The night did not fade.
It deepened
Like the world itself was sinking into a red, endless pit.
The battlefield—once the calm outskirts of the nearly finished magic school—had become a cratered wasteland where mana and darkness clashed in violent waves. The air churned with smoke, the metallic scent of ozone, and the heavy drumbeat of a thousand monstrous footsteps.
The Hellmarch had begun.
Dark soldiers continued pouring from the horizon like an unending tide—shadows shaped into humanoid beasts, each with burning hollow eyes and jagged, distorted bodies. They moved in perfect synchrony, like puppets pulled by a malevolent rhythm.
Even after the carnage of Chapter 16, the army had not thinned.
If anything…
It had grown worse.
1. The First Break in the Line
Mr. Stone punched his heel into the earth.
“ANCHOR PULSE!!”
The ground collapsed downward, gravity multiplying a hundredfold. Dozens of dark soldiers slammed flat into the dirt, crushed or immobilized instantly.
But the moment that pulse faded, another wave surged over the fallen.
Sasha raised both hands. “Time Stop.”
Silence.
Stillness.
A chunk of battlefield froze in a shimmering bubble—half a platoon suspended mid-roar.
“Selena, now!” Sasha ordered.
Selena’s eyes sharpened.
“Threadvector Chain.”
Her threads ripped through the frozen soldiers, linking their cores—one line, ten targets. When the bubble faded, all ten collapsed simultaneously, cut from the inside.
But ten gone meant nothing.
Not when hundreds were still charging.
2. Daniel’s Crimson Awakening
A black-mouthed Titan lunged at Daniel.
“Daniel, left!!” Tom shouted.
Daniel didn’t turn.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
He didn’t need to.
His sword materialized in his hand—no spell, just pure will.
He swung upward.
“CRIMSON SLASH!!”
A vertical wave of red mana tore the Titan clean in half. Its two halves hit the dirt seconds after Daniel moved on.
But more came.
Always more.
“Daniel!” Jackson yelled. “Behind!”
A clawed arm lunged for Daniel’s spine—but Jackson’s body streaked like lightning.
“Speed Step!!”
A thunder flash.
The Titan’s head rolled.
Daniel exhaled. “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Jackson grinned breathlessly. “There’s ninety-nine thousand more—”
The ground shook violently.
3. The March Goes Berserk
Tom shot upward with a burst of fire.
“Flame Flight!”
He hovered like a burning beacon.
Then—
“FIRE MACHINE GUN!!!”
Dozens of rapid-fire fire bullets sprayed into the horde, blowing apart chunks of the advancing army.
But the enemy responded.
Several dark soldiers gathered mana in their palms—dark spheres forming.
“Scatter!!” Mr. Stone shouted.
The bombs launched.
Daniel reacted fastest.
“SHIELD!!”
A massive psychic barrier erupted—but the repeated blasts shattered it, the explosion throwing him backward.
He hit the ground HARD.
“Daniel!” Selena shouted.
He wiped the blood from his lip, stood again.
“No… I’m not going down yet.”
His sword reformed, glowing crimson.
4. Noir Unleashed
Noir stepped forward, void swirling around his fingers.
His voice dropped.
“Spatial Collapse.”
Reality folded inward.
Entire swaths of dark soldiers imploded silently—like they’d never existed.
The battlefield convulsed under the pressure of collapsing space.
Sasha muttered, “...You didn’t hold back that time.”
“Why would I?” Noir said, eyes narrowing. “This is war.”
Another monster lunged.
Noir turned.
“Dimensional Sever.”
A line of reality itself sliced open—clean, merciless. The soldier simply disintegrated from the cut.
But even Noir began sweating.
Their mana wasn’t infinite.
Their stamina had limits.
And the enemy…
Had no limit.
5. Mr. Stone’s Dominance
A massive Titan, larger than the rest, burst through the horde.
Mr. Stone stepped forward.
“...My turn.”
His hand lifted.
Gravity around him distorted, bending light.
“GRAVITON GUILLOTINE.”
A thin crescent blade of compressed gravity carved through the giant in a single clean arc.
The Titan didn’t even fall.
It simply slid apart and vaporized.
But for every Titan that died…
Ten more stepped from the darkness.
Mr. Stone clicked his tongue. “Tch… irritating.”
6. The Hellmarch Reaches Its Peak
The army surged with new intensity, as if something—or someone—was commanding them from far beyond the horizon.
Sasha’s breath quickened. “Their mana signature… it’s rising.”
“Meaning?” Jackson said, panting.
“Meaning this isn’t all of them,” Selena whispered.
Noir clenched his jaw.
“They’re being fueled. Driven. Forced.”
Daniel grit his teeth.
“We need to hold the line. Victor and Leo are still somewhere hunting the original Titan—”
But the Hellmarch cut him off.
A deafening roar shook the sky.
A massive beast—twice the size of anything seen before—climbed over the hill.
A Titan General.
Not the Greater Titan.
But high-ranking.
Commanding.
The battlefield went silent.
Then—
“DEATH FOR THE LIVING!!!”
the General roared.
The entire army charged.
Hell unleashed.
7. The Final Stand of the Chapter
Jackson stepped forward first, lightning surging up his arms.
“Thunder Bolts!!”
A barrage of electrified spears rained forward, clearing a path.
Tom erupted into flames.
“Daniel!! On my mark!!”
Daniel nodded.
Tom roared—
“FLAME THROWER!!!”
A blazing torrent incinerated the front line.
Daniel cut forward through the burning path—
“CRIMSON BEAM!!!”
A massive crimson laser blasted straight into the General’s chest.
It staggered—
HOWLED—
—but didn’t fall.
Sasha froze it mid-charge with “Slow Time.”
Selena’s threads wrapped its limbs—
“Thread Slash!!”
Noir extended his hand—
“Oblivion Edge.”
A pitch-black blade formed.
Mr. Stone landed on top of the Titan—
“EVENT COLLAPSE!!!”
The General imploded.
The shockwave blasted the entire battlefield.
Everyone was thrown back.
Dust. Smoke. Silence.
Then—
The remaining army screeched and reformed.
More.
More.
More.
As far as the eye could see.
Daniel’s eyes widened.
“Oh… shit.”
Sasha whispered—
“We didn’t kill them.”
Selena’s voice trembled—
“They multiplied.”
The Hellmarch continued.
Unending.
Unstoppable.
The night only deepened.
END OF CHAPTER 17 — HELLMARCH ????
