"Aghh! Run!"
"Hurry up and enter!"
Countless civilians were desperate to enter the shelter building. Some espers had tried to direct them, but to no avail as panic had settled in their minds.
Observing the chaos from the corner of my eyes, I decided to shift my focus to the rupture instead. Even though it's chaotic, the monsters hadn't attacked either, waiting for the boss' command.
Several attacker espers had gathered after the announcement of rupture. Maybe because they noticed the presence of higher-ranked espers than them, they gathered around us and set us as their lead.
"My name is Maribelle Goldwin from strike team thirteen. We will help you guys eliminate the smaller ones."
An esper came up to us, representing the others who had gathered here.
Scanning their faces, I relaxed a bit. Having more help, especially in a rupture, made it easier to handle.
"I've called the HQ, reinforcement will be here soon. We will leave the minions to you guys."
"Understood!" Maribelle turned around after hearing my words and shouted toward the others, "Alright guys, time to work! Don't hold back!"
"Ah, Maribelle, could you also take our guide with you? It will be safer for him if he's protected by you guys."
Considering how an S-rank combat looked like and the size of that boss monster, I could imagine how big the damage it would cause if it fully manifested, that's why it's better to leave Ilyas to these people.
Maribelle nodded at my words and pulled Ilyas to her side, "Leave him to us."
With Ilyas' safety taken care of, I could fully turn my attention to the boss, it still hadn't stopped spawning hundreds of monsters.
"Let's go!"
Xain jumped into the sky, leaving a big crater behind. Once he was face-to-face with a monster, he curled up his fist and punched it hard.
KIEEK!
His punch wiped out tens of monsters within a straight line, most of them got crushed to death from the impact alone.
Cedric followed, creating an ice storm that sucked in most of them.
With those two leading the attack, other espers also attacked. Elemental spells, ranged attacks from weapons and other long-range skills were used to take down enemies floating in the air.
Fountain of blood fell down and I didn't miss that chance to collect them. Seeing the smaller ones had been reduced in numbers, I recalled my teammates.
"We'll start attacking the boss."
It's a humanoid with no eyes, ears, nose or mouth, in short, a faceless entity. We didn't know what kind of ability it had, as there's no information about it in the database.
Even though a boss monster appearing from the rupture wasn't uncommon, each of them had different characteristics that couldn't be predicted.
"Most of its underlings swarm around their boss to cover it, it would be hard to reach." I gave out my analysis.
"I don't think the mobs will stop spawning soon." Cedric replied.
He then waved his hand and created a huge ice lance.
"Strike."
The lance rushed toward the boss' heart, but it stopped mid-air in its tracks and slowly crumbled.
"A shield?"
Cedric pondered for a bit then said, "It might be one of those bosses that would be immortal unless it fully emerges."
If what Cedric said was right, killing the mobs and reducing their numbers would be more beneficial. It would put less burden to espers around us when the boss finally moved, as us – S-Ranks – couldn't help them by then. So, my teammates focused their attacks on the mobs and obliterated most of them.
"It has fully emerged!"
After almost an hour of slaughter, we could finally see the boss as a whole. It was a giant 4-meter half-humanoid half-octopus floating in the sky.
With a roar from it, the leftover mobs rushed toward the buildings – destroying them by slamming their body. Some rushed towards us, which were immediately handled by other espers.
"Team Zero, move out."
Using Cedric's ice as our foothold, both Xain and I rushed toward the boss. Contrary to our expectations, the boss didn't use his minions as shields, instead, it welcomed us.
A swipe of one of its tentacles disrupted our momentum. Another two also followed to attack each of us.
"Take this!"
With a punch, Xain blocked the incoming tentacle with his fist, while I dodged and slashed it instead. But the slash was shallow, not because the skin was thick or hard, but because it was slimy and agile.
Before I could manage to move out of the way, another tentacle struck down from above me.
I managed to dodge, but the persistent attacks didn't stop, so I made space for myself by launching blood spikes toward its humanoid body. As expected, the tentacles were forced to retreat and block it.
Stepping on one of the ices and regrouping with Xain, I said, "That's weird."
"What is?"
"The upper part of its body doesn't do anything."
Since it emerged, the humanoid part of its body stood still, with only the octopus arms wriggling around. I tapped my wristwatch to call Cedric.
"Sneak in some attacks to its upper body."
"Alright."
While we distracted the octopus arms, Cedric sniped ice lances at the humanoid body. With a more divided focus, injuring and cutting off the octopus arms became easier.
"Four arms left."
I looked behind my back, a blood pool as huge as a skyscraper had now gathered in the sky a distance away from us. An insurance I had been collecting since before the boss fight started.
And that insurance paid off.
After staying still all this time, the humanoid part of its body moved. Both of its hands touched each other and its body began to glow. From the start, its intent was to self-explode, and with a body that big, the explosion scale would be obvious.
It could wipe out the entire city.
"We're doomed."
One of the espers watching from below said with a shaking voice. This affected the other espers in the surrounding area as their morale went down.
"What are you guys afraid of?!"
Maribelle's shout was loud in their ears, making even Ilyas — who stood beside her — startled.
"Don't you see who's leading us?"
All eyes were directed toward the sky, to the only dark-haired person who wore a suit in a battlefield.
With a flick of his hand, blood circled around the boss' body, creating a dark red sphere.
His voice could be heard from the watch.
"Cedric, Xain, finish off the remaining mobs. All other espers, hide behind a building and cover your ears. This would be one hell of an explosion."
Hearing the order, Maribelle held Ilyas' hand and shouted, "Move! Quick!"
Within seconds after they hid, their vision turned white – as if a massive lightning had struck down the earth.
BOOM!
A delayed thunderous sound was heard next. The magnitude made their ears ring, covering it with their hands didn't help masking the sound.
But the impact of that explosion never hit them. They were still alive and breathing, with not a single injury on their body.
Maribelle peeked out her head. The monsters were nowhere to be seen, the rupture had closed because the boss had been defeated.
"Is he safe?"
Ilyas tugged her sleeve. Looking at his worried eyes, Maribelle immediately understood who he was referring to.
"Of course he is."
Helping Ilyas out from their hiding place, Maribelle gazed toward the lone man standing on the pile of debris.
"Why do you think he was called the strongest S-Rank?" She asked Ilyas a rhetorical question.
"It's not because he's the strongest attacker."
Ilyas' gaze followed Maribelle's, looking at the esper he had guided all this time.
"But because he's the last fortress of humanity."
"The Unyielding Tower, Ethan Dale."