Forsaken By The Gods, I Made A Contract With the Demon King

The portal's pulsing reached a fever pitch, its crimson glow bathing the ruined simulation of the cityscape in an eerie light. With a sound like reality tearing apart, the essence monster emerged.

'Whoaa…'

It was colossal. Its form defied easy description – a writhing mass of tentacles, eyes, and crystalline structures that hurt to look at directly. Its aura alone sent a visible shockwave across the battlefield, and I felt my essence recoil instinctively.

The simulated ground shook under the creature's weight as it fully materialized. Buildings crumbled in its wake, adding to the devastation already wrought by our earlier battles. I took in the scene with a growing sense of dread.

'How the fuck do they simulate all this?'

That was truely something that Levi didn't understand.

Anyway, the simulated city was now in ruins. Broken concrete, shattered glass, and twisted metal littered the streets. And the civilians... My stomach turned as I registered the scale of our failure.

Bodies lay strewn across the rubble-filled streets, some disintegrating into data particles, others eerily still. Those still alive screamed and fled in terror, their panic adding to the chaos.

We'd failed to contain the threat.

If this had been real, the death toll would have been catastrophic.

And this was from a single portal.

I didn't dare imagine what had happened during the second catalysm.

But there was no time to dwell on our mistakes. The essence monster wasn't alone. Swarming around its massive form were over 20 dormant-level monsters that were a bit bigger than the normal and smaller than the boss monster.

They darted between the boss's tentacles, their eyes gleaming with malevolent intelligence.

"Regroup!" I shouted, trying to rally the team. Alex and Ryn moved to flank me, while Toby and Lysandra's companion took up defensive positions. Lysandra herself stood apart, her silver hair whipping in the essence-charged wind, her sword still glowing with barely contained power.

Despite the chaos she'd caused earlier, Lysandra remained our strongest asset. Her raw power outstripped all of ours combined. If anyone could take down the essence monster, it was her – but she'd need support.

I made a quick decision. "Alex, Ryn – focus on the smaller monsters. Toby, whatever your ability is, now's the time. Lysandra," I locked eyes with her, seeing a flicker of recognition through her battle frenzy, "the big one's yours. We'll clear your path."

As the team sprang into action, I held back, observing. My power – Noir and its phantom flock – could turn the tide instantly.

But I'd intervene only if absolutely necessary, using my abilities strategically to support without overshadowing.

Lysandra charged forward, her blade carving through the air. The dormant monsters that tried to impede her progress were cut down effortlessly. Alex and Ryn worked in tandem, his enhanced strength complementing Ryn's earth manipulation perfectly as they corralled and dispatched the smaller threats.

For a moment, it seemed like we might finish this with ease.

Lysandra reached the essence monster, her sword biting deep into its crystalline hide. It roared in pain, tentacles lashing out wildly.

Then everything changed.

The portal, which we'd foolishly assumed was done spawning threats, pulsed once more. Another massive form began to emerge, its aura every bit as overwhelming as the first.

A second essence monster.

'Didn't the professor said only one boss monster would appear?'

I thought only for another thought to appear in my head and that was the imagination of professor saying - 'Unexpected things always happen in reality, you must be prepared for the worst'

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I cursed under my breath.

It seemed all the members too understand what was happening but what could the do.

Lysandra, engaged with the first boss, couldn't disengage. The others, already stretched thin, looked on in horror as the new threat materialized fully.

This was beyond what we'd prepared for. One essence monster was already a challenge.

Two? It bordered on impossible.

As the second essence monster took its first thunderous step into our ravaged battleground,I understand that I had to act.

The air crackled with tension and unspent essence. Lysandra's battle cry rang out as she continued to engage the first boss. The rest of the team looked to me, their eyes a mix of fear and determination.

They all were urging me.

They too were aware that I haven't used any abilities since the start of the simulation - I hesitated for a bit, but then I decided to show a bit of my abilities.

Just as I was about to step forward and reveal a fraction of my own abilities, a sudden shift in the air caught my attention. My eyes darted to Toby, and what I saw made me pause.

Essence was gathering around him in a way I'd never seen before. The air shimmered and distorted, like heat waves rising from sun-baked asphalt. Toby's face was a mask of concentration, tinged with... was that fear?

"Everyone, brace yourselves!" I shouted, though I had no idea what was coming.

In an instant, the world changed. An invisible force slammed down on the battlefield with crushing intensity. It felt like the weight of the world had suddenly increased tenfold.

The effect on our enemies was immediate and dramatic. The dormant monsters, which had been darting about with lethal agility moments before, were now flattened against the ground. Their bodies contorted unnaturally as they struggled against the immense pressure.

Even the two essence monsters weren't immune. Their massive forms swayed and buckled under the increased gravitational pull. Their movements, once fluid and terrifying, became labored and sluggish.

But it wasn't just our foes affected by this sudden change. Lysandra, mid-swing against the first essence monster, stumbled and nearly fell. Her silver hair hung straight down, as if underwater. Alex and Ryn, who had been in the midst of battling the smaller monsters, were now on their knees, fighting just to remain upright.

I felt it too – an immense pressure bearing down on me, making every movement a monumental effort. It was like trying to walk through chest-deep water, but a thousand times worse.

"What the hell?" I heard Alex grunt, his enhanced strength barely allowing him to stand.

Ryn had managed to create a small dome of earth around himself, but even that was cracking under the strain. "Toby?" he called out, his voice strained. "Is this you?"

I turned my gaze back to Toby, and what I saw nearly made me forget the crushing gravity. His face had turned a deep shade of red, but that wasn't the strangest part. Toby was... dancing? No, that wasn't quite right. His body was moving in jerky, uncontrolled motions, as if he was a puppet on unseen strings.

"Huh?" I couldn't help but let out a confused grunt. What the hell was happening?

Toby's eyes met mine, and I saw panic there. "I can't... control it!" he managed to say between gritted teeth. His arms flailed wildly, his legs kicking out at random intervals. "Side... effect!"

Suddenly, the gravity shifted. For a brief moment, we were all weightless, floating a few inches off the ground. Then, just as quickly, we slammed back down. The constant changes in pressure were disorienting, to say the least.

The essence monsters roared in confusion and rage, their tentacles and crystalline structures groaning under the strain of the fluctuating gravity. The smaller monsters were being tossed about like rag dolls, smashing into buildings and each other.

"Toby!" Lysandra shouted, her voice filled with a mix of awe and frustration. "Warn us next time!"

But Toby couldn't respond. His bizarre dance continued, each movement sending new waves of gravitational force across the battlefield. Sometimes the pressure increased, pinning us all to the ground. Other times, it reversed, and we had to grab onto anything solid to avoid floating away.

It was one Hell of a ride!

I watched, fascinated and a little horrified, as Toby's uncontrolled power reshaped the very nature of our battle. This was why he had been hesitant to use his ability. The raw power was incredible, but the lack of control made it as dangerous to us as to our enemies.

As another wave of crushing gravity washed over us, I couldn't help but think that this simulation had just become far more complicated than any of us had anticipated.

Suddenly, a high-pitched whine cut through the chaos. My eyes darted to the source of the noise, and I felt a jolt of alarm. The simulation devices, those sleek discs that had created this entire scenario, were vibrating violently. As another wave of Toby's uncontrolled gravity washed over them, I watched in disbelief as cracks began to form on their metallic surfaces.

"No, no, no," I muttered, realizing what was about to happen.

With a sound like shattering glass amplified a hundredfold, the devices cracked and broke apart. In an instant, the simulated cityscape, the monsters, even the apocalyptic sky – all of it flickered and vanished. We were left standing in the academy's training ground, surrounded by the broken remnants of highly advanced technology.

As the dust settled and Toby's dance finally came to an abrupt halt, we all stared at each other in shocked silence. The simulation was over, but not in any way we could have anticipated.

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