Hector closed his eyes. With all his perception focused on trying to find some trace of Qi, he checked the entire region. His range at Gold was reasonable.

Again, he found nothing.

"Damn. Were you able to find anything?" Hector asked Rim.

She opened her eyes, coming out of her state of concentration. "Nothing. That creature must have some kind of veil."

Hector sighed. The battle against the Draco was going well. They were not standing a chance against his and Rim's Oversoul.

However, that lasted only until the creature arrived. Hector didn't know how, but when he first laid eyes on the monster, he realized it was a Class B.

The monster was a humanoid lizard, which used Qi of thunder and poison. The resemblance was clear.

At first, Hector thought everything would be over. After all, he couldn't defeat a Class B on his own. But, the monster, at the first opportunity, lunged at the Draco clan members themselves, wrecking all the cultivators.

Hector and Rim took advantage of the slaughter to escape. Try to escape, at least. They couldn't feel the monster's presence, but they didn't feel it for the first time, either.

"What do you think happened? Are the others also dealing with similar situations?" asked Rim. She was worried, after all, there wouldn't be many survivors left in the face of a Class B monster attack.

"It's hard to say. My guess is that this monster was an exception. The Slayers are competent, and if the invasion was generalized, we would spot many more signs of fighting around the area. I think the creature must have found a hole in the dome, and entered that way."

Rim brought her hand to her head, thoughtfully. "Could be. The problem is that the monster that invaded us was just the monster that a part of the Draco had in their core. I can't believe that it was just a coincidence."

"Indeed, it is strange."

Hector turned his attention to the surroundings. Next to the earthy smell left by the forest, there was something different. Unable to orient himself by Qi, he jumped into a nearby tree in order to expand his field of vision.

At first, nothing caught his attention. The forest was vast, and stretched all the way to the horizon. The view of the school grounds was always breathtaking. It was the kind that screamed endless power and wealth.

Attentive, he looked at Rim. More and more, she was surprising him. In the last battle against the Draco, her power had been pivotal in their victory against the clan members.

When he laid eyes on the cultivator, however, a chill took over his soul.

The monster had found them.

Quickly, Hector activated his Oversoul. He felt the fur growing on his skin and the horn growing on his head. Screaming would be a waste of time.

Like a bolt of lightning, he came down on the creature with all his might.

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"Hector? Wha-" was all Rim managed to say before the impact.

The ice covering Hector's body vibrated with the impact against the beast. The creature grabbed him and threw him aside with a roar of rage.

Rim wasted no time. As soon as she got up from the impact, she quickly activated her Oversoul. With agile movements, she threw at the monster the same weapons she had used against the Draco. Metal wires covered the creature.

"Take that, monster!" shouted Rim. By now, the oversoul covered much of the cultivator's body, turning her into a metal lady.

The problem with her Oversoul, Rim discovered soon after advancement, was that moving so much metal, even with the aid of Qi, was extremely costly.

Thus, her mobility was somewhat impaired, even though she could defend herself against physical attacks.

When the monster headed in her direction, Rim braced herself. She created discs in the region of her arms, so as not to let the monster bite her limbs.

The creature attacked, maddened. Scratches and bites were constant, armed with a force that would be impossible to contain without the Oversoul.

Rim hoped her weapons would be effective against such force. As she fought, she took steps back and let new weapons fall at the monster's feet.

The creature, however, just ignored them. Cables snapped, and explosions whittled away as if they were mere gusts of wind.

When Rim's back touched a thick tree, she gritted her teeth. Things were not going well.

But then, the white knight reappeared. Hector struck the monster full in the face, holding a huge hammer in his left hand.

At this point, the cultivator looked more like a monster than a human. His skin hidden beneath the fur, and the horn on his forehead was just the icing on the cake.

"Try attacking from a distance! I'll hold what I can," Hector shouted.

Rim knew that was just an attempt to postpone the inevitable. They were not strong enough to finish the creature.

Hector did what he could. Maneuvering Qi like he had never done before in his life, he jumped toward the monster. Each blow of his hammer swept the grass with a shockwave, such was the force he used.

In his left hand, Hector used a shield the size of his entire body as defense. With each blow from the monster, he had to spend Qi to recover the shield.

The creature was more agitated than ever. Saliva dripped from the monster's tongue, hungry for the cultivators.

With Rim's help, Hector was holding the monster back. That is, until the inevitable happened.

"We're out of ammunition!" cried Rim, in despair.

Hector gritted his teeth. He jumped toward the monster, desperate. At that attack, he put new layers of ice on his armor and shield. This would be his last chance.

With a leap, his hammer flew towards the creature. The weapon met the monster's teeth, which shattered on impact.

When Hector tried to move the weapon, however, he realized. The monster has understood his attempt, and had taken the blow to the face on purpose, to trap his weapon.

Hector let go of the hammer. He quickly analyzed his core. There was no Qi left for another weapon.

When the monster flew towards him, all he could do was raise his shield. The creature pressed against him, Qi of electricity and poison eating away at the cultivator's defense.

His bones trembled, unaccustomed to that frightening pressure. He felt Rim take up a position beside him, reinforcing the shield with metal Qi.

"Idiot! Get out of here, I'll hold him down," Hector said.

"Shut your mouth. You run away from here, prodigy," Rim replied.

At that moment, they both realized that no one was going to get out of there. Just like all the challenges in the previous years, they would face death as a duo.

Suddenly, a sound of wind, as if a hurricane had blown, filled the ears of the cultivators.

Hector and Rim felt the pressure on their bodies disappear.

Not understanding the situation, they carefully put their shield aside until they saw the monster. Now the creature was bisected on the ground, cut down with a single strike.

With the sound of breaking leaves, Rim and Hector quickly looked to their side.

There, a one-armed swordsman, with black sash covering his torso, was looking at them.

"Huh. That stubborn was right this time," the man said.

When he saw the curious looks from Hector and Rim, he laughed.

"Come on, let's go. It might not be safe around here."

With a glance, Rim and Hector decided. There was no other option. If not for the swordsman, they would be dead by now.

With the last remnant of energy, they both set off toward their savior.