Chapter 301: Swallowed Whole
The battlefield of Sector K-22 was absolute madness. Explosions rocked the broken terrain, mana beams clashed against floating transport pods.
Above it all, the massive glowing red circle hung across the sky like a second sun.
Its pull was merciless... every few moments, a couple of transport pods was ripped from the air and dragged screaming into the light.
Each pod had at least five students within and now over a hundred pod had been sucked in which meant that up to five hundred students were gone.
Victor had already made his decision.
"I’m going after them," he announced with a loud voice that cut through the chaos like a blade.
His voice had been so loud that nearby officers, instructors, and even battered students who were still getting pushed into the blue portals froze for a moment to look at him.
Immediately, the protests came.
"Are you insane?!" one officer barked with blood trickling down his temple as he held his shattered staff. "That’s suicide!"
"The pods that enter that red circle are lost, kid! Their destination is unknown!" another cried. "Don’t throw away your life!"
But the sharpest response came from Instructor Rukia. She stood in the middle of the chaos like a force of nature with her flowing combat robes torn but her expression unyielding.
She slammed her palm into the ground, summoning yet another of her titanic magical beasts.
She had already summoned up to three beasts today so she was seriously drained but she couldn’t watch Victor throw his life away.
A massive lion-wolf hybrid that shimmered with azure light phased out of the ground behind her with Its eyes locked on Victor the instant it appeared.
"You’re going nowhere," Rukia declared with the authoritative voice of a commander who would not be questioned. "This battlefield is already collapsing around us, and you think you can solve it alone? No—you’re leaving. Now."
The beast roared and lunged forward, transforming into a blur.
Its jaws snapped around Victor’s torso, partly trapping him in between its mouth.
The creature didn’t crush him since Instructor Rukia order was to restrain, not kill but its fangs locked down with the unyielding grip of an iron vice.
Victor arms were trapped within, with only part of his upper body visible outside the beast’s mouth.
Without hesitation, the beast began sprinting toward one of the evacuation portals in the distance, tearing through rubble and charging past clusters of stunned mana defense officers.
"Wait—!" Elyra cried from behind as she turned to Instructor Rukia. "You can’t just—"
"You’re going too," Rukia cut her off sharply. "This battlefield isn’t for youngsters. Leave it to us veterans. Get through the portal to safety."
Before Elyra could speak again, a robed mage rushed to Rukia’s side with a pale but determined face.
"We’re preparing a combined spell," he shouted over the noise. "If we channel all our mana reserves into a resonance disruption, we can destabilize that thing!" He pointed up at the swirling red circle, which pulsed violently as another pod was pulled into its hungry glow. "Once disrupted, the suction will collapse, and we’ll save the remaining pods still in mid-air!"
Elyra’s eyes narrowed. "Wait... what about the pods that have already been pulled in?"
The mage hesitated only a moment before shaking his head. His silence was heavier than any word he could have spoken.
Finally, he said, "It’s... a necessary sacrifice. Better to save the hundreds still here than lose them all."
Those calm words that depicted a logical cruelty... traveled around the surroundings.
Victor who was still trapped in the beast’s mouth, heard them loud and clear. And the fire inside him erupted.
A low growl rumbled from his chest that grew louder by the moments until it was no longer a growl but a roar of rage that echoed across the battlefield.
His eyes blazed like molten silver as he reactivated his Void Emperor Bloodline and power surged from his body.
Over five hundred students... Over Five hundred lives... His comrades... His peers.... His people...
Just like that, they were willing to write them off as "necessary sacrifice." In order to save the others.
Not on his watch.
The summoned beast was only steps away from the evacuation portal when Victor’s arms shot upward.
With sheer brute strength, he pried open its colossal jaws.
The beast roared while thrashing around but Victor’s fury drowned out its power.
His muscles strained as he slowly spread its mouth open... and with one final heave, he forced the beast’s mouth wide open and launched himself free.
The crowd gasped as Victor ascended into the air above the beast.
While in mid air, he twisted his body, wound his fist back, and then swung it downwards in the middle of his descent.
BOOM!
His punch crashed into the beast’s skull with the weight of a meteor. A shockwave erupted as the massive creature’s head whipped downwards.
It’s colossal body slammed into the ground hard enough to split the earth.
The surroundings froze.
Even the racket of spells and weapons seemed to quiet for that one, impossible moment.
Dozens of eyes turned toward the young man standing defiantly amidst the wreckage with his chest heaving and his silver gaze fixed on the burning sky.
Instructor Rukia was more shocked than anyone because even though she had summoned her weakest beast, it shouldn’t have been taken out with one punch by a student.
Victor pointed upward. "Since that red circle is a portal," he shouted. "then whatever’s gone in can still come out. You hear me? As long as it stays active... I’ll bring them all back!"
His words hit harder than any spell. For one heartbeat, even the veterans faltered, torn between awe and disbelief.
And then Victor moved.
Wind exploded around him as he activated Wind Dash, turning his body into a blurring streak.
In a single bound, he leapt over a hundred feet into the air, landing atop one of the pods still struggling against the pull of the circle.
The pod trembled violently beneath his feet, but Victor only bent his knees and sprang higher, launching himself toward the glowing red circle.
"Victor—!" Elyra cried out but it was too late.
The circle pulsed again as its suction intensified.
Victor was ripped upward into the glow and a few pods beneath followed afterwards.
The last thing the others saw was his silhouette framed against the bloody sky with his half-white half-black hair whipping wildly as the circle’s energy wrapped around him.
And then, in an instant, he was gone.
Swallowed whole by the crimson void.