From the abyss, three gigantic centipedes clashed against more than a dozen fighters — each creature like a tank of flesh and chitin, crawling forward and crushing everything in its path.Sand and stone were ground to dust, the earth itself trembling beneath their weight.
Each one stretched for dozens of meters, its armor gleaming with a metallic red hue whenever lightning streaked across the sky.They didn't roar. They didn't screech.Only the grinding, rasping sound of their armored bodies scraped through the battlefield — a sound so sharp it made the students clutch their ears in despair.
"Hold the line!" someone shouted, their voice hoarse, but the command was drowned out by screams.Dozens of spells erupted, magic circles flaring and spilling light across the ground.
One centipede lunged forward, maw splitting open to spit out a pulsating red mass — like a ball of living flesh — that splattered across the frontline.A whole squad was swallowed by the searing heat. Armor melted like wax.Just as one soldier was about to fall, a faint blue barrier wrapped around her — whoosh! — and she vanished from the battlefield.
[YOU HAVE BEEN LOSS]
The others stared blankly at the fading light where she had stood.
Jax burst through the smoke, grabbing a long sword that had fallen nearby. The blade trembled in his grasp, as if coming alive.He slashed, spun, ducked, laughing like a madman."HAHAHA!"
Every swing of his blade sliced through the air like a comet, shearing off chunks of the centipede's armor.Black blood sprayed across the ground, burning the grass wherever it landed.
"Centipedes, huh?" he muttered, voice slurred with drink and glee."Let's see how far you can crawl."
One surged from behind, mandibles snapping like serrated saws.Jax twisted, stabbing backward — then stomped the blade's hilt to snap it upward.He whispered a fire incantation, and the creature's head flared bright red before exploding into chunks of roasted meat.
Black ichor splattered over him, sizzling in the air.Jax grimaced as mana flared from his body, burning away the poison that clung to his skin.The alcohol in his blood warped everything — made him half lucid, half insane.
He raised the sword again, ready to charge the two remaining beasts — but froze.From the cracks in the ground, hundreds, then thousands of smaller centipedes poured out like a living tide.Their countless legs scuttled and clicked, a noise like rain on steel.
Jax snorted, grinning, his face flushed red from liquor."Again? Don't you bastards ever get bored?"
He drove the sword into the earth.A surge of mana exploded outward, tearing fissures through the ground.Pillars of flame roared skyward, swallowing the swarm and reducing dozens of centipedes to ash in an instant.
He staggered, swaying with drunken steps, yet each movement followed the rhythm of a lifetime's swordsmanship — refined chaos, controlled madness.The battlefield seemed to bend to his frenzy.Mana light coiled around him.The scent of wine, blood, and burning flesh merged into a strange, intoxicating perfume of war.
Deep within the dark ravine, even with a dozen others still fighting, all eyes were drawn to one lone figure standing amidst the firestorm.The battlefield had become a sea of flame, acid rain, and carcasses turning to ash.
Jax's laughter echoed through the storm."Interesting… but not nearly enough."
Perhaps it was the alcohol — or perhaps something else — but he no longer looked human.He was a demon of battle.
Steel clashed, blood rained, fire screamed across the ground—And then, the twilight sky dimmed, stained by a small patch of black.
A black lightning bolt struck the earth.It didn't crackle like normal lightning — it solidified, like obsidian shaped into a jagged spear.From the point of impact, black currents coiled upward, twisting and merging into a grotesque form — a massive puppet, its threads fine as spider silk spreading in every direction.
But those threads didn't bind flesh.They pierced straight into the backs of the students' necks — and even the centipedes.
The first soldier trembled. His eyes turned crimson. Then he screamed and swung his blade into his comrade's chest, face distorted by terror, hatred, and repressed despair.Another burst into laughter, tears streaming down his cheeks, before leaping into the flames.A third dropped to his knees, muttering prayers to a god he didn't believe in.
Above them, within the storm clouds, a colossal black hand took shape — not human, but the will of the lightning itself.Its fingers twitched, and each motion made the emotional threads tighten.
Screams and laughter fused into a symphony of madness.
And yet, in the middle of it all — Jax stood apart.The stench of alcohol surrounded him, his eyes hazy yet calm.The world wavered, colors twisted, sounds warped.
But inside that drunken haze… his mind was clearer than ever.
"Disgusting," he muttered, smirking. "Is that your will, Ron?"
A black thread brushed his shoulder — and burned away, devoured by the chaotic mana that exhaled from his body.
Jax tilted his head up toward the black hand in the sky.His gaze was wild, fascinated."So that's your Gift?"
He chuckled.Not the laugh of a madman this time — but something sharper, colder.His eyes still glowed red, tinged with leftover bloodlust.
While everyone else tore each other apart in a frenzy, Jax stepped into the center of the battlefield.He swayed slightly, but with every step, the mana around him rippled outward, dragging others toward him like a tide.
Each time someone was about to fall, a blue barrier enveloped them, turning them into streaks of light before teleporting them away.But that mercy only made the chaos worse —the fewer people remained, the deeper the madness grew.
Only thirteen were left standing.The sky above had turned completely black, stars glimmering faintly beside the full moon.And high above, the black hand clenched tighter.
Jax, the only one still sane, charged forward again — calm, calculating, yet utterly unrestrained.