The moment the students stepped through the portal, nausea washed over them like a tidal wave. Many staggered, their faces turning green, their stomachs churning from the sudden shift in space. Some gagged, while others outright collapsed, their bodies struggling to adjust. For many, this was their first experience with teleportation, hence their distress. It wasn’t just the disorientation; it was as if every molecule in their body had been scrambled and forcefully rearranged. Brandon merely scoffed at the others’ discomfort. Wendy, on the other hand, went to check on the others. Wendy moved through the group, crouching beside a student who had collapsed, placing a steady hand on their back. She glanced around, checking on the others, offering silent reassurance with a nod. A student groaned, clutching their stomach. "Ugh… everything’s spinning…" Another gagged, barely managing to speak. "Felt like… my insides got turned inside out…" The likes of Theo, Kali, Nox, Zara, Nyx, Blake, and the rest of the top students barely flinched, as if this wasn’t the first time they had experienced it. Anyone constantly exposed to dimensional rifts would be used to it. The moment Nox’s feet touched solid ground, he scanned his surroundings. They were in the wilderness. The Wildlands stretched before them—a desolate expanse of dead grass and ruined structures. The air was thick with the scent of blood and decay, and the sound of battle rang loudly ahead. Not far from where they stood, Awakened soldiers clashed desperately against hordes of monstrous creatures. Screams of pain mixed with the roars of beasts echoed from time to time. Countless Awakened soldiers fought desperately against an endless horde of monsters. Clashes of steel against fangs and claws echoed through the battlefield. Spells erupted like fireworks, illuminating the sky in bursts of fire, and lightning. Even the sky had turned dark. In the distance, an enormous rift gaped open in the fabric of reality, and from there a never-ending stream of monsters poured out. The swirling vortex pulsed with dark energy, and its presence alone sent shivers down the spines of even the bravest. A battle was unfolding before their very eyes, and the Tristan Kingdom’s forces were clearly struggling to hold the line. "Is that…" one of the students whispered, his voice faltering as he pointed toward the rift. "A Level 6 portal," Wendy confirmed grimly. "Everyone, be careful. One wrong move, and you’ll lose your life." Before anyone could react further, a group of Tristan military soldiers approached them, their armored forms streaked with dirt and blood. The leading officer, a broad-shouldered man with a thick beard and a scar across his left eye, narrowed his gaze at the students. "Who the hell are you lot?" he barked, eyes narrowing in suspicion, his face contorted with frustration. "We are from the..." Wendy took a step forward, ready to explain their presence— —but was abruptly shoved aside. Brandon stepped forward with a confident expression on his face. "We are the reinforcements sent from the Vermilion Kingdom," he declared, puffing out his chest as if expecting admiration. "We’re here to aid your forces." The soldier’s frustrated expression twisted into something close to fury. "Reinforcements?" His gaze swept over the students, his scowl deepening. "You look like a bunch of damn kids. How the heck are you guys reinforcements?!" The soldiers behind him sneered as well, some openly shaking their heads in disbelief. "Tch. This has to be a joke. First, they ignored us for days, and now they send us a bunch of kids?" "We’re barely holding the damn line, and they expect them to make a difference? Might as well hand the beasts a victory." "I give them an hour—no, half an hour before they start begging to go home." "If they even last that long. You saw what happened to the last batch." "Hah! They won’t even make it to the front before one of those bastards takes a bite out of ’em." Brandon’s smirk faltered slightly when he heard all this. They were right. He knew this very well, but he decided not to back down. There was something he wanted to achieve, and for him to accomplish this, he needed to somehow convince this man. His lips parted, and he proceeded to say, "Don’t underestimate us. We—" BOOOM! Before he could finish, a deafening roar tore through the battlefield. In the distance, a massive shockwave sent debris flying as an Emperor-tier monster—a monstrous, scaled behemoth—broke free from an attempted encirclement. Its dark red eyes burned with primal fury as it swatted aside Tristan soldiers like insects. Screams filled the air. "Fall back!" one of the Tristan soldiers screamed. "It’s broken through the encirclement—" The beast’s power was undeniable. The soldiers, despite their best efforts, were utterly outmatched. Fear gripped the battlefield. The creature’s maw opened wide, a sickly green light gathering at its throat as it prepared to unleash a devastating attack. Then, a shadow suddenly passed overhead. A massive bullet-like spear of crimson light streaked down from the sky, moving faster than the eye could follow. SCHLK! BOOM! The monstrous beast didn’t even have time to react. The spear impaled it straight through the skull, pinning its lifeless body to the cracked earth. For a long moment, there was nothing but stunned silence. Then, as one, everyone turned in the direction from which the attack had come. Standing a short distance away, Nox lowered his hand, the bloody glow of his tunic pattern slowly fading. Then, whispers broke out. "H-He killed it in one blow…" "Just what kind of skill was that?" "A single strike… that thing was Emperor-Tier…" Even the hardened Tristan soldiers looked shaken. Nox’s expression was unreadable, but his presence was undeniable. The battlefield, the soldiers, the students—everyone watched him with awe and disbelief. The soldier who had berated them earlier simply stood frozen, mouth opening and closing as if trying to find words. Nox exhaled softly, stepping forward as though none of this was particularly noteworthy. His voice, calm and commanding, rang through the silence. "My schedule is pretty tight," he remarked coolly. "I don’t plan on spending too much time here. Everyone, come out—let’s get rid of these monsters." His words weren’t loud, yet they carried weight. But he wasn’t speaking to anyone present. He was calling out his beast.