After the four of them talked about the specifics of what they were going to do for the final wave, Damian and the others went off their separate ways for the meantime, with Tristan, Myst, and Valyr deciding to take the time to rest and recuperate the stamina and mana they had lost during the fourth wave.

As for Damian, since he had stayed at the frontlines all throughout the defense so far, his condition was still at its peak, which prompted him to infuse his voice with mana as it resounded throughout the village outskirts not long after. “Men! Heed my words!”

“We are now up against the final wave! To those that have stuck at the frontlines thus far, you have my greatest gratitude. As for those who have decided to retreat from the frontlines midway, you have my gratitude regardless.”

“Nevertheless, the time is nigh for the village to push itself to its limits, with the only obstacle hindering the village’s safety being the Tidemother far into the horizon!” As these words reverberated throughout the area, most of the people at the frontlines let out roars in unison, their morales surprisingly at an all-time high. Continuing to rest on nearby boulders, Valyr and the others watched the scene unfold with faint smiles on their faces.

“For this final wave, the elite of the elite of our Astarto Village shall be making a noble sacrifice, being the ones who shall slay the Tidemother before us.” Damian’s voice continued to echo throughout the outskirts. “These people are Valyr Zeihardt, Myst Verielle, Tristan Melphon, and myself, Damian Waters.”

“I assure you right now that all of us shall return to this place whole, with the Tidemother slain before you could even think about it.” Saying these words, the expression on Damian’s face turned solemn. “However, to those that are willing to join us in killing the Tidemother, relieving us a bit of our burdens, you are free to do so.”

Within seconds after Damian was done talking, a great portion of the people started to murmur with one another, all of them talking about the words he had just spoken. Listening to their conversations, Valyr and the others felt interest from them at first, with all of them talking about how they wanted to become the second Tidebreaker or become someone similar to the village guardian.

Though, as time continued to pass, the confidence people had in themselves gradually waned, doubts gradually lingering in their minds until eventually, all of them came to the conclusion that they would be a far greater burden if they were to participate, thinking about how their strength would not make a difference in front of the Tidemother.

“Is there anything you want me to do, Damian?”

Almost all of them.

“Lythia.” Seeing a mature-looking woman in her thirties appear in front of him, Damian flashed a bright smile as he took a closer look at the woman that appeared in front of him. Jet-black hair that gradually took on a hint of dark blue at the tips, an aura that made him feel like she had control over all of the mana in their surroundings, as well as a few runes that glowed a faint blue on the surface of her hands, Damian turned around to look at the other three that would also participate in the final wave, smiling soon after as they nodded at him.

“So, what do you need me to do?” Nodding back at Damian’s greeting, Lythia asked the man in front of her once more.

“Do you have any binding skills on you?” In response, Damian answered Lythia’s question with a question of his own.

“I do have a few, but the efficacy depends on how strong of a Tidemother we’re up against.” Hearing those words, Damian went ahead and told Lythia of the Tidemother’s strength, causing the latter to frown for a bit before her expression eventually eased up.

“I only have one skill that might be effective against a monster like that, but it’ll take a few seconds to cast it.” As these words left Lythia’s mouth, Damian assured her that it would be fine, telling her that she would work together with Myst in binding the Tidemother in place.

With that, the two talked more about the plan that they would execute during the fifth wave, with Tristan and the others joining them not long after.

…

Rumble…

“The Tidemother’s coming!” Whilst the five were chatting with one another near the frontlines to get a better sense of everyone’s strengths, a person at the central defense wing of the village yelled out all of a sudden, prompting the five to prepare themselves as all of them quickly had solemn expressions on their faces.

Whoosh!

“Let’s do this!” Amidst the panic the remaining defenders at the frontlines felt from hearing that the Tidemother was heading their way, Tristan and Damian took the lead in executing the plan, dashing at the limits of what their bodies could handle as they soon moved at an even greater speed, activating their respective buffing skills.

“Battle Mania!”

“Flowing Sword Steps!”

“Screeeeee!!!” As for the Tidemother, it instantly became incensed once it noticed the presence of two humans getting closer to where it was. Without hesitation, it increased its speed, its legs slamming into the ground with great force, as if they were hammers that fell from the heavens.

“Basic Wind Magic Style: Fleeting Breeze!” Casting a Wind-attributed skill that enhanced the agility of the two women before him, Valyr watched as Lythia and Myst moved away from the frontlines, heading towards the Tidemother to bind it in place as Tristan and Damian were just a few seconds away from getting into position.

“I should start moving as well.” Seeing that the latter two had finally gotten into position, distracting the Tidemother as they landed attacks on its various limbs, Valyr took in a deep breath before proceeding to move towards their enemy at the fastest speed he could muster, activating all of his buffing skills in the meantime.

“Limit Break.”

“Offense Aura.”

“Rage of the Nascent Wyvern.”

Whoosh!

“This is surprisingly easier than I thought!” Moving through the limbs of the Tidemother to land an attack before the former could retaliate, Tristan continued to do what he was tasked to do as he exclaimed out towards the other person that was doing the same thing as him.

“That’s because we’re not the ones that are mainly dealing damage!” Of course, Damian also felt the same thing as Tristan, though he knew that the reason why the two of them felt like this was because the pressure of having to kill the Tidemother was not on them, instead being on the person that was swiftly making his way to where they were at great speeds.

“Eternal Sword Array!”

“Vines of Greater Binding!”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

While both Tristan and Damian continued to distract the Tidemother from what they had in mind, dealing a bit of damage here and there, Lythia and Myst eventually arrived at where the first two were, activating their respective binding skills as soon as possible. Within seconds, a field of white blades and a great amount of large vines appeared beneath the Tidemother, with Tristan and Damian surprisingly being able to move through these obstacles without worry.

“Screeeee!!!” Letting out yet another shriek as it now had an idea of what the humans were doing, the Tidemother tried its best to move away from the blades and vines that had appeared underneath it, knowing that its chances of survival would be significantly lowered if it were to get caught up in the vines. With that, the Tidemother ignored the attacks being landed by the two humans on its limbs for a brief moment as it quickly jumped into the air, slamming all of its limbs on the ground soon after.

Bang!

“Gah!” As the skills both Lythia and Myst cast need immense amounts of concentration, it was no surprise that the move the Tidemother pulled out had deactivated both, causing the two immense mental strain as the ground continued to quake. However, rather than letting the pain wracking their minds defeat them, the two of them instead grit their teeth and endured it, forcing their bodies to move to where the Tidemother and the other two had gone before casting their respective binding skills once more.

“Haah!”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

“Grieeeggghhhh!!!” Fortunately, this time around, Tristan and Damian had distracted the Tidemother enough to the point that both Lythia and Myst’s skills had successfully attached themselves to the Tidemother’s limbs. Gradually extending to cover the Tidemother’s torso, the field of white blades and large vines soon dragged the Tidemother to the ground, tightly binding it in place even though the latter still continued to resist.

“I’ll take it from here!” With the final step of the plan being the only step lacking, Valyr mustered up all of the strength in his body as he zoomed at far greater speeds, extending his spear out as he swiftly moved towards the head of the Tidemother.

Whoosh!

“Strike of the Venomous Night!”

Forcing his momentum to come to a halt, Valyr stopped just a few meters underneath the Tidemother’s head before jumping with all of his strength, converting the momentum he had accumulated thus far into force behind his spear as he thrust it out with great force.

Bang!

Unexpectedly, rather than pierce through the Tidemother’s head and make a clean hole that would undoubtedly kill the monster either way, the Tidemother’s head instead burst under the force of Valyr’s attack as a dark red number appeared above it, leaving everyone within the Tidemother’s vicinity, including Valyr, at a loss for words.

‘-38,495!!!’

…

…

…𝗈𝗏𝒍xt.𝑪𝐎𝓂

Ding!

You have completed the emergency quest ‘Astarto Monster Tide’.