Apocalypse with my SSS Harem Beauties-Chapter 143: New Target

The monster’s eyes lifted slowly toward them, and the hatred inside those blazing orbs became clear and focused.

Its gaze locked onto Myles. He stood closest to it, the one who had cut its flesh, reopened its frost wound, and forced it into this unstable overcharge. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The heat shifted subtly, no longer spreading in all directions but concentrating forward like a furnace door opening toward a single target.

Myles felt it immediately. The pressure increased. The air in front of him thickened and burned. The scorching force aimed straight at his body as if the creature wanted to melt him first before anything else.

He did not step back. His jaw tightened until his teeth ground together. Instead of retreating, he walked forward.

Victor moved at his right. George stepped at his left. The three of them advanced together. Their feet landed on heated ground that glowed faint red beneath their soles.

Ether flowed through their bodies in steady circulation, reinforcing their muscle, skin, and lungs.

The heat threatened them, but the thin protective layer formed by their controlled Ether output reduced the damage to something survivable.

"Let’s kill it for sure this time!" Myles shouted over the violent hiss of burning air.

"Yes!" Victor and George answered at the same time, their voices hoarse but steady.

Several meters behind them, Clara leaned closer to Daniel.

"We need to move too," she said quietly.

Daniel nodded. A few meters behind them, Rafe and Selene remained at the edge of the hottest zone, hesitating. The temperature alone made their faces pale.

"I don’t think they can endure this," Daniel muttered under his breath. Darius stood a short distance away, because of the heat and hissing sounds he was unaware of their conversation.

"Is it because we already know how to circulate Ether properly?" Clara asked.

"Yes. It has to be."

Clara sighed. "I don’t like us fighting there while they stay back."

"We don’t have a choice. We can’t just reveal everything."

At that moment, Kade arrived carrying Michael and lowered him beside Rafe and Selene.

"What happened to him?" Selene asked, worried clear in her voice.

"He couldn’t endure the heat," Kade replied. "Take care of him. I’m going back. Daniel! Clara! Let’s move."

Daniel and Clara nodded.

"How are you able to stand in that for so long?" Rafe asked.

Kade paused briefly. "Our level is higher. I think."

He did not elaborate further and sprinted forward again.

Daniel and Clara turned to Darius.

"Stay here," Daniel said firmly. "With your level, you won’t endure it."

Darius clenched his fists, wanting to object, but the burning air alone made his chest tighten. He lowered his head. He understood that he would only slow them down.

Daniel and Clara stepped toward the frontline.

They had barely taken several strides when a deafening explosion tore through the air.

BOOM!

The guardian unleashed a compressed blast. A streak of blazing fire shot upward like a meteor, ripping through the sky above them and leaving a burning trail that illuminated the battlefield in blinding white.

—

A few seconds earlier, at the frontline.

Myles, Victor, and George had already pushed forward again, forcing their bodies through the burning pressure as they closed the distance with steady steps.

The guardian monster, which had been glaring at them with naked hatred just moments ago, suddenly changed expression.

Its lips curled upward. Showing burned and cracked teeth beneath the blaze.

The sight froze them in the middle of the stride. Their advance stopped at the same time. Their instincts screaming before their minds could form the reason, giving an ominous weight settled in their chests.

"What’s happening? Why is it smiling like that?" Victor asked, panic creeping into his voice.

"I don’t know. Maybe it’s just going mad," George replied.

"No," Myles said firmly, eyes locked on the monster. "It’s thinking of something."

They remembered at the same time that this creature did not just burn and rage. It was capable of observation, adaptation. It has the capability to choose the course of its action.

The guardian’s body flared again. A second surge of white-orange fire burst everywhere, brighter and denser than before. The ground beneath it cracked wider as heat concentrated under its feet.

Then, without warning, it bent its legs and launched upward.

The explosion followed.

BOOM!

Fire detonated from the impact point and blasted the creature into the air like a projectile. The monster shot upward in a streak of incandescent flame, cutting through the distorted sky like a comet tearing free from the earth.

The three of them stared, stunned for a fraction of a second, tracking its arc.

"It... it’s heading toward Ethan and the others!" Victor shouted.

The realization hit hard.

"Shit!" Myles cursed and spun around instantly.

He forced Ether harder through his limbs and sprinted back through the scorching wind.

"It’s going for our ranged attackers!" he roared through the hiss of burning air.

Behind them, Daniel, Clara, and Kade heard the shout clearly.

Their expressions changed at once.

The guardian had stopped targeting the strongest frontline fighters. It had chosen the weakest link.

Without hesitation, Daniel pivoted and ran. Clara followed, Ether circulating rapidly as they accelerated. Kade clenched his teeth and burst toward them as well, pushing through the heat with renewed urgency.

—

Ethan, Samantha, Hana, and Tobias stood on the rooftop of a building, using the height to maintain clear lines of sight toward the battlefield.

Heat already reached them even from that distance, but it was manageable compared to the inferno below.

Ethan suddenly saw the sky above them turned blinding white. A streak of fire tore across their vision.

All four lifted their heads at the same time. Their eyes widened.

"It’s coming here!" Hana shouted.

The flaming mass grew larger. The sound of a violent roar tearing through the air followed as the creature descended.

BOOM!

The monster crashed onto the rooftop behind them. Concrete exploded. Shockwaves rippled across the building’s structure. Cracks spread like spiderwebs beneath their feet.

Then the heat surged again. They turned and saw the monster stood behind them.

Flames curled along its shoulders and down its body. White-orange fire leaked from the cracks in its charred skin. Its head tilted slightly to one side and that same wide, broken smile stretched across its burned face.

They felt their throat dry instantly.

The monster took one step forward. The rooftop groaned beneath its weight.

Then it lowered its body. The killing intent exploded outward.

"Run!" Ethan shouted.

The monster moved.

—