Story Breaker-Chapter 16: Nightmare Guardian

The battle had begun.

I and some other cadets braced ourselves, preparing for the next attack, while others like Arthur and a few cadets slowly ascending the beast's legs while attacking.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!!"

The calamity let out an ear-piercing roar in retaliation as tentacles burst out from its body and began defending itself from incoming attacks, while its tendrils tended to its wounds slowly and healed them.

'It can regenerate? Great...'

*SHRIKK!*

*BAM!*

The tentacles pierced through or knocked off most of the cadets from its body.

*SHLING!*

Arthur continued to hold onto the calamity's body, slicing through the beast's tentacles and attempting to continue climbing.

*Fwoosh- SHRIIK!*

*Clang!* *Thud! *Flop!*

The calamity instantly swung its claws at the other cadets in the arena, eliminating a few of them.

The moment the claws touched the cadets, their bodies quickly disappeared into yellow sparkles, signifying they had been eliminated, leaving only their weapons to fall to the ground.

'If I get hit once... I'll definitely get eliminated...'

I suddenly received a mission from the salvation system right after the calamity attacked.

[Mission: Save as many cadets as possible]

[Time Limit: 4 hours]

[Reward: (Depends on how many cadets are saved)]

I stared at the screen for a moment before sighing, 'Shouldn't I have gotten this a bit sooner?...'

I used acceleration on myself: my body suddenly became light as a feather, and my surroundings slowed down a bit as the calamity attacked with its tentacles. I pushed and pulled cadets out of the way of the attacks while barely getting hit myself.

[You have saved 7 people from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 70 Salvation Points]

'Okay... I think... I can do this...'

The cadets I had saved looked at me, stunned for a moment, before quickly recovering from their shock and continuing to fight or survive against the Nightmare Guardian.

One of them, a blue-haired man, gave me a simple 'thanks.' with a thumbs up.

*Fwoosh!*

The 'Nightmare Guardian' almost instantly swung its other claw to the right, leaving a trail of bubbling gray sludge that melted anything it touched on the ground as it scraped against it, headed towards a group of cadets.

I noticed Yoon Harin in the group of cadets, holding her head in pain.

I gritted my teeth and accelerated my body more, and knocked back Yoon Harin while pulling two other cadets next to her.

*BOOM!*

A few cadets in the group were hit and eliminated instantly, while others were able to dodge the attack.

'Fuck...'

[You have saved 3 people from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 30 Salvation Points]

I looked back at Yoon Harin, who seemed barely able to see me.

She squinted her eyes for a moment. "Kim Taejune?-"

"Yeah, it's me..."

"Hey Yoon Harin, are you okay?"

Yoon Harin continued holding her head. "I just got a bad headache, and my vision's a bit blurry... After 'teleporting' just... I'll be fine..."

'She's lying...'

I looked at her for a moment until I noticed the Nightmare Guardian swinging its claws downwards again.

'Ah... fuck...'

I accelerated my body once more, pushing and pulling cadets out of the way of the attack before it landed.

[You have saved 5 people from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 50 Salvation Points]

The Nightmare Guardian quickly attacked once again in quick succession. I accelerated, not looking back at the cadets I had just saved.

I barely was able to push a few cadets away from the attack, but some of them were hit and eliminated.

'Shit-'

[You have saved 2 people from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 20 Salvation Points]

Multiple cadets with long-ranged weaponry began a constant barrage of attacks against the calamity while trying to avoid its attacks, yet their assaults didn't do any damage to the Nightmare Guardian.

After a while, my body quickly became exhausted after using acceleration on my body so many times to save others.

I breathed heavily, trying to catch my breath after just saving three cadets.

[You have saved 3 people from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 30 Salvation Points]

People didn't even thank me anymore when I saved them, they only continued to fight or tried avoiding the calamity's attacks.

'I don't know how much longer I can last...'

I watched as Arthur and a few other cadets made it to the Nightmare Guardian's chest and continued to slowly climb and fight their way upward, clashing against its tentacles.

I looked around and noticed Yoon Harin at the edge of the arena, who seemed to be a lot better, but she had a grim expression on her face.

'I have to keep going...'

I sighed and noticed another cadet in danger. Forcing myself to use acceleration on my tired body, I barely pulled the cadet out of the attack.

[You have saved 1 person from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 10 Salvation Points]

*WOOSH!*

As I was trying to catch my breath, bullets whizzed through the air right past my head and quickly curved upward, striking the Nightmare Guardian's mask with insane precision and power.

*FWO- BOOM!*

'What the hell-'

Confused, I turned around and spotted a woman in the distance.

She had a wolf-cut hairstyle and faded dark gray hair, her black eyes gleamed with excitement, and a scar ran across her cheek as she grinned like a madman, aiming her revolver nowhere near the Nightmare Guardian and instead aiming it wildly.

'What is she-'

*BANG!*

The woman quickly fired her revolver once more. As the bullet flew into the air, a blue system appeared in front of her that seemed to be a slot machine, and it instantly activated.

*Cha-ching! Ding! Ding! Ding! Whirr...*

*Click! Click! Click!*

[3][3][3]

She cheered while staring at her system, "Two jackpots in a row!~"

The bullets she fired were instantly set ablaze and hit the Nightmare Guardian's mask once again, exploding and creating cracks on the beast's mask.

*FWOOSH- BOOM!*

I could only stand there in utter shock, 'I- Wha- What just happened?...'

The Nightmare Guardian roared out in anger and swung its claws downwards at insane speeds at the woman.

The slot machine appeared in front of her again as the claws descended at her and activated.

*Cha-ching! Ding! Ding! Ding! Whirr...*

*Click! Click! Click!*

[2][7][1]

The woman's expression quickly changed to a grim one as she stared at the slot machine and muttered a single word, "Fuck..."

'I have to save her, she may actually be able to defeat the Nightmare Guardian...'

*FWOOSH- BOOM!*

I gritted my teeth and quickly accelerated my aching body once more, pulling her out of the way right before the blow landed and just after I fell onto the ground, exhausted.

[You have saved 1 person from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 10 Salvation Points]

"KRRRRYYYYAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!"

The Nightmare Guardian let out an unholy roar the moment it missed. I looked back at the calamity, noticing black sparks bursting from its head, and saw Arthur Corvin, who had reached the Nightmare Guardian's neck.

Arthur was covered in wounds and the Nightmare Guardian's yellow blood; his cadet uniform was in absolute tatters, yet he continued to climb. He roared out while slamming his blade deeper into the flesh of the beast.

"HRRAAAAHHHH!!!"

'Please let Arthur kill it...'

"RAAAAAARGGGGGHHH!"

The Nightmare Guardian roared in pain as massive tentacles burst from its body and swung crazily around the arena.

'Oh fuck...'

The woman next to me grabbed me and helping me up as she looked at the tentacles swinging down at us. "Hey, thanks for that, but I think we're pretty fucked..."

*WOOSH!*

I tried to speak, yet I was too exhausted to do so, but I forced myself to accelerate.

*BOOM!*

As the attack was about to hit the ground, I barely managed to save both of us from the blow.

[You have saved 1 person from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 10 Salvation Points]

I gritted my teeth, I could barely stand, managing to mutter out something, "Fuck it..."

'I have to save more people...'

I forced my aching body to activate 'Last Seconds' and ranked up my speed from C+ to B+ and enhanced my acceleration.

My stamina quickly came back, and golden cracks began forming around my arms and legs as I accelerated. Time slowed down as a system containing a timer began counting down from ten.

[10]

*BOOM! SPLURT!*

I pulled a group of cadets out of the way from a massive splatter of acidic gray sludge caused by the massive tentacles slamming against each other.

'I-'

[You have saved 8 people from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 80 Salvation Points]

[9]

I could feel my warm blood trickling down my arms and legs as I accelerated, but I forced myself to grab another group of fellow cadets out of the way of the attacks.

'I have..'

[You have saved 6 people from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 60 Salvation Points]

[8]

*BOOM! CLANG! BOOM!*

I looked back and noticed Arthur defending himself from a barrage of attacks from the Nightmare Guardian and was unable to finish off the beast.

'I have to-'

I gritted my teeth and continued to save more cadets, I could feel my body slowly breaking down from the enhanced acceleration.

[You have saved 7 people from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 70 Salvation Points]

[7]

'I have to go... faster..'

I forced myself more and more to go even faster than before and save more cadets after seeing a group of cadets get eliminated from the barrage of attacks from the tentacles.

[You have saved 12 people from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 120 Salvation Points]

[6]

I noticed Yoon Harin, who was about to be hit by a tenacle, I instantly pulled her out of its range along with multiple other cadets.

[You have saved 15 people from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 150 Salvation Points]

'I-'

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[5]

'I have to...'

'Save more people...'

I coughed up blood as I ran, yet I continued to try to save even more cadets.

[You have saved 18 people from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 180 Salvation Points]

[4]

'It's not enough...'

'I have to... go even faster..'

My body was shutting down as more cadets got eliminated; I forced myself to go faster again to save even more.

[You have saved 25 people from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 250 Salvation Points]

[3]

'Even if my body breaks...'

I could no longer see color... everything was simply black and white, but I continued to save more cadets.

[You have saved 31 people from the great calamity, Nightmare Guardian]

[You have gained 310 Salvation Points]

[2]

I saw the dark gray-haired woman again, who was barely able to dodge the attacks from the calamity. She gritted her teeth as she fired her revolver, the screen having the slot machine instantly activated the moment she fired.

*BANG!*

*Cha-ching! Ding! Ding! Ding! Whirr...*

*Click! Click! Click!*

[4][4][4]

*FWOOSH!*

The bullet became a white color and grew in size as it flew through the air, and a sudden thought came into my mind.

[1]

'Fuck it, I hope this works...'

I forced my entire being to accelerate that bullet as it flew, and with my remaining stamina, I screamed at the top of my lungs at Arthur, praying he could hear me through the chaos. My body fell onto the ground as I screamed his name.

"ARTHUR!!!!!"

*ZIIIING-BOOOM!*

I could only watch and hope as the bullet instantly pierced through the Nightmare Guardian's neck and shattered its mask completely, revealing its hundreds of eyes on its face, all glaring at me.

The moment Arthur heard my scream, he took advantage of the situation. He quickly evaded the tentacles attacking him and slammed his blade into the damaged neck of the beast, dragging his blade against it with all his might, and managed to behead the calamity.

*FWOO- BOOM!*

The Nightmare Guardians head quickly landed on the ground with a loud boom.

The arena was now completely damaged beyond recognition, with massive craters and damaged walls, weapons from eliminated cadets and piles of gray acidic sludge were everywhere around the arena.

I stared at the fake sky above and sighed in relief that it was finally over, 'It's over...'

[0]

[You have gained access to the SP store (Rank D)]

[You have unlocked your hidden title: "Apostle Of Salvation"]

[You have gained a hidden blessing]

[The third wave has been completed]

[Cadets Remaining: 4,088]