Deciding not to report the appearance of the corrupted creature to the authorities earlier came back to bite her. This time they were far from the walls and exposed. Countless thoughts passed through her mind and Maya realized she had to quickly warn the others before it was too late.

Maya gave Elena a sudden meaningful look, which she was quick to interpret from Maya’s stiff expression as if she were able to read her thoughts. Her eyes widened and her body had taken a ready mode for signs of any incoming danger.

Linda seemed to pick on their interaction.

“What’s wrong?”

But there was no need to answer as a sudden wave of apprehension spread through the crowd.

“What in gods’ name is that?” someone said, pointing in the distance.

Both Maya and Elena jumped at binoculars in their squad’s possession. Naturally, they were curious about the appearance of something they nearly encountered before.

Parallel to the stand, in the distance, a ferocious creature was charging at them with great speed. The beast resembled an overgrown, mutated stag, with damaged antlers tangled in vines and branches it picked up on its way here. The loud cheers of the audience carried through the forest must’ve drawn its attention.

Maya flinched at the sight of it and tried to focus a little better. Everything about it was wrong, and her gut was twisting in a knot while her hands shook in fear it invoked.

Its snout was covered in blood as if it were a carnivorous bloodthirsty beast that had just slaughtered its own herd. It was exuding an aura of a mad demonic beast that was rushing straight toward them with pure unadulterated intent to kill every living thing on its path. Its dirty and battered hide was full of scars and damages it sustained as if it had travelled a long distance fuelled by nothing but desire to kill.

The binoculars were snatched from Maya’s hand by Andrea, but Maya didn’t dwell on it, looking around to asses their standings. Right around them were mostly freshmen students in a panicked state reacting to the approaching doom. As she herself didn’t have a clue of how to deal with this crisis, Maya didn’t expect them to know either.

Their only hope was guards tasked to escort them here, but since they weren’t anticipating any threats during daytime, and were sent out just as a formality, their capabilities were unclear. Not to mention there weren’t enough of them to protect this number of students even if they could do something with the batons and long knives they were armed with.

The only senior, more experienced students were a few sophomore students who came to support their close friends in the race and the contestants of the air course who were already exhausted from participating in the competition. If a year of seniority gave them more of an edge over the freshman students, Maya was sceptical.

Also, phone service didn’t work this far outside of the walls, so quickly calling for help wasn’t an option. Their surroundings didn’t work in their favour either. If they don’t act quickly, soon they will get trapped in place, as the hill face the audience was cut into was too steep and tall to freely climb, The only direction they could move was toward the danger.

“What do we do? What do we do, Elena?” Maya was panicking.

It was the first time she felt responsible for so many lives. Considering she didn’t report the threat at the right time, they were forced to react to it without contingencies. The threat level was unclear, as it was something they hadn’t encountered before, but Maya’s gut was warning her that this creature could chew through a number of them in an instant.

Her conscience burned. She was painfully aware of her own powerlessness. Her priority was her friends, but she wasn’t ready to bear the responsibility of anyone getting hurt because of her error. As a Prima, she had to vow to do better in the future.

Before anyone could arrange their thoughts, the harrowing messenger of doom was nigh. It charged at panicking students who vacated their seats, trying to evacuate. Maya watched in horror, anticipating a gory scene as the student first in line braced for their demise.

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But something darted in front of the beast, drawing its attention away from the poor student. It was one of the air contestants who used her air manipulation for speed. She yelled out something and Maya realized all of the other contestants grouped in a formation.

And in an instant, a strategy was formed.

The contestants divided into two groups. One group was to use their superior mobility gifted by their element to quickly get back to the academy and the other stands—to warn of danger and seek help, while the other group, using the same mobility, was tasked with the arduous task of stalling for time, distracting the beast and keep it occupied chasing them and not focus on trapped freshmen students guarded by guards.

Although they managed to somehow organize themselves, it was hard to quell the students already overtaken by panic and chaos. The students that had already managed to leave the stand and scattered were now in the most dire situation as they weren’t as quick or as skilled to get out of the way and were free for the beast to pick from.

Air students did their best, but the creature would still sweep through the students like a freight train, severely injuring anyone who didn’t get away in the nick of time.

The students left on the stand, including Maya and her friends, all grouped together in order to make it easier for the air seniors to defend them. Many students who managed to get away decided to run for the other stands despite not knowing the terrain or their exact location without an escort.

Maya was astonished by the bravery of the senior students willing to face the danger in order to protect their juniors. They did it at a great risk to themselves. Clearly, no one present had known how the beast would behave, or what it was capable of.

But it seems its strength and speed were superior to them. With its explosively fast movements, even getting caught in the wind would cause an injury or disruption of balance crucial for them to get away in time. Not to mention its unnatural size that surpassed a moose.

One wrong move would be their demise, and a direct hit meant instant death.

The only upside was that it appeared mindless, wishing to tear into a target closest to it, allowing them to cleverly utilize a strategy and interchange between them to shift its focus.

Although successful so far, it was a race against time. Already exhausted contestants were on their last legs, desperately bearing through pain and injuries to keep moving.

And then, as if adding an insult to injury, the creature stopped in place, disrupting the flow of their air dance. A black smoke taking the shape of dozens of tentacles spread from its body in a sinisterly unreal display. Then they whipped through the air as if controlled by the creature, lashing at anything nearby.

The strange attack rotted anything it touched in an instant that it was hard to believe their eyes. Seniors were caught off guard, and some of them were severely injured being too close at the wrong time.

The smoke-like thing dissipated as suddenly as it appeared, but it left everyone even more terrified and hesitant to act. It had strange and unnatural power. Something their minds couldn’t even wrap around.

The girl who instigated their strategy yelled at everyone to get themselves together, forcing them to continue. Desperation was evident in her voice. If they lose morale right now, everyone will be in danger.

Soon, the creature won’t be the only danger as the night was approaching. It was clear the situation was becoming increasingly dire with each moment. Help wasn’t in sight and when the play of air ultimately falls short, Maya and all other students in the audience will be sitting ducks. Someone had to do something.

Turning back to her friends, Maya flinched, seeing Anastasia standing right beside her. She blended in so naturally that, if Maya didn’t know she was dead, she would mistake her for one of the students.

“Don’t even think about it,” her voice was stern.

“We have to do something. It is only one, and we are many,” Maya extended the expression of her opinion to the rest of her friends.

Naturally, she wished she could help. The only reason she didn’t step up already was because she didn’t trust enough in her own skill to keep herself out of harm’s way.

Her friends, all except Elena who readily nodded, were hesitant, but Anastasia didn’t hold back, warding her against anything that would put her in danger.

“You must survive even if others are hurt in your place!”

Maya was horrified by that statement. Despite understanding where Anastasia was coming from, Maya couldn’t just sit still. Especially because it did not guarantee they would stay safe.

Maya gathered four of her friends in a circle, discussing a plan she devised. After all parts were put in place, they exchanged looks with their pale faces, but all nodded in agreement. Maya took a deep breath.

“Let’s go!”