SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will - Chapter 415 Layla [2]

Moon’s answer was silence, pointing his hands towards her, his fingertips crackling in lightning.

Layla sighed softly, as if disappointed by a child who chose the wrong answer. She sat, crossed her legs, and rested her chin on her knuckles.

“Pity.” Layla muttered as the room erupted in chaos.

Her subordinates moved as one. Spells and weapons clashed across the throne room in an instant. Moon’s team surged forward to meet them, and the chamber descended into madness.

Moon didn’t waste time on the foot soldiers. He aimed directly at Layla, channeling [Thunderclap Raiju] and releasing it toward the throne.

Killing her meant breaking most of these people of their curses, as for the others who weren’t, they would die or surrender.

Unfortunately, reality wasn’t so simple. Three of her followers stepped into his spell’s path. Their combined spells collided with the wolf mid-flight, fire and earth and wind converging on the lightning from dozens of angles. The explosion shook the room, and the Raiju was neutralized before it reached her.

Layla didn’t flinch. She watched from her throne, her chin still resting on her knuckles.

Moon tried again. An [Ignite] fireball amplified through his staff, aimed at the gap between her guards.

Two more spells intercepted it. A third attempt. A magma spike erupted from the ground beneath the throne’s base, aimed at catching her from below.

But it was immediately countered by a few earth mages that controlled the surrounding earth to counter it.

Moon’s eyes darkened. Every attack he sent toward Layla was being intercepted. Her followers weren’t just guarding her. They were rotating, each one covering the gaps left by the others in a defensive formation that had clearly been drilled over months.

There was no direct path to her. Not with this many people standing between them.

Then the circle closed around him.

Nearly ten First Star Evolvers converged on Moon from every direction. Close-range fighters pressed from the front and back, swinging their weapons in hopes of decapitating him. Mid-range casters fired from the gaps between them. Long-range attackers bombarded him from the far walls.

Moon was surrounded.

He dodged the bombardment by activating [Air Step], launching himself upward to escape the encirclement. Two spells tracked his ascent and detonated around him, forcing him to twist mid-air. He landed on the far side of the group and immediately had to raise a magma wall as three attacks converged on his new position.

They gave him no room to breathe. Every time he blocked one attack, two more came from different angles. Every time he dodged, the circle tightened. Every time he tried to disengage and target Layla, the long-range fighters forced him back into the melee.

He was pinned down.

Moon’s team fought behind him without his direct support. The tanks held the center as best they could, but without Moon’s firepower backing them, the pressure was immense. Two of his Evolvers fell and respawned within the first minute. A third was driven to his knees by a combined attack from three enemies before the healer pulled him back.

Mirage tore through the left flank, his hooves cracking skulls and shattering shields. The doppelganger harassed the right, drawing fire and creating openings that the archer exploited with precise shots. The Fire and Nature spirit anchored the center, its burning vines holding back anyone who tried to push through while its nature half raised barriers to absorb incoming spells.

They were holding. Barely.

But Moon could see it from where he fought. His team was losing ground. Slowly, steadily, they were being pushed back toward the ruined doorway.

And Layla sat on her throne, watching it all with a faint smile on her lips.

‘She hasn’t even entered the fight yet.’

Moon dodged a spear thrust aimed at his ribs and deflected a fireball with one of his own. The circle of First Star Evolvers pressed closer with every exchange, giving him barely enough room to breathe between attacks.

“Damn you, just die! Why are you so agile and nimble for a mage?!” Despite the odds, Moon didn’t lose hope. He still had cards to play.

He activated his Classless skill. The familiar pull reached across the room, latching onto Layla without her knowledge. Her class was active, without a doubt, after all, these people wouldn’t just be there if her class wasn’t active, he didn’t believe that all these people were being controlled without her using some sort of passive skill.

[Class: Witch] [Duration: 24 Hours] [Skills: Charm II <Rare>, Curse II <Epic>, Mark of Omen II<Rare>]

Moon’s eyes narrowed as he processed the information while sidestepping a wind blade that carved a groove into the stone behind him.

The woman was the first he had seen to have three skills, all of which, were of the Second Order. Although he was a little surprised, it made sense. A woman who commanded this many people and had been operating on this island for possibly years, would not be a nobody, she was a unique class. Her fully evolved skills also made sense, Layla clearly had no shortage of expendable subordinates to kill for their lives when she wanted to evolve her skills. Growing stronger on the backs of those she deemed useless was perfectly in character.

He pulled up the first skill mid-dodge, skimming the details as an arrow from one of the long-range attackers sailed past his ear.

[Charm] [Order: Second] [Rank: Rare] [Proficiency: 0%] [Details: Your charm is otherworldly. An unnatural allure surrounds you, bending hearts and making others more willing to follow your lead. +300% Charm]

That explained the aura he had felt when she stood from her throne. The subtle whisper that told him to lower his guard was a passive. Everyone who stared at her was being influenced whether they realized it or not.

Her followers weren’t just loyal because of fear or addiction. They also wanted to follow her. Their hearts told them to. And they had no idea that the feeling wasn’t real.

Moon raised a magma wall to block three simultaneous attacks and pulled up the second skill.