Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer
Chapter 45: The Invasion

The students paled upon witnessing such a cruel display.

They literally just blinked and before they knew it, a shadow already manifested in front of them and killed someone. They didn't even know where it came from.

Ashton at least sensed it, but it doesn't mean that he's any better since he wasn't able to react in time.

The victim of that shadow didn't even had the time to cry out in agony before dying. They were perfectly assassinated by the shadow, leaving the rest none the wiser.

The class watched as the shadow phases through the ground, turning into a pool of black goo which moved at a blinding pace. From the direction it was going, anyone could tell that it's searching for more victims.

They were right to assume that since what followed was simply a cold-blooded slaughter.

One by one, the shadow killed the tribesmen until it was finally noticed. However, instead of turning its tail to run, the shadow just stood in front of the furious tribesmen, opened its maw and screeched so loud that it echoed across the snowy plains.

The surroundings rumbled. Ashton thought that the creature just caused an avalanche but it turns out that he was wrong.

It called for back-up.

Shadows of all shapes and sizes manifested from beneath the ground and bared their fangs at the tribesmen, someone from the tribe couldn't help but feel so unnerved that he started running away, that's when the bloodshed began.

For the sake the students sanity, the slaughter was greatly blurred out, yet the harrowing cries of the tribesmen weren't silenced. It filled everyone with encompassing dread and helplessness.

These humans were completely unprepared for this event. Their weapons weren't good enough to even hurt the creatures attacking them. They might've been able to hunt down the predators lurking around their tribe but these shadows are on a completely another level.

Next, the class witnessed how these shadows converged into a single solid mass. They took the shape of a sphere that is surrounded with wide mouths and razor-sharp teeth.

The sphere started to roll like a ball, it left a trail of black goo wherever it passes and it went around devouring the corpses of all tribesmen that were killed, nobody escaped. Even the houses weren't spared. Everything eaten by this monster.

When it has consumed everything. The spherical monster stopped on its tracks. It stayed still and after a few minutes, a great change occurred to it.

The sphere seemingly melted on the ground and started spreading everywhere. The mouths disappeared along with the teeth, all that's left is a pitch black goo on the ground.

Moments later, they saw a hand clawing upwards at the very center of the black pool of goo.

The arm bent in a way as if pulling itself back-up.

Next, a tall and extremely frightening figure came out of the pool of goo. Its head was big and has large coiling horns. Its eyes lit up with a ghastly green color, it has the torso of a human and the lower body of a horse. It also held a fiendishly long spear on its hand.

'Is that a f-ing Centaur?' Ashton's eyes widened like saucers as he saw the creature in front of him. But it didn't end there.

Creatures that were familiar yet unfamiliar to him started emerging from the pool of goo: Harpies, massive centipedes and worms, insects, imps, etc.

All of these creatures have horns in them and they marched purposefully in all directions, some went to the land while others were headed to the sea, some even took to the skies. Wherever they went, they always leave a trail of that black goo which in turn expands its original size even more.

Ashton felt his skin crawl since their numbers didn't show signs of stopping anytime soon.

This was when the scenery switched up. The students once again felt like they were being transported somewhere else. It didn't take long before they arrive but to their surprise, they were once again seeing nothing but an endless blanket of snow.

"This is the Extreme South." Professor Hamilton stated.

And just like before, they saw yet another tribe.

The difference is that, this tribe seems to follow a very strict religious doctrines. Ashton could see several totems and statues of what looks like an animal but he can't be too sure. But he did saw the tribesmen worshipping them even amidst the raging snow.

They then saw several men who wore a different kind of clothing compared to the rest of tribe which kind of signified their importance.

In the middle of their worship/ritual, these men took off their garbs and they completely naked underneath, their private parts were censored of course...along with the part where they slit their own throats after reciting some sort of a prayer.

As the students reeled in shock due to the sheer madness of what they had just witnessed, a strange development took place.

The tribesmen didn't mourn those who died, in fact it seems that they couldn't care less. The corpses that are losing heat suddenly emitted a strange golden brilliance.

When the tribesmen saw that, they all went mad. They scream, cried and knelt down, their eyes were fixated on the glowing corpses as if they were witnessing a miracle.

Someone let out a incomprehensible words, then she stood up and walked toward the glowing corpse. She got rid of her clothes and embraced the corpse while letting out whines.

All women followed her lead and their actions just caused the golden glow to become stronger.

As the men, they prostrated deeply. Not minding the cold that's literally killing them. They repeatedly uttered prayers that nobody in the class could understand.

That's when a strong explosion erupted that wiped out all humans there. Flesh and blood were scattered everywhere. The scene was so gory that almost everything was blurred out.

It was then followed by some kind of a hymn. A sound that irritated Ashton down to his bones.

All of a sudden, the gloomy clouds above parted and a strong rays of sunlight manifested. From beyond that light, golden creatures emerged.

To the class, they appear to be just golden shadows with crimson eyes. They trickled down slowly until they completely populated the vast and snowy fields.

Then bigger golden shadows appeared, when those descended, the little ones made way.

The big golden shadows walked slowly. They glanced at the fleshly bits that are scattered everywhere. They opened their mouths and started sucking them in.

The siphoning force was strong that large patches of land were being pulled out ae well. When the siphoning stopped, the golden shadows wriggled and slowly transformed.

To the student's surprise, they now took the form of the dead tribesmen, they could even hear them speaking their language. Together, they utter a loud prayer accompanied by the hymn that irritated Ashton.

Then, from above them, the dark clouds suddenly disappeared completely, replaced golden clouds that stretches as far as the eye can see.

Ashton could also saw something behind that could. He saw a shape there or something but the scene switched so he didn't get to make sense of it.

The golden shadows then started to march in every direction just the like the dark shadows before. They also left that golden trail wherever they go.

The next thing the students saw, the scene warped and zoomed out of their planet. Time was sped up and they saw how the gold and black clashed in the middle of the planet. That's where the scene ended.

"We weren't prepared for their arrival. Nobody was expecting that they will come just like that." The old professor stated.

"Although you might argue that the tribe from the Extreme South summoned them, studies shows that they aren't in the right mind when they did. From the reports we gathered, it is said that they were lulled by something and it changed them, robbed them off of their sanity. They were used as a tool to open up the gates from their world to ours."

"Our disaster started from here. We were never built to take on them. They were too strong and they had methods that completely surpasses ours."

"Because of that, our race suffered greatly. Mountains of bodies and rivers of blood were formed from Humanity's corpses. We were pushed to the brink of extinction and we never stood a chance."

"Not until the First Hero came."

A silhouette of gallant man appeared behind the professor.

"In his arrival, our counter-attack officially began. Although he couldn't achieve much since he's the only one at that time, he walked so that we could run."

"We owe so much to him. If it weren't for him, Last Bastion wouldn't have existed in the first place."

"Before we end the class, let me remind everyone that what you saw is just a depiction of what actually happened. There is a way to witness what truly happened back them, it's just that we don't have the technology available to let us do it safely."

"Once you kids are strong enough, you'll get the chance to see it for yourselves."

"Alright, that should be enough for today." The professor looked at his watched and slowly got up from his seat. "Next class, we will be discussing the Story of the First Hero. We'll also have a short quiz so prepare for that."

"Goodbye, I'll see you on the next class."