Is this really a Game?!

A burst of black lightning erupted from within the abomination's throat as Reign erupted from within it. The lightning fried the insides of the mouth, charring the flesh and destroying the brain of the monster that collapsed on the ground, causing it to tremble as some nearby creatures that tried getting to Reign got squashed by its massive body.

Landing lightly on his feet, Reign glanced around, surveying the battlefield as the abomination he had slain was only the beginning as many more were still present near him. His gaze then shifted to the four most powerful monsters, which were still just spectating and were barely moving.

The other abominations did not slow their charge, even after seeing Reign annihilate one of them in such a dominant fashion. They were akin to mindless monsters, well, at least that was how it seemed.

Reign knew better, however, as he noticed how some of the abominations stayed behind others, and some even hid amongst other larger creatures, obviously not willing to show themselves and face him head-on.

Reign merely scoffed at the abominations who were doing such a thing, but inwardly, he was wary of them. The ones who were merely charging at him were all powerful, they were all driven by some instinct to slaughter him, which meant that the ones that were able to fight against the instinct, against that urge, were definitely deadlier.

Reign cracked his neck as he calmly stared at the abominations before glancing to the side, checking how the others were doing.

All groups had engaged the abominations in battle, their powers flaring up, and mayhem present amongst the horde as hundreds of weaker creatures were being slaughtered by the battles between the abominations and the groups.

Wolf's flames were merciless, a touch and a creature would find itself covered in them, the purple flames turning them into ashes as they assaulted the abominations as well.

Mia's frost was equally deadly, freezing the creatures who got too close before the shockwaves of the battle shattered their frozen bodies.

Jin's explosions destroyed all who were near them, Aelrinder's wind cut the creatures apart, as did Beast's wind that came from above the creatures.

Blackie, the wyvern, and the flood dragon were squashing the smaller creatures while fighting the abominations with full force.

Laura was not holding back when it came to utilizing the abundant life force present on the battlefield. Spell after spell were cast as her hands started shaking a bit from using them so often.

Shadow was utilizing his darkness to confuse the monsters near him while also manifesting weapons and huge limbs to battle against the abominations while stabbing and slicing them with his daggers.

Tank and Greenie continued fighting using their brute force, forcing even the large and powerful abominations to stop dead in their tracks. Their immense strength allowed them to break apart the tough carapace, hide, and even bones of the powerful monsters, not holding back at all.

Everybody was doing well so far, their strength allowed them to fight against the horde without being pushed back, and even though the abominations were powerful, with them not being able to kill them in one shit like the giants, and having to use multiple strong attacks before being able to take them down, it was still nothing much.

The problem, however, was the number of abominations present. Even the abominations numbered in the tens, and that was just those present near one group.

If they truly had to kill all of them before fighting against the four monsters that seemingly led the horde, they would be way too tired.

Reign surveyed the battlefield, his eyes narrowing as he took in the seemingly endless waves of abominations. The ground trembled beneath their grotesque forms, and even though his group was holding strong, the sheer number of enemies was staggering. There were dozens of abominations, and even though they were being slain one by one, each required a concentrated effort to bring down.

The four most powerful monsters, the real threats, loomed in the distance, watching. Reign felt their auras even from afar, and he knew that once they joined the fray, things would get exponentially more difficult. These abominations were strong, but the four leaders radiated an overwhelming presence, unlike anything they'd faced thus far.

'They're just wearing us down,' Reign muttered, gripping his swords tightly. 'We can't keep wasting energy on these abominations. We need to find a way to force those four to engage now.'

The abominations were intelligent enough to act as a buffer, keeping Reign and the others from reaching their true targets. The more time they spent fighting these lower-level monsters, the weaker they would be when they finally confronted the four leaders. Reign couldn't afford to let that happen.

As if sensing his growing frustration, one of the abominations lunged at him, its many limbs flailing wildly as it tried to overpower him with brute strength. Reign dodged the first few strikes effortlessly, his body moving in a blur as his sword cut through the air. With a single, powerful strike, he sliced through the abomination's legs, causing it to collapse onto the ground with a guttural roar.

He followed up with another strike, a precise blow to its throat, ending its life before it could retaliate. Black lightning crackled along the blade of his sword as he stood over the fallen creature, breathing heavily.

This one was smaller, and even though it was fast and powerful, it was simply unable to go up against him, its vitality was not enough to allow it to heal the wounds suffered by Reign's sword.

But there were still too many.

"We're burning too much energy on these things!" Reign shouted over the din of battle as if he was trying to talk to Wolf and the others, but that was of course not possible as they were too far apart from one another.

Reign took a deep breath and started thinking. He pushed down the rising frustration he felt and thought while more abominations approached. They could all continue whittling down the monsters, risking exhaustion before fighting the four, or charge straight at them.

Jin had previously advised against charging blindly at the four, as the abominations would definitely charge after them, but upon seeing just how many monsters there were, and just how powerful those monsters were, Reign doubted that their previous plan could work.

They would simply use too much in order to get to the four, their mana would be low, their stamina depleted, and there was no saying just how powerful the four were.

'They can fight the abominations if they wish, but I can't, I have to at least take one down quickly, if I can do that, I can help with the other abominations, and we can win.' Reign though as his lightning intensified, turning from black to white.

'Full speed ahead, disregard the abominations that cannot harm you, just go straight to that bastard who is observing you.' Reign told himself as more and more lightning appeared around him, his aura rising higher and higher, making it clear to his teammates as well.

Jin glanced at him and shook his head.

"Seems like he is getting ready to charge at the big one, it seems that is the only way we can clear this trial, only a minute has passed since we left the fortress, and we have already used this much power, we need to get to the four and take them down before our marks stop boosting us."

"Isn't that the opposite of what you said the last time?" Shadow asked, a wry smile present on his face as Jin merely glanced at him before turning to stare at the big one who was closest to them.

"Let's go, the others are doing the same, it seems all of us have come to the same conclusion," Jin stated as they all nodded their heads.

"Shouldn't we get Beast to take us there?" Shadow suddenly asked. "Both the flood dragon and the wyvern can take a group each, we can get there while conserving all of our strength."

"You would think so, but look up," Aelrinder said as Shadow did what he said, and his eyes narrowed.

"Tch, they didn't have flying ones until now."

"They did, they were just waiting for us to get further away from the fortress," Jin added from the side as they glanced at the flying abominations that were locked in battle against the wyvern, the flood dragon, as well as Beast, who was still using his wind to fly and battle.

And just like that, with Reign being the first one to do so, the other 3 groups all charged at the top monsters they were closest to. They were holding nothing back as they charged.

Tank used his [ Bull Charge ], which was now called [ Demonic Bull Charge ] as it had become more powerful, which was natural since he had used the skill so often for so long.

Alerinder, Shadow, and Jin were charging forward, with Shadow at the very front, teleporting from one shadow to another.

Beast was trying to fly over to the monster, but the flying abominations that arrived stopped him from doing so, and he was now trying to quickly kill them before moving toward it.

As for Reign, he was nothing but a white blur on the battlefield, white lightning being left in his wake as he charged at the monster.