LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 123
Chapter 123. The Wildlands (5)
‘Dammit…’
My body was battered, more missing parts than whole. The only parts that were intact were my head and left arm.
‘The cross spear is mostly useless now.’
The excessive damage involved the cross spear, rendering it ineffective. Luckily, the left arm and neck bone were still connected, so I guess that was a relief.
Gluttony had taken a significant hit too, but it was quickly recovering thanks to the nutrients it had absorbed earlier.
After restoring my burst eye, I glanced around the area.
‘What happened to the others?’
Arian, wiping blood from her lips, had her armor broken here and there.
Eldritch seemed relatively unscathed but appeared fatigued from protecting the rest of our group.
“It’s not over yet!”
Arian, tossing her broken armor pieces like shot puts, confronted a man who managed to get up after being struck down earlier.
“Still alive, are you…”
The man, catching his breath, leaped toward me again.
“〈Falling Dragon Strike〉.”
A massive greatsword descended vertically, resembling an attacking wyvern.
“〈Lion’s Heavenly Strike〉!”
Arian’s strike, as if to cleave the sky, clashed with the greatsword.
Boom!
With an explosive sound, they both recoiled from the impact.
“… As expected of Arian Elata. You may not know it, but I do hold a grudge against you.”
“If you insist on talking about grudges, shouldn’t you at least reveal who you really are?”
While Arian stalled him, I quickly restored my body. As I was connected with Gluttony, I could draw on the stored nutrients.
It wasn’t a method I was fond of, but the urgency of the situation left me no choice.
“I fail to understand. To get angry for not being recognized without revealing yourself, just who are you really?”
“… I can’t say.”
Swish!
Before he could finish his sentence, he charged at me again, with hidden weapons flying toward Arian as well.
“Did I really forget something? I was worried about that…”
They were all caught by Gluttony’s tendrils.
“Now I’m too annoyed to ignore it any longer.”
I hurled back the captured weapons, which made the man retreat as I conjured an incantation.
“〈Severing Slash〉.”
A sinister blade of energy shot forth. Though he blocked it with a glowing blue sword, my attack wasn’t over.
“〈Black Flame’s Annihilation〉.”
Boom!
A radiant burst of black flames followed.
“Divine wrath is not only descending thunder; your flame is a downpouring calamity and reverence. 〈Falling Flame of the Red Sky〉.”
With a cascade of relentless fire, items with enchantments meant to withstand damage began to drop from his body one by one.
As I aimed to continue the assault, a masked woman with a slingshot near the temple roof shot a silver orb my way.
“Annoying as one could be…”
Gluttony blocked it, but a massive chill came forth. I barely escaped freezing using Flame Transformation.
“Eldritch! Make sure that woman can’t interfere!”
“Understood! 〈Blue Lance〉!”
While Eldritch kept the woman occupied, Arian charged at the man again.
Boom!
The shockwave from the clash was astounding, too fierce to believe it was merely swords colliding.
‘Annoyingly persistent. It’s troublesome if this drags on.’
Though we could win this fight eventually, prolonging it in the heart of the enemy’s territory bore no advantage.
“They’re like slippery eels! 〈Raining Destruction〉!”
Eldritch was struggling as well. Water bombs impacted where the masked woman stood, but she dodged skillfully, persistently sending hidden weapons my way.
“〈Wall of Wave〉!”
While Eldritch was skillfully blocking, I cast illusions on the pair wearing rabbit masks.
“May the illusion envelop the world and lull the universe into dreams. 〈Illusory Arrival〉.”
Frozen in place, they lowered their weapons, seemingly entranced. The man murmured something, looking bewildered in my direction.
“Once more… again…”
Swoosh!
Arian didn’t miss the opening and slashed at his neck. However, as he regained his senses at the last moment, he narrowly avoided a fatal blow.
“… Arian Elata!”
The man, gripping his neck, had a voice filled with fiery anger. Yet, in his condition, resisting a combined assault from Arian and me seemed unlikely.
“Why aim for my neck again?!”
Disregarding his puzzling remarks, I spread my tendrils to finish him. Eldritch also unleashed a blue spear at the masked woman still entranced when—
Snap!
A snap of fingers echoed, bringing all activity to a halt.
“Alright, enough of this.”
Without any warning, a new figure appeared between us. He wore a similar rabbit mask, his voice distorted.
‘Who is this, and how did he appear out of nowhere?’
With this unknown enemy now in the fray, Arian opted to maintain vigilance instead of acting rashly.
“Magic…? How possible…?”
Eldritch was as bewildered as I was. The magic, aimed at the woman, vanished as if evaporated.
‘Did he use some illusion to mislead attention? But I am quite resistant to those…’
His presence was utterly enigmatic. Strangely enough, he didn’t exude an overwhelming aura of threat.
“Move aside! I can still fight!”
The man with the greatsword prepared to charge again, but the masked newcomer didn’t budge.
“Don’t meddle! He must be killed! You were the one who said so!”
“Well, true, but it’s not our moment yet.”
It seemed a dispute had arisen amongst their group. I discreetly conjured another spell, but the newcomer noticed immediately.
“This is troublesome.”
Snap!
Before we knew it, the others vanished from our sight, and I couldn’t even process their disappearance.
“There they are!”
Eldritch spotted them on the temple roof where the masked woman was. The newcomer locked eyes with me—eyes that seemed oddly familiar, as if I’d seen them before.
“Truly unfortunate.”
Snap!
Leaving those words, the newcomer snapped his fingers again, disappearing with his comrades.
‘An enigmatic group of masked individuals… Surely there are more beyond these three.’
Letting the heat cool in my head, I analyzed what had just transpired. This seemingly teleportation-like ability resembled 〈Teleport〉, but executing it so often would mean being a mage on the level of Cernun.
‘No, using 〈Teleport〉 as effortlessly as breathing is beyond Cernun’s capability too.’
Had it been a mage of such caliber, I would have known of their existence, yet I could think of no one.
“Was that even magic? It didn’t feel right for 〈Teleport〉…”
“Ethnos! We must get to emergency treatment first!”
Alongside Arian, I inspected Delion, whose situation looked dire.
“In this condition, even the miracle of healing might be insufficient…”
Blood-tinged fluid was leaking excessively, causing his body to deflate, resembling a burst fruit. Seeing him, it seemed clear that even a miracle might not suffice to restore him.
“Here, here… like this…”
Delion’s voice was a low murmur, full of strong determination. It seemed that resolve was the only thing keeping him alive.
“Please, do something! Are you just going to let him die like this?!”
Ansandy was trying desperately to save Delion, her usual calm demeanor gone. Judging by the bottles rolling around on the floor, even potions were proving useless.
“… Let me try.”
My hand, morphed into fine tendrils, delved into Delion’s body.
“Wh-what are you doing now?”
Most were taken aback by the grotesque sight, but Eldritch signaled them to remain quiet by placing a finger over his lips.
‘Absorbing the fluid, reconstructing, refilling the body…’
While each step was incredibly intricate, it seemed to be working as Delion’s color began to return.
“Arian. Now perform the miracle.”
“Understood! 〈Healing Light of Sanctity〉!”
With a partially restored body, Arian’s miracle accelerated the healing.
This method, which had successfully healed Lyla, was significantly more challenging this time.
Recreating torn blood vessels and destroyed tissues with the absorbed nutrients from Gluttony was arduous.
Fortunately, the knowledge gained from past analyses greatly aided the process.
“Delion? Are you conscious?”
Ansandy asked, observing intently, but Delion was too exhausted to respond comprehensively.
“Perhaps the mental trauma is substantial. Let’s administer a sedative and continue monitoring.”
After healing Ansandy and Ender, it was apparent they were quite drained. The mental toll had been significant for them as well.
“We need to regroup quickly.”
Eldritch expressed concern.
Given that we caused such a commotion, it was plausible that an investigation by the Black Willow Cult could occur at any moment.
‘I used quite a lot of mana too. We should avoid further consecutive combats.’
Though I still had some miracles at my disposal, the situation was not favorable.
“I shall perform the miracle we used to enter here. Please, everyone, put on the rings. As for Delion…”
“I’ll carry him.”
Ansandy volunteered, lifting Delion onto her back.
“Master of all dreams, envelop us in an illusion no one perceives. 〈Mirage Embrace〉.”
With the effect of the miracle, we became imperceptible once more.
『Let’s move to a safer place now.』
『Wait! Look above!』
Following Arian’s remark, I looked up the pit to see something prowling.
‘… They’ve finally come.’
About five Prenatal Offspring of Darkness were there, noticeably twice the size of the previous ones encountered.
Beside them were human-like beings, massive as bears, their muscles grotesquely swollen, wielding oversized weapons.
‘The weapons are as big as a person.’
These were likely humans subjected to transformation. Whatever else, they were undeniably formidable.
『Those are what the priest from the Black Willow Cult warned about.』
『There’s a significant aura of an Outer God within those creatures. Although transformed, they remain within the human category.』
Is transforming humans in such a manner one of Beatrice’s primary miracles?
『The priest earlier was powerful, and these ones aren’t any less dangerous.』
We deemed it best to face them in a fully prepared state. Fortunately, they left without noticing us, seemingly under the impression that we had fled.
『Hold on! There’s something strange!』
『Now what is it?』
Arian halted us once more.
『The temple! Look at the temple!』
The temple, formerly enveloped in the Sun God Ra’s seal…
『… What’s going on?』
The seal had vanished.