From one claw, a huge monster gradually climbed out of the valley and revealed its true appearance.
"A turtle?" Theo widened his eyes and started gasping for air just by looking at the monster's appearance.
The monster was two hundred feet tall above the ground and its length could go as far as five hundred feet. Even if Theo and Alea used all their speed to escape, one step was all it took to reach them.
The appearance itself was like a turtle, but the skin was white and had some dirt covering its black shell. They could see many holes on the turtle's shell, releasing a black aura that eventually formed a skull covered in purple smoke.
"Theo! Theo!" Alea shook his body to wake him up from his trance. She gritted her teeth because if she didn't have the blessing of the God of Fortitude, she would have been in the same state as him.
Despite shaking his body for a minute, Theo had no sign of waking up, so she clicked her tongue and raised her hand. "Sorry!"
Pak.
She slapped his cheek as his body suddenly shook. "Thank God. You have finally returned. We don't have any time to waste. Let's escape!"
Theo looked at the turtle once again as he gulped down. His hands were shaking uncontrollably, but the heat from Alea's slap managed to force him to stay awake.
"Fight that feeling! That turtle is weird. It's sending a certain aura that can easily influence someone weaker than it!" Alea shouted.
Theo bit his lips until they bled before shaking his head. "Yes. Let's go!"
Alea helped him up as they started running away.
However, the time they were in a trance allowed the turtle to fully support its body in the new environment. It noticed Alea and Theo, who tried to escape from him.
"It notices us! Use your Haste right now. We are going at full speed!"
Theo nodded as the Magic Power revolved in his body, letting out a green aura from his feet. It took all this to help him match Alea's speed, but it was worth it because they truly went much faster.
"What is that monster?" Theo asked.
"I'm not sure. Looking at that aura alone, it's probably above Champion Rank… At least, its level is above 250. Even I don't have the confidence to defeat it."
"How could such a monster be hidden in this area?"
"You tell me."
Their day couldn't get worse. Not only did they need to do anything to survive because they ranked up, but they also needed to escape from a monster like this. If they could restart today, they would go for a safer area or just stay quiet in the Art Beats Castle.
Suddenly, a high-pitched sound reverberated in that area before a translucent yellow light came out of the turtle, shooting to the sky. It then spread to all directions like a pillar of light, surrounding the entire area.
When Alea took another look at it, the light pillars started getting tied by millions of yellow threats, forming an unbreakable wall.
"What?!" Alea gasped and turned around, realizing that they were trapped inside a yellow dome. There was also a light pillar on top of the turtle's shell, which might be the only way to escape.
Even so, Alea didn't want to give up and shouted to him. "We will break through it. Do everything you can to the barrier."
Her sword started blazing as she tried to accumulate as much energy as she possibly could at this point.
Theo nodded as he also used his Focus Charge to accumulate it while preparing to use his Magic Bullets.
The dome itself was one mile in diameter, giving them enough time to charge.
However, before they arrived, Theo turned his head around while looking at the turtle with his Skylink to see its status.
MONSTER DESCRIPTION
Name: ???
Level: -
No information.
"What did you see?" Alea noticed his action and asked.
"No information," Theo answered before his face turned pale when all the skulls left the holes and marched forward. "Not good! The skulls are coming! I don't know anything about them."
"No need to think about them first. The wall is right in front of us. We will hit it first before panicking over those." Alea reminded Theo to focus on their objective instead of getting distracted.
Theo nodded with a serious expression as he calmed his heart down, looking at the yellow translucent wall that blocked their way.
"Watch where I strike!"
"Understood."
The two moved as fast as possible to carry all that momentum. When they arrived right before the wall, Alea took one deep step on the ground and thrust her sword forward.
"Ignition Rune Sword."
"Focused Charge." Theo also struck the exact same spot as her, trying to break this wall.
Unfortunately for them, It only ended up with Theo's spear clashing with Alea's sword as the two ended up failing to destroy it.
No, they didn't mess up. It just showed how strong the wall was that was capable of dealing with both strikes without a scratch and forced the two blades to collide.
"Kh!" Theo and Alea's shoulders hit each other before they slipped to the ground.
Alea looked at the wall and punched the ground out of frustration as she turned around. "I'm afraid it's not around Level 250 anymore. This monster may be close to Level 400."
"There is still one opportunity!" Theo shouted and grabbed Alea's waist without hesitation. "Blink."
Bam.
The next second he appeared, his and Alea's bodies hit the barrier. "Kh!"
"It's not effective? We're doomed this way?" Theo drew a gasp as he looked at the skulls in the air. The turtle itself had yet to do anything, so he thought they should have a chance to fight against these skulls to buy time. 'That's right. With such a huge appearance, there is a possibility for the military to detect this. And my Master may also be on the way. If we hold it long enough…'
As he gained a new objective, Alea also refused to give up as she shouted. "Do you have an idea, Theo?"
"Buy time. The turtle must be in deep slumber before the Earthquake, so it's not fully awake yet. That's why we will fight those skulls until the reinforcement comes. There are two possible safest locations. The dark valley where the turtle came out and behind its giant body. But I don't know if there are more monsters hiding inside the first one, so we will go for the second option."
Alea nodded with a serious expression. "Alright. We will fight them, but we will maintain our distance from the turtle while making our way there."
"Yes. Same strategy." Theo nodded and summoned his clone, handing both sword and shield.
"Understood. Let's escape this nightmare alive, shall we?" Alea forced herself a smile.