One by one, they all left with their groups. They must have shared the information about Damian's spatial storage and deemed it useless to linger near the civilian house any longer. They also needed to warn their friends and relieve them from facing the giant monsters for them, as the main objective was already achieved.
Damian sensed them nearing the halfway point to the others in their section. Only then did he lead his group outside, crossing the bridge using Wormhole scrolls. The ape attacked but failed to cause any harm.
However, just as they reached the edge of the woods, a movement from the ape caught Damian's eye. For the first time, it moved from its spot, sniffing the air in the direction of the civilian zone. A wave of unease washed over him. The ape's theatrics didn't sit right. Suddenly, it went berserk, roaring and pounding its chest in fury before it began climbing out of the moat.
"Tell me this is a joke," Greg murmured beside him.
'Fuck! This exam is borderline sadistic!'
"Run!" Damian shouted.
They all sprinted for their lives as the ape slowly clambered out of the moat, chasing after them. Even the other monsters nearby began fleeing, joining the frantic race. And just at that moment, the bell chimed—the end of the "relaxation" period and the start of the third wave. This wave, however, featured a massive, hairy ape.
"Go back and try to hold on! I'll distract the monkey," Damian ordered urgently.
He leapt up into a tree and unfurled his last two large runic scrolls. The first, a Wormhole spell he had been saving, transported his group closer to their house for its defense. The second scroll released hundreds of thick green vines he had prepared specifically to handle large monsters. The vines coiled tightly around the ape's body as Damian's companions escaped.
Seizing the opportunity, Damian unleashed aura slashes at the ape. Though his friends had gone, the ape remained furious, roaring as it strained against the vines.
'So the section with the most civilians is its target. Makes sense.'
Yet when one of Damian's slashes landed across its face, its rage turned entirely toward him.
'Great, hurting it is still the fastest aggro trigger.'
Damian continued releasing aura slashes as he sprinted away. Furious and hindered by the vines, the ape pulled with all its might. The vines stretched, snapped, and finally gave way under its massive strength. Now freed, the beast charged after him. Damian pushed himself to full speed, racing towards the Spellborne Legion's house.
As Damian leapt between the trees, the ground trembled. Students battling the monster horde near Spellborne Legion turned in alarm, their faces becoming dreadful at the sight of Damian—and the enormous ape on his tail.
Sam, Einar, Lucian, Maelor, Evrin, Alex, and Kamisen immediately abandoned the horde to their groups and dashed toward him. The ape was far larger and stronger than the three monsters placed near their homes as obstacles. They knew stopping it alone was impossible. Sam might manage, but not without revealing his abilities. Einar and Lucian could stand a chance given enough time, but stopping it before it reached the house? Nearly unthinkable.
Red, sky blue, deep cold blue, and gold auras flared across their blades as, one by one, they unleashed their attacks. Their strikes weren't aimed directly at the ape but instead at Damian, who was driving it toward them. Some, however, aimed their blows just past him, seeking to strike the monster behind him.
"Hey! That is so rude!" Damian yelled.
"Rude?! You bastard, rude is bringing a goddamned monkey to us!" Sam hollered back as he with the others unleashed more aura slashes, this time aimed accurately at the giant ape.
"Couldn't you have gone to the Valor guys?!" Maelor joined in the shouting.
"They don't like me!" Damian replied, finally landing near them from atop the trees.
"We don't like you either!" they all bellowed in unison.
"Oh, come on, guys! Fighting monsters gives points, right? This one's the strongest—you should be thanking me!"
Some gritted their teeth, while others glared at him with bloodshot eyes. Most, however, ignored him as the ape finally closed the distance. Spotting them lined up, the creature halted, seemingly sizing them up before letting out a deafening roar of challenge.
Damian began chanting alongside the other mages, drawing a water sphere runic circle and fueling it with his mana.
"Lucian!" Damian shouted as he activated his spell, conjuring a massive orb of water that materialized above them. Eyes widened in awe as they gazed upward. Lucian nodded in acknowledgment, while Evrin enhanced the effort by casting a tornado spell to support the attack.
Using Evrin's spell, Damian propelled the giant water sphere directly at the beast. Seizing the moment, Lucian activated her skill, her sword glowing with icy blue energy as she froze the ape's legs in place.
With its movement restricted, the enraged ape pounded its massive fists against the ground, creating craters with each blow, aiming at them. Everyone scattered, avoiding its wrath. Sam, Einar, and Alex charged toward the frozen leg, delivering a series of powerful, aura-infused strikes to its thick hide. Each landed deep cuts before swiftly retreating out of the beast's reach.
Maelor unleashed his fiery vortex spell again, scorching one side of the ape's hand badly. Kamisen also landed big fiery arrows upon the monster. The monster's health bar steadily decreased, albeit slowly.
However, enraged by the flames, the beast shattered the hastily formed ice binding its legs and jumped toward Kamisen and Evrin, who were chanting spells in the rear. Aiming to land on them, as if it somehow recognized them as mages. Considering it was being controlled, it actually did.
Damian quickly ran back, chanting as the shadow of the ape's leg loomed closer with each passing second. He deactivated the aura around his blade and hastily prepared the wormhole spell, increasing its size enough to fit the entire leg of the monster. Keeping the travel distance to just three feet, he watched as the spell drained 67% of his total mana.
With perfect timing, Damian opened the wormhole above them at the last possible moment—he didn't want to waste any more mana. The foot of the ape began to emerge from the side where the exit was placed by him, Damian quickly canceled the spell. The monster's big foot was severed at the knee.
The ape howled in agony, its health bar plunging from yellow to the verge of red.