'What the hell?'

As Rey stared at the Beast in front of him, he felt a massive surge of fear press upon him.

Even when he activated [Dead Calm], which allowed his previously unfocused mind to become much sharper than usual, he still felt vestiges of fear rush up to him.

'How strong is this thing?!' Rey found himself asking, his thoughts as precise as possible.

Right now, he was the strongest he had ever been. His Stats had reached six digits, and he could feel himself overflowing with so much power.

Yet for some reason, he still felt inadequatedwarfed by the creature that stood before him, ready to cut him into pieces.

'Its fast!'

In swift motion, Rey used [Domain Of The Lord] to switch his position from where the scaly monster stood.

But

~SZZTZZ!~

He was met with a buzzing interference, followed by a forceful activation of his Skill, which allowed him to switch positions with the furthest zone available.

Just about five meters away from the enemy.

'Again? It's affecting the activation of my Skill that I can't go beyond five meters!'

Rey felt himself growing ever so desperate, clenching his teeth as he glared at the creature in front of him.

'How is this happening? What is going on?'

From Rey's observation in the short while since he first encountered the Beast, he had observed a few things.

'I can't actively use any Skill below SS-Tier. The energy around is too saturated for the function to be properly activated.'

Of course, Buffs were an exception since they affected his own body. However, if it was a Skill that required some form of external manifestation, they would be rendered invalid before their complete activation.

'I only have 9 Divine Tier Skills, and even those don't seem to be very effective against this thing.'

For one, his [Domain Of The Lord] suffered heavily from the presence of the Beast. His [Divine Ray], while effective against the monster, was something it could evade.

'I didn't even bother charging it up, since that would take more time, yet it was able to avoid the hit. How fast is it?!'

Once again, Rey had to switch positions again, else the monster would catch up to him again and probably deal heavy damage on him.

Speaking of damage

'My body still slightly aches from that strike it gave me earlier' Rey found his thoughts trailing as it stared at the monstrosity that relentlessly chased him.

'It's undoubtedly stronger and faster than I am even with [Natural Enemy] being active.'

Rey already tried to use [Absolute Appraisal], butjust as he suspectedit didn't work on the thing. After thinking hard about it, with what little time he had to actually think, he could only arrive at one conclusion.

'This is a Divine Beast, isn't it?!'

Using [Domain Of The Lord] allowed Rey's senses to spread through the areas that surrounded him. He had long noticed the three corpses of the Dragons lying on the ground, as well as the unconscious bodies of his classmates.

It was thanks to this that he was able to tell that they were all alivethough some were barely clinging to life.

'If I don't act quickly things could end up escalating beyond control!'

As such, Rey decided on the best approach he could think of, considering the current circumstances.

'Alright! Let's do this!'

With a single thought, he shifted Alicia's position from his hand to the floor behind him, then, strengthening both of his hands, he pushed his body forward and charged towards the creature that also rushed towards him.

'[Perfect Divine Defense] doesn't work against it. It must have some kind of ability that allows it to bypass defenses or maybe it was just interfering with the Skill's effects again, same as with [Domain Of The Lord].'

That meant Rey's only defensive Skill was useless in this situation. Evasion was the only way he could avoid damage, and even that had its limits.

'Every use of the Skill drains my Mana considerably. If I keep this up, I'll start losing more Mana than I recover.'

That was the problem with the use of Divine Tier Skills.

'[Divine Ray] is the best way I can really see myself damaging it, but it's not the only option!'

A sudden burst of wind rushed from Rey's position as the entire area around him crackled with power.

'[Divine Elemental Magic: Almighty Wind Gale]'

With the power of [Divine Elemental Magic], he had a more versatile approach in dealing with the opponent. Also, with [Divine Magic Supremacy], he didn't need to chant any Spell or wait for activation.

Whatever Magic he used would not only be stronger than normal, but their effects would be instant.

~BOOOOOOOOOM!~

Rey's 'Almighty Wind Gale' forced the Divine Beast high into the air, propelling him up like a rocket ascending at light speed.

~VWUUUUSH!~

The creature's ascent caused everything around it to tremble, but Rey stood his ground as he watched the whole thing happen.

He also surrounded his allies with the golden lights of his [Perfect Divine Defense].

With his gaze resting on the floating creaturewho was still fighting against the invisible forces of wind, like the mindless savage that it wasRey stretched both hands into the air, allowing golden flashes of lightning to dance around them.

'[Divine Elemental Magic: Perfect Lightning Descent].'

~RUMBLE!~

Everything vibrated for miles, as an instant burst of golden lightning descended from the sky, right above the Divine Beast.

It fell, clashing with the creature within a heartbeatno, much faster than that.

~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!~

The beam of golden lightning struck the ground, easily creating a massive crater that spanned hundreds of meters from its point of impact.

The entire forest was ruined by the shockwaves, debris, and plumes of smoke that scattered everywhere.

The last of the trees were blown apart or burned away, leaving a barren land in sight.

~TTZZTZ~

Flashes of golden lightning, remnants of the attack, still filled the trembling air, as Rey lowered his hands and heaved a steamy sigh.

"Now for everyone" He turned to his classmates, a gleam of determination in his eyes.

'I know that probably isn't enough to finish the job. I'll have to act quickly and transport everyone away from hereas far as I can.'

Now that the creature was far away from Rey, he found that he could use [Domain Of The Lord] a lot betterthough not to its full capacity yet.

'I see. So the closer it is to me, the more my powers get disrupted.' Rey thought to himself.

He didn't have time to dwell on analytics, though. There was no telling when the monster would rise out of the rubble, so time was of the essence.

'The Royal Estate still has that barrier surrounding it. And last I checked, the influence of that incorporeal dome of saturated energy didn't reach that point' His thoughts trailed as he narrowed his gaze.

He had already seen and memorized the layout of the city from his position in the sky, and once he activated his Skill, he would be able to detect everything around him in great detail.

'Sending them there is pushing the limits of what I can do right now, but I should be able to achieve it.'

Rey poured out a vast amount of Mana, focusing it on those he desired to saveAlicia, Adonis, Lucielle, Brutus, Belle, and Justin.

He still didn't sense Eric, but [Dead Calm] didn't let him worry about it.

As for Snow, he already figured she was dead. Why else would Alicia try to use her [Divine Beast Summon]?

He also saw Billy die, so that meant everyone else was accounted for.

'[Domain Of The Lor]'

~WHOOOOOOSH!~

In a flash, even by Rey's standards, the Divine Beast suddenly appeared before his eyes.

At that moment, time seemed to slow down, and Rey's body could barely move. The only one who seemed to be moving perfectly was the Beast itself.

And its maw was wide openready to devour.

*

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Thanks for reading!

This is, hopefully, going to be a very engaging fight. I really hope you enjoy the battle that is to come. We're still in the prelude.