Lev zipped towards the alert's location at the maximum speed he could manage, eating the distance at an incredible rate. Yet, none of that registered in his mind as it kept circling back to the recent goodbye.

Beatrice wasn't leaving forever, but with her settling into the new job and routine, and Lev's free time being taken up by aura training, they were likely only going to meet once before he had to leave Timberhold. Staying still had never been possible for him, and the thought of the itch acting up again during his stay in the Exalted's estate was already making him antsy.

The sensation was never fun to deal with. If anything, it made him feel like his muscles were slowly melting and his bones were on fire. Even worse, none of that was actually painful, only supremely uncomfortable, borne of his soul and not the physical body.

Then there was the matter of the kiss. Lev knew she had genuinely just wanted to make him happy with the gesture and didn't mean anything romantic. He appreciated it greatly too, but his side of things was much too complicated. The encounter with the windstrider warg was a constant reminder of his mortality, and that kiss… well, it was a slippery slope that he wouldn't have been able to recover from. One of his dying regrets was not experiencing love, and falling for her would've been far too easy.

Rejecting the offer was the right choice, even if it undoubtedly hurt Beatrice. Lev would have to do something to make it up to her.

Shaking away all those downer thoughts, he focused on the flight path to not collide with some random monster. None flew so close to the ground, but everyone knew there were plenty high above.

Minutes passed as Lev traced the alert's specified direction as best as he could. It only took an hour for the outer wall to come into view, with him having found nothing despite flying a kilometer above ground. The stealth formations ran at maximum strength all that time. He didn't fancy some avian monstrosity gulping him down in the blink of an eye.

Like Whitefall, Timberhold was present close to the outer wall, though activity in that side of the plain was considerably reduced. An alert could've been just a small orc horde sighted by weaker patrols, but those notions vanished when he saw the four people standing atop the walls. The suns were only just past noon, letting him see them clearly.

They hadn't noticed him yet, so Lev didn't show himself either. No monsters were visible anywhere near the wall, though the alert made more sense when he Identified the people. Three of them seemed like a team with how they were standing close, and the Diviner seemed to be a tag-along.

[Warrior - Level 290]

[Diviner - Level 278]

[Mage - Level 290]

[Warrior - Level 291]

A few seconds passed in silent observation before the Diviner turned to his bubble. Her eyes passed over its location before she jerked them back, locking onto the concealed construct.

"No need to be alarmed," Lev created an opening to show himself, already covered in armor and the improved enhancement formation. "I just arrived. Did you guys send the alert?"

"We did," the mage said, taking in his getup. "Newly evolved?"

"Somewhat," Lev answered and scanned the group in return. "I can hold my own, if that's what you're worried about."

"Even in front of a third-threshold monster?" one of the warriors, a woman, asked. Lev frowned.

"Depends. What type of monster?"

All four of them looked at the Diviner, who was obviously using some skill with her eyes glazed over.

"Insect type," she voiced in a hoarse tone, breathing heavily from the strain of divining about a much stronger monster. "Extremely tough carapace and dangerously fast flight."

"That's… a doable matchup for me," Lev added with a small nod. "What's the plan?"

"There's a total of twenty-three second-threshold beetles accompanying it," the diviner explained. "We need to divert its attention long enough to deal with them and wait for backup. Without the horde leader, they're not that strong."

"I use light," the mage shook his head. "None of my spells will do anything to it."

There was no need to ask the warriors. Going close to a third-threshold monster was certain death. That only left Lev to deal with the monster.

"Where do I lure it to?"

"The location doesn't matter," the diviner answered. "Are you sure you can survive?"

"As long as I only have to run, yes."

"Then it's settled. In less than ten minutes, they will reach the wall. It would be prudent to explain your powers in the meantime."

"I'll go first," the light mage began, leveling an undecipherable stare at Lev. "My main element is light, allowing me illusions and undodgable attacks. You can expect me to support you from the backline and distract the enemies. I don't know about you, boy, but don't oversell your abilities. This isn't the time."

"I'm a barrier mage," Lev returned the stare. "The winner of the tournament a few years ago, and the disciple of Alec Zar. Trust me, I can at the very least run away safely if things go wrong."

That was apparently enough for the Master team, who continued with the introductions. No one gave their names as the warriors explained their roles. The female was a body enhancer, and the male counterpart was a defender who used both a tower shield and earth mana.

Lev dipped his head after that before stepping back into his bubble. All of the Masters on the wall were able to track his bubble for a bit since they now knew it was there, but their eyes lost its location after he ascended a few hundred meters. They weren't able to find it after that.

A third-threshold monster, his lips were pursed in a thin line as the bubble hovered far above the outer wall, letting him scan far and wide with no issues. Let's hope it's a weak one, because a normal windstrider warg will just kill us all without breaking a sweat.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Tense minutes passed as they waited, none of the humans willing to give up the safety of the wall and scout ahead. Beyond the wall was a small stretch of grassland, no more than a few kilometers in length, before the grand forest's treeline took over, extending as far as he could see.

Monsters streamed out of the forest a little while later, their visage matching the diviner's explanation. Black carapace gleamed from atop their large forms, covering the beetles in an extremely tough natural armor. The monsters didn't move very fast however, and even as they sprinted to the wall, Lev knew he could easily outmaneuver them.

Things changed when the leader stepped into the open, dwarfing the rest with its sheer size. Huge dark mandibles clacked together loudly enough to be heard at the wall, as it unfurled its large wings to fly.

[Darkmetal Beetle Executioner - ????]

[Darkstone Beetle - Level 307]

[Darkstone Beetle - Level 310]

…

Five bright blue lances impacted its top before it could take flight, engulfing it in a bright explosion. Crackling flames roared for all of two seconds before a flap of its black wings scattered them. It launched upwards with an unholy screech, beady eyes locked onto Lev, who was already out of the bubble.

The construct was faster, but it could only be moved around like a vehicle. He needed to be able to move freely in every direction, and the armor's flight was the only option for that.

Dumping buckets worth of lightning mana into his armor, he imbued it thoroughly as the monster neared at an alarming pace. Without wasting a moment, he darted to the left, empowering his flight as much as he could by overloading his skills and enhancement formation.

It's actually falling behind, Lev noted with some surprise, and slowed down to let it come in range of his attacks. Lightning and fire streamed into his arms as he channeled mana into the hidden bubble, which turned out to be a mistake.

Four air bullets were launched as the beetle immediately swiveled towards the bubble, prioritizing the hidden threat. Lev immediately turned it around and powered up the driving formations, making it fly far past him to keep it at a safe distance.

None of the bullets had any noticeable effect on the beetle's carapace as they simply clinked off, similar to his earlier lances. They only served to piss off as it gave chase with reverberating screeches.

An overloaded lightning bolt tore out of his armor's palm, landing directly on its face with a massive blast. Lev wanted to slow down and observe the result before time slowed down to a crawl.

HOLY SHIT-

The thought was cut off abruptly when the beetle shot forward as a dark blur and dispersed the explosion, almost too fast even for his slowed Perception. Wind mana vibrated around its wings as Lev overloaded everything he could to move out of the way. His best efforts weren't quite enough, and one of the beetle's mandibles scraped against his right shoulder.

Enhancing that area's durability with the enhancement formation was the only reason Lev avoided being impaled. A deep gouge was left in the armor instead, which he hastily fixed along with the slightly damaged enchantment.

No longer entertaining any thoughts about holding back or keeping it on its toes, the stacks of arrows and lances in his bubble slowly flew out. All of them were enchanted, and he powered those formations before infusing them with lightning mana.

Killing the beetle was impossible for him— that much was obvious already. Even as it turned around from its dash, none of its front had any visible signs of damage from the lightning bolt. That only left the option of hopefully slowing it down with a rain of his projectiles, each strong enough to take down second-threshold monsters but not even close to hurting it.

Armorbreaker formations came alive on his lances by the dozens. The projectiles were infused with large amounts of lightning mana, Lev struggling to control the sheer amount with his mana manipulation.

Waves of lances flew at the monster as he kept creating distance, carrying the bubble with him. Air bullets joined in, doing no damage but slowing down the monster slightly further.

Explosion after explosion was left in a line as the unkillable monster slowly picked up speed. Lev was prepared this time, straining his mind to empower his movements in a burst while preparing all the attacks he could.

Time didn't slow down this time as he saw his enchanted lances clink against its shining exterior, devoid of any nicks or blemishes. They were just as ineffective as he expected. Veering sharply to the right, he dodged its lunge while intricately enhancing his armor.

An overloaded fireball landed on the monster's back as it slowed down mid-air, reducing its vision to zero and not letting it dodge the large bolt of lightning coming its way. It also found its target accurately, but this time the monster didn't rush out of the blasts.

Lev staggered mid-air as the monster's aura morphed into something far more terrifying than before. Mana roared into his armor to overload every single aspect of it and its enchantments as he suddenly found himself ducking huge mandibles that closed with enough force to stress his armor.

Fire and lightning rushed out of his palms in an attempt to create distance, successfully doing so as the attacks exploded underneath its body and pushed him away. Lev immediately retook control of his flight and dashed inside his bubble, banishing all thoughts of actually hurting the monster.

Kinetic energy took over as the construct accelerated, leading it further away from the hunters. He was keenly feeling the lack of Stargazer more than anything while steering the bubble, empowering its speed as much as he could.

The surroundings turned into a blur as Lev just barely outpaced the beetle and steered in a circle. He was ready when the monster slowed down slightly. Knowing what was to come, he waited until the last moment before the bubble dove under its charge. Not wasting the opportunity, he led it back to the first battlefield to check up on the other Masters.

Beetle corpses were strewn about the grassland, their massive bulk visible from a distance. The few that still lived were pierced by infused lances, disabling their movements or outright killing them.

A beam of light hit the executioner, bouncing right off the metallic carapace without a scratch. Lev cursed under his breath and changed directions again, leading it away from the hunters and deeper into the grand forest. He might've been able to hold back the monster with the help of the other hunters, but the chances of them dying were too high. The monster was much stronger than anticipated, and keeping it occupied was the best option. Diviners and strategists in Timberhold were most likely aware of the situation, and backup forces were probably on the way.

In the meantime, he had to do his best to stay alive. Lev returned to his roots and formed four giant lances inside the bubble, constantly weaving between the monster's dashes. Each of the projectiles was enchanted with armorbreaker formation before lightning and fire started to fill them up.

Except, his skinsuit protested immediately. Its enchantments weren't designed to channel that much mana, forcing him to slow down considerably.

Excruciatingly slow minutes passed as the lances were prepared. The moment there was enough mana in them, which was more than a quarter of his huge total, Lev took them out of the bubble while continuously dumping healing mana into his body to counter the mounting mana poisoning.

The first flew forward as a blur, utterly uncontrollable for him after getting launched. Even the extremely fast beetle wasn't nearly dexterous enough to dodge it, eating the huge lance head-on.

Red and blue dominated the skies from the resulting explosion, but the monster was far from dead. Deafening screeches resounded from deeper inside the expanding flames, before another two lances landed on the stunned monster.

Every single attack was empowered by the previous ones, yet there was no notification. Even worse, Lev knew the beetle was barely hurt, if even wounded at all.

The final lance also joined the mix before he prepared to run away at full speed. Nobody in the first response was nearly strong enough to deal with the executioner beetle, and it wasn't his problem any longer either. Backup was on its way, and the final option was to join up with them to try and take it down while fleeing with the remaining Master hunters.

Kinetic energy had just started to empower his bubble when the world subtly changed. The wind flowed smoother, suddenly tenderly caressing his bubble, and the sunlight also felt gentler. That was a mere prelude to the real event as a massive aura engulfed the area, seeping into his soul.

An involuntary gasp escaped Lev as his mana regeneration sextupled.

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