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Turning Chapter 958
🕑 Added 2024-03-04 05:08:32 +0000 UTCChapter 958
Facing a significantly increased number of monsters, which have even grown larger in size, while the number of personnel to respond has decreased, would under normal circumstances be extremely dangerous.
Yet, what about now?
"Those who have retreated, come this way."
Falling back, back, behind the breakwater, the diminished ranks turned their heads, following a command that resonated clearly and stuck in their ears without needing to be loudly shouted. Only Nathan Zuckerman, standing at the entrance of the densely grown forest over the past few days, spoke with an expressionless face, holding his sword.
"Enter the forest and climb up the trees!"
As the humans retreated not toward the town but toward the forest on the other side of the town, the monsters naturally pursued them. However, what the monsters encountered there were traps they could never have anticipated.
"They're here. Drop them!"
The retreating members and the imperial army soldiers quickly climbed the trees and hid themselves, while the soldiers who had been waiting above threw the nets they were holding.
"Throw further, with all your might! With that kind of strength, what could you catch, fish?!"
At the seashore, where anyone could easily find old nets, traps were made by attaching heavy stones to the ends of these nets, engulfing and entangling the monsters, effectively immobilizing them all at once.
The soldiers waiting in the trees were from the Charloin Security Force, none of them possessing any special powers, just ordinary individuals. Their strength was incomparably inferior to that of the well-trained southern army.
But they were locals who had lived their entire lives on the Charloin coast. Handling tools made of nets was something they could do more easily than those from other regions.
"Kill the monsters trapped in the nets!"
While the smaller monsters struggled in the nets, those who had climbed up the trees exerted their strength to kill them. Those who could throw weapons did so, and even those who couldn't, used their strength in whatever way they could to help.
Of course, the most helpful was one person, Marin, who seemed to have the entire domain of the trees at her disposal.
"If you feel like you're going to fall, just don't move! I can quickly grow the branches!"
Standing at the top of the tallest tree, she sweated profusely, protecting the tree branches where the members were hanging and growing them, preventing the monsters' approach. There were still quite a few monsters not entangled in the nets, but in the forest full of trees and not water, they were merely floundering, unable to demonstrate their previously formidable stealth abilities.
Had the exhausted personnel remained, they would have hindered each other, making it impossible to execute the command to retreat and climb the trees so quickly and easily. The reduced number of personnel turned out to be an advantage in this situation, as there is nothing more advantageous for a small group than fighting in a forest full of trees.
However, there was still the largest enemy remaining on the seashore.
The tentacle, which looked like a long, combined mass of the monsters they had faced so far, was still alive despite the members' fervent attacks, as if it was made of dough.
To be precise, the entire colony that made up the creature hadn't died, so it was still alive and moving. Parts of it were burnt black or battered to tatters, but it still writhed and bubbled with grotesque movements, stirring a primal disgust in humans.
Most of the personnel had disappeared into the tents housing the priests or the forest, leaving Kishiar to look up at the situation with an air of calmness, free from any tension. He had been the one who, while others fought and retreated, had held back the colossal monster, ensuring it could not move from its spot.
Kishiar, avoiding the monster's attacks accompanied by indescribable horrific sounds, leaped up, evading smoothly while casting glances around. Hellem hid herself in a safe zone behind a pile of monster corpses, while Kanna and Gakane, after admirably fulfilling their roles, waited for the right moment to retreat to another location.
In the tent set up on the hill, occupied by priests, the wounded and exhausted lay receiving treatment. With a reduced number of personnel retreating into the forest, the battle continued, but Nathan Zuckerman stood firmly holding the ground.
At a glance, the scene appeared to have suffered incomparable damage compared to before. However, there is a limit to retreating in a crisis. The fact that there were almost no seriously injured was, in truth, the best and most optimal outcome.
Though the situation in other regions was still unknown, he wasn't too worried, seeing how the members, now significantly grown, could find their roles without needing to be commanded.
'Having a reliable hand to play is most effective in moments like these.'
Until just before, he had prioritized ensuring that others were not harmed, focusing on delaying rather than killing. But now, there was no need for that.
And what that meant was...
"Now, I can focus on making my move without worrying about my surroundings."
Kiiiiiiii!
The man, avoiding the monster that targeted him and spat an unknown liquid, lightly spun in the air and landed gracefully. His landing spot was none other than on top of the monster.
"The one who sent you here must have believed I would handle you well, and I dislike failing to meet expectations. There's also something I've been wanting to test out."
"-----!"
The monster, belatedly noticing the enemy's movements, started thrashing about violently in an attempt to throw Kishiar off. Yet, even as the breakwater and ground cracked from the impact, the man remained unshaken as if his feet were glued.
Even his torn clothing and disheveled hair seemed, in his calmness, like deliberately styled elements.
Thump, Bang! Bang!
He elegantly stepped across the monster's body, which glowed and contorted in anger, like one would ascend the grand staircase of a palace, slowly tightening his grip on his sword. A bright blue aura rippled around the blade, while an invisible mist wrapped around his other hand.
He was now wielding both the power of aura and that of an Awakener. Yuder, had he seen this, would have doubted his eyes.
'The most significant characteristic of this monster is that it's made of small pieces combined to form one large group.'
As a result, it was extremely difficult to kill it in one go. As long as even one piece of its body remained alive, it could continue to move as if it was not completely dead. When it was smaller, it wasn't too difficult to handle, but now that it had formed into a large mass, this trait had unfortunately become more pronounced. Even if several members attacked it together, only a part of it would be destroyed, moving as if it hadn't been damaged at all, drastically reducing the efficiency of the battle.
With small monsters also not remaining idle while the members were fighting the large one, this was the worst possible situation for the exhausted members.
‘But, on the contrary, if you think about it... its weakness cannot escape from there either.’
Kishiar stood at the very center of the glowing monster, raising his sword upside down. This spot was also the area where traces of a wound were already present from the time it first emerged out of the water and revealed itself.
Although the attack had been weak, only slightly opening a part of its outer skin, the wound was oddly large and wide for such an assault.
Even someone as powerful as Yuder, who inevitably weakened in front of the monster, couldn't have made such a peculiar mark, the man thought.
"My assistant is quite considerate. It's as if he left it here, telling me where to attack."
Of course, it was an absurd notion, but there was no one there to hear and react to these words.
Kishiar, standing on the monster’s skin, did not hesitate to thrust his divine sword, Orr, into the small, horrifying creatures that opened their mouths wide to attack him.
Kiiiaaaa!
Perhaps because it was a collective scream, the monster's cry sounded like hundreds, thousands screaming simultaneously.
The deeply stabbed monster glowed even more intensely, shaking Kishiar's body, but he paid it no mind and exerted strength in his hand holding the sword. The hand imbued with his Awakener power then touched the opened skin. An invisible force, together with the aura, began to penetrate relentlessly into the monster's skin, aiming for its interior.
What would happen if he made the deepest cut possible with the aura that claimed to slice through anything, and then mixed it with his Awakener ability to 'push out' everything?
In truth, he had already tested a similar method of attack against smaller monsters. The act of 'pushing out' the individual pieces that made up the collective seemed feasible, but the tough skin enveloping it needed to be sufficiently cut for less effort. However, this was an inefficient method when dealing with hundreds, thousands of small monsters.
But against this colossal monster, there was no need to worry about that.
If successful, it would be possible to cut off the entire connection of the collective making up this massive monster in one fell swoop.
'I still can't predict the aftermath.'
Yet, Kishiar willingly attempted it.
That was a method that would have been committed by someone who took the risk of cutting it up and sending it to him.
A bright blue light swelled instantaneously along the blade. As the light expanded within the sword piercing the transparent insides of the monster, the surroundings, for a moment, appeared to be bathed in a bright blue hue.
The light, refracted and spread through the monster's skin, was so brilliant that it could be seen from the tents of the priests in the distance, the forest, and even further out at sea.
And finally, when the light swelled to its limit -
With an immense sound, everything burst forth.
Comments
Lele_Dod
I can't wait to see these battle scenes visually! 😍 Including Yuder in the West and Yuder against Aton (rip candies)
RoolaRoo
This power couple means the world to me now. This author is amazing.
