Ch.1091Repel

======[ Haschal ]======

The sky-slicing—no, perhaps I should start calling it horizon-slicing—dimensional severing strike eliminated all the monsters standing before me without exception.

“Kieeeeek!”

“Kyaaaak!”

That is, all monsters that were ‘standing’ ‘in front of’ me.

Naturally, the flying ones and those behind me remained perfectly intact.

The former never touched my trajectory, and the latter I deliberately avoided cutting.

I could have dealt with the monsters behind me by spinning in a full circle while swinging my sword, but that would have inadvertently taken care of the Holy Knights as well.

The monsters behind me were weaving through the Holy Knights’ formation, engaging in chaotic combat, and it was impossible with the sky-slicing technique to selectively cut down only the monsters without sweeping up the Holy Knights.

So, well, I had no choice but to deal with the remaining ones one by one.

“Fall back! Retreat and protect yourselves! Leave all of these to me!”

“Follow Baron Median’s orders! All forces retreat! Focus on defense and create distance!”

“Thank the gods…!”

I ordered the Holy Knights to pull back. Fighting further would only increase casualties. Honestly, they were also getting in the way a bit.

“Yes, retreat like that and treat the wounded first!”

Simultaneously, I shot beams of karmic fire from my right hand to shoot down a monster bird with multiple wings, and fired a vacuum slash from Durandal in my left hand to cleave through a bear-like monster wrapped in a sandstorm.

“Kiaaaaaaak-!”

“Gr, oooooorr….”

Roars and screams, sounds of rupture like thunder being torn apart.

The five-pronged heat ray created shimmering heat waves as it traced the sky like lightning, and the slash, almost like a blurry halo of light, tore through the air leaving distinct scars.

This display of power was incomparable to when I defeated the Starlight Whale.

As I had anticipated, the awakened divine authority of the star imbued all my attacks with divine power, burning through and piercing the Void-type monsters without resistance, effortlessly dismembering them.

Nearly five monsters fell with each breath.

The sight of these house-sized monstrosities collapsing simultaneously while scattering halos of light was truly spectacular.

– Kuwhaak!

Amidst this, something suddenly burst from the ground beneath my feet.

A shark-like monster with three pairs of limbs, triangular dorsal fins, and sharp spines covering its entire body.

“Krooooooo!!”

It opened its maw wide and leaped out like an ambush, extending one foreleg to grab my face and lifting me up while roaring.

With its other three forelegs, it gripped both my arms and one leg, leaving me in a position resembling someone crucified.

“Kruoaaaaaaaa!!”

…How noisy. The Starlight Whale was quieter, I think.

Perhaps it was the grip strong enough to crush black iron. The parts of me in its grasp felt somewhat constricted and stiff. There was also a strange smell.

“Kenaz.”

So I erased it.

– Kwarrrrrk!

The karmic fire shot from both my eyes melted away the monster’s hand covering my face and severed another arm at the shoulder.

With my freed left hand, I sliced off another arm, then crossed both my arms to cut off the final limb holding my leg.

“Kaiaaaak…!”

The monster, suddenly rendered limbless, let out a painful shriek and staggered.

“Oh my. Does it hurt that much?”

Well, you should have been careful when touching dangerous things. Didn’t your parents teach you? You’ll get burned if you touch something on fire.

“Kyaaaak!”

The shark monster opened its maw wide in frenzy. Inside its mouth, resembling the void of space, vast amounts of dark mana gathered to form a black sphere.

Just looking at it, I could tell it was the same thing Nidhogg used.

However…

“Too slow.”

It’s taking way too long to gather mana. Who’s going to wait for that?

– Kwajik!

At least not me.

“Kr, grrrb…!”

“Hagalaz.”

I extended my left arm and thrust Frosting into the monster’s forehead, releasing the rune of collapse a step ahead of it.

The moment the rune’s mana burst forth, the shark monster suddenly stiffened, then in the next instant, turned to dust and scattered with a soft hiss.

“Now, who’s next?”

– Shwaeaeaek!

A harsh sound cutting through the air answered my question. Glancing up, I saw an owl the size of a pterosaur diving toward me.

“Ororororok!”

What kind of cry is that?

Is it trying to make me laugh and lower my guard…?

“What’s with that voice, seriously.”

If so, it succeeded. An involuntary chuckle escaped me, causing me to be a beat late in parrying with my sword.

Well, that doesn’t mean I couldn’t block it.

“Kyaaaaat!”

Instead of my sword, I thrust out my clenched fist like a cannonball. The next moment, the tip of the owl’s beak, where all its power was concentrated, made contact with that fist.

– Kwaaaaaang!

A thunderous explosion. Black mist burst like spilled ink. Along with the shattered remains of the owl monster that exploded upon impact.

“Greuuuu!”

I retreated a few meters to avoid the downpour of dark mana, when suddenly a giant worm leaped out from beneath my shadow and swallowed me whole.

Does this one have no intelligence…?

Well, it certainly doesn’t look like it does.

“Kenaz.”

Karmic fire erupted from my entire body in all directions like a supernova explosion. The blood-red flames that burst forth burned through not just the digestive juices but the creature’s entire body.

– Gooooo…!

Ashes swirled in the heat, and the surrounding rock melted into crimson magma that flowed freely.

And then.

– Kwarrrng!

Lightning struck without delay, as if it had been waiting for me to emerge.

I caught it with my left hand, activating the rune of collapse to disperse it, then threw Durandal like a javelin, piercing a giant snake monster that had been hiding behind the thundercloud.

‘These things are using magic now. Or is it more like divine authority?’

I sighed as I retrieved Durandal from the lifelessly falling snake monster.

Monsters wielding divine authority. It wasn’t unheard of, but it was an annoying sign.

When monsters begin to use proper divine authority beyond simple physical attacks or mana bombardment, it means you can’t know what they’re capable of until you’ve been hit by it.

If you can kill them with one strike, there’s no need to worry, but for others who can’t, monster subjugation becomes quite troublesome.

‘It’s still manageable. Yes, for now…’

Still, I could remain calm for now.

Although monsters using divine authority and Void-type monsters had started to appear, they were ultimately just small fry that couldn’t overcome the restrictions of Heaven’s Wall.

Unless they were openly powerful beings like Garmerlic or Arthur, monsters like these could be slaughtered easily by someone like me or Demian.

Even the Paladins weren’t really being overwhelmed due to lack of strength, but rather because they couldn’t overcome the Void-type monsters’ unique defensive abilities.

Since their attacks weren’t effective, they ended up taking one-sided beatings until they reached their limits. If their attacks had been effective, they wouldn’t have been overwhelmed like this.

It was ultimately a matter of compatibility. If they had faced undead monsters—or hybrid monsters—with equivalent power instead of Void-types, they might have actually won.

So from now on, I should tell them to focus on those enemies. Leave the Void-types to a few powerful individuals with high-damage divine authority.

With such thoughts in mind, I quickly swept through the remaining Void-type monsters on the battlefield as easily as dusting off furniture.

Their numbers dwindled and dwindled until only about a hundred remained.

That’s when it happened.

“Kiii, kiiiiiik!”

The Void-type monsters, hesitating as they realized continued fighting would only lead to annihilation, suddenly let out fearful shrieks and buried their heads in the ground.

“Huh…?”

Are these creatures actually bowing their heads in surrender?

That thought lasted only a moment. A violent cloud of dust revealed the true reason they had lowered their heads.

– Kwagagagagak!

Maws and limbs frantically and desperately tearing into the earth.

The hundred or so monsters that had survived to the end were all simultaneously digging into the ground, burrowing underground. Moving in perfect unison as if following some command.

The speed at which they dug and hid underground was so fast it reminded me of a combat engineer without a shovel.

“No, where do you think you’re escaping to…!”

Monsters filled with hostility toward life, and Void-types at that, abandoning the fight and fleeing en masse—an unprecedented situation.

Even I had never seen mindless monsters flee before, so for a moment I was caught off guard, showing a dumbfounded expression.

“Kenaz, Hagalaz!”

I quickly regained my composure, landed on the ground, placed both hands on the surface, and simultaneously manifested collapse and flame.

– Kurrrrrrrng!

Two types of mana spreading along the surface and penetrating deep underground.

A wide area of land melted from the heat while simultaneously collapsing, creating waterfalls of magma pouring down and down.

“Kiaaaaaaak!”

Along with the screams of monsters burning and breaking apart in that mana.

How many did I catch? I’m not sure. These creatures, their speed of burrowing underground was about three times faster than on the surface.

At minimum, I probably missed two-tenths, perhaps even four-tenths of them.

I melted all those trying to escape eastward, but while doing so, I didn’t have time to pay attention to those fleeing toward the forest.

…Well, it wasn’t particularly disappointing. My destination was there anyway. I could just continue the pursuit and finish them off.

I exhaled a light sigh containing such thoughts, withdrew the divine authority I had released back into myself, and raised my half-crouched body.