Chapter 49: The Commander of the Gluttonous Legion (2)

Thus, the life-or-death battle began.

Tarkus’s attacks, while straightforward, were anything but simple.

He wielded his massive axe with all his might, swinging it with brute force and relentless power.

But just because the attacks were straightforward didn’t mean they were easy to block.

-Clang!!

“Kugh, argh…!!”

Therese let out a pained grunt as she caught the swing of Tarkus’s axe with her hardened arm. His strikes may have seemed simple, but they carried a devastating power, enough to cleave through steel with a single blow.

Therese’s arm was likely the only thing in the area capable of withstanding that level of impact. Even Lancia’s sturdy sword wouldn’t last more than a single direct hit.

When raw power is overwhelming, there’s no need for finesse. His relentless onslaught, though direct, was overwhelmingly effective.

“Which means… it hurts like hell on my end!”

Therese spat, clutching her left arm after blocking the strike.

Her blackened arm absorbed most of the force, around 90% by her estimation. Without that ability, her body would’ve already been crushed by the brute strength of the muscle-bound Tarkus.

However, “absorbing” didn’t mean “unaffected.”

While most of the impact was diffused, the remaining 10% still carried over as pain. And when an attack from someone as massive as Tarkus is reduced by only 10%, it still packed quite a punch.

It felt like trying to block a morning star with just a wrist guard. Every time she blocked an attack, her arms throbbed in agony.

But there was no other option. She was the only one in this space capable of matching Tarkus’s raw power, even if just barely.

She had to endure it, no matter what.

-Whoosh!

At the same time, as she blocked yet another axe swing, sulfurous smoke began to rise from Tarkus’s mouth.

Therese didn’t miss the sight.

“Lancia!!!”

“Yes!”

Lancia, who had been supporting her with quick strikes, immediately shifted into position.

Just as Tarkus unleashed a fiery breath of hellfire from his mouth—

“Granfil Style, Eighth Form: Dragon Ascent!”

A powerful updraft surged from Lancia’s sword, catching the flames and sending them spiraling upwards to the ceiling.

The Granfil family, a martial clan with centuries of tradition in Salem, was known for their mastery of wind-based sword techniques.

Their swordsmanship was like the wind itself—sometimes gentle like a breeze, other times fierce like a storm.

The hallmark of Granfil Style was its fluidity and versatility, able to transition seamlessly between swift and powerful strikes. It embodied the essence of the wind, unpredictable and free-flowing.

A swordsman who had mastered the Granfil Style could imbue their strikes with wind, controlling the air itself with their movements.

At its peak, a single slash could summon a typhoon—such was the potential of Granfil’s swordsmanship.

While Lancia wasn’t yet at that level, she had learned to manipulate the wind to a certain extent.

In a one-on-one duel, it might not have made a huge difference, but in the right situation, it gave her significant versatility.

Tarkus’s fiery breath was redirected by the gust, saving Therese from being incinerated. The fireball exploded against the cave wall, sending fragments of the ceiling crashing down.

“Haa… haa… Are you alright, Lady Therese?”

“Lancia…!”

Therese’s eyes widened with gratitude.

“Thank you! You saved my life! You’re my hero!”

“It’s mutual. If you hadn’t blocked that strike earlier, we’d all be dead by now.”

As Lancia spoke, her gaze remained fixed on the towering demon.

Her legs still trembled, but… they weren’t shaking to the point of paralysis anymore.

Therese’s courage in withstanding those powerful blows had given her the strength to keep going.

She now knew that, while Tarkus was overwhelmingly strong, his attacks weren’t impossible to react to. Unlike Sion’s lightning-fast assaults, Tarkus’s attacks could be seen and countered.

Of course, if asked whether they could actually defeat him, the answer was still a firm no.

“Interesting.”

Tarkus bared his sharp teeth in a menacing grin, a flicker of red flame glowing at the tip of his fangs.

“Good. I thought I might’ve killed Karma too soon, but you lot might make decent substitutes.

Go ahead and struggle. I’ll entertain myself by playing with you for a bit.”

A mocking sneer twisted across the demon’s face.

Particularly when dealing with phenomena like fire, which are highly susceptible to wind, the strategy proved effective.

“Good, things are going well…!”

Therese exhaled in relief.

The plan the two had devised was simple: strict division of roles.

Tarkus’s attacks could be boiled down to two types—physical strikes with his massive axe and elemental fire attacks.

Therese countered the former with her ‘Wounds of the Abyss’, while Lancia handled the latter with her wind manipulation.

Each focused solely on defense, intercepting the attacks they were best suited to handle.

If Tarkus swung his axe at Lancia, Therese would step in to block it with her hardened arms. If flames were hurled toward Therese, Lancia would use her wind to deflect them.

In the time between attacks, they would focus on maintaining pressure to prevent Tarkus from unleashing any overwhelming assaults.

They had abandoned the idea of going on the offensive.

Even if they went all out, it was doubtful they could so much as scratch Tarkus, especially with his body engulfed in relentless flames that made it nearly impossible to get close.

Recklessly attacking and leaving themselves vulnerable to counterattacks was not an option.

Their current objective was clear: hold the line and buy as much time as possible.

Either Sion, who was downstairs, would notice something was wrong and come to their aid, or—

The one person among them with the means to escape would finally come to their senses.

“Please, Princess…!”

Both Therese and Lancia fought desperately, silently praying that Isabella would make a decision soon.

Isabella’s mind was a blank.

When a person is overwhelmed by shock, their body can lock up completely. Not just muscles, but even internal organs like the heart and lungs can freeze. Prolonged exposure to such shock can prevent any rational thought from forming.

That was exactly what was happening to Isabella.

Despite seeing her comrades fighting for their lives in front of her, she couldn’t do anything. She knew she should use her magic to support them, but her hands wouldn’t move.

For a 16-year-old girl who had lived a comfortable life without much exposure to real danger, the pressure was too great.

It wasn’t until someone remaining behind with her cast a spell that she finally broke free from her paralysis.

“Calm Emotion.”

A soft, warm light—the hallmark of divine magic—spread around Isabella, soothing her. The crushing weight that had been squeezing her heart vanished, and her mind cleared.

Marianne, who had cast the spell, supported the still-weak Isabella as she spoke.

“Please, Princess, you have to get it together…! Our only hope for survival lies with you now!”

“H-hope…?”

Isabella mumbled, still dazed. Marianne glanced over at Tarkus, then leaned in and whispered softly.

“You can use that spell, right?”

“That spell? What do you mean?”

“You know, the one that creates a portal by tearing a hole in space…”

Ah, she meant the dimensional gate.

Isabella could definitely cast that spell. But…

“B-but are you sure? That spell takes a little time to close, so that monster could follow us through the portal. Even if we escape into the forest, if he follows, it won’t matter…”

“That…”

Marianne clenched her fist, her gaze flicking toward Tarkus.

“I-I’ll do whatever I can to hold him off. If I go all out, I might be able to buy us five seconds… Will that be enough?”

“Uh… yes, if you can give us five seconds, we might have a chance.”

If Marianne could stall Tarkus for just a few seconds, the four of them could dive through the portal and escape.

 Lancia, with her speed, could grab Therese and run, and the others could follow quickly. It only took three seconds to close the portal behind them…

But then, as Isabella calculated their odds, a realization hit her like a bolt of lightning.

“W-wait! Even if we escape, what about the others?! What about the prisoners? If we leave, won’t they all be killed?!”

Isabella was right. If the four of them fled, the 300 unconscious slaves would be left defenseless. There was no doubt that a furious Tarkus would take out his anger on them.

Could they really abandon these people and run?

“…..”

Marianne bit her lip, then spoke in a solemn voice.

“I’m sorry, Princess. But… we can’t save them. That’s the reality. Even if Therese and Lancia hold him off, it’ll only buy us one minute at most… There’s no way we can move all these people in that time.

We have to face the truth: just keeping ourselves alive is already more than we can handle.”

“But…!”

“Princess!”

Marianne’s voice cut sharply through the air. Her tone was firm and resolute, similar to the way she spoke to her sister.

“We have to make the hard choice, Princess. If we stay, we all die. If we run, we have a chance.”

At Marianne’s words, Isabella slowly turned around.

Her gaze fell upon the skeletal, starved people, their faces having brightened earlier with the hope of survival.

Could she really leave them behind? Could she abandon them here?

“….”

With a look of frustration, Isabella gripped her staff tightly.

In her mind, she recalled something Sion had told her once, words that flashed vividly in her memory.

[“The most foolish thing, Princess, is to blindly say, ‘It’ll work out somehow,’ without any plan.”]

[“Remember: ‘impossible’ isn’t just a concept—it’s a reality. Every miracle happens only when built upon inevitable foundations. If you can’t guide the situation to such inevitability, you should never rely on luck.”]

[“Especially when you’re not the only one who will bear the consequences of failure.”]

“….”

Isabella bit her lip.

Sion had always emphasized rational decision-making. She never blamed her for failure, but if stubbornness led to disaster, she would be furious.

She remembered how she scolded her after the encounter with the Death Worm. It wasn’t just the failure—it was the stubbornness that made her angry.

She couldn’t disappoint her again. She didn’t want to disappoint her.

And more than anything, if she died here, she would never see her sister again.

“…Alright.”

Isabella finally nodded heavily, as if she had made her decision. She turned away, trying to steel her resolve, and began the incantation for the dimensional spell.

“Let the dimension bend and open the door to the promised place…”

Now that she had resolved herself, casting the spell was easy. ‘Dimension Door’ wasn’t a particularly time-consuming spell to cast.

With just a few key words, the incantation was complete.

Raising her voice, Isabella shouted:

“Dimension Door!”

Pop.

At her command, a circular portal appeared in the air, leading to a lush forest filled with the scent of fresh greenery.

“It worked! Lancia, let’s go!” Therese yelled with relief, turning to Lancia.

There was no reason to stay and fight Tarkus any longer. Someone else—perhaps the Hero—would come and deal with him. Their best course of action now was to retreat from the battlefield and survive.

They could regroup in Anatolia and request reinforcements. That was their only realistic choice.

With that plan in mind, Therese turned and leapt toward the dimensional door.

And then—

“Dispel Magic.”

Before her eyes, the portal vanished, dissolving into thin air.

“…Huh?”

Stunned, Therese and the others blinked, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

What? Why had the completed portal disappeared? Who could have done such a thing?

It couldn’t be…

“Your desperation was quite amusing.”

From behind them, a voice full of mockery echoed, laced with thinly veiled laughter.

“But your intent was far too obvious. Focusing solely on defense, not bothering to attack even when I left an opening—it was clear you were stalling for time.

Did you really think I wouldn’t notice that you were planning an escape?”

“You…!”

Therese was about to demand how Tarkus had used magic, but then she realized something critical.

When Tarkus had killed Karma, he had appeared suddenly, seemingly from nowhere.

It was impossible, logically. They should have noticed such a massive figure approaching.

Unless he had teleported here.

How had they not realized this sooner? But more importantly…

If he could use magic from the beginning, why didn’t he use it during the fight?!

Therese didn’t need to voice the question—Tarkus answered with his actions.

The towering demon smirked, his burning eyes gleaming with malevolent intent.

-Boom!!

“Aaaaargh?!”

With a single swing of his axe, Tarkus sent Therese flying across the cave, crashing violently into the far wall.

The power was on a completely different level from before.

Even the remaining 10% of his attack, after her ability absorbed most of it, was more than enough to send a person soaring through the air.

“Lady Therese?!”

Lancia gasped in horror as she turned to check on her companion.

And then—

“You seem to have time to look away.”

“!!?!”

Tarkus, who had silently closed the distance between them, drove his knee into Lancia’s gut. She too was sent flying, just like Therese, soaring through the cave until she slammed into the hard rock.

It wasn’t a case of being caught off guard. Tarkus’s attack had been so fast that she couldn’t even react. Lancia, who prided herself on her reflexes, couldn’t even register the blow.

“W-what… was that…!?”

Isabella’s voice trembled, her face twisted in shock.

It wasn’t just the fact that both of her comrades had been defeated in an instant. No, it was the sheer difference in Tarkus’s movements compared to before.

Up until now, their battle had at least followed some form. But now, that framework had been shattered. Both his speed and power had leveled up dramatically.

As much as she hated to admit it…

“Was he… playing with us the entire time…?”

“I told you from the start,” Tarkus sneered, his lips curling into a wicked grin. “You were nothing more than a diversion, something to amuse me.”

The malicious grin on his face deepened.

“Did you really think that the strength of a Legion Commander was so limited? No, I’ve been holding back, adjusting to your pitiful level. After all, it’s far more fun to let hope blossom before crushing it.”

Tarkus extended his hand forward.

A violent, swirling maelstrom of dark energy gathered in his palm, growing larger and more menacing with each passing second.

It was hideously powerful, massive, and overwhelmingly destructive.

“Hellfire Storm.”

The next moment, a ferocious inferno swept through the entire cave, consuming everything in its path.