Matthew Atkinson & Natalie Russell
Sixth Layer of the Supernatural Realm
After the draw, the sky had completely darkened. Torches were erected throughout the military camp.
A full moon hung high in the sky, dispelling some of the darkness.
The crowd climbed onto the city wall.
Then, according to the lot they drew, they found the area they were responsible for.
Matthew and the others arrived at Zone 17.
To everyone's surprise, the commander in charge of Zone 17 was a very young, beautiful woman.
She held a spear, wore armor, and looked very heroic.
Filip Walker and other men on the team were deeply attracted by what they saw.
However, this female commander exudes a powerful aura of murder.
Seeing everyone staring at her, she didn't get angry, but warned, "The monster will be here soon; you'd better be prepared."
Everyone then came to their senses and looked towards the direction outside the city wall.
Although the moon was very bright tonight, the visibility was still not very high. People like Filip Walker could only see darkness in the distance and couldn't see anything clearly.
"Everyone, come here, I have a task for you." Matthew suddenly said.
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately moved closer to Matthew.
"When battle starts, you don't need to kill any monsters. I only have one task for you: to protect Natalie against other people who might try to ambush her."
Upon hearing this, everyone was somewhat surprised.
Only Natalie remained calm, letting Matthew make his arrangements.
She wasn't one of those stubborn fools who were "incompetent yet loved to play."
Her goal was to achieve perfect mission grades, and she was willing to comply with whatever the process or Matthew's arrangements were.
And she knew that when the time came, when she was strong enough, she could easily stand by Matthew's side.
"Zones 16 and 18, which are closer to us, are zones that belong to foreign teams. I don't trust them," Matthew added. "I'm worried they might resort to dirty tricks and suddenly try to ambush Natalie."
"Protecting Miss Natalie is definitely no problem," Lucian Richards couldn't help but say, "But if we don't kill the monsters, who will?"
Killing monsters was related to everyone's mission progress, so they naturally cared about it.
Matthew laughed and said, "Leave the killing monsters to me; you guys wait and protect Natalie."
After these words were spoken, the group looked at each other in bewilderment.
They probably didn't expect Matthew to be so "arrogant".
"Matthew, this is the sixth layer of the Supernatural Realm. Our teacher said the casualty rate for freshmen is quite high here; it's definitely dangerous," Filip Walker said. "Are you really going to try to kill monsters all by yourself?"
Matthew waved his hand, too lazy to explain further. "Just follow my instructions."
Then he clenched his fist and said with a smile, "Perfect opportunity. I also want to know what level my strength has reached now."
Protecting Natalie was necessary, but also an excuse.
He was concerned that letting his teammates kill monsters might become a burden for him.
In this layer, he was leading the team again, so it wouldn't be good if any of his teammates died in here.
It would be better for him to do it alone.
With his current strength, he could slaughter monsters indiscriminately as long as they weren't excessively powerful.
Moreover, he had many new skills he wanted to try. He hadn't yet had the chance to try Observation Haki and Conqueror's Haki, and he was planning to try them at this layer.
And of course, he wanted to test his new power before trying Conqueror's Haki. Otherwise, he could kill all the monsters without even testing his power.
This was Matthew's idea.
It was also for the safety of his teammates.
However, his teammates saw his behavior as blind arrogance.
Everyone wanted to offer advice, but they didn't know how to start.
Matthew didn't give these people a chance to speak.
He took a few steps forward, reached the edge of the city wall, and asked, "Commander, I would like to ask, what kind of monster are we going to face?"
The female commander stood at the edge of the city wall, gazing into the distance, her body filled with murderous intent.
Hearing Matthew's question, she didn't hold back and said, "They are monsters from the abyss. Those monsters are strangely shaped, ferocious, and terrifying, and they are endless. They appear every year."
Matthew nodded, then asked, "So, how strong are the monsters?"
The female commander truthfully replied, "Ordinary monsters can be killed by three or five soldiers working together. However, some of the monsters are leaders who are impervious to swords and spears and possess immense strength, making them very difficult to kill..."
After listening to the female commander's account, Matthew got a general idea of what was going on.
Then, he couldn't help but ask, "If these leader monsters are so powerful, how did you manage to defend against them before?"
The female commander was easy to talk to and continued, "There are times when we can't hold out... However, monsters don't like daytime, and they will retreat when the sun rises. Our goal isn't to kill the monsters. It's to protect this passage. So, surviving until morning will be enough."
Matthew thanked her. "Thank you for informing me, Commander."
The female commander asked, "Are you their captain?"
Seeing Matthew nod, the female commander asked again, "So, what are your plans for defending the city next?"
Matthew smiled and said, "Massacre. I will kill all of them."
Upon hearing this, the female commander was immediately taken aback.
And just then, suddenly, a large fire broke out on the distant beacon tower.
At the same time, a loud horn sounded.
Upon seeing this, the female commander's expression immediately changed, and she shouted, "Monsters are coming. Prepare for battle."
Upon hearing this, Matthew turned his gaze to the distance outside the city wall.
His Observation Haki level was Legend level, and he had already started to detect monsters entering his domain.
And thanks to Observation Haki, improving his mental attribute-related senses by eight times, his vision had also become considerably stronger.
He could see a black line in the distance, rapidly approaching the city wall.
As the black line drew closer, he immediately saw that it was an endless army of monsters, surging towards him like a tide.
They were everywhere.
Matthew frowned slightly upon seeing the number of monsters.
That was a lot.
However, numbers were not a big problem for him.
He returned to his teammates and said, "Proceed according to plan. You don't need to take action. Just be careful of others sneaking up on Natalie."
At this point, the team members had no choice but to trust Matthew and nod in agreement.
Matthew then looked at Natalie and said, "Natalie, if you're bored, you can also hunt monsters from afar, but don't go too far. Be sure to conserve some strength just in case."
"Okay, I understand." Natalie had complete confidence in Matthew. "You can focus on killing monsters, don't worry about this side."
After her words fell…
-Rumble—
…the entire city wall began to tremble.
That was the tremor caused by countless monsters rushing to the vicinity of the city walls.
Everyone looked down and discovered that the monsters were like oxen.
They have black manes, a sharp horn on their foreheads, a gaping maw filled with sharp teeth, strong limbs, ferocious claws, and even the tips of their tails are like darts.
These monsters were simply born to kill.
But what was most striking was that these monsters had no eyes.
Below their necks were a pair of huge ears, which seemed to be used to locate prey by sound.
Seeing these monsters, Filip Walker and the others felt a chill.
Because there were just too many of them.
But for Matthew, these monsters and the situation he was in reminded him of the movie The Great Wall.
Although not every detail was the same, and the army guarding the passage wasn't as advanced as in the film, many similarities couldn't be ignored.
Monsters, a city wall, an ancient civilization, and war drums...
-Dong, dong, dong...
War drums sounded from the city walls.
Upon hearing the war drums, the female commander immediately drew her sword and ordered, "Be READY!"
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.143: Meteor Volcano
Ch.144: Ferocious Beasts
Ch.145: Matthew Making His Move