Volume One: In the Prime of Youth Chapter Eighteen: The Heat of Battle

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The Calamity Wilds—this was the name humanity gave to the world originally inhabited by the Calamities. The very term “Calamity Wilds” was learned from the mouths of the Calamities themselves, and it seemed those two words held a special meaning for them.

The Calamities possessed a strict and intricate social structure. Scattered Calamities had their own clans; great numbers of clans formed tribes, and tribes belonged to Disaster-class Calamities. The lesser Disasters all served beneath the Twelve Calamities, and the Twelve all knelt before their king—the King of Calamities, the Calamity Sovereign.

At this very moment, the newly ascended Tenth Calamity was savoring red wine in his castle, the sensation like surfacing for air after nearly drowning in desperation, filling him with a profound appreciation for the sweetness of life. For the position of one of the Twelve Calamities was by no means easily obtained.

They belonged to the Disaster-class led by the former Tenth Calamity, and to ascend, one had to endure a protracted and brutal combat. The King would supervise the battle personally, forbidding any attack upon the true body, ensuring that none would die, yet the pain of the flesh and the unrelenting assault upon the spirit were all too real.

How long had he fought back then? A month, or two? After going so long without food, his healing slowed, and as he advanced to his ultimate form, the human behaviors he’d learned faded away, revealing the most primal instincts of his original beastly self.

In that savage struggle, he gradually lost sight of the battle’s purpose. He could not recall when it had been called to a halt, only that when it ended, he had become the Tenth Calamity.

“Humans truly are a fascinating race. They are food, yet they can produce even better food. No wonder those three of the royal family eat nothing but what they make,” the Tenth Calamity, Hill, mused aloud. “Don’t you agree, Batiya?”

From the darkness, a figure emerged, dropping to one knee before Hill’s throne to deliver his report: “Master, Poppy has already led our forces to attack Bancroft.”

“Oh, is that so?” Hill gazed down at the one who had once been his equal, even prideful, his smile tinged with irony. Now, with the King’s blessing as a Calamity, he far outstripped Batiya and the lesser Disasters in power. There was no longer any need to compare himself with the other—he was now the master; the other, the servant.

“With respect, Master, why did you approve Poppy’s campaign? We both know Bancroft is virtually impregnable, not to mention the Hunter Corps...”

“Are you questioning me?” Hill cut him off.

“I would not dare!” Batiya bowed his head even lower.

Seeing Batiya so utterly submissive, more so than when they both served the previous Tenth Calamity, Hill couldn’t help but burst into mad laughter that echoed endlessly through the castle halls.

Batiya dared not lift his head, for the difference in their status was now clear as day.

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The siege had lasted less than an hour, yet most of the students already bore injuries; some had been carried from the walls for urgent treatment.

A heavy, suffocating tension pressed on the students’ hearts like a boulder, the oppressive air making it hard to breathe. Already overwhelmed by just over a hundred Calamities, they could only imagine what would happen when thousands descended. Could they hold out?

They could.

Huo Ye and Shangguan Yudie moved like lightning. Both were speed-type Awakened, and while the pressure in their sector was manageable, they chose to provide support wherever it was needed.

Seventh Technique—Feral Fang Slash.

As Huo Ye brushed past several Calamities, their bodies were suddenly laced with countless blade marks, each wound precisely striking vital points—eyes, bones, ligaments. With minimal effort, Huo Ye maximized the damage to their mobility before darting off toward the next skirmish without a backward glance.

He had no need to show off. Like a phantom haunting the battlefield, he appeared at pivotal moments, delivering a decisive blow before vanishing, leaving the finishing strike to others—ensuring his unique talents had the greatest impact.

Ice Waltz in the Flowing Dawn!

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Shangguan Yudie’s attacks were even sharper. Her abilities made her the most outstanding on the battlefield; no matter how massive a Calamity, only their core emitted electromagnetic waves, and as long as she targeted the source, she never missed.

She specialized in those Calamities too busy attacking others to notice her. Her blade of frosted dawn would flash, slicing through the Calamity’s core; when the rescued would peer through the black smoke, they’d find not even a shadow of her.

These two, with their ghostly speed, brought despair to the Calamities in this sector. How could only two humans cover five hundred meters of wall so flawlessly, weaving such an impenetrable web of protection?

No, there were two more humans.

Alice lacked the raw speed of the first two, but as a gunner, she could cover vast distances across the battlefield from where she stood.

With telekinesis, she floated scores of magazines at her side. At a mere thought, she could instantly reload both her pistols with specialized rounds—explosive, incendiary, flashbang, and more. Holy Light and Dark energies were natural foes, and Holy Light was the most effective against Calamities. Combined with her functional ammunition, her firepower was devastating.

As an Awakened of the Holy Light, Alice followed in her mother’s footsteps as a gunner. With five times normal dynamic vision and the innate nerves of a sniper, the marksman’s path was her calling.

Xiao Liu possessed none of the finesse of the other three, but his power was overwhelming—sheer force conquering all!

Dawnfire Unending!

With hands pressed together, then thrust forward, Xiao Liu unleashed a torrent of flame from his palms like a volcanic eruption, a hellish tongue of fire lashing at the advancing Calamities.

This wall would hold firm until Poppy himself joined the fray.

On the other walls, the Flame Demons, the president Leng Shiqian of the Permafrost Domain, along with Tan Xiao and Huo Xialan—who’d hurried back with Hunter Corps reinforcements—stood ready with their elite society members.

They were enough to defend the city.

Commander Jiang Tong saved all the current video data and opened communications. This was, after all, an examination. The students didn’t have to bear the brunt of the pressure, nor did the academy wish any to fall in battle during a test. The academy only required a window of performance under war conditions as evaluation.

So now, it was time to close the game.

“Captains, it’s your turn,” Jiang Tong announced to all Hunter Corps leaders present.

At his order, the Hunter Corps surged forward like arrows loosed from the bow, the encirclement beginning!

“Genos, command the formation. I’m going for the decapitation!” Eddie shouted. He throttled his bike and shot ahead alone. His target was the Ultimate-class Calamity. For years, he had been the Death God Corps’ sharpest blade. He had no need to worry about formation—for no Calamity could stop him. All he had to do was pierce the enemy’s heart amid the chaos.

Sensing danger, Poppy looked back to see Eddie charging ahead, a solitary figure sharp as a blade.

No! Death awaits! If that human catches up, he’ll die! Poppy’s instincts were precise—this was a human who could slay not just former Tenth Calamities but even the Twelve, and Poppy was no match. But he couldn’t die yet! He hadn’t completed Lord Hill’s mission. If he succeeded, he’d return to be rewarded, ascending from an Ultimate to a Disaster-class Calamity.

The mission required reaching the wall, attacking the students!

“Stop him! Block him!” Poppy roared. The A-class Calamities guarding him flung themselves at Eddie without fear of death, while Poppy himself charged for the wall.

Hot on Eddie’s heels, the roar of the hover bike’s engine thundered across the field.

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“Second to Sixth Battalions, flank left! Seventh to Tenth, flank right! First Battalion, frontal assault—follow the Captain to the base of the wall!” Deputy Commander Genos coordinated calmly.

“Look! The Hunter Corps—they’re here! We’re saved!” a student on the wall shouted.

“They came so quickly!”

“Hold on! Just a bit longer—once they’re here, the Calamities will be finished!”

The arrival of the Hunter Corps was like a dawn breaking through endless darkness, bringing hope to the students.

Huo Ye and Alice saw the battle flag fluttering atop the wall—the Reaper’s Scythe, the Death God Hunter Corps.

Huo Ye drove his blade through a Calamity’s jaw, preventing it from biting down, then murmured in a daze, “Dad?”

“Damn it! Why are the Hunter Corps here?!” Poppy cursed, frustration and confusion boiling within him. He had grand ambitions—first to become a Disaster, then, perhaps, to fill a vacancy among the Twelve if one were slain by humans.

No, it couldn’t end here!

With a furious roar, Poppy’s clothing, made of secretions, dissolved into black slime that coated his body. Then his body began to liquefy, growing larger and larger, swelling until it towered over the wall.

Once liquefied, his body reformed—not as a human, but reverting to his original beast form using his S-class Calamity ability. Humanity called this form: the Spine-Piercing Sand Serpent.

Each vertebra bore a massive bony spike, harder than the toughest diamond. His enormous form blotted out the sky, and his primal roar sent shockwaves of terror, but he did not choose to confront Eddie head-on. The beast form did not make him stronger in direct combat, but it let him reach the wall faster—his goal unchanged.

Poppy swung his head, plunging it deep into the earth, leaving behind a massive pit.

The Spine-Piercing Sand Serpent—Calamity, Subterranean Snake Type—one of the rare Calamities capable of burrowing underground, making it extremely invasive.

Weiwei An, seeing Poppy’s true form, could not hide her worry. “Xiao Ye should be alright, shouldn’t he? Why did it have to be a Spine-Piercing Sand Serpent?”

Eddie saw, beneath the cover of Calamities, the Ultimate-class plunged into the earth, its powers boring straight for the wall. He clicked his tongue, gripped his scythe Lucifer’s Wing, and charged after. As for those in his way—his son and daughter were there; any who blocked him would die!

Eddie vaulted ahead, his hover bike on autopilot dodging obstacles, while he leaped from Calamity to Calamity, moving with unstoppable speed.

Seventh Technique—Feral Fang Slash!

A storm of jet-black energy slashed through the Calamities, far more savage than Huo Ye’s technique. Even with all his focus, Huo Ye could only cripple the mobility of a group of peak B-class Calamities. Eddie, by contrast, cut down a swath of A-class Calamities in an instant—none could block him, not for a single second!

Eddie landed back on his bike, the bodies of fallen Calamities collapsing in the black smoke behind him. Without a backward glance, he sped toward the wall.

The Black Reaper—the Calamity Harvester.