15 minutes earlier
Chaos descended the wall.
Towering higher than the stronghold walls, Beasts body was a grotesque fusion of sinew, stone, and chains. Its skin is like cracked obsidian, with glowing red fissures where molten veins pulse. Rusted chains pierce its flesh, wrapping around its torso and limbs, digging into its back as if binding it. Each movement makes the chains scream against its body, the sound echoing like a thousand tortured souls.
This was a Layer 5 Beast, A giant tortoise like beast mutated in a Chain-Bound Mount, Every step forward and The ground trembled.
But It wasn't the Humungous beast that was slaughtering and jumping walls
It were the layer 3 and layer 4 beasts
Two layer 4 beasts,
A serpentine beast with translucent, glass-like scales that catch and refract light. Its elongated body shimmers with prismatic gleams, making it difficult to track. Its head resembles a cobra's, with jagged crystal fangs.
It was attacking from Northside wall.
A hulking quadruped Mammoth like beast with white fur matted by frost, tusks like icicles curving forward, and a thick shell of permafrost covering its back. Its breath steams in icy plumes.
It was attacking westside wall with a Layer 3 and Layer 5 beast.
There were Three Layer 3 beasts
A gorilla-like beast, its back covered with jagged rocks and moss, fists as large as tree trunks. chasing students on the west wall.
A humanoid bird with ragged wings, eyes black as void, and talons long enough to slice stone. Fighting Instructors and priests towards Eastside of wall.
A Serpentine nightmare that dwarfs the stronghold walls. Its body is a mountain of blackened scales streaked with glowing cracks, like volcanic rock bleeding fire. It slithered towards the South courtyard.
and amongst them were swarms of layer 1 and 2 beasts wearing down soldiers and priests.
***
( Mel's POV)
The stronghold's broken west wall.
Students and Instructors were engaged in Fights, Many of students died beneath swarms of monsters, even some Instructor's
The air stank of ash and burning marrow. Screams carried across the smoke-choked sky.
Mel's boots struck the stone ramparts, her body already coated in a sheen of dirt and blood. Her Thread of Rock trembled beneath her skin, the veins in her forearms pulsing like stone fissures.
While The Humungous tortoise and Icy Mammoth were still approaching, The west wall trembled again, stones crumbling into the courtyard as another colossal shadow loomed above.
A Layer 3 Ape Its roar shattered the night, carrying across the mountain's hollow like an avalanche breaking loose. Fists like tree trunks slammed the wall, sending boulders rolling inward, crushing screaming soldiers and scattering church clerics like insects.
Mel staggered onto the fractured battlements, coughing dust from her lungs, eyes locked on the beast's towering form. Its jagged back bristled with moss-coated stone, each boulder shifting as if the mountain itself had given the ape its armor.
Her heart thrummed with her Threads, burning. She whispered through gritted teeth:
"Rock. Wrath."
The wall beneath her surged upward, jagged spikes lancing out toward Apes chest.
The beast snarled and the ground shook.
The spikes shattered before reaching its heart. Ape ripped up a boulder the size of a carriage and hurled it like a child tossing a pebble.
Mel dove, stone shards slicing into her arm as the projectile obliterated a watchtower behind her. Screams echoed, then went silent beneath rubble.
She gritted her teeth, eyes narrowing. This wasn't just strength the beast was cunning. It was cutting off escape paths, funneling her.
The Ape leapt forward, the ground breaking beneath its landing. Its fists came down
"Rock!"
A wall erupted beneath her feet, taking the brunt. Still, the force of impact sent cracks splintering across her defenses and hurled her back onto the ramparts, blood spraying from her mouth.
She coughed, spat crimson, then wiped her lips. Wrath burned hotter.
Mel slammed her palms into the stone, veins glowing like molten rock.
"Wrath!"
The wall beneath the beast erupted into a forest of spikes, jagged spears of stone skewering its arms and gut. The beast bellowed, thrashing, tearing the stone from its body, blood steaming where it hit the ground.
But The beast wasn't finished.
Its eyes glowed with earthen fury.
The ground convulsed. Chunks of rock lifted around it and slammed into Mel's defenses, breaking down her barriers piece by piece. She barely dodged as one boulder smashed past her head, leaving her cheek lacerated. Another clipped her leg, and pain shot through her bones.
The ape charged, faster than its bulk should allow.
Mel whispered "Despair."
A heavy wave pulsed from her core, pressing into The Ape's instincts a reminder of futility, the suffocating abyss. The beast faltered, its charge stumbling for a heartbeat. Just enough.
Mel screamed "Wrath, Rock!"
Two massive stone pillars surged from opposite sides, crushing in on the beast like a vise. Bones cracked, its roar echoing like thunder as the pillars drove deeper, breaking its ribs. Blood gushed down its rocky back.
Still, the beast's arm lashed out, smashing one pillar aside and catching Mel in the chest.
The world spun.
She slammed into the ramparts, ribs breaking, breath torn from her lungs. Her ears rang.
But through the haze of agony, she saw the beast, staggering, bloodied, but still alive dragging itself free of her trap.
She staggered to her knees, palms pressed to the cracked stone beneath her, blood dripping from her mouth. Her eyes blazed, veins bulging with threadlight.
Despair. Wrath. Rock!
The ground beneath The beast split wide. Stone arms surged upward, jagged and claw-like, clutching the ape's body and pinning it. Spires rose and wrapped around its limbs, dragging it to its knees.
The beast roared, fists hammering, boulders tearing free from the wall as it tried to break loose.
But Mel leaned forward, whispering through broken teeth, voice raw and trembling:
"Sink."
The earth obeyed.
The stone arms pulled the beast down, down into the fractured wall, crushing ribs, skull, and spine. Its roars turned to choking gasps, then silence as blood and dust poured across the ramparts.
When the last echoes faded, only rubble and the twitching hand of the ape remained above ground.
Mel collapsed to her knees, gasping, clutching her broken ribs. Her body screamed with pain, Threads threatening to tear her veins apart.
And with that the reinforcements had arrived.
Immediately Instructor Veyra came and supported her
"The walls are a lost cause, A gate will open in inner Cafeteria, take all the students and Instructors and move, I'll go scout other areas which needs assistance"
Mel nodded and with a loud voice said
"Everyone students or instructors move towards Cafeteria for Gate, Now"
Everyone who were fighting with low layer beasts immediately followed behind her.