Tenth Wave [1]

"Good luck, Shin, and stay safe."

Shin nodded at Selena's well wishes.

With Yamato on his hilt, Shin turned his gaze upon the Demons ahead.

There were over 2,000, but each Demons were spread out with the Viscounts leading them.

Their plan was simple.

Despite Shin's proposal about tackling the wave alone, Selena would be the one to handle the Viscounts. Since most likely, the Marquess wouldn't show up if it didn't sense Selena.

They'd hope they'll be able to clear the wave before the Marquess shows up.

Since the Marquess wasn't actively part of the wave, they could just clear it and trigger the Exit Portal without actually fighting the Marquess.

It was a race against time, a gamble.

But they didn't have much of a choice. It was either die trying or be stuck in the Abyss forever.

Fortunately, Selena was a Sixth Star Mage, she could easily kill the Demons with a lift of her finger.

But unfortunately, if they opted for that, then Selena would exhaust her mana, leaving her defenseless if the Marquess actually shows up.

Conjuring wind currents, Shin focused the condensed mana threads on his legs.

Crackle! Boom!

Dashing forward, Shin made his way towards the colony of Demons, quickly making it pass the Viscount.

Slash!

With the wind currents directly boosting his swing speed, Shin's blade easily slices through the Demons, as their heads started rolling on the ground.

Three..

Ten….

Eighteen…

Twenty-five….

Shin's kill count kept increasing in a miniscule amount of seconds.

He didn't even need to use Assimilation, as he steadily kept killing Demons left and right.

Each colony had 199 Demons, with 1 Viscount Demon leading them.

And Shin managed to half their numbers in just 39 seconds.

"Seriously, magic is so useful. Why don't the Nocturns start learning this?"

It really was peculiar.

Shin didn't know the reason why the Nocturns didn't opt for an Ascender and Mage hybrid.

He would have to ask Souzen later… if he actually manages to survive the ordeal.

In a minute, Shin managed to clear one of the Colonies.

"One down, Nine more to go."

Turning around, Shin turned his attention towards Selena who was supposed to be fighting the Viscount.

However…

She had already finished before him.

'She's way too strong…'

A Viscount Demon should be on par with a Fourth Star Ascender. They were the main culprits as to why this Abyss Realm was a Fourth Star.

"If the Marquess wasn't here, we'd have already left on the day I met Miss Selena…"

But if the Marquess didn't chase Selena, she wouldn't have ended up on the Fourth Star Abyss in the first place.

"Right… maybe the Marquess was a blessing in disguise."

Selena quickly made her way to Shin as she levitated in the air.

"Why are you just standing around? We can't waste any time."

"Right, sorry."

Reality dawned upon Shin.

The fact that they'd clear the wave with relative ease made him forget that they had a timer with no fixed value.

"The Marquess might come any second now, we have to hurry up, Shin."

Nodding, Shin burst forth towards the next colony, ignoring the Viscount once again.

Slash!

***

After a few minutes, they'd manage to clear nine colonies in total.

It was going way too well that even Shin couldn't believe it. Since prior to meeting Selena, it took Shin months to clear a single wave.

After learning to use magic, Shin's capabilities exponentially improved. He could argue that he'd be at the peak of Third Star Ascenders.

"Finally the last colony…"

"Don't celebrate too ea–"

As if they were somehow jinxed, Selena was cut off.

An ominous voice reached their ears.

The Marquess had arrived at a convenient time.

"I finally found you, witch."

Shin and Selena stood frozen at the Marquess' arrival.

The Marquess switched his gaze and immediately recognized Shin as he said,

"Oh? I see what happened… the witch erased the Demon mark. I was wondering why I couldn't find you, I thought you'd gotten yourself killed already."

Ignoring the Marquess, Selena focused her gaze on Shin, screaming,

"Go, Shin! I can handle this."

Shin somehow felt reluctant in leaving Selena to fight the Marquess alone.

But when he looked into her determined eyes, Shin's worries instantly vanished.

If he didn't trust in Selena's strength, then it would feel like he was betraying her.

'That's right, she's the strongest person I've ever met.'

Shin wholeheartedly believed that.

Even after meeting Souzen and Jerome, Shin could tell that Selena was way stronger than them.

Nodding at Selena who seemed to keep her attention at Shin, he imparted a message using the mental link they shared.

'Selena, please, don't die.'

Selena was taken aback as her eyes shot wide open.

The cheeky 15-year-old had dropped the 'Miss'.

She then returned her determined gaze with a smile, nodding.

'I'll see you in the Academy, Shin.'

Shin nodded in return.

Conjuring the mana threads in his legs, Shin conjured the wind currents to head towards the last colony.

However…

"Where do you think you're going?

The Marquess, noticing this, tried to obstruct his path.

Boom! Crackle!

As if being pressed down by a heavy weight, the Marquess suddenly collapsed down while trying to bolt towards Shin.

Selena had another title, the very same title that made her famous.

The Calamity.

The reason for this was because of the type of

magic she actually specializes in.

Gravity Magic.

While heading towards the colony, Shin turned his head back to see what happened.

'I knew she was strong, but this is the first time I've seen her go all out.'

Shin realized just how much Selena was holding back during their sparring sessions.

He turned around to face ahead and from a distance he could see the colony with the Viscount just up ahead.

This was the first time Shin would face a Viscount, a being on the same level as a Fourth Star Ascender.

But…

'I can feel it… just a bit more and I might reach the Fourth Star.'

Shin felt his core start to heat up, as he felt his mind clear of all distractions.

From thoughts, to emotions, to his body, Shin felt absolute control over his entire being.

It was akin to a phenomenon that athletes would feel during their games, as adrenaline starts pumping, and everything starts to align.

In other terms, it was the Flow State.

And due to the severe mental trauma Shin experienced in the two years of being stuck in the Abyss, once again, his sanity gradually slipped away.

With the Viscount just in front of him, Shin made up his mind.

'Assimilation.'