The wind howled across the battlefield, laced with heat, ash, and blood.
The corrupted boss beast stood like a nightmare given form, its obsidian-like skin pulsing with molten veins.
It did not charge, did not roar—because it didn't need to.
It knew it held the power. It knew it had the attention.
Raven's squad stormed forward like a spearhead aimed at the throat of death itself.
"Go!" Raven shouted, eyes locked on the monster. "Buy me three seconds!"
Alex didn't hesitate—he never did. Steam blasted from his arms as his mana surged, muscles crackling.
He slammed into the beast's leg, managing to budge it—just a little. "This thing's a mountain!" He barked.
Jessy followed, her twin sabers flickering with condensed light magic. She spun into a deadly flurry, aiming for the creature's knees.
Sparks flew, but the flesh resisted.
Veese, built like a boulder, pounded his fists into the ground, sending spikes of hardened earth into the beast's flank.
It hissed—only mildly annoyed.
Rufus roared, swinging his longsword overhead and cleaving down with a brutal overhead slash.
A long cut tore through the beast's shoulder, and black, viscous blood spilled like tar.
It turned its head slowly, eyes gleaming, mouth stretching wide with... amusement?
"Uh-oh," Veese muttered, his instincts blaring as he backed up half a step.
Then it moved.
Its arm lashed out, a blur of black and crimson.
Rufus was sent flying, crashing into a rock pile with a bone-snapping crack.
Jessy was thrown like a ragdoll, tumbling midair until she skidded to a stop in a bloody heap.
Alex ducked under the claw but took the follow-up knee to the gut, flying backward, groaning.
Clara, rope dart in hand, shot in from the side, managing to slice through a tendon.
"Left!" She screamed. "Get to the left side—it's slower!"
It didn't even take her long to find its weakness.
Krish and Felona followed her lead, hurling ice and energy spears to cover the retreating attackers. But they weren't trying to win. They were trying to buy time.
Raven sprinted across the field, dodging corrupted vines and broken terrain.
His heart thundered.
The plan was suicidal.
It also had a 10% chance of success. He hated how precise his gut had become in this new life.
He vaulted over a fallen beast, then pushed off a stone slab to gain height.
Mana flooded his body. Muscles screamed.
He spun midair, dragging his blade behind him like a scythe, and aimed for the beast's head.
CRACK!
The sword struck the creature's horn—not its skull—and bounced off with a metallic shriek.
Raven landed awkwardly, almost stumbling, but kept moving, ducking under the counterattack that shattered the rock beside him.
'They bought me two seconds. Just a bit closer.'
He needed them to buy time so he could get closer to the beast.
He needed one more second, and if the beast didn't focus on him, he could reach it.
"Jake, now!"
Like a phantom, Jake appeared behind the beast, driving a pair of cursed daggers into the base of its neck.
It roared—not in pain, but in surprise.
It turned and swiped.
Jake disappeared into smoke, vanishing before impact.
The beast, however, wasn't easy to fool. Before Jake could move away, materializing some distance away, its claw flashed again.
SLASH!
Jake couldn't avoid it this time.
Whoosh!
Jake flew away like others, leaving only Raven behind, but this was enough.
They had bought him enough time to close the distance between him and the beast.
It's claws came down again—
And Raven stepped into it.
The world slowed.
There was no dodging this. He couldn't. Not if he wanted to keep the others alive.
He met the beast's crimson gaze and grinned.
THUNK!
The claw sank into his abdomen.
Raven gasped—breathless.
"Ghhh! Fuck!"
Pain screamed through every nerve. But he held on, gripping the beast's forearm with both hands, anchoring himself.
All of this was just so he could do this.
He didn't know if he could defeat the beast, but he was sure he could stop it for a second.
He was sure he could keep the beast's attention on himself and save others trapped in its domain from death.
"GOT YOU, FUCKER!" He rasped, coughing blood.
He reached to his waist, fumbling slightly with blood-slicked fingers, and pulled out the emergency whistle—the signal for full retreat, the sign of surrender.
His squad, albeit gravely injured, was still moving. Especially Clara.
Even with her abdomen covered in blood, she was rushing toward Alex with tears in her eyes.
The girl who never cared about anyone was crying.
'What the hell? I'm not dying, girl,' a low chuckle left his lips as he brought the whistle close to his lips.
He knew his condition was severe, but he was sure he would survive. He had faith in his physique's healing ability.
He met Alex's gaze—bloody, bruised, but still standing, dragging Jessy, who was half-conscious, while Jake, despite his injuries, reappeared with Krish, who seemed to be in a worse condition, slung over one shoulder.
Felona screamed as she poured magic into Rufus's chest, trying to keep him from bleeding out.
They were alive.
That was all he wanted.
He had selected them to face off against the beast not because he thought they would win but because he knew they wouldn't die no matter what.
Not from a mere five-star beast.
Raven smiled faintly.
Then—he blew the whistle.
A sharp, piercing note cut through the battlefield.
The instructors responded instantly, moving so fast that it seemed like they were teleporting into action with blazing mana fields.
The corrupted boss turned its head, distracted for a heartbeat too long.
And that was all the time Instructor Damien needed.
A gold-and-black chain of light pierced the beast through the chest.
The other instructors landed beside the students, shielding them from the retaliatory shockwave as the creature shrieked in pain and rage, its domain collapsing like a dying breath.
The students collapsed, too tired to cheer. Too drained to care.
The fight was over.
And Raven?
He was still standing, claw embedded in his gut, arms locked around it, holding the beast in place like a human shackle.
As the corrupted monster screeched its final defiance and fell backward under the instructors' barrage, Raven dropped to his knees, then face-first into the ash.
Still breathing.
Still alive.
But only barely.
He was unconscious.
Alex, Clara, and Jake rushed toward him as they saw his body going limp.
With that, another legend was born—the legend of the first boy who unified his whole batch and did the impossible.
As for Raven, he again missed the notification from the system.
[You have successfully changed a major plot, turning it better.]
[You have obtained 1200 plot points.]
He changed the lives of many people with his performance, and that was rewarded.
It was as if the system was trying to motivate Raven to keep doing good.
For now, however, the child of multiple legends lay unconscious on the ground as his friends and other instructors rushed to him.
Many looked at him with pride, some with worry, and some with fear and jealousy.
It made one thing clear: although the child of multiple legends grew popular and was called a hero by some, not everyone liked heroes, and he would have to face those who didn't.