Ch.513Black Light

“…I’m supposed to fight that thing?”

Leonore muttered with disgust.

The right arm of the evil god, now moving as an independent entity, exuded such an overwhelming presence that it made their footsteps halt and their fighting spirit wither.

“Miss, I don’t want to disagree with your opinion… but this seems like madness no matter how you look at it.”

“Isn’t this much better than facing the main body?”

“No, that earlier situation felt so overwhelming it didn’t even seem real, but just looking at this makes my spine shiver, rather…”

So it feels more ominous than witnessing the main body.

Well, I suppose a tiger in your bedroom is far more terrifying than a dinosaur roaring outside your window.

“So you want to run away?”

“…No, not that. I just feel overwhelmed.”

Leonore wiped away the cold sweat running down her cheek with her thumb and sighed.

【 GROOOOOOOO!̵ 】

A roar like thunder. The monster born from Invidius’s arm drenched its entire body in streams of dark mana, constantly writhing its eight arms and head.

It was clear that a single swing of that arm would crush a human body like a burst tomato.

“…Can we even kill something like that? It looks like it would still be squirming even if we cut off its head.”

“Well, if it’s truly alive, then we should be able to kill it. Let’s worry about that after we cut it up first.”

If we keep cutting, burning, and smashing it, eventually it should die. Whether that’s actually possible… honestly, I’m not sure.

—-

The distance between us and the creature was steadily shrinking. The stench of dark mana was already thick in the air. Lacy cast blessings on all of us except Ceylon, while Ceylon began preparing to unleash his power “Day of Judgment” by reciting prayers.

I felt a stream of fear seeping into my heart—an emotion I had forgotten for a long time—as I gripped Durandal’s hilt tightly.

The golden seal began to spread across the entire blade. Just like back then.

…It must have judged this being as an enemy stronger than me, one I couldn’t defeat. It was welcome but not exactly pleasant. Since reaching the realm of heroes, this had never happened before.

When facing Rurik, Cardinal Lübitz, or even clear hero-class opponents like Ceylon or Dirade, my power had always been superior.

Although the outcome of battle isn’t determined by power alone, and I had my share of struggles… ultimately, I had won them all.

So for Durandal to display such power now… it meant that this monster, drawing ever closer, was dangerous enough to warrant risking my life.

“Everyone be careful. That monster is stronger than any enemy we’ve faced before.”

“Yes!”

“It certainly looks that way…”

Compared to that monster, which looked like a tumor growing from the depths of hell, someone like Rurik was nothing more than a cute puppy.

[If only Orhan were here. I could just throw him at it and he’d fight until he died.]

Even Hersella, who seemed far removed from fear, couldn’t hide her disgust.

“Ceylon and I will draw its attention and figure out its attack patterns. The rest of you protect Lacy and observe—join in when you get a feel for it. Prioritize not getting hurt over dealing damage.”

Nigel and Leonore nodded. They must already know that this situation brought them closer to death than any battle they had experienced before.

A mistake means losing your life. Even without mistakes, you might still lose your life. Fighting that thing would probably be like that.

And so, we advanced toward the black lake rippling beneath the monster’s feet.

And then.

【 GRRRRRR….҈ 】

It noticed us.

The eyeballs embedded throughout its thick neck rotated and all stared in our direction at once.

My breath caught painfully and my teeth chattered. Cold sweat ran down my spine. I felt like prey facing a hunter.

A massive body about 18 meters tall. Looking up at it from this closer distance, its size was overwhelmingly intimidating. There were large monsters of similar size, but this was different in nature.

Most monsters typically moved on all fours or had hunched postures, making them appear smaller than their actual height, but the evil god’s arm stood perfectly upright. Its head seemed to be at a dizzying height.

I could probably reach it with a leap, but it was a sight that didn’t easily inspire confidence.

Could we really kill something like that? I doubted it myself.

Even so, we had no choice but to fight. If I retreated, everyone would die. A sense of duty, almost like certainty, was pushing me forward.

【 KIAAAAAAAA!̵̸ 】

The monster let out a shrill cry and spread its eight arms wide.

Five black rings appeared before its watching eyes, and an enormous amount of dark mana began to condense inside each ring.

It was clearly preparing to unleash something. I felt a chill run down my spine as I gripped Durandal tightly with both hands.

“Prepare for battle! Its bombardment is coming!”

“Oh Elpinel!”

Lacy’s blessing descended upon everyone except Ceylon.

Continuous healing, physical enhancement, mental protection, and mana resistance. She had unleashed every blessing she could cast.

Each step I took gained more strength, and even the fear constricting my chest gradually subsided. The terrible fear caused by the dark mana spreading throughout the city was being washed away by the holy light.

In other words, the fear stemming from my own emotions remained.

“His wrath shall come upon all the land, and the ‘Day of Judgment’ shall finally arrive!”

Ceylon finished his prayer and manifested his power, Day of Judgment. His entire body was bathed in holy light. A golden scale appeared behind his head, and thorny vines wrapped around his longsword.

Unlike Lacy’s blessing, it was a limited miracle that could only strengthen himself, but it contained power several times stronger than Lacy’s blessings.

Emitting holy light from our bodies, we split into three groups: me, Ceylon, and the others. Our intentions aligned without words.

When facing magical attacks, spreading out was common sense. Staying together would only result in everyone being roasted by concentrated magic.

Finally, the spheres of dark mana condensed inside the black rings transformed into massive beams and shot forth.

– GOOOOOOO!

Lightning-fast, fierce as fire, and carrying mountain-like power—beams of darkness.

Of the five beams, three were aimed directly at me. They seemed capable of melting even steel with just a graze.

I stopped worrying about whether Ceylon and the others could safely dodge, and focused solely on the beams flying toward me.

Too many distracting thoughts during battle slow down judgment, and slow judgment leads to sluggish movement. Against an enemy I couldn’t defeat even at full strength, showing such openings would be fatal.

“KYAAAAAAAA!”

I vaguely sensed a path to survival. I threw my entire body toward it.

Two beams missed me by a hair’s breadth. The hem of my skirt touched by darkness disintegrated into powder. The missed beams left long, deep craters in the ruined ground as they annihilated everything they touched.

– KUOOOOO!

And the final beam coming straight at me. I filled Durandal, now glowing with brilliant golden light, with the power of my Karma and swung my arms like mad.

My heroic Karma, superhuman body, and Lacy’s blessing combined to create a storm of slashes in the air.

Golden arcs overlapped to form a hemispherical curtain.

Durandal’s true power.

The ability to cut space itself and wound the world returned everything before me to nothingness.

Along with everything that originally existed there.

– KWAAAAA…!

Without recoil or impact, the beam of darkness touched by the space-cutting slash disappeared as if erased. It was enough for me to simply keep swinging my sword until the black light blocking my path vanished.

When I was merely a master, this sword barrier could only last about two seconds. Now, however, I felt like I could maintain it for tens of seconds.

Before long, the black beam gradually thinned and completely dissipated.

“Haaaa….”

I lowered Durandal’s blade and released the breath I’d been holding. Remnants of dark mana had scraped against my armor between slashes, but my body was completely uninjured.

Even my depleted stamina was rapidly recovering thanks to the vitality transmitted through the sword hilt. Since I hadn’t written a heroic tale, the consumption of my Karma wasn’t significant either.

Thus, the monster’s first strike ended in failure.

…! Though I had only blocked a single attack.

【 Guuuuu….҈ 】

Perhaps displeased that its attack had been blocked, the evil god’s arm let out a low moan. I took a deep breath to fill my lungs, then kicked off the ground and charged toward it again.

“Everyone! Status report!”

I shouted loudly to confirm the safety of my companions. Of the five beams, only one had been fired at each of them.

I didn’t want to think they had fallen to just one beam.

“Everyone here is safe!”

“I blocked it!”

Nigel and Ceylon responded, confirming their survival.

It seemed Lacy, Nigel, and Leonore had somehow dodged, while Ceylon had blocked the attack with his own power. Probably thanks to Astraea’s holy light, which grew stronger against sinful beings.

I breathed a sigh of relief and put more strength into my running steps.

The beam just now was probably just a probing attack. If we kept dealing with attacks that could be fired repeatedly from a distance where counterattacks were impossible, we would collapse from exhaustion before even reaching the monster.

Even if I could endure thanks to Durandal, my other companions had clear limits to their stamina and holy light.

So we needed to close the distance as quickly as possible.

So our blades could reach that horrific monstrosity.