monstrous clash

"Don't get in my way!" Yuleng shouted, pushing aside whoever was blocking the hallway where her friend Minona and the trio were.

News had spread of the four of them going missing after being sent by Vice Principal Oscord to safely escort Yaw-Yan back to his home.

After completing their mission, the group suddenly found themselves in a dire situation.

Apparently, Minona and the trio ended up caught in the chaos caused by a massive explosion that tore through the forest behind Silao Grande's estate. What followed was the awakening of a mountain-sized beast—one that clearly did not appreciate being disturbed.

Based on the trajectory of the rampaging creature, all signs point to the Lincad Ark being responsible for the explosion.

"MINONA! Are you guys okay!? I saw what happened out there—what happened to these two?" Yuleng's voice was filled with concern as she rushed to her friend. In response, Minona told her everything that had happened during their journey back to Lincad Ark.

She explained how they encountered Ruges on their way back, how he began to boil with rage and anger, eventually spouting incoherent words.

Yuleng's eyes flashed with killing intent when she heard how Minona had nearly been caught in the blast of the Alcamana bomb Ruges had hidden inside him.

The surrounding students, who also heard Minona's story about Ruges and how the encounter triggered the turmoil, were filled with anger. They silently vowed to destroy any Heretics they encountered in the future for endangering not only themselves but everyone around them.

Their thoughts were suddenly cut short as the entire Ark trembled violently, throwing everyone off their feet.

"This is no time to stand around! Someone help me bring these four to the medical lab!" Yuleng yelled, helping Minona up and supporting her as they hurried toward the medical wing.

Minona and the trio made a full recovery, thanks to the high-quality healing potion administered by the Lincad medical staff. Its effects were strong enough that they could walk again. Without wasting time, the group quickly ran to the bridge, where many of their classmates had already gathered.

Every student stood there, their eyes filled with a mix of emotions—worry, fear, anxiety, and awe—all brought on by the godlike battle unfolding before them.

Watching the fight between their Vice Principal and the colossal beast was both thrilling and terrifying for the students.

They all knew just how dangerous the situation was. The possible fall of the academy's second-strongest individual could easily spell their own doom. If Vice Principal Oscord were to fall to Silao Grande, nothing would stop the mountain-sized monster from annihilating the Lincad Ark—and everyone on it.

Still, they couldn't tear their eyes away from the battle between two beings operating on a completely different level of power. While some students trembled in their shoes as they watched the grueling fight, others took the opportunity to learn—studying the movements of someone who had reached an incredible height of strength, clashing with a beast of equal power.

Yet even with all their awe and curiosity, none of them could forget the chilling truth:

Their fate rested in the hands of whoever emerged victorious from this battle.

Everyone quickly grabbed onto something to avoid being thrown to the floor. Sounds of yelling, whimpering, and grunting echoed throughout the bridge as another massive shockwave strayed from the battlefield and struck the floating Ark, causing it to shake violently.

"Sir, we still need five to ten minutes to fully reignite the Beast Core Furnace, sir!"

Many students overheard the exchange between the captain and his panicking crew, and their faces paled in horror. That meant they were sitting ducks for at least five more minutes—if not longer—until the Ark was ready to depart. Judging by the destruction around them, they might not have that much time.

The captain clicked his tongue in frustration upon hearing the estimated time. The Lincad Ark was an older model that still used a traditional Beast Core Furnace as its engine. Unlike the newer models, which could start instantly, this one needed to build up a certain level of energy before it could sail through the Endless Flow.

He mentally slapped himself for not having the foresight to begin the reignition process earlier that morning. Now, all he could do was sit and pray that his shortsightedness wouldn't be the cause of death for all the children aboard his Ark.

Everyone shrieked in horror as Vice Principal Oscord was sent flying into the side of a mountain, leaving a permanent curve carved into its surface from the impact. Silao Grande had managed to land a solid blow on his opponent.

"W-We're dead…" one of the students muttered, collapsing to the ground in fear as Silao Grande turned its monstrous head toward the Lincad Ark.

KRAKOOOOM!

GRAAAAAIKNR!

The students clutched their ears as a deafening crack of lightning struck Silao Grande square in the face. The mountain-sized beast let out a shriek of pain, the force of the blast sending a powerful gust of wind across the mountainside, shattering its upper half and kicking up a massive dust storm that reduced visibility all around.

Through the swirling dust, the silhouette of Vice Principal Oscord slowly emerged, floating in midair. The upper half of his attire had been completely obliterated by the earlier attack, exposing his well-defined torso to the open air.

Oscord muttered curses under his breath and spat blood from his mouth. His body was reaching its limit—this fight was becoming unbearable. He couldn't afford to keep this up much longer. But he had to. He needed to buy time until the Lincad Ark's engines roared to life and carried the students to safety through the Endless Flow.

Tightening his grip on his core weapon, Vice Principal Oscord surged forward, his entire body enveloped in crackling lightning. As he closed the distance, Silao Grande let out a thunderous roar of its own, bracing for the next clash between titans.

While the battle between the two monstrous beings raged on, Minona stared in the direction of Yaw-Yan's tribal settlement. Her eyes shimmered with worry and fear for him. This entire calamity would undoubtedly bring hardship to him and his people—and that was assuming Silao Grande wouldn't go after every human in Manaland once this was over. She bit her lip. She wanted to jump down and find him, but she knew that doing so would only worsen their already dire situation.

Suddenly, she felt a gentle squeeze on her hand. She looked to her side and saw Amika, who was also staring in the same direction.

"He's gonna be okay. That's Yaw-Yan we're talking about. That guy can survive anything thrown at him," Amika muttered softly. Whether the words were meant to comfort Minona or herself was unclear.

Minona nodded at the smaller girl and gently squeezed Amika's hand back in reassurance.

"WE'RE GOOD TO GO! EVERYONE STEP BACK TO THE BRIDGE—WE'RE KICKSTARTING THE LINCAD ARK!"

Upon hearing this, many students let out a sigh of relief. They were more than willing to leave this land—and the furious, mountain-sized beast—behind.

When the familiar hum of the engine vibrated through the Lincad Ark, cheers erupted among the students. The Ark let out a roaring blast from every one of its exhausts, signaling its long-awaited departure.

As the Lincad Ark began to rise steadily, its engines roaring louder with each passing second, the students clung to the railings, eyes still locked on the battlefield below. The swirling dust storm made it nearly impossible to see clearly, but occasional flashes of lightning from vice principal Oscord's strikes illuminated glimpses of the ongoing clash between the Vice Principal and the Silao Grande.

"Yaw-yan please be safe," Minona whispered under her breath, gripping the railing tightly. Her knuckles turned white, her body trembling with a mix of hope and helplessness.

Then, the clouds parted just enough to reveal it—vice principal Oscord, now moving like a bolt of divine fury, clashed midair with the titanic beast. Lightning surged from his form, coating the sky in electric veins that arced toward the ground and exploded on contact.

Silao Grande howled in pain once more, swiping at Oscord with horn large enough to tear mountains in half. But the Vice Principal danced through the air, his speed barely visible to the untrained eye, countering each attack with calculated precision.

The Ark rumbled again, this time rising higher as the furnace pushed its power to the limit.

"We're gaining altitude!" the captain yelled from the command center. "Maintain stability—do NOT let the Ark tilt. We're almost in the clear!"

Back on the bridge, students watched with bated breath. A few had tears in their eyes, overwhelmed by the sight of their guardian fighting like a god to protect them.

"Vice Principal Oscord…" one of them muttered, voice shaky with awe. "He's… he's actually pushing that monster back."

"No," said another, voice filled with realization. "He's not trying to win. He's stalling. Giving us time to escape."

And they were right. Oscord knew he couldn't defeat Silao Grande alone—not with how much his body had already endured. His mission now was simple:

Buy time.

Reaching the ceiling of the barrier, the captain walked to the bridge to check if the Lincad Ark was high enough to be out of Silao Grande's striking range. Nodding to himself upon seeing they had reached a considerably safe altitude, the captain took a deep breath before yelling at the top of his lungs—calling for Vice Principal Oscord to abandon the battle with the giant and hurry back to the Ark so they could leave Manaland at once.

Hearing his friend call out to him, Vice Principal Oscord unleashed another barrage of blinding light attacks at his stubborn opponent, disorienting it just long enough for him to soar at incredible speed toward the Lincad Ark.

As the effects of the disorienting blast faded, the mountain-sized beast looked around for its adversary—only to find nothing but empty air. Realizing its opponent had vanished right in front of it, Silao Grande let out a furious roar and immediately turned its gaze toward the direction of the Lincad Ark, spotting the floating vessel high above the sky. Another enraged roar echoed, shaking the land below.

Landing on the bridge, Vice Principal Oscord swiftly walked toward the captain, urging him and his crew to immediately begin sailing toward the Endless Flow. He had a bad feeling, especially with how relentless Silao Grande was being.

Sensing the urgency in Vice Principal Oscord's voice, the captain quickly gave the command to prepare for departure and leave the protective boundary of Manaland.

"We're about to leave the protection of this Manaland. Find something to hold on to—and keep your mouth shut if you don't want to bite off your tongue. This is gonna be a bumpy ascent!"

Hearing the captain's warning, every student on the bridge hurriedly grabbed onto whatever they could find.

"Incoming contact with the Manaland barrier in three... two... one... BRACE YOURSELVES!"

The Lincad Ark shook violently the moment it collided with the invisible barrier that kept Manaland habitable. Because they were rushing through, the process was much rougher than when they first entered.

Many students whimpered, tightly clinging to anything within reach.

One of them was Amika, who cursed under her breath while clutching Minona tightly by her side. In that moment, the blue-haired girl realized just how close Yaw-Yan must be to death each time Amika had hugged him—she had a frighteningly firm grip.

"Just a couple more breaths and we'll be through the barrier! Bear with the shaking a little longer!" the captain shouted, all while closely monitoring the Lincad Ark's status reports.

Things is going well for the passenger of Lincad ark when suddenly the Lincad ark come to halt, throwing everyone on board of balance making everyone fall flat on the floor.

"SOMETHING IS CEASING ARE ASCENT, THE ARK JUST RECEIVED MULTIPLE EXTERIOR DAMAGE!" Hearing the captain's report, Vice principal Oscord walk toward the railing of the ark to see what is stoping them. Only for him to widened his eyes in Befuddlement when he see a couple of glowing tendrils wrap around the several parts of the Lincad art, and trying to pull the entire ship back to the manaland.

But what makes vice principal Oscord shudder in indigantion is that the glowing tendrils is made of mana surge,.and one the other end of the glowing tendrils is the enrage form of Silao grande.

The beast just learned how to turn its mana to a constract capable of stoping their ark from ascending to the endless flow, Vice Principal Oscord is praying that the Silao grande alway knew how to do it and not learn it just now, that would be a blow on vice principal pride especially when he remembered how long it takes for him to learn to made aana surge ball he thrown earlier. Now that he thinks about it, he has a suspicious that the beast copied his mana surge attack and created something on its own.

Gritting his teeth Vice Principal Oscord ate about to throw himself from the ark when he was grab by the captain stoping him "if you jump with are current height, you wouldn't be able to fly back here in the ark,.amd you'll be Stuck in this Manaland fighting that beast down there"

Then what do you want me to do? Wait for that beast to drag us all down and destroy the ark along with our students?! I came here to protect them—and if that's the last thing I'll ever do, then so be it!"

Shrugging off the captain's grip on his shoulder, Vice Principal Oscord stood on the railing of the ark, looking down at the persistent beast below.

"Oh no! Minona, the vice principal—he's going to jump off the ark!" Amika cried out.

Minona rubbed the smaller girl's back, pulling her into a protective embrace.

"He won't be able to fly back onto the ark if he jumps. Is there no other way to escape that beast?" Suina asked, limping toward them. Beside her was Ayato, supporting her, with a bandage wrapped around his head.

Minona quickly grabbed onto the two of them as the Lincad Ark shook violently once more, keeping them from falling.

"SIR, WE'VE LOST TWO OF OUR THRUSTERS, AND THERE'S A MASSIVE HOLE IN THE LOWER SECTION OF THE LINCAD ARK! THE LOWER DECK HAS BEEN COMPROMISED!" the captain shouted as the ark began tilting to one side due to the lost thrusters.

"KEEP IT BALANCED! INCREASE OUTPUT TO THE LEFT-SIDE THRUSTERS AND LOWER THE RIGHT! QUICKLY—STABILIZE THE ARK!"

Seeing more mana surge tendrils latching onto the ark, Vice Principal Oscord quickly downed a healing potion and a mana recovery potion to regain at least a portion of his strength. It wasn't enough—but he'd make it work.

He was just about to leap when—

GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKHHHHH!

The entirety of Manaland trembled, as if the world itself had drawn a breath in fear.

The clouds split. Mountains groaned.

"YAW-YAN!"

Recognizing the voice, Minona called out his name, quickly letting go of Amika and the others as she ran to the railing, searching for the only person she knew capable of such a domineering shout.

She had heard it once when he tried to protect his friends.

She had heard it again when he tried to protect her.

And now, he was doing it again.

That shout—

A method he used to challenge the beast for dominance.

RULER'S CLAIM

Gripping the railing for support, Minona scanned the land below, her eyes growing wide with fright when she spotted him.

Standing defiantly atop a large tree was Yaw-Yan.

In his hand, the Bullhornshell Amika had given him as a gift glowed with a blinding light.

It was clear he had used it to amplify his voice—to challenge the mountain-sized beast.

"YAW-YAN!" Minona cried out again, her heart pounding as she saw the Silao Grande slowly turn its head in his direction.

---

End of Chapter 21