Chapter 423: Use the Strongest Force (3)
Rumble…
Equidema lowered its body, observing its foes, prepared to trample and kill the moment a target was chosen.
Everyone waited tensely for Ghislain’s next words. A heavy sense of dread filled the air, and Piote, his voice trembling, shouted out.
“I-I’ll heal you!”
Ghislain shook his head.
“No, you don’t need to heal me. Don’t waste your strength.”
“What? Why not?”
As the bewildered Piote stammered, Alfoi approached him.
“You hate me, don’t you?”
“N-No.”
Piote shook his head. How could a priest, a servant of the gods, admit to hating another person?
Though Alfoi constantly tormented him, Piote prayed daily for the strength to forgive Alfoi’s tresspasses, refusing to harbor hatred.
But then, Alfoi smiled and said,
“It’s okay. You can hate me.”
“What are you talking about…?”
“If not me, who else would go to hell?”
“What?”
Grab!
Before Piote could process those words, Alfoi grabbed him by the collar.
And before Piote could react, he hurled him straight at Equidema.
“Kyaaah!”
Thud.
Piote screamed as he crashed right in front of Equidema’s feet. The sudden event even startled Equidema, causing the beast to recoil slightly.
“W-What? Why? Why me…!?”
Piote fell into a state of panic, overwhelmed with fear. Equidema’s terrifying eyes loomed just inches from his face.
Grrrr…
Two eyes filled with hatred bore into him. Piote had never before faced such raw malice and dread up close.
Shutting his eyes tightly, Piote felt tears well up.
‘He threw me as bait! Why does Alfoi keep picking on me? Why isn’t anyone stopping him?!’
He felt humiliated and bitter. As a priest, Piote believed it was his duty to avoid blaming others. But when it came to Alfoi, he found it impossible not to. The man drove him to the brink of madness.
Hatred for Alfoi, mistrust of people, desperation for life, and sheer terror of death these overwhelming emotions consumed him.
But now wasn’t the time for blame.
“GRAAAAH!”
Equidema roared, raising its massive front paw high. Belinda screamed in alarm.
“Young Master!”
The others flinched, ready to rush in and save Piote, but Ghislain stopped them.
“It’s fine! Just wait and watch!”
Even without direct channelling from the goddess, Ghislain had his reasons to believe.
Everyone held their breath, staring intently at Piote and Equidema.
No one came to his rescue. Left with no choice, paralyzed by terror, Piote squeezed his eyes shut and cried out desperately,
“G-Goddess!”
Rumble!
Suddenly, dark clouds gathered overhead. At the same time, Piote’s hair turned a silvery hue, and a tremendous wave of divine energy surged from his body.
Simultaneously, Equidema’s enormous front paw slammed down on Piote.
BOOOOM!
A deafening crash echoed through the battlefield. Equidema was a colossal beast with superhuman strength. Most people struck by such a blow would be utterly obliterated.
But what followed was shocking.
“GRRRAAAAH!”
Equidema recoiled, howling in pain.
Sssssss…
Its massive paw, having made contact with Piote, began to burn, blackened by the holy power.
Unlike the usual Riftspawn, who suffered greatly from divine energy, Equidema was so powerful it could normally shrug off moderate levels of it.
However, the sheer divine energy radiating from Piote’s body was too overwhelming, even for an Equidema.
“Huh?”
Piote blinked in confusion. His body was completely unharmed, which made no sense. Even if his divine energy had harmed Equidema, the monster’s blow should have crushed him.
After all, the divine connection had not yet been fully established.
Rumble…
The storm clouds overhead began to dissipate. Piote’s faith had wavered, causing the divine manifestation to falter.
Seeing this, Ghislain chuckled softly.
“Ah, not quite enough yet.”
Had Piote’s channelling succeeded, even just for a brief moment, the Equidema’s movements could have been completely halted.
Ghislain had hoped to use that moment to turn the monster into minced meat, but it seemed Piote’s faith wasn’t quite strong enough yet.
“Y-Young Master? What just happened?” Belinda stammered.
Equidema’s attack had been terrifying. The shockwave alone had been enough to shatter several nearby Riftspawn.
Yet, for Piote, despite not being fully connected to the goddess, had withstood it. His divine power was growing rapidly, but it still shouldn’t have been enough to survive such an attack unscathed.
Ghislain responded casually.
“He has a holy relic.”
“A holy relic?”
“Yeah, a real one.”
Piote was wearing a ring called Juana’s Blessing. It was an artifact Ghislain had once received from Porisco and handed to Piote.
A true relic, it provided an absolute protective barrier as long as there was divine energy, requiring no conscious effort from the wearer.
Though Equidema’s overwhelming strength rapidly consumed Piote’s divine energy, the barrier it provided was so powerful that it could barely be compared to the energy consumed.
“Kaaargh!”
Equidema let out a furious roar and struck Piote once more.
BOOM!
Piote curled into a ball, clutching his head in confusion. Yet, he remained unharmed.
Seeing this, Ghislain smirked.
“Let’s go. We need to attack while it’s distracted by the bait. Priests, keep channeling divine energy into Piote.”
They had to take down Equidema before Piote’s divine energy was fully depleted.
Swish!
Ghislain charged forward with his greatsword. As the Equidema prepared to strike Piote again, Ghislain’s sudden assault caught it off guard, and his blade slammed into the monster’s head.
CRASH!
“Graaaagh!”
The Equidema howled in pain, twisting its head in rage, but Ghislain had already retreated. Seizing the opening, Tennant slashed at the beast’s leg.
Slash!
Blue smoke and blood erupted from the wound, obscuring visibility.
Whoosh!
Equidema lunged through the smoke at Tennant. However, before it could attack, dozens of daggers, thrown by Belinda, flew straight for its eyes.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The monster flinched, shutting its eyes as it shook its head violently. At that moment, Tennant withdrew while Gillian and Kaor slashed deep into its flanks.
“Graaah!”
The Equidema’s roar echoed louder than before. It was growing furious as these pest-like attackers continued their hit-and-run tactics.
Yet,despite all the strikes, the only target clearly visible to the beast was Piote, who remained crouched, radiating divine energy that was inherently toxic to Riftspawn like Equidema.
Hatred overwhelmed Equidema, so intense that all other threats faded from its mind.
It struck Piote again, its hatred manifesting in raw violence.
BOOM!
“Urgh…”
Piote trembled, eyes shut tightly. He couldn’t understand why he felt no pain. The sound was deafening, but the impact was barely more than a breeze brushing against him.
When someone is hit hard, they should be knocked back. Yet, despite the massive blows, his body didn’t budge an inch.
He didn’t know why, but at this moment, he felt nearly invincible.
And then Piote realized what he needed to do.
‘Even if I die, I have to stay here.’
While he was being struck, the others were fighting. If he moved or fled, they would be in danger. So he had to endure, no matter the cost.
Astonishingly, even in this moment of terror, Piote was willing to sacrifice himself. Fundamentally, he was a completely different kind of person from Alfoi.
BOOM!
‘M-My divine energy…’
With each blow, he felt massive chunks of his divine energy being drained. Though the other priests were desperately channeling divine power into him, it was barely making a difference.
His divine energy had long surpassed what an ordinary priest could generate.
“Graaaagh!”
Equidema, now bloodied and furious, roared endlessly.
The small human before it refused to die, no matter how hard it struck. He didn’t even flinch. He simply remained there, rooted like an immovable tree.
It wasn’t that the physical force wasn’t enough it was. But the divine barrier negated all the impact. Yet, the Equidema couldn’t understand such things.
And while it was blinded by rage, the “pests” continued slicing wounds into its body.
Grrrr…
Bloodied and exhausted, the beast finally realized it was being hunted.
The bait radiating such hateful energy had become an obsession. It couldn’t help but attack Piote, as if it were the very purpose of its existence.
If it wanted to survive, it had to remove that bait from its sight.
“Kraaaagh!”
The Equidema opened its massive jaws wide. Though some primal instinct told it not to consume this being, it also knew that if it didn’t, it would be the one to perish.
Just as Piote was about to be devoured, the others didn’t rush to help. Instead, they retreated even further, as if avoiding something.
And then, as the Equidema lunged with its jaws open
Flash!
A crimson flare burst forth, a massive pillar of searing flame shooting from behind the group.
Vanessa, who had been quietly gathering her mana, had finally unleashed her spell.
BOOOOM!
“Graaaaagh!”
Vanessa’s beam of flame struck directly inside the Equidema’s open mouth. The beast, which had been lunging at Piote, recoiled as if in shock.
But the spell didn’t end there.
Zing! Zing! Zing!
Dozens of magic circles spread across the sky.
Since there were many allies present, wide-area spells couldn’t be used. Therefore, Vanessa concentrated her mana into each spell individually.
Soon, powerful light burst from the magic circles, pounding Equidema’s entire body.
Among them, Alfoi’s spells were subtly mixed in.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Vanessa spared no effort. She wanted to end this fight herself if possible.
Spells infused with the full power of a 7th-circle mage relentlessly bombarded Equidema’s body.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kang!
“Graaaagh!”
Blue smoke billowed from Equidema’s mouth and wounds, filling the air. The previously inflicted injuries were further torn open and bursted under the magical onslaught.
Alfoi’s spells also helped widen the wounds, but their impact was minimal.
The beast’s near-superhuman defense was astonishing. Equidema endured all the spells directly with its body.
Everyone except Ghislain stared at Equidema in disbelief.
“Insane… We hit it with so many spells right on its wounds, and it’s still standing?”
“Seriously, how is it not dead yet?”
“The only choice is to keep hitting it until it dies…”
More than strength or speed, Equidema’s true weapons were its tough hide and immense endurance. That’s why Ghislain had targeted its mind through its eyes earlier.
Vanessa, too, stared at Equidema with weary eyes. She had nearly depleted her mana, having unleashed all her power at once.
Yet, it was still alive after taking all of that. No wonder it was called a beast of the apocalypse.
However, despite surviving, the Equidema wasn’t unscathed.
Drip. Drip. Drip…
From its gaping maw, once filled with blue smoke, torrents of blue blood began to pour out.
The flame beam aimed precisely when its mouth was open had inflicted a severe wound inside its throat.
“Grrr…”
A pool of blood spread beneath the growling Equidema’s head. It was clearly in pain and severely injured.
Ghislain extended his greatsword forward and spoke.
“It looks exhausted. Time to finish this.”
Gwoooooh…
Ghislain’s greatsword was enveloped in a crimson aura as his entire body was cloaked in a blood-red mist.
Everyone else also poured their remaining strength into their weapons, channeling mana into their blades.
“Grrr…”
The Equidema still stood firmly on all fours, its eyes burning brighter with hatred and bloodlust.
A beast had a purpose. That purpose is its reason for existing, its entire value. If it cannot fulfill that purpose, it has no reason to live. So, it must fight until it dies.
“Kaaaaah!”
With a deafening roar, the Equidema charged at the nearest person the one radiating the most killing intent.
‘Again?!’
Piote braced himself, curling up defensively. But the attack never came.
BOOM!
Ghislain’s massive aura blade slammed into Equidema’s wounded side.
“Kraaagh!”
Equidema staggered sideways from the blow. In that brief moment, Tennant’s aura blade relentlessly targeted its wounded ankle.
Boom!
Gillian and Kaor unleashed massive mana blades that were nearly indistinguishable from aura blades in sheer intensity.
Having consumed Dragon Heart shards and trained under a top-tier mana concentration array, the two now possessed mana in overwhelming quantities.
Though they hadn’t broken through the path of enlightenment, they were on the brink of pushing through.
The two relentlessly slashed at the Equidema’s staggered body alongside Ghislain and Tennant’s attacks.
“Graaagh!”
Equidema couldn’t regain its balance. Whenever it tried to attack, someone struck from the side. If it switched targets, they would already be retreating.
The beast’s wounds were worsening, and its strength was failing. No matter how powerful it was, its mind couldn’t keep up with the relentless onslaught.
“Step aside!”
Belinda’s voice rang out as dozens of daggers shot from her robe.
She, too, had absorbed a shard of the Dragon Heart and trained using a personalized mana concentration array, making her far stronger than before.
The dozens of daggers connected to the inside of Belinda’s robe embedded themselves deep into the Equidema’s open wounds.
“Kaaaah!”
The Equidema howled in agony as the daggers seemed to anchor it in place, almost as if they were binding the beast.
Crack!
Before the Equidema could shake them loose, Belinda severed the strings connecting her to the daggers.
The blades remained deeply lodged in the beast’s wounds.
“Grrk…”
Equidema, riddled with too many injuries, began to stumble.
It realized that it couldn’t defeat these hunters alone. It was struggling just to land a single attack.
The beast slowly retreated.
Ghislain stepped forward and spoke.
“Just a bit more. Keep pressing it. A few more hits should do it.”
In his past life, this was how many monsters were slain.
While a few elite fighters engaged the stronger beasts, the rest dealt with the weaker Riftspawn to minimize overall casualties.
“Grrr…”
Cornered, Equidema retreated further. Riftspawn were still emerging from the rift, but they were of no help the Fenris Knights were swiftly cutting them down.
“Grr…”
At last, Equidema fully understood.
It was going to die here. It would fail its purpose.
Standing near the rift, Equidema raised its head to the sky and let out a great, sorrowful roar.
“Kraaaaaah!”
It was a cry filled with hatred and desperation perhaps even a plea for help.
Ghislain and the others closed in, ready to strike. Just a few more attacks, and they could finish it off.
But then something unimaginable happened.
Rumble…
From the rift, now wide enough for several Equidemas to pass through, a massive white hand emerged.
The hand pressed down on Equidema like one would crush an insect.
BOOM!