunch of bone beneath his strike. The creature howled in pain, and Sylus spun, his greatsword already in motion. He decapitated the beast with a single, fluid motion, but the effort cost him. He was slowing down, his arms heavy from the weight of his sword, but still, he fought on.
The monsters were relentless, and they seemed to sense the trio’s growing fatigue. More and more swarmed forward, pushing them to the brink. Cyrus felt his heart pounding in his chest, the familiar rush of adrenaline not enough to keep his muscles from burning with exhaustion. He needed more power, more strength to push through this, and instinctively, his mind reached for his throne world.
But something was wrong.
The moment he tried to summon it, a strange resistance met him. It felt as though his mana had been cut off, severed from him completely. Panic flickered in his eyes as he tried again, concentrating harder this time, but no matter how hard he focused, his mana remained unreachable. Only the aether responded to him now, flaring from his palm but offering little comfort.
Cyrus cursed under his breath, deflecting another blow with his aether blade. "Damn it… why isn’t my mana working?" he muttered to himself, frustration gnawing at him as he swung his sword in desperation, cutting through a monster’s arm. "I can’t rely on just aether forever…"
Athena noticed the change in his demeanor and shouted, "Cyrus! Focus on what we have! Aether’s still working—use it! Don’t waste your energy on what’s not responding!" She was right, but it didn’t stop the gnawing worry that something deeper was at play here.
Cyrus gritted his teeth, channeling the remaining aether into his sword. The blade glowed brighter, crackling with energy as he pushed back against the swarm. He moved with newfound determination, even as his body screamed in protest. Every dodge was tighter, every swing more calculated. He began to incorporate his surroundings, using the crumbled stone pillars of the church as leverage. One moment he ducked behind a column to evade a lunging monster, the next, he vaulted over a pile of debris, using his momentum to deliver a downward slash that cleaved through a beast’s neck.
Athena, meanwhile, was using every ounce of her magical prowess to keep the creatures at bay. She conjured barriers of illusionary fire that confused the monsters, making them hesitate just long enough for her to strike. When two beasts tried to flank her, she dodged one’s swipe, spinning on her heel to blast the other with a bolt of lightning. The first creature charged again, but Athena was ready—she leaped backward, her foot connecting with the beast’s jaw in a brutal kick that sent it reeling.
Sylus, though slowing down, was still a bulwark of destruction. When a trio of monsters tried to swarm him, he roared, summoning the last of his strength to swing his greatsword in a full circle. The blade tore through the beasts with brutal efficiency, sending limbs and black blood flying. But he was breathing hard now, each swing taking more out of him than the last.
"Fall back to the altar!" Sylus barked, his voice strained but commanding. "We can funnel them through the narrow passageway!"
Cyrus and Athena exchanged a glance, both nodding in agreement. They needed to reposition before they were completely overwhelmed. Together, they moved toward the altar, Sylus holding the line with heavy swings of his greatsword, while Cyrus and Athena covered his flanks. Every step was a struggle, but they fought on, refusing to let the monsters gain the upper hand.
As they neared the altar, the creatures pressed harder, sensing that their prey was cornered. But Cyrus, Athena, and Sylus stood firm, even as exhaustion threatened to pull them under. They fought with everything they had, every move precise, every strategy calculated to keep them alive for just one more moment in this nightmarish battle.
And even as Cyrus’ mana remained unreachable, the aether responded to his will, surging brighter and fiercer with each swing of his blade.
The battlefield around the trio had become a graveyard of fallen knights, their torn bodies strewn across the crumbled church floor, victims of the relentless monsters. The creatures had shifted—what had once been a chaotic swarm was now something far more terrifying. They moved in unison, their attacks coordinated, almost as if driven by a shared consciousness. The monsters blended their movements, lunging in perfect synchronicity, covering each other’s weaknesses in a way that sent chills down Cyrus, Athena, and Sylus’s spines.
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Cyrus stood his ground, his aether blade humming with raw energy. He sidestepped a beast’s sweeping claw just as another lunged from his left. Reacting on instinct, Cyrus threw his shoulder into a quick pivot, letting the creature overshoot its mark. In the same fluid motion, he swung his sword upward, catching the beast’s underbelly and slicing it open in a shower of black blood. He immediately backstepped, knowing another strike was coming. Another monster pounced from behind the one he just killed, seamlessly filling the gap, its claws coming down toward his chest.
"Damn it!" Cyrus cursed, throwing his left arm up to block the incoming strike with a flare of aether. The impact jolted through him, his arm buckling from the sheer force of the blow, but the aether held long enough for him to slash upward with his sword, decapitating the beast in one clean stroke. He was breathing hard now, his body already at the edge of exhaustion, but the monsters gave no quarter. There was no pause, no room to breathe.
