The air was thick with tension. The roars of the seven Demon Minotaurs echoed across the battlefield, sending a shockwave of fear through the remaining students of Celestial Tempest and the Black Squad.
Each of these creatures radiated pure destruction, their massive, horned bodies pulsing with dark energy. They weren't just animals. They weren't even mere monsters.
They were walking calamities.
Aether took a cautious step back, his grip tightening on his sword. "Seven A+ rank beasts… all at once?"
Kairos let out a low curse, his fingers twitching with flames. "This wasn't part of the damn mission."
Bolt, however, wasn't listening. His mind was still reeling from what had just happened. The shadow—the mysterious entity that had wiped out the first Demon Minotaur—had disappeared, leaving him with more questions than answers.
"You are progressing, but you are not ready."
The words gnawed at him, but there was no time to dwell on them. The Minotaurs were moving.
The largest of the seven—easily over four meters tall, its horns crackling with demonic lightning—let out an earth-shattering bellow and charged.
Its hooves thundered against the ground like a rolling earthquake, kicking up dirt and debris as it barreled straight for Bolt.
"Move!" Aether shouted.
Bolt snapped out of his trance just in time to dodge, rolling to the side as the Minotaur's charge obliterated the ground where he had stood.
The impact was cataclysmic.
A crater exploded outward from the force, chunks of earth hurling into the air like they weighed nothing.
"Shit!" Kairos hissed, already hurling fireballs at one of the Minotaurs to the left. The flames exploded against its thick hide—only to fizzle out instantly, doing nothing.
Aether's eyes widened. "Their resistance is too high!"
"We have to separate them!" Akane shouted as she vanished in a blur of movement, already maneuvering into a flanking position.
Bolt gritted his teeth. Seven A+ rank Minotaurs. Their raw strength, endurance, and resistance to magic made them some of the deadliest creatures possible to face.
We need a plan, Bolt thought. Fast.
The Minotaurs weren't waiting.
A second one—a hulking beast with jagged red scars running across its chest—roared and swung its massive axe downward, aiming to crush Kairos.
"Damn it!" Kairos barely had time to dodge, the force of the impact sending shockwaves through the battlefield.
"They're too strong!" One of the Black Squad members yelled as he tried to hold off another Minotaur with a barrier spell, but the beast shattered it effortlessly, sending him crashing into a tree.
Bolt cursed. They were getting overwhelmed.
And then—
Aether acted.
He rushed forward, sword in hand, and slashed at the leg of the nearest Minotaur. A wave of wind magic followed his strike, sending a razor-sharp blade of air slicing through the creature's knee.
The Minotaur staggered.
"NOW!" Aether roared.
Akane appeared out of nowhere, her daggers glowing with condensed energy, and slashed across its throat.
A deep wound opened—black demonic blood sprayed across the ground—but the Minotaur didn't fall.
Instead, it let out a horrific, bloodcurdling roar—one filled with pure rage.
It grabbed Akane mid-air and threw her like a ragdoll.
"AKANE!"
Bolt leaped into action, catching her just before she crashed into a tree. He barely had time to process before—
BOOM!
Another Minotaur slammed its fist into the ground, sending a shockwave that sent students flying.
"We can't keep this up!" Aether growled, breathing heavily. "We need to take them down one by one!"
"Easier said than done!" Kairos shot back, dodging another swing from an enraged Minotaur.
Bolt gritted his teeth. They were right. If they didn't act fast, they would all be wiped out.
And then—
Something clicked in his mind.
The automatic knowledge of the seven elements.
Fire. Water. Earth. Ice. Lightning. Wind. Shadow.
The fundamental forces that made up the world.
And he had access to all of them.
A plan formed instantly.
"Aether, Kairos, Akane!" Bolt shouted. "I have a plan!"
The three of them turned to him.
"Buy me thirty seconds!"
Aether didn't even hesitate. "You better make it count."
Kairos slammed his fists together, fire erupting around him. "Guess we have no choice!"
Akane exhaled sharply, shifting her stance. "Thirty seconds. No more."
Then, they attacked.
Aether shot forward, weaving through the battlefield like a blur, cutting and slashing at the Minotaurs with razor-sharp air strikes.
Kairos unleashed a torrent of fire, forcing two of the Minotaurs back, their bodies resisting the flames but not the sheer force of his magic.
Akane moved like a ghost, her daggers flashing in the light as she targeted weak spots—eyes, joints, pressure points.
And Bolt?
He closed his eyes.
Reached deep within himself.
And called upon the elements.
He felt fire surge through his veins—raw, untamed.
He felt water flow through his body—calm, controlled.
He felt earth anchor him—solid, immovable.
He felt wind rush through him—fast, free.
He felt ice crystallize around him—cold, sharp.
He felt lightning crackle at his fingertips—furious, wild.
And lastly—
He felt shadow wrap around him like a cloak.
The knowledge came instantly.
Not just how to use them.
But how to combine them.
He opened his eyes.
And the storm broke loose.
The ground shook violently as Bolt's aura erupted outward, tendrils of shadow and lightning intertwining around him.
The Minotaurs stopped, their instincts flaring in warning.
Bolt raised his hand—and the air rippled with elemental energy.
"Not so tough when the prey fights back, huh?" His voice was low, dangerous.
Then—
He thrust his hand forward.
Massive spikes of earth erupted beneath the nearest Minotaur, impaling its leg.
Before it could even react—lightning surged through the spikes, sending millions of volts into the beast's body.
It screamed in agony.
Bolt didn't stop.
He summoned a wave of ice, freezing another Minotaur's arms solid before shattering them with a concentrated wind blast.
A third Minotaur charged—only for Bolt to dodge effortlessly, channeling fire and water simultaneously, creating a scalding explosion of superheated steam that blasted it off its feet.
"Holy shit—" Kairos gaped. "When the hell did you—"
"Focus!" Aether barked. "Keep pushing!"
They pressed the advantage, striking hard and fast.
The tides of battle had shifted.
But just as Bolt prepared to finish one of the Minotaurs—
A new presence appeared.
A deep, rumbling laugh echoed across the battlefield.
From the shadows beyond the trees, a tall figure emerged—his crimson eyes gleaming with amusement.
"Well, well," the man mused, cracking his knuckles. "Looks like the Warborn is finally waking up."
Bolt froze.
He recognized that voice.
It was Kairos Vale.
And he was smiling.