Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Zach, Nessa, Dukiel, Anerias, and Violina all gathered for the first time in a little under two months right outside the city. They had been so busy studying and training that they hadn't made time after they concluded that their meetings trying to figure out what the Underworld was doing were useless.

No matter how much they thought about it, asked each other, and tickled Monolith, they wouldn't find out or come up with anything regarding the Underworld's current actions and plans.

Instead, just like with the ceasefire, they could use the downtime and Underworld's superficial inaction to strengthen themselves as much as possible and prepare for what comes next.

It was a hollow plan that relied on them surpassing the Underworld's expectations and the Underworld staying silent for long enough or not suddenly doing anything when the students were busy. It was a risk—a gamble. But it was one they had to take.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

They wouldn't defeat Monolith, much less the Underworld if they didn't ignore possible threats to their safety and comfort.

Fortunately, their gamble hadn't come to an immediate loss.

The Underworld had stayed silent while the students prepared and armed themselves as much as they could. There hadn't been so much as a fart from them anywhere, whether the city, the forest, or any other place in the Empire.

But the quieter they were now, the louder the bang of their entrance to the surface would be.

The only thing that kept Zach and the others from dreading the future was the dread they faced when in front of Monolith.

All the times they had tried to attack or trick him over the last couple of months, they had only scratched him twice.

Their third year at the Academy would soon come to an end.

They had all made sure to get passing grades in their studies, contributions from their fights against the Underworld not included. Being in the same grade was more important than trying to sneak an extra year of fighting the Underworld. That had been a stupid idea. Neither the Underworld nor the principal would give them more time than they had already given.

It was do or don't for the students.

This would be their final attempt before the principal cut their activities short since it was time for the Academy to go on break.

The curriculum was important, but, for some reason the students couldn't understand, breaks were more important than both the curriculum and the threat of the Underworld.

The students, while doubtful of the principal's insistence on the strictness of the break every year, didn't mind it. On the one hand, it would have been great if they could just get it over with and finish clearing out whatever trouble the principal arranged for them.

On the other, the current third-years, soon to be fourth-years, were supposed to deal with something far beyond them. Although the Underworld wouldn't stay still during the three months of the break, the principal would at least keep anything extreme from happening. No one would get hurt while the students were away and growing stronger however they could.

But before they could go on their break, the students had to do one last thing. They had to defeat Monolith and at least try to get a look into what he was blocking them from seeing.

Zach, Nessa, Anerias, Dukiel, and Violina had all grown stronger since their first attempt at defeating Monolith—some more than others. But none of them were confident they could take Monolith down.

Still, they had to try.

They had developed their strategies and teamwork a little, but that wasn't why they hadn't failed. If anything, that was the reason they had managed to scratch Monolith previously. So, they went with the same simple rotation as before.

Zach, Violina, Nessa, Dukiel, and Anerias attacked in turn.

Zach and his familiars were stronger and faster than before thanks to training and leveling up. He was one step away from the next milestone—level thirty. He was several levels higher than their first attempt. At their current levels, each one mattered more than they had at the beginning of their journey.

Combined with his training, Zach could unleash extraordinary physical strength with just his body. That alone wouldn't be enough to so much as tickle Monolith, though. He would need something more than just physical strength for that. He would either need a weapon sharp enough or strength like a volcano.

A weapon would only make Zach's strength useless since he wouldn't know how to wield it, and he was still a ways off from the strength of a volcano. He was getting close to the strength of a cliff—a small one.

If he could have awakened and used his world essence energy offensively, that might have done a number on Monolith's solid body. Unfortunately, even after all his harsh training, the world essence energy was still mostly slumbering and adjusting and adjusting to Zach's body. It was part of the reason why Zach was so strong right now, but other than helping him passively, the world essence energy didn't do much.

That was why Zach's part in the fight wasn't to fight or try to injure Monolith.

He was a meatshield.

Even one hit from Monolith would be enough to send anyone but Zach and Yanael flying. The others simply weren't made to withstand strikes that powerful. They specialized in dealing strikes that powerful.

Zach's mission was to make sure they landed those hits without being hit themselves. He did it either with his body or his barriers. By positioning himself correctly, Alzara and Soara could his body and barriers to land fleeting, shallow attacks and withdraw without getting hit.

Yanael would have also benefited from such a tactic since it would let her land more and stronger blows without needing to risk injury.

But no way in Heaven was she going to do that. It went against everything she stood for as Zach's familiar.

If anyone were to hide behind anyone, it would be Zach hiding behind her.

Yanael braved Monolith's stony fists without relying on Zach's body. Since he was using his barriers mostly around him, they were stronger than if he would have used them on his familiars when they were spread out.

It was enough to last him until it was time to tap out and let Violina take over. Stay tuned for updates on empire