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[61 teams remaining]

Hundreds of jet black thorny vines emerged from the ground and were immediately seen entangling the orcs' feet, immobilizing their movement. Droplets of sweat began to drip off Emery's face as he used all the spirit energy he could muster, withstanding the pressure that he received from immobilizing a hundred of orcs, that were currently seen bound by his new darkness-infused plant spell called [Dark Root Binding].

With his arms stretched out toward the both ends of the bridge while his eyes slowly turned bloodshot, Emery's Fey Transformation had long since faded, revealing his normal appearance, except for his disorganized hair; so that he could focus all the concentration he had on just this moment.

The orcs, who were immobilized, roared at the top of their lungs until their roars thundered across the bridge, shaking the eardrums of those who heard it. However, their roars gradually diminished as they felt their bodies weaken and their strength gradually dissipated.

In fact, their strength didn't dissipate, but was absorbed due to the secondary effect of the new spell Emery had cast, which slowly sapped their strength and used it to strengthen the vines that paralyzed them.

However, despite the fact that the spell could absorb its host's energy and theoretically could strengthen itself indefinitely, it still could easily be broken if the spell was not controlled and assisted in its initial phase where it was still weak.

The [Dark Root Binding] spell not only kept the orcs' legs from moving, it also gradually crept up to their torso and arms, making their way to completely paralyze their target. As long as the jet black vines continued to cling to their body parts, they would find that their bodies would remain extremely difficult to move. Thanks to that, Emery didn't need to keep assisting the spell any longer if it past certain point.

Seeing the golden opportunity where the orcs were immobilized by Emery's spell and couldn't do anything, Julian immediately jerked his legs and dashed towards the paralyzed orcs while brandishing his sword and shield. When he reached one of the orcs, he immediately thrusted his sword which was backed by the momentum of his sprint, towards the orc's head. The poor orc tried its best to move its body, but in the end it could only see the sword approaching its head helplessly.

Stab! *Thud*

The orc's body quickly fell to the ground as Julian drew his sword from the now dead orc. After that, he continued his assault and began to kill the orcs one by one. At the same time, one could faintly see a black shadow flickering around the orcs as they began to fall with slash wounds to their necks. Apparently, Chumo also began to do his massacre as he casted his [Shadow Step] which greatly increased his mobility.

However, dozens of orcs continued to flood the bridge and began to overwhelm Emery and his friends. When the first batch of orcs was successfully killed, Emery could only take a short rest before he needed to once again cast his [Dark Root Binding] spell.

Thanks to the support Emery's spell had provided, Klea currently felt that her burden had been lifted a lot. Turning her head towards the sweaty Emery, Klea smiled and said, "Emery, that's a very awesome spell. I always knew that you are special."

Hearing that, Emery was not sure if he was in the mood for her usual tease as he could feel that the new spell was still very unstable right now. Therefore, he had to maintain his concentration, otherwise the spell's backlash could easily injure him badly.

Currently, Emery began to feel pain wrecking throughout his entire body as he continued to cast the [Dark Root Binding] spell over and over. Due to the sheer number of orcs that he needed to immobilize, Emery put an extreme burden on his spirit energy which resulted in his current state. Gritting his teeth, Emery forced himself to go beyond his limit and kept channeling spirit energy to his spell as he waited for more teams to get eliminated.

[56 team remaining]

[55 team remaining]

Finally, Emery hit his limit. He put down his arm that was currently felt as heavy as holding two large boulders. When Emery's arms were put down, the spell finally stopped.

Because of that, the orcs who were paralyzed by the vines began to break free and attacked Julian and Chumo who had been killing their brethren. Slowly but surely, Julian and Chumo were being pushed back by the waves of orcs to the orb's location.

Feeling his wounds had improved, Thrax also stood up as he prepared himself to join the fight again. As the three of them watched their retreating friends and approaching orcs, Emery thought that this was their last stand that would decide whether they would succeed or fail.

All of the protective energy possessed by their protective vests was all gone except for Klea and Chumo's. They also didn't have much spirit energy or stamina left. Their current situation could be said to be bad, extremely bad.

But strangely enough, in a desperate moment such as this, Emery suddenly forgot to continue checking the counter that showed the number of the remaining team. When the group regrouped, Emery suddenly felt an indescribable connection between him and his four other friends that made him smile faintly. Accompanied by his four other friends, all of them fought together, shoulder-to-shoulder, against the sea of orcs as they tried their best to hold their ground.

[52 team remaining]

By now, the five of them had been cornered so that they were only a few steps away from the floating orb. Seeing the situation, Emery decided to risk himself and go further inside the hordes and fought there to lower the pressure that his friends endured.

"Emery?! That's dangerous! Return here right now!"

With his protective vest also broken, Emery immediately used his [Granite Skin]. Without considering the aspect of defense anymore, Emery began to unleash everything he got at the orcs. The orcs felt as if the hell had landed upon them when they received Emery's relentless yet vicious attacks.

Seeing the valiant visage that Emery showed, the strength and persistence he displayed against the endless row of orcs brought the last boost of morale that they needed. They kept fighting against the orcs, preventing them from reaching the orb; until finally, what they were waiting for has come.

[50 team remaining]

[Congratulations! You have successfully passed the first stage of Magus Game!]

With that announcement, the dozens of orcs who were already so close on killing them suddenly stopped their movement and their figure slowly disappeared into particles of light.

Seeing that, the group immediately dropped their butt to the ground and lay on the bridge like a lifeless corpse. After a moment of silence, loud shouts suddenly resounded on the bridge.

"WE DID IT!!!"

"YEAH!!!"

"WE DID IT!!! WE DID IT!!!"

Even though their bodies were so exhausted, they still couldn't help but be excited when they saw that they managed to pass the first stage. Suddenly, Klea began to laugh by herself without any particular reason. And then, one by one, they started to laugh together as to applaud their achievement today.

[Level 5 - will start in 5 minutes]

"???"

The whole group was shocked by the sudden announcement. A clear confusion appeared on their faces as their mind thought the same thing, 'WHAT IS THIS??'

They thought the stage was already done. But then, they realized that there was never an announcement that stated they had secured the orb.

"ARGH! Is this not going to stop until everyone is killed?"

"We still get

"We are still in the next stage whether we win this one or not, right?"

"Who knows?"

The group immediately made the best of their five minutes to recover their fighting ability. When Klea's [Soothing Mist] was no longer effective to heal their wounds, Emery swiftly abused his [Nature Blessing] spell.

The spell not only could heal their wounds, but it also could restore a little of their strength and calm their minds. This wasn't a very effective spell for people who were badly injured, but for a situation like this it was very useful.

Julian and Thrax stared at Emery in awe when they saw Emery casted the spell and healed them.

"Who are you? What did you do to Emery?" asked the two of them jokingly.

"Well… Maybe you don't really know your friend." replied Emery with a teasing smile. He then continued, "But honestly, guys… I think this is the last spell that I can cast."

When the others were about to open their moment, a notification suddenly appeared on the orb. All of them then quickly stood around the orb, waiting for their opponents.

[Level Five - Extra Level]

[Objectives to be cleared to receive the extra team point]

[Successfully Defend the Orb]

[Kill the Boss Creature]

[Survive Against the Wave]

"Alright, guys. We will get all the reward we could get. We can do this!" said Julian firmly, but it seemed that the latter part was directed to himself.

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