Born in apocalypse

Alaric saw a hint of a frown on Azarex’s skull and asked, "What is happening outside Azarex."

He had to rely on Azarex for information because, even though he could see clearly through his own shield, he couldn’t do the same with the ice shield. Which is why, Azarex was currently in charge of providing information about the outside.

Even Azarex couldn’t see through the shields, but what he could use was his undead vision. Currently, he has connected his vision with one of his spiders, which he primarily used for surveillance.

"It seems monster at tier 3..." he pauses for a bit then adds, "...no maybe they are at tier 4 and there five of them at the front of the outer shield. They are the type who uses ice magic."

"What, Tier 4? Seriously?" Alaric asked, unable to hide his surprise.

In the midst of their conversation, a third voice chimed in, "Tier 4 monsters? They must be strong," Vexar said with a smile on his face, a totally different reaction from his brothers.

Azarex found Vexar’s reaction a bit strange but continued nonetheless, saying, "I’m not entirely certain about that, but what’s really bothering me is..." He paused in the middle of his sentence when realized that Alaric had disappeared from his spot.

Cutting Azarex in the middle of his sentence, Alaric quickly dived into the shadow and then reaper at the top of the shield before the monster could even feel his presence he dived back and reappeared on the same spot.

Interrupting Azarex mid-sentence, Alaric had dived swiftly into the shadows and reappeared at the top of the shield. After getting a closer look at this new group of monsters he quickly dove back.

His appearance and disappearance were so swift that before the monsters could even sense his presence Alaric had reappeared in his same spot.

After witnessing what he needed to know, he explained it to Azarex, "They aren’t at Tier 4, but must have maximized their core saturation at least 90% with at least a special-grade evolution rank."

Azarex nodded, as he had been thinking the same thing himself. Before he could say anything, Alaric said the very thought that had been on his mind and was about to say...

"Don’t you find their behavior strange for a monster?" Alaric asked.

"That’s exactly what I was about to mention. They seem to be unaffected by this unknown force, just like we are. Furthermore, they appear to be performing some sort of magical ritual on the shield." he pauses for a moment to see the outside situation before adding...

"What do you think they’re up to?" Azarex inquired of Alaric.

They didn’t include Vexar in their group chat at all, knowing full well that he wouldn’t be interested in this type of discussion. They were right indeed, as Vexar was busy pressing his face against the shield, attempting to pass through it so he could fight these new tier 4 monsters.

Alaric pondered for a moment before responding, "I believe they are attempting to dispel the spell by casting some type of spell... It’s just their method is so strange..." his voice got softer by the end of the sentence.

They didn’t have to wait long, as Alaric’s suspicions turned out to be correct; they were indeed trying to dispel the shield.

It didn’t even take them long before a hole appeared where they had been standing. Initially, the hole was small, so Azarex managed to close it the moment the appeared. However, with each passing second, the hole began to expand exponentially, and Azarex started to struggle to keep it sealed.

After struggling to maintain the shield for a while, Azarex finally gave up and decided to focus on offense. He started by laying hundreds of spikes on the ground. And when he had least expected, the group stopped damaging the shield once the hole had formed large enough for them to pass through easily.

Seizing the opportunity, he promptly ordered the golem to start repairing the hole once more, and with the combined effort of all the undead Crystallce, the breach was quickly sealed. However, even in that short time frame, a few monsters managed to slip through the hole.

But it wasn’t that big of a deal as his undead had enough preparation for them. The main problem was that these unknown enemies.

Azarex once again shifted his attention to the enigmatic group and observed that they were advancing relentlessly. One thing he found amusing was that even faster than the group were the mindless monsters, sprinting at full speed toward the egg.

They were advancing toward the egg, but the only thing they got was death when they implied themselves by the pointy spikes.

When the monsters were all dead the group advanced once again, but there were still hundreds of spikes left on the ground. That didn’t any threat to them as the spikes were easily cut apart by the ice slash that one of the group members had casted.

Azrex was about to command the undead to engage in the battle with them, but he stopped when he noticed something in the corner of his vision....

’Huh!’ he looked in a specific direction but found something was missing...

"Alaric why is Vexar there," he turned and asked the shadow.

"..."

Alaricc hurriedly looked toward where Vexar was supposed to be, but the only thing he found was some burned slash mark on the shield.

Alaric turned and looked through the shield only to find out that, Vexar was advancing toward the group with all his might.

"Vexar, you come back this instant or I will drown you in the shadow for a week," Alaric shouted..

His threat worked as Vexar began retreating toward him. Vexar retreats, but not before cursing a few times to the group...

A few seconds later he arrived neat alaric and hung his head low, as if he was ashamed of his behavior.

Alaric wasn’t a fool either as he knew, Vexar was physically incapable of feeling any shame.

He looks at him for a few seconds before saying, "What master has taught us about facing any unknown enemy."

He waited a few seconds expecting an answer...

"..."

But the only thing he gets in reply is silence...

"You forget, didn’t you," Alaric asked truly angry this time.

"I...I Uhmm!... h..have it in my...mind uhmm! Just can’t got it this instant..." while shuddering Vexar replied.

Controlling his anger Alaric began telling him exact word by word...

"If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."

If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.

If you know the enemy..."

"... and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles*." Vexar completed the last sentence.

"See I had remembered it, and just forgot it for a second.."

"If you have remembered then tell me anything about this new enemy of ours..." Alaric asked.

"..."

Silence once again.

"Exactly. So calm yourself down and first observe what they are capable of." Alaric taught him.

Vexar nodded in approval, apparently understanding the point. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

That was exactly what they were planning to do, as the fight between the group and the undead was about to start...