Pillars of lightning came crashing down throughout Phirdaus.
They descended as rapid as rain, making it as if blazing titanic colonnade had formed over the vast jungle to support the ceiling which was the dark clouds in the sky.
The ocean of monsters emerging from Phirdaus was obliterated by the lightning hail. Reducing them to piles of charred substances.
Adding to the carnage, the dark clouds swirled and concentrated into a number of vortexes. From those swirls descended giant hurricanes which wrecked the land.
Trees were uprooted. The ground was turned. Monsters were swept in the chaotic current.
More hordes of monsters emerged to replace those that were destroyed by the lightning and hurricanes, but they immediately joined the fate of those that got caught within the disastrous storm.
The 5-star Lauressia took charge of manifesting the vast dark clouds that would aid in manifesting the lightning and hurricanes.
Yuxia and Matrias worked to generating those destructive forces.
While I enhanced and reinforced the synergies of their casting and directed the destructive forces toward the enemies.
With our combined effort, the hordes were eradicated almost instantly.
It was a powerful spell. Deservingly classified Seventh Circle.
I would have to expend all that I had to cast it on my own.
Before my seal's awakening, I could not even dream to attempt it by myself.
Casting such a strong spell early on would be risky since we did not know the full extent of the subquest.
But we were able to reduce the spell's cost by casting it through joint casting.
By combining the effort with the other mages, I only had to expend mana worth a Fifth Circle spell, which was less than a quarter of my mana capacity.
Matrias expended as much as a Fourth Circle worth. Yuxia was Fifth like me. While Lauressia took the brunt by expending Sixth Circle worth of mana.
We would had expended just as much mana to eradicate all the monsters through individual actions.
By casting a large-scale spell at once, we could ensure swift elimination of the enemies, which we needed to achieve swiftly given the time constraint of the mission.
"You really left us with barely anything to do, Vice-Master."
Andaman called out from below as he split a Prime Gatormole in half with his golden trident, piercing its tough shells as if they were foams.
Just as the 5-star Tsamudran said, there were barely any monsters left to fight in the fortress.
The storm eradicated most of the monsters charging through the jungle.
Those that survived through the onslaught would perish by falling into the lava moat.
Some Prime Gatormoles were smart enough to dig underground before the storm caught them and traversed deeper below the lava moat to reach the fortress.
Only they among the other monsters that followed them managed to get behind the walls alive.
Even then there were barely fifty of them at a time, about as many as we would face on the regular floors, and the heroes were able to quickly subjugate them as they crawled out of the holes.
I looked above and saw the Garudas having no problem countering the Prime Impianas.
Most of the flying beasts were struck by the lightning or got pulled into the hurricanes.
The Garudas had to make an effort to kill an Impiana on their own before the storm fell the monster.
I could see Kinnara getting slightly frustrated by how few the Impianas that the Garuda killed compared to the storm's.
"This is how it is done, Lord Andaman."
I told the Tsamudran High Blood.
I continued while keeping my control over the grand spell.
"Large numbers of enemies are supposed to be dealt by mages. That is the purpose of our combat abilities. And only with our spells that we could eliminate the monsters quickly, which you understand why must be done."
"Of course, Vice-Master. Your words are the sound of wisdom. I'm simply unsettled by how little we contribute to the mission so far."
Right at the end of Andaman's reply, I sensed five presences looming on the horizon.
They must not be ordinary beings for me to already detect them from this far.
Given how Andaman had suddenly turned his gaze beyond the walls, he must had sensed them as well. Lauressia did too. They were both wearing an excited smile now.
"I believe there is still plenty for you to contribute, Lord Andaman."
The Tsamudran nodded.
"Indeed. There are still foes, stronger foes, to be vanquished. The Quintal Trial never fails to break expectation, I see."
Soon all the lesser Prime monsters had died by the storm, the lava moat, and by my comrades' hands in the fortress.
There were no new hordes emerging from the forest.
No monsters were left except for the five I sensed in the horizon, looming ever closer each second.
Eventually, though they were still nowhere to be seen in plain view, they were now close enough for me to see with my eye.
A giant wolf-like creature with three bushy tails.
Its fur was as dark as midnight and changing in color as if to blend in with its surroundings. Its steps were swift and left barely any noise as the monster charged toward the fortress.
The second creature was a hill-sized gatormole with shells made of rock formation.
As it traversed underground, the creature formed a large mound which seemed like a moving hill.
The third was a humanoid tiger-like beast.
Lightning coursed through its fur, searing everything around the monster. It moved so fast that it often winked out in a flash of lightning and reemerged twenty to thirty steps ahead.
The fourth was a giant dark spider.
Gaseous slimy substance was oozing out of the monster's surface. Whatever the substance touched melted almost instantly. There was no doubt that the substance was the Dark Essence which tainted Fangli and Haoban as well as claiming Quinda's life.
[Final Wave]
[Danger!]
[Night Shadow Lv.48]
[Danger!]
[Groundeater Lv.48]
[Danger!]
[Blazing Strider Lv.48]
[Danger!]
[Doom Crawler Lv.48]
Dangerous creatures.
Each and every one of them.
The fifth one was not less threatening.
An impiana was charging from the northern sky. Its size was double of a Prime Impiana.
Instead of two or four, this creature had eight black wings.
Giant twisting golden horns covered the entirety of its head like a warrior's helmet. Rays of purple light penetrated through the small gaps of the horns, radiated by the glowing eyes of the Impiana.
I could sense the vast amount of mana the creature emanated.
[Danger!]
[Elder Impiana Lv.48]
Interesting.
Djhotti said that it was rare for Impianas to reach the elder phase. The last known Elder Impiana died four hundred years prior to Dunia's demise, claiming several Keepers' lives in its death.
They tend to die out after reaching their Prime.
The Keepers had a story which told that the Impianas' foresight ability became too strong as they got older and could not handle the vision they saw through the ability.
For this creature to last this long must show its resilience and strength.
It was not surprising for it to appear as a challenge in the Quintal Trial
"There are more monsters, Serafina. Shouldn't you direct the storm to kill them?"
Yuxia asked, he could now see them.
I shook my head.
"They can't be killed with the storm. It might be a Seventh Circle spell, but all it does is unleashing lightning and hurricanes. Those won't be enough for these monsters."
Upon my words, the mages and I terminated the spell casting.
All the lightning and hurricanes ceased to appear, the dark clouds above dissipated and turned the sky clear.
The other heroes gathered closer to the central tower after seeing us finished with the spell.
Andaman seemed to had warned them about the monsters.
Once the Garudas joined us on the ground, I spoke to the heroes.
"There are five strong monsters heading our way. Each party will take one of the monsters and subjugate them."
Our Seventh Circle spell might not be able to kill the monsters, but concentrated efforts by the parties should be enough.
[Time Remaining]
[19:31]
There was only limited time for us left that we had to divide our forces to take them down in time.
So having each party taking one monster would be the ideal plan.
The other heroes seemed to agree with me given the look on their faces.
I proceeded to assign the parties.
"Party 2 will handle the Groundeater coming from the west."
My eye had observed the creature.
Its main strength was its tough layer made of rock formations.
If Yuxia could destroy the layer with his spells and expose the monster, his comrades could kill off the creature easily.
"Party 3 will take care of the Night Shadow in the east."
The wolf-like beast was fast and had camouflage ability.
Ulrica and Graihan should be able to keep up with it while Vallerynne could detect the monster's presence with her magic.
"Party 4 will handle the Blazing Strider in the south."
Ulrica's party 3 would not be effective against the lightning beast concerning the Near-Kin's strength and Matrias's magic proficiency.
And direct closer-ranged confrontation would be too dangerous against such monster.
The Garudas would be a perfect fit against the creature given their long-ranged combat abilities.
"Party 5 will subjugate the Doom Crawler in the northeast."
This monster was even more dangerous to fight given the Dark Essence. Perhaps the most dangerous out of the four so far.
It would be too risky to let the other parties fight the creature.
The two 5-star Tsamudrans, however, should be able to handle the danger this monster possessed.
"And Party 1 will deal with the Elder Impiana coming from the north."
I said lastly.
My Demonslayer skill made it better for me to fight the Doom Crawler.
But the Elder Impiana's flight ability decided it for me.
It would be much better that our party was the one to face this creature.
The Tsamudrans would not be able to fully utilized their strength if the Impiana remained in the sky for most of the battle, even if Lauressia and Morivia could still fight the creature with their magic.
It would be best that they faced the Doom Crawler where both Lauressia and Andaman could be fully involved in the battle.
Considering the Impiana's magic abilities and foresight, I would be able to counter everything it might throw at us and provide an opportunity for my comrades to strike.
Yes.
This should be the suitable arrangement and the party leaders seemed to had come to the same conclusion as well.
Shriek!
The monsters were drawing near.
All the parties were readying themselves to face them.
Just before they all departed for their battle, I imparted one last message to the heroes.
"May you outlive your foe, my comrades"