
Everyone heard the loud explosion caused by the Dragon's Breath. Veylir, who was sensitive to the Draconic Aura, instantly recognized the attack.
She used the Dragon Breath which consumes a huge amount of aura? How bold!
Dragon's Breath is an ability made from the pure and condensed draconic aura. Unlike normal abilities that use aeon, Dragon's Breath uses the aura special only to the dragons. It automatically converts the aeon in their body into aeon, converging the processed aura in their mouth, and emits a beam of energy to the target.
"Was that Miss Reika's doing?" Alguis asked Veylir.
"Yeah. Pretty rowdy, I must say..."
Alguis saw two monsters heading towards them. With a single swing of his hammeraxe, the monsters were flown in the opposite direction and died.
"Since she's doing her best with Miss Shiori, we must do our part here as well!" Alguis exclaimed.
Meanwhile, Shiori managed to stand up in time before the Lycann could pounce her. She jumped backwards in order to distance herself from Lycann.
Thank goodness the shockwave isn't near, or else I will suffer minor concussions from the blast...
Shiori looked up the sky and saw Reika charging for another blast.
That brainless human, at least aim where others won't get caught with your attacks!
Shiori charged towards the Lycann and unleashed the aura. The aura covered the blade of her sword instantly.
"I need to deal this overgrown dog fast!"
In just a span of a minute, Gargantua managed to heal its leg. However, the arm that was severed earlier wasn't completely regenerated yet. Reika, whose charging the Dragon's Breath longer than before.
If I disrupt its sense of balance by blowing both of its legs at the same time, it won't be able to move for a while!
<Dragon's Breath!>
Another beam of purple light flew beneath the monster's body and exploded right after it landed. Unlike the previous ones, the current attack packs stronger explosive force that could potentially damage two legs at once.
BOOM!!
When the smoke subsided, Reika was surprised upon seeing a hexagonal-shaped barrier. It covered through the legs of Gargantua, preventing it from receiving damage caused by the Dragon Breath's explosion.
"What the hell is that?!"
Before the explosion occurred, Gargantua deployed Aeon Barrier on its legs after predicting that its opponent would aim for its legs and disrupt its balance. Luckily for Gargantua, all of its six legs remained intact.
Just how many abilities does that monster have at its disposal?
Reika wants to assess Gargantua's statistics and decided to appraise the monster.
<Appraisal!>
Species: Crustacean
Gender: Female
Abilities: <Aeon Barrier> <Extrasensory Perception> <Low-End Regeneration> <High-End Regeneration> <Control Species> <Domain: Sudden Death>
Status: Normal
Reika probed through its abilities and saw a familiar one. She realized that the hexagonal-shaped barrier was called Aeon Barrier.
"Aeon Barrier? That's why it managed to defend from the blast earlier!"
While checking the monster through Appraisal once more, Reika noticed that some of its abilities were unfamiliar to her.
"Control Species? Domain: Sudden Death? What kind of ability are those?"
Before she could think of anything else, she was distracted when Gargantua's right pincer tried to swat her. Reika quickly retaliated and managed to fled away.
"Woah! That was close!"
Reika fired another one and aimed it at Gargantua's right arm. However, several Aeon Barriers appeared, stacking each other to intercept her attack. It managed to block the breath on time and successfully defend its arm from being severed.
"It's getting crafty now. Using this method would be pointless!"
No matter how Reika blasts the monster with Dragon's Breath, its Aeon Barriers will appear on time and block all her attempts to blow its arms and legs off. Since the Dragon Breath was supposed to be a piercing type attack, it lacks area-of-effect damage.
"I'll use abilities that have a larger area-of-effect. Maybe it will pass through those pesky Aeon Barriers."
On Shiori's side, the Lycann was not showing signs of fatigue. She looked at Reika, who was busy dealing with Gargantua alone.
"I need to end this and help her. She can't deal with Gargantua by herself now that the monster is in defensive mode!"
When Lycann tries to pounce on her again, Shiori intentionally left herself defenseless by stabbing her greatsword rigidly on the ground. This made the mutated wolf's guard down and continued without any second thoughts.
Shiori tries to read its pattern, observing Lycann's path as it dashes back and forth. Just then, Shori saw an opening and immediately opened her arms wide, slid her body on the ground, and captured Lycann by hugging its neck tightly. This made the wolf surprised.
"Gotcha!"
Lycann tries to break free by biting Shiori's shoulder. However, Shiori was unfazed and even grappled its neck even tighter.
"Ghk! You persistent wild dog...!"
Using all her strength, Shiori lifts Lycann into the air and spins its body around.
"HYAAAAAAH!"
After two turns, she immediately slammed its body on her rigid greatsword. This resulted in Lycann's body being severed in half and died right after.
"Hahh... Hahh..."
Shiori grabbed Lycann's lifeless head and threw it aside. The wounds in her shoulder were slowly regenerating thanks to her racial ability, "Regeneration." It was five times slower than the Low-End Regeneration.
Shiori stood up and grabbed her greatsword. She swung it in the air, trying to get rid of Lycann's blood on her blade.
"Now... I can assist her..."
Just when she was about to charge her way to Gargantua, she heard several tremors coming in her direction. She turned on her right and found an unusual Giant Bear charging towards her.
"Shit! A Berann?!"
Beran, a mutated Giant Bear, was heading to her at incredible speed. Although it was slightly slower compared to her, it was too late to dodge its hand that was aimed at her.
"Chieftain Shiori!"
Shiori saw an armored orc charging beside her and blocked Berann's claws using a club. It was Geruldo, the chief of Orc Tribe.
"Chief Geruldo? Why are you—"
"Ghhk!! Go on, Chieftain Shiori! I can handle this Berann alone. You should assist Miss Reika first!"
Shiori simply nods her head, expressing her gratitude for saving her life. Then she looked forward and continued to charge to Gargantua.
After Shiori left the scene, Geruldo went serious and looked directly into the enraged Berann's eyes.
It was a right decision of mine that I followed them here. If I arrived seconds late, Chieftain Shiori might suffer consequential damage...!
"I won't let you interfere with them. You have to deal with me first!"
RAAAAGGGH!
Berann tries to shove Geruldo away. However, the orc's tenacity and defense were sturdy, like an immovable boulder. Geruldo managed to stand on his feet without budging an inch.
Geruldo tries to swing his club on Berann's head, but the club broke into pieces upon it's contact.
"What...?"
Without his knowledge, his weapon was severely damaged during his fight with Adeptus. Now that Geruldo used it on Berann, who is known for its incredible defense, the weapon couldn't handle such trauma and broke beyond repair.
Berann took it as an opportunity and tackled Geruldo to the ground. The earth shook when Geruldo was slammed.
"Ghakk! Ngggh!"
Now that my club is broken, how do I face this monster alone?!
Geruldo kicked Berann out of the way and stood up. He spat his own blood and clenched his fists.
"Ptoo! I have to do the old ways..."
Geruldo extended both of his arms, stretching his muscles and bones to warm themselves up, and took a stance.
"A hand for a hand? Let's do this then!"
Geruldo charged to Berann and punched the mutated bear on its left cheek. However, Berann managed to swat Geruldo's face right after that. Both of them suffered the same amount of damage.
"Ghakk!"
"Raggghhh!"
We'll see who'll be the last monster standing... Right here, right now!
While Geruldo handled Berann alone, Shiori was busy dealing with Gargantua along with Reika. Shiori attacks the monster on the ground, while Reika harasses it from above.
"Take this! <Explosion!>" Reika exclaimed.
"Crescent Cleave: Extended!" Shiori shouted as she severed Gargantua's legs.
Their combined attacks managed to keep Gargantua at bay. Now, the monster was moving slower compared to earlier.
"This is good; keep it up!" Reika shouted.
However, Gargantua only suffered minor injuries. Shiori noticed it and wondered why the monster wouldn't fall to its knees.
During my first encounter with this monster, I managed to severe five of its legs before we left and fled the scene. How come even though I used one of my strongest sword techniques, I can't deal significant damage to it anymore...?
Shiori saw Gargantua healing itself using its Ultimate-class ability, High-End Regeneration. She realized that the monster's regeneration factor was several times faster compared to their previous encounter.
Damn it...! Don't tell me it acquired another ability after our fight?
While Shiori was busy with her thoughts, Reika landed beside her. This made the ogre snap back and face her.
"Miss Shiori, I have a plan on my mind, and I need your cooperation!"
Shiori raised one of her eyebrows.
"Hahhh? Why would I—"
"Just trust me this once, yeah? I'm confident that this plan of mine's going to work out..."
Seeing that there's no sense of hesitation in her eyes, Shiori set aside her ego and accepted her request. She sighed and waved her greatsword.
"Alright, fine."
After Shiori agreed, Reika simply nodded as a response. Then she told her the plan. While listening to her, Shiori concluded that the plan that Reika proposed could possibly work.
"I see. I suppose that would work..."
After she understood her plan clearly, both of them parted ways. Shiori, whose entrusted to distract Gargantua's attention, began to attack the monster relentlessly.
"All I need to do was divert its attention, huh? That's quite easy!"
Meanwhile, Reika went to Gargantua's blind spot and landed on the ground. She took a deep breath and touched the soil with her hands.
<Surface Liquefaction!!>
Suddenly, the entire ground began to soften, covering a vast area in just a second. The trees sanked deep to the softened ground, including Gargantua as well. Due to its weight, the monster sanked faster.
Now that Gargantua's locked in place, its advancement will be halted! We can finally pin the monster down!
"Shiori! Use everything you have and we'll eliminate Gargantua together!"
Shiori heard her and scoffed.
"Heh. You don't have to tell me that, human!"
Both of them began to attack Gargantua using their offensive abilities. Shiori harassing the monster with her immense aura attacks and Reika spamming Dragon's Breath to its vulnerable spots caused the monster to suffer significant damages. However, its High-End Regeneration fixed the lost exoskeletons in its body at a constant rate.
"Damn! How long do we keep this up?" Shiori exclaimed while parrying the monster's massive clamps.
At this rate, this would turn into a battle of attrition!
...
It's been hours since the battle between them and the monsters began. Geruldo defeated Berann two hours ago and joined with Shiori and Reika in subduing Gargantua down. On the other side, the remaining orcs, goblins, and dwarves fought alongside the humans in keeping the monsters away from reaching the settlement. Despite being injured multiple times, the dryads and Veylir healed their wounds.
"Ugh! When this will ever end? It's been hours, and yet...!"
"Miss Veylir! We need your assistance over here!" One of the dryads called her.
Veylir came and saw a severely injured orc groaning in pain. Veylir began to heal his wounds.
"Alright, I'm done."
The dryads called Veylir multiple times, healing other injured warriors left and right. Veylir, who is getting fed up with the constant healing, wishes for everything to end.
"After all of this ends, I swear I will laze around all day!"
On the other side of the settlement, the ogres were busy eliminating the monsters. Due to their experience and techniques, they kept the monsters at bay.
"There's too many of them..!" Shiki exclaimed.
"Careful, Miss Shiki! Keep your distance from them!" Satoru told her.
"Alright, alright! Geez..."
Despite being an ogre, Shiki wasn't well versed in physical combat. However, she's proficient when it comes to ability-wielding, with thermal-type abilities as her strongest suit.
<Soul Flame!>
Suddenly, blue flames ignited all the monsters in the vicinity. Using their own spiritual energy as the catalyst to Shiki's soul flame, the monsters were incinerated into ashes.
"That's Miss Shiki to you!" Other orcs cheered upon witnessing her ability.
"Hah hah! Get burned by your own spiritual energy! Serves you right for destroying our village!" Shiki exclaimed cheerfully.
While she was distracted, one Rabid Wolf managed to sneak beside her. Just when Sukuna noticed the monster, it was too late for him to save Shiki.
"Miss Shiki, to your right!"
"Hwuh?!"
Shiki looked to her right and saw the Rabid Wolf up in the air. She quickly raised her hand and tried to fend the monster off.
"E... Explo—"
Both Sukuna and Satoru ran in her direction and tried to save her. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to execute the ability on time, Shiki closed her eyes.
To her surprise, the growling sound caused by the Rabid Wolf faded in an instant. Baffled by it, Shiki opens her eyes, only to find out that the Rabid Wolf was gone.
Where did it go?
Shiki saw Sukuna and Satoru looking in the opposite direction. She followed their gaze and found out that a human was facing a Rabid Wolf alone. She was puzzled by his sudden arrival.
"How did the Rabid Wolf vanish in front of us and pop up in front of him?" Sukuna asks in wonder.
"Am I seeing things? That Rabid Wolf was the same one that tries to attack Miss Shiki just now!" Satoru exclaimed.
Shiki took a glance at the monster and confirmed their suspicion.
It is the same Rabid Wolf from earlier? How did it...!
"Young man, watch out!"
Despite Sukuna's caution, the Rabid Wolf managed to bare its fangs at the unknown person's head. But to their surprise, the Rabid Wolf's body dropped to the ground instead.
"HUHHHHH?!" Shiki instinctively exclaimed.
When the mysterious man got rid of the stucked Rabid Wolf's head, everyone saw his face, unscathed by blood or wounds. It turns out that it was Shin Soru.
"H-How did he...!"
What kind of ability did he use to kill that wolf with ease? Sukuna thought to himself.
While they were frozen in place and wondered what was going on, something unexpected happened that added to their confusion later on. It was sudden, yet the effect was truly influential.
It was already late afternoon, with the sun intended to set in the horizon ten minutes later. However, everything went dark all of a sudden, causing the night sky to be visible to the naked eye.
The phenomenon caught everyone's attention, causing them to look above in unison. Not only the changes were noticed by those in the forest, but the entirety of the continent as well. Nations that witnessed the changes in the sky trembled, fearing that an ominous omen might fall upon their land.
Reika and Shiori also noticed the drastic changes in the sky and looked around. They saw the stars in the sky, as if it were already evening. This made them extremely confused.
"What just happened...?!" Reika exclaimed while in shock.
Is this Gargantua's doing...?
While they were distracted, the weakened Gargantua tried to lift both of its pincers in the air while shaking. Although the monster was battered up by its opponent's relentless attacks earlier, Gargantua used all of its strength just to execute an offensive attack.
Suddenly, a dome appeared in the area. The diameter of it was huge, spanning from Gargantua to the edge of the settlement, just a kilometer and half away from its current location. Reika, whose hovering above and was outside the dome's radius, noticed it right away.
"What is this thing?"
She tries to approach it to check if she can enter. Upon contact, her body managed to pass through.
So it is not a barrier, huh...
Out of a sudden, Reika felt a sense of wrongness inside the transluscent dome. The air around her was getting heavy, and her gut tells her that something ominous might happen any second now.
A transluscent dome... Why this thing's familiar to me...
Just while she was wondering, a thought slipped through her mind. She quickly realized the true nature of the dome and sweat profusely.
Shit! Don't tell me?!
"Shiori!!" Reika shouted while looking for the ogre's wherabouts.
Reika found her standing inside the dome, still oblivious to the thing that was about to come.
"She won't make it in time!"
Using all her strength, she swiftly flew towards her. Shiori noticed her sudden arrival.
"What are you—"
"<Light Wind!>"
The ability quickly engulfed Shiori in seconds, making her body as light as a feather. Then, Reika quickly grabbed her and flew away.
"Hey! What's wrong with you?!" Shiori furiously asked her.
"There's not time to explain. We should get out of here, fast!"
When they managed to fly outside the dome's range, both of them looked back and saw what happened inside of it. Even though the sky was dark, they could faintly see what was going on ahead.
Every monster within the dome collapsed and shriveled up. All trees and grass withered, and even the insects weren't spared. Everything that possessed life inside there was dead without even noticing it.
"What was happening inside there...?" Geruldo murmurs while approaching Reika and Shiori.
"Damn it, why did it slip through my mind earlier? We could've died if I realized it sooner!" Reika exclaimed.
"Hey! Do you know about this, human?" Shiori asks her.
Reika looked ahead while observing the horrible effect inside the dome.
"That... is one of the strongest Ultimate-class abilities that ever existed, the "Domain"...!"