The battlefield was louder now. Flames lit the dark sky in brief flashes, and the smell of scorched fur and blood hung thick in the air. Mo Fan wiped the sweat off his brow as another beast fell, its body collapsing into the dirt. He could feel the difference in himself. His fire was responding faster, the star map forming with a clarity he hadn't felt before. He wasn't just surviving anymore. He was attacking with purpose.
Lu Jun was the same. Every cast he released was flawless, smooth, controlled. His Water turned into a swirling barrier around one of the injured hunters, deflecting a claw strike before his Metal arced forward like a sharpened blade. The beast roared and staggered back. Lu Jun didn't even blink. His stardust was circulating too evenly for him to be called a novice anymore. The battlefield had forced him into Intermediate One, and he moved like someone who had trained for months, not hours.
Xu Mang's lightning carved through the darkness in thin, controlled lines. The stardust behind it was steady, refined, and certainly not the unstable spark of a novice mage. He moved with a kind of quiet focus, his attacks hitting exactly where the hunter squads needed them. Even without summoning Wolfie again, his presence alone stabilized the line. When he landed a bolt into the eye of a warrior-level beast, a few hunters looked at him like he had become something else entirely.
"You three stay close," one of the captains yelled, but his voice died halfway through as the ground suddenly shook beneath their feet.
A roar swept across the battlefield, deeper, heavier, and filled with a dominance none of the previous monsters had. Trees bent away from the sound. Smaller beasts whimpered and scattered.
The commander-level monster stepped into the open.
Every student froze.
Mo Fan felt the air leave his lungs.
Lu Jun's hand trembled for the first time that night.
Xu Mang clenched his jaw and didn't move.
Intermediate One helped against warriors.
It meant nothing in front of this.
The pressure alone made their knees feel weak. The creature's presence was overwhelming, like a mountain was walking toward them. Even the hunter squads began stepping back, forming a loose wall without needing orders. No one dared try to attack.
Zhan Kong landed beside them with no warning, coat snapping in the wind as he straightened. His expression didn't change when he saw the monster. He didn't show fear. He didn't show concern. He only gave the students a sideways look.
"You three don't move," he said simply.
None of them argued.
The commander charged with the force of a falling boulder. Zhan Kong vanished from where he stood, reappearing at the beast's flank before the students even saw him move. His palm struck the monster's ribs, sending a shockwave through the ground. The commander skidded sideways, tearing up dirt and stone as it slowed.
Mo Fan stared with his mouth half open.
"Is he even human…" he muttered.
Xu Mang swallowed, feeling the difference between their levels like a chasm.
"That's a real mage," he said quietly.
Lu Jun forced himself to breathe.
"This is why none of us can touch a commander yet."
The monster lunged again. Zhan Kong met it head-on, the collision sending a rumble through the battlefield that made even the beasts hesitate. Hunters cheered in disbelief as their captain forced the creature back with raw power alone.
But even with Zhan Kong holding the commander at bay, the rest of the battlefield was growing worse. More beasts poured from the trees. Warrior-level monsters circled the flanks. Injured hunters struggled to stay standing. The line was beginning to buckle.
Mo Fan tightened his grip on the flame forming in his palm.
Lu Jun steadied his breath and gathered metal and water again.
Xu Mang stepped forward, lightning swirling at his fingertips.
They couldn't help Zhan Kong against something that enormous, but they could fight the swarm rushing in from every side. If they didn't cut down the warrior-level beasts, the hunters supporting Zhan Kong would fall, and then the commander would overwhelm even him.
So the three of them moved together, not through planning, but through instinct honed by the chaos of battle. Mo Fan ignited the closest beast, Lu Jun pierced another with a clean metal arc, and Xu Mang stunned a third with a bolt that cracked through its jaw.
Zhan Kong continued battling the commander alone, pushing it back step by step, but the students around him were beginning to understand something terrifying.
Even if Zhan Kong won,
even if the commander died,
even if the line held tonight…
Bo City would not survive this.
Not with how many beasts were still pouring from the forest.
Not with how quickly the frontline was being overwhelmed.
Not with how desperate the hunters looked behind their brave faces.
The three students were no longer fighting to win.
They were fighting to buy time.
And every second bought might be the difference between someone living and someone dying.
If you want, the next part will show the line collapsing for real, Zhan Kong ordering the retreat, and Xu Mang, Lu Jun, and Mo Fan helping civilians evacuate while the city begins to crumble.