"Get back to your assigned posts!" After hearing everyone’s determination, Lake was quick to settle everyone back into position.
Nobody questioned Lake’s command at this point, as they had all decided to put their fates in his hands for this battle and quickly headed back to their abandoned posts.
"Sylph, recast your blessing while everyone is getting into position!" Lake shouted out.
"Yes, sir!" Sylph shouted immediately. She didn’t know why, but she had gotten swept up in the emotions of everyone else somewhere along the lines and now referred to Lake as sir as if she were in the military.
While Sylph was casting her attribute enhancement in a flurry, her emotions welling up in excitement, Lake turned to face the guardian hunters who were awaiting his reply.
"We don’t have much time left. In order to win, I am going to need you to trust me and follow my orders," Lake spoke quickly, his gaze serious as he met theirs.
Most of them felt a little uncomfortable knowing that they would have to follow the orders of someone who was barely an adult; however, the situation they had found themselves in made them desperate, and they really had no choice in the matter.
Either they run away on their own and leave the kids here to die, or they stay behind and fight with them. Both of these options had their problems, but these hunters would rather stay and fight than live on with the shame of having run.
"We’ll follow your orders."
Eventually, the first person to speak was Romero, his words gaining silent approval from everyone else as they slowly nodded their heads.
"Good, then let’s start working. Romero, I need you to find a way to clear the fog in front of the cliffs. Leno, you seem to be a spear user. Head to the cliffs with Romero and prepare to engage the serpent if it appears."
"As for everyone else, return to your students’ positions. I put you there for a reason; you’ll figure it out when you get there."
Hearing Lake’s commands left the hunters questioning a few things, but they had no time to waste, so they quickly ran back to their groups. They would just have to figure it out when they got there, and if they ended up dead because of it, then they would just curse Lake endlessly in death.
Leno, who had been watching the events before him unfold in a completely unexpected way, stayed still for a moment.
Even after seeing the students’ determination and the other hunters’ resignations, he felt that this entire situation had devolved into madness. Most hunters had never seen a Rank Three creature in action before, as they mostly appeared in rifts; however, Leno was an experienced hunter with over thirty years in the industry. He had been to several rifts before and had witnessed the horrors of a Rank Three creature.
Their strength was almost unstoppable, comparable to a force of nature capable of manipulating elements. That was why he knew that no matter what they did, it was going to be impossible to kill such a creature with just this ragtag group of hunters and students.
In the end, the only thing he could do was sigh as he turned to face the ever-growing fog.
’The most I could do is hold out until reinforcements arrive. Hopefully, I can keep the creature away from the students during that time.’
Leno’s face was dark, but still, he had resolved himself to give up even his life for the future of these kids as he dashed off towards the cliff ledge.
In the end, only Lake and Kate remained behind. Iris and Bramble had followed Sylph to assist while she buffed everyone.
Lake turned to face Kate, but he was instantly startled when he saw her dark expression. Her cold eyes, which were calmly staring at him, were filled with malice.
Kate’s mouth slowly opened as she spoke. "You seem to be having a lot of fun, huh? When were you planning on letting the rest of us in on your plans to commit group suicide together?"
Lake pretended to laugh a little as he heard her questions, calmly replying in the process, "And can you tell me how exactly this is considered suicide?"
"Oh? Well, for starters, I don’t know—maybe it’s the fact that you just sent a group of students to fight against a beast tide of over a thousand sea creatures that is also led by an even bigger and scarier creature that has not one, but three heads."
"Hmm, that certainly does sound like suicide when you put it like that," Lake spoke as he rubbed his chin. "However, you seem to be missing a crucial point."
"Oh? And what is that?" Kate raised an eyebrow as she folded her arms. She truly wanted to strangle Lake right now.
Suddenly, Lake’s expression turned serious as he moved his face closer to hers, staring her straight in the eyes.
"Don’t I still have you?"
Kate was slightly startled when she saw Lake’s unexpected response, as a somewhat disgusted look instantly appeared on her face.
"...Do you use these cheap tricks to pick up all the girls you know?"
Hearing her response, Lake laughed as he moved backward, casually replying to her remark. "I used to, but now I only dare to use them on you."
"Because I know you’re smart enough not to fall for it."
Kate’s expression was slightly dazed when she heard Lake’s compliment, but she quickly composed herself as she spoke. "Uh, I think I’ve heard enough."
Lake smiled seeing her look, which was both a mix of disgust and defeat. "If you’ve heard enough, then you should probably head over and assist the rest of the students. Once the battle starts, I won’t be able to lead them properly, and that’s where you come in. Take them and deal with the weaker monsters while the hunters and I deal with the serpent."
Kate sighed as she turned around. "Fine. It’s not like I wasn’t going to help out in the first place. These students are potential future members of my guild, after all."
As she spoke, she started to walk away but paused for a moment, as if a thought had appeared in her head.
She turned around one more time and looked Lake in the face. "After this fight, there is something I have to tell you."
Without explaining further, Kate dashed off to assume her position as commander of the first years.
Lake was slightly confused by her reply but didn’t think too much about it. He hadn’t had the chance to read through her fate recently and was only mildly curious as to what she wanted to tell him.
He briefly considered reading through her fate to figure it out now but ultimately decided to let it go.
’I should focus on the task at hand.’
Seeing that mostly everyone had gotten into position, Lake focused his attention on Romero, who stood right before the fog.
’What an incredible amount of mana,’ Lake silently thought as he observed Romero take up a punching stance.
With his Magic Eyes, he could see the surrounding mana around Romero twist and turn as it gathered around his fist.
’Last time, his fate had transformed into a golden fate. Since then, it’s been a few months.’ As Lake’s thoughts reached this point, the mana surrounding Romero’s fist began to condense, turning into a golden aura that was visible to everyone.
As Lake saw this, he couldn’t help but smile. ’Let’s see just how much you’ve progressed in that time.’
At this point, all eyes were on Romero. Everyone knew who he was from the news and various Hunter articles posted online. He was a genius hunter of his age, but a recent scandal involving a failed escort mission had dragged his reputation down to the ground.
That scandal was also the reason why only Lake, of over a hundred students, was willing to take Romero as his guardian. However, none of that mattered now, as he was the one standing on the frontlines of what was going to be a hellish battlefield.
"haah..." Exhaling a deep breath, Romero’s eyes focused on the dense fog in front of him. He couldn’t see past it, and he knew nothing of what stood before him. Feeling that he had gathered enough mana, he started to condense the golden aura around his fist as it began to take on a more solid shape.
When the mana couldn’t be condensed any further, he knew he had reached his limit and shot his fist forward.
There was no sound when Romero’s fist came to a stop just before the fog. It was so fast that most people didn’t even realize it had moved. For a brief moment, as his fist came to a stop, it was like the calm before the storm.
It lasted less than a tenth of a second, but in that moment, everyone could feel it—the sheer power held behind that seemingly simple punch.
When the sound of his fist flying forward finally caught up to him, a tremendous golden aura surged from Romero’s fist, smashing into the fog wall before him.
As the golden aura cut through the air, the fog for hundreds of meters in front of them was instantly dispelled.
The surface of the water that had been covered by the fog became visible again, but before anyone could even gasp at Romero’s amazing feat, the sight that was revealed before them caused them to freeze.
A bolt of lightning suddenly shot out of the water, arcing through the air as it made its way towards Romero!
Romero was still reeling from his earlier attack and couldn’t dodge in time. As he braced himself for the worst, a silver flash appeared before him, striking the bolt of lightning and causing it to explode with a loud boom.
When Romero looked over, he saw that the silver light was actually a spear!
"Focus, kid. It seems that the serpent isn’t the only thing we’ll have to worry about." Leno held his spear as he looked at the turbulent waters below. Hundreds, if not thousands, of sea creatures had gathered below the cliffs as they swam around in a vicious frenzy.
The creature that had just shot the bolt of lightning was also swimming among the other fish, a viper-like creature with crackling bolts of electricity surrounding its body.
When everyone saw this, they felt chills as their confidence in the following fight waned greatly.
They hadn’t even met the three-headed serpent, and yet they were not sure if they could even handle the endless waves of vicious sea creatures.
However, just as everyone began to regret their decisions, a massive underwater explosion erupted, followed by a brilliant beam of light. The clustered sea creatures were instantly blown to pieces!
Hearing the explosion, Lake smiled, knowing his traps had gone off.
The initial trap’s force pushed surrounding sea creatures into the range of other traps, triggering a chain reaction.
Less than ten seconds passed before explosions and spell effects began to echo along the coastline, reducing the more than a thousand sea creatures by half!
As hundreds of fates rose into the sky, Lake smiled calmly. Previously, he would have worried about collecting these loose fates, but now, he no longer had such problems.
Raising his hand, he stretched out his palm and used his least-utilized skill. Due to its low level, he didn’t really have much practical use for this skill beyond pranks and schemes. Now, however, this skill had suddenly become extremely useful with his expanded creativity.
As he felt his mana begin to drain, the strands of fate floating away in the air suddenly stopped. As if spurred by a greater will, all of them began to converge towards him, creating a breathtaking spectacle visible only to his eyes as hundreds of them blocked out the sky.
The strands of fate slowly gathered in his hand as Lake felt a newfound appreciation for his other Master of Fate skill, Writer of Fate.
Originally, he used this skill to change the fate of others, but now, with his new mindset, he saw another use for it.
’I used to focus on the second line of the skill description, ignoring the first, but the Master of Fate isn’t someone who just changes fate; he controls it!’
In that moment, Lake truly felt it—the long-lost ecstasy he hadn’t experienced since first absorbing the aimless strands of fate during his entrance exam.
Lake was thankful that everyone was focused on the bay because even he didn’t know what kind of face he was currently making. Judging by the slight strain on his cheeks, he was probably smiling, but not in the way he was used to.
His eyes were wide open, but his gaze was fixed on his palm, watching the hundreds of fates being swiftly absorbed. It felt like he was looking down on the fates of the sea monsters, bending to his will—exactly what he was doing.
He held the fates of hundreds of creatures in the palm of his hand, and they were powerless to resist. In that moment, Lake felt like he finally understood what it meant to be the Master of Fate.