There were only eight of us left.
Goblins and ogres kept pouring into the central square from east and west.
The imperial army reinforcement might had arrived and I was certain they would be able to kill all the monsters.
But the army definitely would not make it to the city before the statue fell, should we left things as they were.
"Jonah, help the others protect the statue!"
I told him.
"What are you going to do?!"
"Buying us time!"
As Jonah charged down the stairs, I ran inside the city hall.
There were dead goblins inside the buildings. All were piling up at the entrance, felled by arrows.
No doubt Darius and Tarran eliminated those as the monsters tried to reach the statue through the hall's back entrance.
I ran past the monster corpses and climbed through the stairs which led up to the turret our party went to at the beginning of the trial.
Along the climb I noticed some people, the city hall officials and even some guards, cowering in dark corners.
Considering the huge horde of monsters outside, I did not blame them to be terrified.
But the sight of them hiding while my comrades were dying outside left a terrible taste in my mouth.
I hurried through the steps and finally made it to the turret atop the building which overlooked the entire city.
After using telekinesis to break off a good portion of the stairs leading to the turret, in case some goblins decided to follow me up here, I observed the battlefield below.
The entire inner wall district had been trampled to the ground by the ogres.
Monsters were pouring in from the torn down eastern and western gate situated on the walls, which fortunately still stood.
All of the creature were heading toward the statue on the central square, where my comrades desperately tried to protect.
My comrades were strong. But they would soon get overwhelmed.
They would not be able to hold on until the reinforcement reached us.
I had acknowledged my faults were the main contributing reasons as to why our situation had become this dire.
If I could begin to atone my unforgivable sin, this endeavor I was about to attempt would probably be the closest thing that can be defined as atonement, though still short by a long margin.
I raised my hands and peered them out of the turret.
My mana started to flow out from my vessel.
While preparing to create the golem cores back in the lobby, I managed to broadened my knowledge on other subjects of sorcery. Broad enough for me to know how to attempt this set of spells.
Instead of condensing the particles into a hot dense ball or slicing them into thin threads, now I needed to cool and loosely attach them together like a fabric.
I expended more of my mana and the loose fabric grew larger. It expanded all over, flowing like waves.
I repeated the process over and over until I felt a bundle of flowing fabric had formed beneath my palms.
['Serafina (★★★★)' has obtained the skill, 'Basic Water Magic'!]
['Serafina (★★★★)'s Basic Water Magic has levelled up thrice to level 4!]
With the image of the bundle in my mind, I chanted the spell.
[Maha Varuna]
Great mass of water manifested in front of my palms, swaying back and forth in rippling waves.
I activated the spell.
[Burst]
The mass of water streamed forth like a geyser and crashed to the central square below.
[Flow]
I spread my arms over my chests and the enchanted water flooded through the open space and swept the goblin riders and ogres.
All the monsters around the city hall were devoured by the flood.
The great current split into two directions and carried all the vile creatures out through the eastern and western gates of the inner walls.
Having flushed all the monsters away from the statue and out of the inner wall district, all that was left was to keep them out.
I joined my hands together and casted another spell.
This time I made my mana penetrate the ground below.
I forced my magic particles to become one with the millions of the rocky grains composing the solid surface.
['Serafina (★★★★)' has obtained the skill, 'Basic Earth Magic'!]
['Serafina (★★★★)'s Basic Earth Magic has levelled up twice to level 3!]
Once I felt my mana had become one with the earth, I chanted the spell.
[Maha Bhumi]
I spread my arms once more and faced each hand toward one of the gates on the walls.
[Quake]
The ground by the gates rumbled. Great cracks formed through the tiled streets.
I threw my hands to the sky and activated the spell's final stage.
[Arise]
Towering earth pillar as tall as the inner walls rose on each of the gate, blocking the two entrances completely.
The ogres on the other sides tried to break the pillars down with their brute strength.
With each smash, the ogres managed to form a crack along the earth towers.
The pillars stood strong. But in fifty to sixty ogre smashes, they would crumble.
However...
[Human Army Lv.??? x4827]
Right beyond the eastern side of the outer walls, beyond the city of Loro, thousands of human soldiers were eradicating the ocean of monsters sieging the city.
The humans' warcries echoed throughout the valley, defeating the roars of the monsters.
My comrades below fell to their knees in relief of the sound of the reinforcement.
I kept my gaze patrolling back and forth between the two pillars on the east and west of the central square.
The ogres kept pushing through the blockades despite the sound of their allies being slaughtered outside the walls.
The giants persisted on with their endeavor.
Smashing their shoulders and fists again and again.
There were only less than a dozen push left until the pillars would crumble and allow the monsters to march to the central square, to the statue, once more.
But at three smashes remaining, when the pillars had already turned into piles of fragmented blocks from the base to the peak, the ogres stopped pushing.
The rumbling of the crumbling pillars was now replaced with the dying roars and shrieks of ogres and goblins.
The sound of their flesh being torn by blades resonated throughout the inner wall district, all through the central square.
The dying cry of the monsters persisted on until it was completely overcame by the roaring cheer of men.
Chants of victory songs resonated throughout Loro, throughout Surga Pass. Sung by the thousands of soldiers parading the grounds riddled with monster corpses and drenched in their dark blood.
It was a sight that surely did not happen in the true reality I recalled of Loro. Of Dunia.
While being drowned in those extravagant notes, a window appeared before me.
[Stage Clear!]
['Serafina (★★★★)', 'Jonah (★★)', 'Shanny (★★)', 'Trudy (★★)', 'Darius (★★★)' levelled up!]
['Zecht (★★★)', 'Norn (★★★)', 'Tarran (★★)' levelled up!]
[MVP – 'Serafina (★★★★)']
[Reward – 80,000G, Basic Wind Elemental Stone (D-), Tear of Malaikat (S), Book of Malaikat (S+), Fragment of Malaikat (SS)]
[Congratulations on clearing the tenth floor, master!]
[The lobby's name will be changed to 'Dunia'!]
[The exploration dungeon, 'Damai', has been unlocked.]
The familiar bluish white light soon engulfed me.
The sound of the soldiers singing throughout Loro and Surga Pass began to fade.
Once I was fully trapped in the white dimension, everything went quiet.
The light gradually dissipated and I found myself standing in the mirrored chamber.
My comrades returned alongside me.
All of them were drenched in both dark and crimson blood. Of the monsters' and their own and their allies'.
Our wounds were rapidly healing now that we had returned to the forged land. Even Trudy's severed arm had regrown anew.
Despite the lobby's healing power, though, fatigue of the battle still washed over us all.
The 3-stars looked weary and defeated.
They might had been experienced warriors before coming to the forged land, but there was no doubt the tenth floor trial was the biggest battle they had ever faced in their lives.
On the other hand, Trudy and Tarran, the 2-stars who just experienced their first Quintal Trial, remained petrified with shock, still in disbelief they just survived the hellish nightmare.
For us who just went through their second time, however…
Shanny stared around the room, toward the eight, only eight, people who returned.
She stopped her gaze at me. Her eyes were full with contempt.
The woman muttered intensely under her breath before she stomped out of the mirrored chamber.
"All of that trouble just for a stupid book and a stupid rock!"