The air seemed to distort around each of the water strands in response to the sheer heat.
Then, Atticus turned his cold gaze towards the approaching beasts, and with coiled tension in his legs, Atticus moved.
His figure flowed through the horde of beasts like water, a seamless stream weaving through the chaos.
Each water strand extending from his fingers transformed into lethal whips, seamlessly passing through the forms of each beast he encountered.
Their bodies, unable to withstand the onslaught, instantly fragmented and split in to multiple pieces.
Atticus was moving at a speed that wasn't too fast or blinding, but even then, none of the beasts were able to react to it.
The last time Atticus had used water mimicry in an actual battle had been long, very long.
And that time, the movement of water that he could mimic was superficial at best. It wasn't surprising, as it was around that time he just started learning the art when he had used it to easily defeat Aurora in the combat challenges.
But after years of constant practice and training, Atticus had improved his proficiency in it to staggering levels.
Atticus's form continued to flow seamlessly through the relentless tsunami of beasts, each movement a mesmerizing dance of precision and lethality.
The large strands of water, now resembling serpentine tendrils, danced and whipped wildly in the air.
With each sinuous motion, they mutilated the forms of the approaching beasts, leaving nothing but a trail of gore and blood in Atticus's wake.
But Atticus wasn't done.
Simultaneously, he once again directed his focus to the water element. Hundreds of beads of water materialized in the air, their size growing exponentially with each passing millisecond.
In a breathtaking transformation, these water beads molded and twisted into curved water blades, their edges hinting at an intense temperature that distorted the air around them.
With another concentrated thought, each of the hundreds of water blades cleaved through the air, their razor sharp forms phasing through thousands of beasts in an instant.
Because Atticus was going through his massacre in the middle of the approaching horde, the load on the formation of youths was significantly lessened.
With the intensity of the beasts lessened, the formation began subtly advancing forward while killing multiple beasts at a fast rate.
The other Ravenstein youths were on different parts of the battlefield. Since, unlike the last time when they weren't able to fight, the youths didn't need their help to survive this time around.
They were all left to go on a rampage and kill beasts any way they liked.
Nate, steadfast in his earthen form, continued to carve a path through the relentless ranks of beasts.
With each swing, he cleaved through their forms, periodically releasing earthen spikes that turned the charging horde into mere remnants resembling Swiss cheese.
Lucas remained at the back lines as he kept tirelessly tossing out runes into the heart of the horde. Each rune unleashed explosions that echoed through the battlefield, transforming hundreds of beasts into mincemeat with devastating efficiency.
Chubby, Kai, kept on unleashing a barrage of punches, his arms enveloped in flames that danced with an infernal intensity.
The fire incinerated the approaching monsters in a relentless onslaught, leaving behind a trail of ashes as the flames consumed all in their path.
The remaining Ravenstein youths too were rapidly killing each monster with incredible speed.
Meanwhile, Aurora, her form set ablaze, became an infernal force on the battlefield. Rapidly incinerating beasts at a frightening rate, the area within a 15 meter radius of her became an inferno of destruction.
It was clear to those on the battlefield that her kill rate was only second to Atticus himself.
But who could even compare both of them? The kill rate of that white haired monster was simply impossible to reach.
It was so intense that even the kill rate of every single one of the youths, thousands of them, struggled to keep up with him.
Despite the fact that they were all fighting intensely, they each still kept an eye on Atticus's rampage.
Although it looked so unbelievable for a 15 year old to display this kind of power, it was still visually pleasing to the eye.
He made it look so easy, as though displaying this kind of power was as easy as breathing to him.
Many of the youths, especially the ones from the normal family, all couldn't help but imagine themselves being that powerful; it would surely feel good.
The battle continued for more than 2 hours, with Atticus's carnage never stopping for even a single second.
Unlike the first time where the beasts were called back during the battle, this time no such thing occurred.
The youths were left to deal with the full brunt of the army, and after 2 hours of relentless and intense battle, the last of the beasts were killed.
As soon as the last beast fell, a collective exhale resonated through the entire battlefield.
The metallic clatter of armor hitting the earth echoed across the expanse as each youth dropped their weapons and shields, collapsing onto the ground.
Their chests rose and fell, their breathing labored and heavy, completely disregarding the current state of the earth beneath them.
They were all completely and utterly exhausted.
2 hours of continuous battles! They had each all completely strained themselves to the absolute limit in order to keep up with everything.
But despite the complete feeling of exhaustion, every single one of them had big smiles on their faces as they kept trying to catch their breaths.
If anyone had told them a month ago that they could accomplish what they had just accomplished now, they would have all tagged that person as a fool.
They each knew that their strength didn't improve significantly; they knew that it was mostly thanks to their equipment and the strategies and formation that they had followed, but even then, they had all gained valuable fighting experience.
Compared to their past selves, it was still a huge gain.
The battleground descended into silence, with only the sounds of the youths' breaths sounding.