A Huge Enemy Approaches

Tons of dust filled the valley that not even the rain could suppress.

Boulders were sent rolling everywhere that knocked down trees and left a trail of destruction in their path.

Melissa effortlessly dodged them before releasing her shadow daggers. She leapt high into the air before sinking them into the cliff to act as support. She dangled from them whilst being shaken from the earthquake and watched George.

George remained steady despite the shaking as his irises turned a faint demonic red.

Instead of dodging them, he would grab each one that passed in front of him and use their momentum to lift them above his head and toss them behind him in a graceful manner.

At the same time, he ran towards the collapsed rock canopy which was now a mountain of rock, boulders, and dirt. Luckily the onslaught of boulders only lasted around ten seconds before coming to an end.

*BOOM!*

The pile of debris exploded in brilliant fashion with a light blue radiance, sending a bunch of more boulders and rocks flying once more.

There were too many this time so George pulled out his dagger to slice a few in half while dodging others at an incredibly speed. Melissa who was watching this let out a 'wow' in her head from his sheer speed.

However, her attention was forced back at the incredibly light blue light.

This blue light turned into a brilliant light blue aura that seemed to ascend to the heavens as all the loose objects in the vicinity were pushed away.

In the center was Emma, surrounded by her shields.

All the other members had been pushed to the edge of the shield a long with all their equipment, backpacks, and tents. Everything was in disorder and chaotic. Bernice and Hester seemed to have been knocked unconscious. Abe had casted one of his skills which encased him in a layer of defensive energy. Despite that, even he seemed to be a little pale and in a state of shock.

Two of the shields had been destroyed by the impact and the third one had cracks. However, the third one quickly repaired itself by the rapid flow of standard magus.

Emma stood in the center of it all.

Her bloody eyes were closed but her hair flowed freely in the wind.

The sheer pressure she emitted was that of an S-rank, causing Melissa to gasp in shock.

'S-She's become S-rank?!'

...

Despite the Aeternum's population of twenty-one billion, roughly half a million are classified as rank S, a few hundred being rank SS, and twenty being rank SSS.

S-rank adventurers of any class are rare strategic forces with enough power to potentially destroy entire towns with their powers. Even the weakest classes have attributes much higher than any A-rank, and any attribute increase becomes exponential.

Melissa's employer who she was contracted to was a weak S-rank [Magical Engineer], but he would definitely cause mass casualties if he were to attack a town.

Those who successfully reach this rank attain [Hero] status and can finally feels the laws of the universe. Of course, to reach SS-rank, they have to become powerful enough to manipulate them to a small degree.

...

The natural laws in the vicinity trembled with Emma being at the center of it all.

Her eyes twitched as she tried to open them, but struggled very hard.

In the end, she fell unconscious and fell backward.

Emma's powerful aura retreated into her body while the shields turned into sparkles of light having lost their source of energy.

George instantly appeared next to her and gently caught her.

With a serious expression, her carefully scanned her body for any injuries and used some of his demonic magus to attempt to scan her internal body. However, the standard magus within her pushed it back with heavy rejection.

Melissa's appeared next to him in shadow form before morphing back to herself.

"Is she alright?"

"No external physical injuries but I can't if there's any internal damage. Aside from being very pale, bursting a few blood vessels in her eyes and her weak heartbeat, she seems to be breathing normally." George replied while carefully looking at Emma again.

However, the shaking ground made it a little difficult.

"Hold onto Emma for me." George got up and put Emma into Melissa's arms.

"What are you doing?" Melissa asked confusingly as she took her.

"To check on the others naturally." George moved so fast he vanished from his spot, appearing in front of the members.

Abe had activated his skill in time, so the impact against the shield was the least severe. However, he is still rank B so just the aura alone was enough to overpower him.

"T-Thanks." Abe took George's hand and was brought back on his feet still disoriented.

Everything had gone from a 1 to 100 within ten seconds of the earthquake starting.

His reaction time is naturally second to Emma having spent years fighting dungeon monsters and training his body as rank B. Plus, the cataclysmic events not too long ago have further strengthened his determination to remain alert even in mother nature.

George refocused his attention back on Bernice and Hester, carefully inspecting them.

"They're good aside from a few bruises and perhaps very mild concussions. They're healable with Bernice's healing magic."

"Thank goodness." Abe let out a deep sigh of relief.

Although he had barely enough time to protect himself, he could not get over to Bernice in time after Emma's aura sent them flying.

Aside from the obvious benefits of helping Emma's friend and trying to get on her good side, Abe has a very good impression of Bernice after their interactions together.

She has helped him on many occasions and tries to at least understand his feelings, something very few people in his life do except his parents.

Naturally he feels obligated to return the favor.

As such, he felt very nervous and slightly panicked when he realized Bernice had been knocked out.

"The issue now is..."

George focused in the distance at the source of the earthquakes.

The source was a giant slowly approaching creature with a menacing atmosphere surrounding it.

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Notes:

* I do not remember if I talked about the total population of the Aeternum Empire at some point and I cannot find such a chapter that mentions it. As such, I will be using rough estimates of what I think should be right. If someone finds the chapter I am talking about, please leave a comment so I can change this chapter.