28 Chapter 28-The Red Deacon

The small group hurriedly raced through the city towards the second line of defense. The army had already began to mobilize their forces inside their city to combat the incoming attack.

The main fortresses were quite far away from the city and they were the first line of defense. While it seemed their guard had dropped after a long period of relative peace, the city still had many precautions including a second smaller wall that guarded the main city from threats that may have broken through the line.

The area in between the two walls was mostly farmland with not many people outside. Sadly, with the approaching threat there was little anyone could do to help those people farther away from the city, and the army was rushing to reinforce the wall.

"What kind of monster would be powerful enough to directly smash through the fortress" Catherine said looking a little pale as she gazed into the distance struggling to decipher anything in the gloomy landscape caused by the dense storm clouds and torrential downpour

"Definitely Monarch rank" Ryan said with a fearful expression

"Hmmph Itachi has taken care of a monarch rank before, it shouldn't be too much trouble" Gabriella said cockily seemingly unafraid while the headmaster looked at him in a new light after hearing this "you have taken down Monarchs before" she said with a hopeful expression on her face

"Don't be overconfident" he chided before explaining the issue "We do not yet know how strong they are. The Monarch I have taken down before was on the weaker spectrum of Monarch rank and gaps in that rank are massive. If it is a supreme monarch I can forget about even scratching it"

What Itachi said was quite true. Without demonization or dragon form, his magic strength with his powerful Heavenly seeds was easily able to contend with weaker monarchs. His powerful buffs elevated his high tier magic well into the super tier. While that would be plenty for a weaker monarch, supreme monarch would barely be scratched. A Supreme Monarch was definitely a peak strength that required at the very least a spell tier mage. A strong spell tier mage may be able to solo it while weaker ones would need a large group of super mages to assist them,

He didn't want to reveal either of his trump cards yet since they were easily recognizable. It wouldn't take a genius to connect the dragon appearances with the American national team if it appeared where they fought. Even the mere mention of white flames would send the Holy Court running over, and while he didn't fear them, he knew it wasn't the best time to reveal himself so demonization would be saved if he had no other option.

Moving back to the present they ran down the paved cobbles of the street towards the edge of the city. Many civilians ran past either fleeing the city or moving to a shelter. Rushing past them was a regiment of army mages judging by their uniforms headed by a shouting commander who had a rich Spanish accent "Onward Men we must not stop here" he said urging on the group of heavily armored mages that looked tired struggling to move in the heavy armor.

He turned to face the group of students nearby "Greetings amigos, I am the Great Corvatz leader of the Peruvian liberation army. Here to handle the threat" he said confidently before running towards the wall aided by a wind track while his men tiredly followed.

The group of students travelled the rest of the way towards the wall and they mounted the battlements where many mages already resided. Grimly looking into distance over the rolling farmland and hills they spotted a tide of monsters in the distance, but they were unable to make anything out.

"No need to fear, my men and I will handle the threat" Corvatz said thrusting his fist in the air to impunctuate his word. Looking at him skeptically naturally Gabriella was the first to speak up "Your men already look exhausted. how would you handle it by yourself" she said raising an eyebrow at him

"Oh? you doubt the Great Corvatz, It wouldn't be a first. My men are perfectly trained to handle any monster threat and this weak little monarch will stand no chance"

"Oh, so you've faced many Monarchs before" she said happily. Having such a strong group of fighters would greatly help out the defenses

"This will be my first" he said gruffly before turning away from the dumbstruck looks of the onlookers "My men do not know the meaning of surrender" he said confidently as he signalled for his men to follow. "But were willing to learn" Itachi heard one of them mutter with his enhanced hearing as they grumbled following him as they spread out along the battlements.

As the horde came closer, they made out the appearances of the monsters. There was a wide variety of crazed looking monsters that charged with a frightening ferocity as the ground trembled. Immediately everyone began casting their most destructive magic that slammed into the group.

Giant flame meteors shot from the sky, while destructive bolts of lightning shot down. Icy coffins slammed down instantly freezing some monsters nearby while tsunamis of water smashed apart the front lines of the creatures like a powerful battering ram due to the combination of many peoples high tier water magic.

A group of warrior rank snake scorpions were taken care of by powerful petrification magic as the entire group turned to stone. Similarily other poweful attacks shot down which pushed back most of the horde while some managed to break through. Noticing one large group trying to flank around to the right Itachi immediately called out, "I'll be back, I'm going to handle the right side" he said before dashing off

"Hmmph always going off on your own, I wonder what secrets you are hiding" Olivia muttered as she looked at his retreating back. Immediately Itachi jumped down from the wall hiding from view before he threw a dark cloak over himself to hide his features and he used shadow step to melt into the shadows while he traveled quickly over the ground.

He moved along inside of the wall before teleporting towards the horde. Immediately he shot out hundreds of metal spears controlled with perfect accuracy that demolished the small flanking group while most struggled to even see what was happening with the low visibility. The ground was still flooded as many water mages continued causing waves that delayed the bloodthirsty beasts from reaching the walls.

The problem however, was that this did little to injure them besides pushing the group back. "Should I take out the leaders of the attack" Itachi thought before catching a slight reflection caused by a lens out of the corner of his eye. Turning he looked towards a rocky ridge high up onto the mountains many miles away he gazed through the seemingly obscure air that should have blocked vision. Grinning madly, a slight bloodthirsty expression came to his face as he looked into the distance "There you are, I think its about time we meet"

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"Sir, everything has been carried out successfully" One female covered in a blue robe said nervously facing the imposing figure of her boss.

"Good, we needed a few test runs before the main events and things are looking quite nicely" the red robed man replied excitedly as he faced down his latest handiwork

"Working with that woman while bothersome certainly has its benefits" he thought as he gazed down at the rampaging beasts. It was too easy, a few wind and water mages propelling the drug filled water vapor into he storm cloud was all it took to completely destroy one of the most heavily defended cities in South America.

As one of the 7 red cardinals of the black Vatican, he known only as Shura, desired nothing more than to kill others and what better was there to use the monsters to to the job for him. It may have taken a while to perfect the drug, but it certainly had its benefits since a few gallons could completely destroy a city. What better place was their to use it than near the Andes mountains which was filled with monsters.

Frowning slightly he watched as hundreds of flashes of magic shot from the city walls that were holding them off "Hmm hey were better prepared than I thought" he said in an annoyed tone as he looked down towards the battle.

Before he could say anything else, the storm seemed to worsen as flashes of lightning seemed to surround the area while the rain picked up. The land turned even darker as he struggled to make anything out anymore beside brief flashes of light "Alright we are finished here, time to leave" he said a little unnerved turning to walk past his subordinates.

Walking away, he soon turned back annoyed "I said lets go, what are you doing standing there" he said angrily seeing the dark shapes which were his subordinates still standing there. Immediately he grabbed onto ones shoulder trying to push the guy, but he didn't move as he seemed stuck in place.

Looking over him he backed away in fear after spotting a spear running straight through the mans body pinning him to the ground. He backed away panicked as he looked over the rest of his subordinates as he made out through the heavy rain what looked to be spears jutting out of each and every of their bodies while the water running beneath his feet turned even redder.

"No No No NO! This Is Impossible, Who Did This?, Come Out" he said freaking out as he looked for anyone nearby. A poison cloud was already spreading out beneath him seemingly to ward off any potential threats as he prepared to defend from any threat with a water shield.

Hearing slow footsteps, he turned to face a dark figure coming from the tree line who walked through his poison mist with no trouble. "Look what we got here, a Red Cardinal, it's my lucky day isn't it" the figure said as he walked towards the man near the edge of the rocky ridge.

"Who are you, do you dare make an enemy out of the Black Vatican" he said menacingly stalling for time as he casted super tier magic. Immediately after, a giant silver covered bird materialsed behind the man. It immediatelly shot towards Itachi while the man grinned maliciously. 'This fool let me cast super tier curse magic, his soul will be destroyed, even if he dodges it will track his signature' he thought watching it instantly crash into the undefended figure who made no effort to dodge.

It passed straight through him like a ghost before it dissipated. "What an idiot" he thought as he walked towards the now souless man. He was quickly shocked however when the figure grinned at him with the same expression as before as it looked at him mockingly "Soul magic has never had much of an affect on me sadly" Itachi said as he gazed at the man with a amused look on his face.

"Now Burn" Itachi said as he teleported to the man before covering the red cardinals entire body in flames while he desperately tried to defend. He hurriedly covered himself in water shields, yet they seemed to almost instantly evaporate under the heat and wretched screaming was heard as the man was covered in blue flames that seemed to stick to him.

Any attempts to cast magic were ineffective as the man turned to ash. 'Thats one problem solved' Itachi thought looked at the charred remains of the man that still burned time to get back to the front lines.

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"Hold The Line!!!!" shouted General Corvatz as he casted a barrage of lightning attacks targeting the higher leveled monsters while the line of army mages also casted powerful magic. Beside them was the American National team as they similarily defended while beasts were already climbing the walls.

"There's too fucking many" Gabriella said cursing as she leaned against the wall breathing heavily after she threw a strong fire meteor against an approaching group of wolves.

"Just keep holding them off, the headmaster said we have reinforcements incoming if we can keep the majority out of the city." said Chelsea who was currently healing an unconscious Lucas who had taken the brunt of a surprise attack from a Green Demon which came over the walls.

"Take a breather, we will hold them off" Catherine said to her as she jumped down smashing her hand into the ground as vines immediately shot into the ground with such force that you could feel the earth shake. Immediately a large chunk of land erupted into a frenzy of vines that crushed, battered, and absorbed any monster in its way. One unfortunate evolving warrior Iron hoofed Demon Horse was tripped up and it quickly was surrounded by a sea of vines. Immediately millions of tiny insects inside the plant magic leapt out as the beast was devoured in a painful death.

Aiden and Ethan to her side both backed her up blasting any monsters that made their way through away with fire magic. The group immediately backed up however, when they saw an approaching dark shape step forward slowly. The monsters immediately stopped all watching the approaching beast as if they were welcoming a King a giant mammoth like creature slowly came into view seemingly shaking the ground with every step moving towards the wall filled with now terrified mages.

"Definitely a Monarch. This must have been what broke through the other wall" she thought as she gazed sarcastically towards the General "Ay Coratz, nows the time to implement your Monarch killing strategy"

"Very well, watch closely for one day you will tell your children how you witnessed the Great Corvatz in action" he said majestically gazing towards the approaching threat in sharp contrast to his tired men half of whom were collapsed onto the ground from exhaustion.

They watched eagerly waiting to see what his plan would be to take down such a powerful beast. 'Now, it it quite large, which hinders its mobility quite a bit. Maybe if they maneuve- Gabriella's train of thought was quickly interrupted by Corvatz cheerful shout "Group Up, And Hit It Till It Dies" he shouted as he charged towards the beast head-on along with the few soldiers who actually followed him.

*Sigh we're screwed she thought as she looked towards the others "Prepare to use wind wings to retreat, their is not much more we can do" Gabriella said a bit sadly "We bought as much time as we could hopefully most of the civilians made it away, and reinforcements should be coming.

Sure enough even Super Tier Fire magic- Flame Prison Gates Corvatz casted using his highest strength did little damage to it. The Mammoth was painfully burned as it roared out in anger. With surprising agility, it dashed forward swiping its long sharp tusks into the ground spraying the group with a barrage of rocks instantly crushing a few while others managed to defend without too much trouble suddenly everyone was distracted by a bright blue flame appearing that appeared in the distance.

'Is that the dragon?' Olivia thought excitedly remembering how last time the dragon with its blue flames destroyed the attacking sea monsters 'wait no, someone... is casting that' she thought after looking closer seeing a dark figure illuminated by the flame. Immediately, the entire storm seemed to evaporate as the sky was brightly lit up by hundreds of fiery meteors shooting from the sky.

Yes! everyone thought excitedly, before they immediately became confused. "Why is the attack moving towards the caster" Olivia said out loud as she looked at the figure with a confused expression.

They immediately became shocked when a dark red vortex came from the figure sucking in the powerful flame magic like a funnel condensing it. "After high tier, it is even stronger" Itachi thought excitedly as he controlled the immense amount of fire energy in his hand. The energy inside at least had to be 6 times stronger than his already normal attack. "This is my strongest base form magic attack" he thought as a happy expression came to his face imagining how powerful this would be in stronger forms.

Gabriella watched on surprised as the mysterious mage on the ridge condensed the attack with a mysterious energy "That's the Chaos element!" she immediately shouted out recognizing it for what it truly was. The blue orb immediately in the figures hand immediately leapt out seemingly insignificant against the giant beast, yet it sped through the air right into the beasts torso immediately it exploded out sending it flying through the air while it was burned deeply. It crashed into the other side of the valley as an avalanche of rocks cascaded down from the force.

"Time to finish this" the stormclouds previously dissipated gathered up once again as a the sky filled with electrical energy. Many bolts of lightning shot towards Itachi who once again swallowed the attacks with Chaos as he brought his hands together pointing towards the beast. 'Better leave soon, don't want them to be suspicious" Itachi thought as a destructive beam of lightning shot from his hands straight into the beasts core shooting a wide hole through its body with its penetrative attacks.

Immediately after, he dashed back down the ridge once again sneaking onto the wall with shadow as he once again did his best to fit in. Casting aside his cloak he joined with the rest of the group casting noticeably lower wind magic to not draw any suspicion. He sent a few tornados out shredding apart some weaker monsters before meeting back up with the other team members.

"Hey Itachi, I was wondering where you went" the blond haired girl said suspiciously watching him approaching "Yeah, I just finished clearing out some of the weaker monsters with my wind magic" he said looking as nonchalant as possible. A brown haired beauty stormed up to him looking a little annoyed "A little warning before you go off on your own" she said worriedly looking at him while Itachi couldn't resist patting her head over her cute expression "I'll be fine, if there was any danger I could just teleport away" he said assuredly while the rest of the group didn't think too much of it.

Itachi never really liked working in groups, and he would take on most beasts solo which wasn't too surprising. His wind and space gave him many retreat options, combined with his destructive lightning to take on anything.

"Hey Itachi, that fire, chaos, lightning mage was pretty strong, I wonder who he was" Olivia said looking at him quite suspiciously. She wondered for a second if maybe that was Itachi, yet she quickly shot this down. It couldn't have been, Itachi does not have the fire or chaos element. Even if he was secretly a super mage, he still wouldn't have 5 elements she thought. She recalled a vague sense of familiarty gazing at the figure. He had blue flames similar to the dragon from before.

"If I had to guess, I would say he is a strong super mage senior who was passing by. I do not recognize anyone with that particular combination of elements" he said not wanting her to figure it out yet.

"Hmm I see" she said looking a bit unconvinced. Before she could say anything else, they were interrupted by Mat the team leader.

"Well, they can handle the rest, we have been delayed enough. It's time to go to Venice" he said telling everyone to transport each other through wind wings to the nearest airport since that would be the most convenient.

Once again, unsurprisingly Catherine started to walk towards Itachi. Looking at the girl with a raised eyebrow, she immediately blushed not looking him in the eyes "I'm only going over to you since you are probably the strongest on the team, don't get any ideas" she said while the rest of the group looked on knowingly.

Helplessly Itachi picked her up bridal style before summoning out his wings.

Meanwhile Mu Ning Xue who was eating dinner in a cafe in Venice suddenly felt an uncomfortable feeling inside her. 'He better not be with other women' she thought staring moodily at her half eaten Chicken Alfredo.

Back to Itachi, A certain blond haired girl looked annoyed at this development.

'Maybe having wind wings is not there best thing' Gabriella thought as she looked a little jealously at her friend who sent a hidden smirk in her direction as she grabbed onto Itachi tightly.

"Yeah no" she said looking at the hopeful Ryan who had looked up at her "come here Chelsea" she said picking up the team healer.

They group flew towards Lima Peru ready to catch the next flight to Italy.