episode_0260

“Oh my goodness…! Lord…!!!”

The ground shook. Something exceedingly heavy was approaching.

The intermediate and lower-level nuns who witnessed its presence recited the Lord with wide eyes.

“Wow, that’s…!!!”

Eugene Schneider, obscured by the Mutant Golem’s body, couldn’t immediately see the source of the earth’s tremors, but when he finally looked up at the dark shadow looming above, he recognized its identity, and his face went blank.

“M-Minotaur!!!”

Charlotte was the first to shout the name of the appearing monster.

Indeed.

It was the Minotaur, a top-tier monster among the highest-grade monsters, along with the Drake.

“—Krooooooooaaaaaaarrr!!!!”

As if responding to Charlotte’s mention of its name, the Minotaur unleashed a roar filled with immense pressure, bellowing towards Eugene Schneider and his party.

Its upper body frame, with the torso of a bull, was a staggering 15m in height and as massive as a mountain.

‘I thought that since the Owl Bear crossed over, there might be one high-grade monster, but for it to be a Minotaur!!! What kind of damn thing is this!!!!’

The shock on Eugene Schneider’s face quickly dissipated, replaced by alertness.

Eugene had anticipated the possibility of a high-grade monster crossing over, assuming a dimensional rift was in play.

However, Priscilla had informed him that the more monsters crossed over, the more energy the dimensional rift would expend, potentially preventing high-energy level entities from manifesting.

Therefore, Eugene had closely monitored the increase in monsters in this area for several days.

Based on that, he had assumed that even if a high-grade monster did descend, it wouldn’t be above a lower tier.

But a high-grade monster of a size that completely defied his expectations had appeared.

“Eugene! That thing isn’t wearing the shackles of a demon god!”

At that moment, Charlotte, standing about 20 meters behind Eugene, spoke about a distinctive feature of the Minotaur before them that she had noticed.

‘Ah! That’s right! Minotaurs are supposed to have shackles on both ankles!’

Hearing those words, Eugene also turned his gaze towards the Minotaur’s thick ankles.

And as Charlotte had said, there were no shackles there.

Minotaurs empowered by a demon god typically bear shackles as a result of that influence.

‘That means, I can’t summon the Minotaur’s axe?’

The purpose of those shackles is to act as a demonic artifact that can summon the Minotaur’s weapon, the Minotaur’s Axe.

In other words, the Minotaur blocking Eugene’s path was unable to summon its core weapon, the axe.

‘Perhaps the energy-deficient dimensional rift couldn’t handle the Minotaur’s axe and shackles. That’s why it was able to cross over.’

Thanks to that, Eugene’s miscalculation was corrected.

The reason why a dimensional rift that had been continuously pouring out numerous monsters was still able to manifest a high-grade monster comparable to Drake was because it had been summoned without its artifact, which accounted for a significant portion of its energy.

‘Okay, in that case, even if it’s tough, I might be able to handle this Minotaur alone. After all, I’m stronger than I was during the Drake fight, and this thing is weaker than Drake.’

Having finished assessing the situation, the look in Eugene Schneider’s eyes rekindled with confidence.

If the Minotaur were at full power, even the nuns would have to focus on the battle against it. In that case, the possibility of casualties would inevitably increase.

However, the Minotaur’s artifact, the giant axe, accounts for about half of its offensive power. Given its absence, Eugene felt confident that he could handle the Minotaur on his own.

“Bishop Charlotte! Please continue to defend against the other monsters that are pushing in! I’ll take on the Minotaur alone!”

Having finished his calculations, Eugene Schneider issued operational commands to Charlotte behind him.

“Understood, Great Swordsman Eugene! I will do my best to support you so that other monsters cannot interfere in your battle! Please be careful!”

Normally, his older sister Charlotte would be preoccupied with worrying about Eugene.

But now, things are different.

Of course, this is partly due to the fact that it’s an official combat situation, and she is focused as the commander of the nun group, but her fundamental perception of Eugene Schneider has changed.

‘Our Eugene has become a full-fledged warrior! If I were Eugene’s woman, I would have to trust him completely!’

There’s no other way.

Last night, she had frantically had sex with Eugene.

The fragile younger brother Eugene Schneider she once knew had disappeared, and she had clearly confirmed more than anyone else that only a virile, male Eugene remained.

In other words, the current Charlotte is looking at Eugene not with the eyes of a sister who wants to embrace him, but as an alpha male she looks up to and respects.

‘I’ll live up to it! My sister’s faith! I’ll prove that this Eugene Schneider is no longer the Eugene Schneider of the past!’

Fwoooooooooooooosh…!!!!

Eugene Schneider, who wanted to be recognized as a man by Charlotte,

Was filled with exhilaration and motivation as his older sister showed him complete trust.

And as much as that momentum, Eugene Schneider’s Sword Seeker mana flared fiercely on his massive greatsword.

“—Krooooooooaaaaaaarrr!!!”

The Minotaur is not a very intelligent type.

However, its combat instincts are sharply developed,

Recognizing the situation with Sword Seeker Eugene Schneider’s greatsword, it fixed its gaze on Eugene and roared.

—Whoooooooossssssshhhh!!!!

Soon, the Minotaur’s long and massive right hand swung down,

—Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!

The palm, nearly 1.5M in size, crashed into the ground with a tremendous roar.

—Pshhhhhh! Pshhhhh! Pshhhhhhhhh!

From between the Minotaur’s fingers, streaks of dark red blood spurted out like a fountain.

“Krrrrrrrrrr…!”

But the Minotaur had a puzzled expression.

“I’m over here, you bastard!”

It couldn’t sense Eugene’s presence within its palm.

The streaks of dark red blood just now were from the mutant corpses.

That’s why Eugene’s voice reached the puzzled Minotaur.

Whoooooosh!

“Krrrrrrrrrr!!!”

The Minotaur raised its head to look at the source of Eugene’s voice above.

Eugene Schneider had taken advantage of the wide gaps between the fingers of the Minotaur’s massive hand to soar upwards, evading its attack.

—Whoooooooooosh!!!

“Your brain is definitely dumb! Let’s see just how much your physical abilities are invested in! Let’s see that durability!!!”

It was an amazing jump. Sword Seeker Eugene Schneider had jumped roughly 10m,

In fact, until recently, he hadn’t possessed this level of jumping ability.

It can be said that this is because his Sword Seeker mana utilization ability has been maximized by having passionate sex with his beloved older sister Charlotte all night long.

Afterwards, Eugene Schneider, who began a vertical descent towards the Minotaur, raised his greatsword high and powerfully.

—Whoooooooooossssssshhhh!!!!

Eugene’s greatsword, swung with mana and afterimages,

—Swishhhhhhhh!!!

His primary target was the Minotaur’s head, but the beast managed to tilt its head back to avoid it.

—Kaaaaaaang!!!!

As a result, Eugene’s first attack struck the Minotaur’s forearm.

“Woah, damn…”

Eugene Schneider clicked his tongue at the unusual impact sound.

—Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoooooooooosh!

‘It’s a bit different from Drake. Drake felt like he had enhanced his durability by coating his already durable skin with a mana barrier, but this Minotaur has just massively hard skin.’

Mana sparks were intensely emitted, but unlike the Drake fight, only Eugene’s mana sparks were created, not both.

As Eugene said, the Minotaur was directly withstanding Eugene’s greatsword attack with its hard skin, without a mana barrier.

“—Krooooooooaaaaaaarrr!!!”

—Vwoooooooooom!!!

The Minotaur swung its right hand upwards to shake Eugene off.

—Whoooooosh!

Eugene Schneider then showed off his amazing sense of balance, landing on the ground.

‘If the skin itself is like that, it means it’s going to be difficult to do it like when I caught Drake…’

Afterwards, Eugene looked at the Minotaur with quite intelligent eyes, racking his brain to come up with a countermeasure.

However, his expression seemed to have a level of confidence rather than being perplexed.

‘But I remember the contents of the encyclopedia I saw with my sister Charlotte.’

He knows the characteristics of monsters with armor systems like the Minotaur.

‘If I were to classify it, it’s a case where the bones and skin have become as hard as steel through the action of mana. However, as far as I know, it was written that it is impossible to make all parts of the body hard. It means they are hiding a relatively weak part somewhere.’

When mana is expressed, the muscles and bones of the Awakened also become harder to a certain level.

Monsters also form armor with a similar principle, but the difference is that such an explosive mana emission occurs that the armor is relatively less strong in the area where the mana emission is taking place.

Therefore, in the case of monsters with hard skin, it is written in ancient books that the way to an easier victory is to find and attack that weak point.

—Whoooooooossssssshhhh! Vwoooooooooom! Whoooooooossssssshhhh!

—Swishhhhh! Swish! Paaaaaaat!!

“Bishop Charlotte!”

The Minotaur swung its massive hands at Eugene Schneider.

Eugene Schneider then evaded the Minotaur’s attack using mana footwork and called out to Charlotte.

“After attacking, it seems that this Minotaur has skin-type armor! Is it possible to find a weak armor area using your scanning magic, sister?”

The most suitable class for finding mana sources is, of course, magicians and witches.

However, high-level nuns also have scanning divine power magic for sacred power healing, so

Eugene asked Charlotte, hoping for that possibility.

“Understood, Great Swordsman Eugene! I will find it with scanning magic right away! Please hold on a little longer!”

Swishhhhhhhhhhh…!!!!

Charlotte, who heard Eugene’s words, immediately activated her sacred power.

And not long after.

“I found it, Great Swordsman Eugene!”

Shine—!

She flashed her eyes filled with sacred power and announced that she had found the Minotaur’s weak point.