My name is Rennard Corz. I came from a poor family with little hope of ever breaking out of the cycle that my family lives in. My family was killed by monsters when I was 13 years old and with nothing left, I decided to become an adventurer.

After countless years of blood and sweat, I am an adventurer who achieved level 57 and is one of the most powerful people on the planet. After reaching level 50, I was recruited into the military to work for them, and I happily accepted it.

Looking back, when I first started, I made great progress. I did not have a talent for anything; all I had was my will to move forward through my life.

Many hurdles were placed in my way to reach the top, but this might have been fate, as against all odds I won.

Today wasn’t my most dangerous mission, as all we had to do was seal a gate with the item they had given us. The monsters spotted were not too strong compared to our levels, and most of them were extremely distorted to the point they could not move.

Sounds easy? I thought so too until we met that monster. I was assigned the temporary captain for this mission. Everything went so well at the beginning.

Just as Rex was getting closer to the gate. (Red-haired dude.)

I saw an eye next to the gate sneakingly looking toward him.

Sadly, I was too late to warn him about the dangers as a tentacle moved at a speed I could not comprehend and pierced Rex's head.

“Ethan, back off!” I could only roar at Ethan as he was shocked at how Rex, not far from him, was pierced through his head without the ability to fight back or react at all.

“Emily, Lala! Come to me!” I called out to two companions of mine as they heard my voice, juked the monster they were facing, and came to my side.

“We need to use our skills to defeat that monster. Lala, can you protect me and Emily while we charge it up?” I could only turn towards Emily, as she is the only person I trust to watch my back here.

Emily was a purple-haired beauty with a charming look that could melt mountains, and many people tried to ask her out, but they were rejected mercilessly with no second chance.

On the other hand, Lala was a blond, long-haired woman with no extraordinary feature that would make her stand out from the crowd, unlike Emily.

“No problem, Rennard!” As I saw Emily smile, I held hands with Lala as we used our skills, but as I turned towards the monster with Lala, Emily behind us had a dark and cold look.

Lala has the skill of amplification, while I have a special skill, ‘Decagon Beam of Light’.

Skill Amplification Description

Amplify an ally's next skill by 200%. The longer the user amplifies a friendly user skill the greater the mana cost and the strengthening effect will be with an upper limit of 600%. Mana's cost will rise the longer the skill is used.

Skill Decagon Beam of Light Description

The skill can be cast instantly or charged dup. Instantons attack will only equal a 10% attack of the user, but the longer the skill is being charged dup the stronger it will be with a 500% increase. The damage is based on the user wisdom and intelligence stat. Once charged up a light beam will be shot out in front of the user and the more the ability is charged up the more light bulbs appear around the user with a maximum of 10.

Normally this skill is not strong and is not good to use, but with amplification, it will become much stronger.

Soon lights started gathering around us as we both concentrated. I charged up the skill while Lala amplified it.

Holding hands isn’t a must, but it is much easier, even though it is extremely embarrassing doing so in front of many people and declaring our relationship to the world.

For others, it wasn’t easy as monsters were around and attacking our unit, so they had to stop them from getting to us, and Emily killed all the monsters that tried to get close to us.

The box that held the crystal was not far from the gate as Rex's body was dragged into the cracks around the gate and likely eaten.

Ethan is coming back from the gate and looking at me for the next command, but you can see fear towards the monster that lays around the space crack around the gate.

Soon my skills charged up.

“Everyone out of the way!” With that said, I put my hands together in front of me, and 9 light beams appeared around my hands and one light in front of me as they connected to the one in front of me.

Soon a huge light burst out of the light bulb, incomparable to its previous size, and annihilating everything in front of it.

Except for the gate, which stood there without any fluctuation.

I did not see the eyes around the gate likely got affected by them.

“Ethan… go and grab the box!” I could only yell, but my body suddenly felt weak as I almost collapsed from the lack of mana. I used up everything to eradicate the monsters. Thankfully, the box was not damaged at all in the attack.

As Ethan heard my voice, he moved forward and grabbed the box.

Before he could take it away, a black energy wave went towards him.

As he dodged to the side, a person appeared from the space cracks.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Black hair with a purple line in it.

Eyes void of any light with the same face as Rex. He was not a handsome dude, but still above average.

His skin changed from white to charred black. His upper body was barren of any cloth, and only his trousers were left together, but his shoes were burned as his leg emitted a constant heat that melted the ground whenever he stepped on it.

As it moved, you could see ash flying off from his body.

With one look, I knew he was not a normal monster at all. It possessed Rex's body.

As it lifted its blades, they soon melted into its hands and turned their hands into blades.

Blue flames flickered on it as he moved them around in amusement.

Soon I saw it move; no, I did not see it. It appeared in front of Ethan with a look of delight as it looked at him with a grin.

“Ethan, get back here! Everyone prepare for Boss raid formation!” I could only yell at the people to get them together as everyone was stunned by the monster's sudden speed.

It slowly walked towards him and transformed back one of its arms to indicate to Ethan to attack him.

Ethan, using the monster as a jumping board, kicked it and leaped away, but the monster just smirked at him, not doing anything.

Ethan was pissed, but not crazy enough to know he is no match for this monster.

“Appraisal! Someone appraise the monster!” I could only yell at the mages at the back after I drank 2 bottles of mana regeneration potions to prepare to face off against that monster.

We need to know the monster's strength so we can properly face off against it or retreat if it is too strong, but currently, retreat is the better option.

Even though I waited for the mage's reply, it never came and never will, as I looked away from the monster and the back I saw blood fountains rising as the monster severed their heads.

Looking in front of me again, the monster disappeared. Afterimage!

The monster's grin faded away as it looked towards us again, indicating to attack it while it chewed on one of the mages's arms while showing an expression as it tasted some kind of godly food.

It is toying with us.

I knew we couldn’t defeat it, and as I reached for the backup caller, I felt danger and dodged to the side just in the nick of time as a bolt of black lightning flashed past me.

Soon pain assaulted my brain as I could no longer feel my right arm. Looking to my right side, blood is gushing out of the place where my arm should be, but only a clean cut was seen.

“Ugh!” I could only grab the missing spot where my arm should be to stop the bleeding as I looked at the monster while gritting my teeth.

In the monster's hand, no longer a chewed arm, but the crystal that sends information back to the military asking for backup.

I could no longer speak with them or hear them after I got close to the gate. I first thought it was because of the high mana density in the area, but it was this monster that blocked information from getting out of there.

As the monster smiled at us, I saw part of its chest turning into dust and drifting away, upsetting the monster as it moved towards me again with great speed.

Raising my shield with one arm, I prepared myself to block its attack.

Soon I felt great force hitting my shield as I was sent flying but got caught by Lala as I would crash to the ground.

“Oh my god, Rennard, you are bleeding too much! You need to get back and see a healer.” Sai Lala, as she worriedly looked at my arm and tried to stop the bleeding.

“If I leave, you're all going to die to that monster!” I could only grit my teeth as I looked at Lala, and soon Emily also came to help me. I can see the worried look on their faces, but what can I do? Who can stop that monster if not me, the commander?

As everyone finished killing the monsters and started encircling the monster, it looked around amusingly.

“Everyone helps Ethan reach the gate and seal it no matter the cost!” As I said this, I raised my left hand and saw the shield being broken from just one attack.

“Tetrabind!” As I moved my arm up and showed my palm, light lit up on it, and soon light appeared under the monster, and chains wrapped around its arms and legs, restricting its movement.

Skill Tetrabind Description

Light up the ground below the targeted enemy in a 5 meter radius and chains will come out of the ground restricting the opponent's ability to move and draining mana from the opponent while doing so. The longer the skill is being activated the more mana it will cost to keep it up. The base cost is 50 mana. (16.40 ft)

I hoped it would buy some time for Ethan, but the monster just moved a little and broke free from it.

Soon, with one movement, as if trying to cut me down, a force descended on my head, but before it could slice me in two, I felt someone pushing me away from the horror that crept up on me. Who was it?

I saw a face full of fear and tears. It was Lala as she pushed me away and sliced her in two.

Being pushed onto the ground, I felt everything just became quiet and dark.

“Please… Save… me…” I could see Lala's face tearing up as she asked me to save her as blood gushed out of her body.

“Rennard…Everything is... so dark.” I can feel the heat leaving her body as she is dying.

I could not move as tears blurred my vision. My left hand was shaking as I saw a small box dropping pockets.

Putting the black box away, I got up and looked at the monster as it killed people around it, no longer caring about me.

It was just a miscellaneous fish, and I was prepared to give it my all to kill the monster, but a force soon hit my neck, and everything turned dark for me.

***

“Can you connect to any member of Operation Narxon?” Said a person in a room with extremely advanced tech equipment and many people sitting and speaking in front of them as they operated the beast they were in.

The place they are is the flagship of the Empire! Invictus Prime.

“No, sir, I tried to connect to them and even see the situation around them, but we couldn’t make out anything as the mana density around the gate distorts any image or sound we try to capture.” Said one of the soldiers who operated in front of the commander as he tried to connect to the group.

“Keep trying and send some resonance units in so we can know if they need any help, but make sure if the situation doesn’t look good for them, the reinforcements are there immediately.” The commander could only make use of what he had.

They bombarded the gate not long ago, and they cannot do another bombardment, as the group will be caught up in it, and that time he will be the person responsible for the unit being wiped out.

So he can only wait for the resonance unit report before he can decide his next move.

Each minute without information was an eternity.

Soon information came back of the group being engaged with a monster that is slaughtering them.

“Move all units that can support them to reinforce them and not let the crystal be destroyed! The remaining forces start the encirclement of the monsters and wipe them out.” As the commander said it, he was unhappy hearing the news.

“Commander units 3, 4, and 7 can reinforce Operation Narxon.” Said one of the operators as he awaited his orders, not turning towards his superior at all.

“Move them at once; the more, the better.” Said the commander as he nodded and imagined the results of why those groups were able to reinforce them.

“How long until they arrive?” Said the commander, as he knew the monster would likely finish off the Narxon group if it took too long for them.

“11 minutes and 34 seconds, sir, until they arrive.” Said the operator as he moved his hands on the computer under him, it showed the image to the commander as they moved closer and closer to the gate, but the image getting worse and worse.

“Can anything be done to fix the image?” Asked the commander as he looked at the image with a frown.

“The technical department is working on it but has not made any progress until now.” Said the operator while sweating as the commander's gaze became sharper as it fixed on his back.

“I will remember this.” As he said this under his breath, he turned away and went out of the operation room.

“Sir, where are you going?” The operator was shocked at where his commander was going.

“Where else? To the battlefield. Those guys down there can’t defeat that monster at all, and even the reinforcements don’t have any powerful person to take care of that monster.” While saying this, the commander's voice became much quieter as he left the room, and the doors shut after him.

Everyone in the room was shocked by the commander going out personally.

He did not even appoint anyone to command instead of him! Who is going to give the orders now?!