Nobody knew exactly what was going on and the students only expected to fight against peak awakened stage elemental subterra centipedes.
However, after seeing how serious Aisha became, it was obvious that the opponents would be a higher threat than before, and only now did they realize that the tremors around them had intensified.
Gulping down their saliva, Kara, and Vera, the Valkyrie vice-captains immediately followed their captain's order and divided their group in a matter of seconds.
After that, Vera's group of Valkyries surrounded the small group of students and they immediately started to work their way towards the second layer without wasting any time.
Unfortunately enough, the tunnel in front of them looked as if it would collapse any moment, as the first several dozen-meter-long fire elemental subterra centipedes pierced through the ground with thick flames enveloping their entire carapace.
Shortly after, two small groups of earth elemental subterra centipedes pierced out of the ground on either side while an even larger number of wind elemental subterra centipedes emerged behind them.
Overall, there had to be more than 100 peak-Awakened stage centipedes around them, with a combat strength comparable to a human Expert who had a mana purity of at least 70%, which the Valkyries noticed from the distinct and strong mana fluctuations.
If that wasn't already bad, Shane noticed something even worse because he was already acquainted with a similar tactic that was currently utilized. Their group was not only surrounded by the centipedes who appeared one after the other in quick succession but they had also divided themselves according to their element.
The centipedes with Fire affinity were in front of them, the ones with Earth affinity on their sides and the centipedes with a wind affinity were behind them.
Noticing this, Shane could only be reminded about Aunt Kia's teachings who had told him that something like he currently saw in front of him was a normal tactic for beast hordes inside the Intermediate-Dimensions.
'Their leader is also highly intelligent!' Shane almost immediately comprehended and if that was really the case, they would only have small problems, as he turned towards Aisha and the other Valkyrie group, gritting his teeth.
'F*ck! This will be ugly….' He could only think the worst but hoped that everyone would survive.
No sooner had he thought this, he noticed over a dozen centipedes that seemed to have grown to a length of almost 70 meters emerging in front of Aisha and the valkyries, with a rainbow-colored carapace.
Seeing this, Shane immediately knew that he had never seen such a race, but when each of these Rainbow subterra centipedes, a name that he gave them, utilized multiple affinities at once, his eyes widened involuntarily.
'Is this their 'elite' unit?' He suddenly began to wonder, when he sensed a terrifying gush of wind passing him, as a wind blade pierced the ground next to him.
Goosebumps appeared on his entire body and he immediately adjusted his stance, calling himself stupid to have averted his attention from the direct threat around him.
The Valkyrie group that protected them had already initiated their attack with only around ten of them left behind to protect a student each.
Through this, they could concentrate on their surroundings while only protecting a single student.
Furthermore, the three students at the peak Expert rank with a high mana purity also started to attack along with the Valkyries behind them, and only the weaker Expert stages and others remained in a defensive stance.
This was also important and the Crimson Yaeli longsword manifested in Shane's hand, with which he could defend himself in the worst-case owing to its sturdy body.
Witnessing what happened on the battlefield was important and even if he was incapable to do anything against the peak Awakened centipedes all around him, Shane told himself that he should at least not become a burden to the Valkyrie protecting him and the others.
The other students thought the same and tried to stay alert while evading the wind blades, earth strikes and fireballs from all around as well as possible.
However, with a numerical advantage in addition to the students' innate weaker physique and cultivation rank, the outcome was obvious and the Valkyries were forced to protect them more than they initially hoped, as they turned into burdens.
Shane was also in a similar position, only that he was able to understand the centipedes' attack pattern quickly as they were similar to what his Aunt had taught him a long time ago.
Thanking her in his mind, Shane twisted his body to evade two one-meter-long wind blades, glad to have paid attention to his aunts teachings.
The next few minutes only passed slowly and the numerical disadvantage seemed to be slowly changing. Only a few Valkyries had been injured without a single casualty which boosted everyone's morale once again, as the Valkyries and three peak Expert youths with high mana purity accelerated their speed by a small margin.
Yet, rather than feeling hopeful and overjoyed, Shane only frowned because the centipedes seemed to stall for more time by sacrificing their life instead of seriously trying to kill them, and from the corner of his eyes, he could see why this was the case.
The group of rainbow subterra centipedes was almost annihilated, which was faster than Aisha had expected because the carapace was extremely sturdy and durable, however, she also felt an eerie feeling encroaching on her.
Looking around for the cause of this, she noticed that the other group had almost finished off the elemental subterra centipedes which caused her to sigh in relief, only until she noticed Shane's expression that seemed to indicate the same as her gut feeling.
And only then, did she notice that the centipedes close to the tunnel that led towards the second layer were not seriously fighting and only trying to stall.
Seeing this, she gritted her teeth, before ordering
"Let's hasten up the process, use potions if necessary, and don't be stingy!!"
Taking out a [Tier-2 (Uncommon)] mana replenishing potion, she gulped it down before charging at the Rainbow subterra centipedes without wasting any more time.
Enveloping her silver-colored spear with thick holy transmuted mana, she pierced it through the closest centipede's head which could only weakly screech out in pain before its life-force diminished.
Continuing with the same speed, the other Valkyries also refrained from holding back and used their whole strength to fight against the remaining Rainbow subterra centipedes even if the price was almost their whole mana pool and a lot of stamina.
Replenishing it with potions was not that much of a problem, but drinking too many potions was not only expensive but would also lead to deterioration of their mana purity by a small percentage, which would take a long time to regain.
As such, it was obvious what it meant for Aisha to gulp down a potion because she required the longest amount of time to regain the deteriorated mana purity.
Their current situation was not a joke and even if they would have been able to defeat the remaining rainbow subterra centipedes without using a single potion, it would have taken a few more minutes.
Aisha thought that they didn't have that time and thus everyone followed her lead because she was hardly wrong with her gut feeling.
When they finished off the last rainbow subterra centipede, Aisha and the Valkyries charged towards the other group, as they suddenly felt intense mana currents filling the third layer right in-between the two groups, as a faint golden, shimmering ring manifested in front of them.
This golden ring enlarged and once it reached the size of a 20-meter radius it only began to slow down.
Everyone felt the dense, pure and astronomical mana fluctuations between their groups, as they heard a thunderous screeching through the golden ring, whose center showed a completely different landscape, that was littered with distinct mana and elemental crystals, seemingly devoid of soil or stones.
The golden ring showed a different landscape, which Shane almost immediately identified as Spatial affinity skill as his father possessed something similar, A humongous golden centipede emerged through this ring, suppressing everyone in its surrounding, including the peak awakened elemental subterra centipedes.
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