Chapter 100: Bone, Flesh, and Blood (3)
In the midst of chaos, Hus’s eyes looked at the battlefield.
He was the hero of knowledge – Hus Allemier.
What he saw before him was hell.
Monsters crawled out of the abyss and approached them, and countless people tried to stop them from all sides.
It was different from the situation when he fought against criminals in Cloud.
What he faced now was a monster beyond human standards.
He could never kill the monster in front of him with a human perspective.
“It looks like they’re closing in on us.”
And Hus had a role that suited his position here.
He was the hero chosen by the goddess of knowledge.
He was the successor of the legendary mage in the long history, and also the hero of magic who would help other heroes in the future.
His role was to assist everyone on this battlefield with magic.
As he watched the approaching Cuebaerg, Hus raised one hand up.
He aimed his hand at the huge monster of the abyss and muttered the name of the magic softly.
“——Stone Spike.”
Mana surged from Hus’s hand holding the hieroglyph.
The hieroglyph.
The ultimate grimoire that stored and reproduced all magic shone brightly.
Chwararararak——.
The pages of the hieroglyph in Hus’s hand turned quickly, and a huge vibration began to ring around Cuebaerg.
It was a earth magic that shot out spikes of rock to pierce the opponent.
Kugung. Kung. Kugugung.
Cuebaerg showed signs of caution at the sight of the ground swelling up sequentially.
-Gwooooooo!
It started to move roughly and tried to advance forward.
But Hus’s Stone Spike did not let Cuebaerg move easily.
Kwaaak! Kwak!
The spikes that sprang from the ground pierced Cuebaerg’s body and held it firmly.
Black liquid poured out from Cuebaerg’s body pierced by pillars of spikes.
Cuebaerg screamed in pain and writhed.
-Gwoooo.
“I won’t let you get out of there. Stone Spike.”
Kung. Kung. Kung. Kung.
Cuebaerg writhed to break Hus’s Stone Spike.
But no matter how much Cuebaerg moved, the spikes that pierced him did not show any signs of breaking.
It was magic cast by a mage who inherited the qualities of a great hero with all his might.
It was not easy to break the sturdy spikes with overwhelming mass.
As Hus held Cuebaerg’s movement, a large light began to gather in Cuebaerg’s eyes.
A tremendous amount of mana condensed in front of Cuebaerg’s pupil, and Oren, the leader of the subjugation team, raised his sword.
“It’s preparing magic! Stop its attack!”
He said that and took a stance and swung his sword at Cuebaerg.
Light burst out from Oren’s sword and rushed toward Cuebaerg.
Immediately after Oren’s sword and Cuebaerg’s eye far away, a new line was engraved on it.
The ability of the blue holy sword, ‘Sword of Purification’, was activated and hit the distant enemy.
Black liquid leaked from the line made by Oren’s sword.
Cuebaerg shrieked in pain as he was cut by the sword.
-Gwooooooooooo!
“······This is still not enough.”
But Oren’s blow was not enough to completely stop Cuebaerg’s attack.
Next to him, Gilford and Ban also ran towards Cuebaerg.
Tadadadadak—.
The two ran towards Cuebaerg, stepping on the rocks that Hus had created, and approached him.
Their swords were surrounded by thick aura as they approached the monster quickly.
Ban, who was worthy of his title as a special investigator, had a clear blue aura around him.
And Gilford, who received Ascalon’s help, wielded an aura that was amplified to an enormous size.
Their swords sequentially slashed at Cuebaerg’s pupil.
-Gwooo! Gwooooooo······!
“Its mana is shaking! Don’t let it use magic!”
With a cross-shaped wound, black liquid burst out from Cuebaerg’s eye.
The mana that had been condensed in front of Cuebaerg’s eye also twisted violently as it shook severely.
It could not shoot magic smoothly in that state.
In severe cases, it could release unfinished magic in strange directions.
Hus prepared another magic by lifting up the hieroglyph as he saw Cuebaerg shaking.
Using his device, Hus loaded magic right after that, and Zion’s voice echoed behind him.
“Hus! I’m ready now!”
Hearing his voice, Hus looked back at him.
There he saw Zion holding his bow.
Zion was an archer who used a bow, so he was placed in the back with Hus.
He was the hero of hunting, who had a wind-imbued arrow on his bowstring.
Hus looked at Zion’s bow and nodded quietly at him.
It was the situation that Zion had asked him before the subjugation of Cuebaerg began.
Hus used magic with his free hand in front of Zion.
“——Fire Wall.”
“Good, good. I’m shooting now, so get out of the way!”
Zion’s voice rang out as soon as he said that, Oren swung his sword and prepared to give orders to those around him.
Oren’s voice, who took a deep breath, echoed around.
He ordered the troops near Cuebaerg to back off.
“Everyone! Get away from the enemy!”
“It’s the hero’s attack! Get some distance from the enemy!”
The other knights relayed Oren’s order, and those who were close to Cuebaerg quickly backed away.
The situation was cleared in an instant, and Zion’s bow aimed at Cuebaerg’s pupil without any obstacles.
Zion’s arrow, which was surrounded by a fierce wind, was a fatal attack that no one could avoid.
Cuebaerg, who had a bulky body, was no exception.
Zion released the arrow from his hand.
At the same time, the flames of ‘Fire Wall’ spread to the wind and flew quickly toward Cuebaerg.
“Monster, eat this!”
Kwagwagwagwagwang——!
The wind with flames rushed toward Cuebaerg.
Cuebaerg’s pupil shrank in an instant as he saw the arrow flying toward him.
Cuebaerg writhed violently to avoid the flying arrow.
Thud. Thud.
In his frantic writhing, which completely ignored his own safety, cracks began to form on the spikes that bound him.
But the arrow shot by the hero of hunting never missed its target.
-Gwooo··· Waaack!
A direct hit.
A storm of heat burst out from the cross-section of the arrow that collided with Cuebaerg.
The burning flames engulfed Cuebaerg’s entire body, and the sharp wind tore his skin.
Kwaaaang!
A violent scream erupted from Cuebaerg’s mouth as he was hit by the fire and wind.
Black liquid gushed out from the wound that the arrow had passed through.
Zion smiled and shouted at Hus as he saw Cuebaerg in pain.
“It looks like he took a big hit, huh?”
“It looks like a fatal wound. Is this the end?”
“Hus. You don’t seem to know, but you shouldn’t say that unless you’re sure······.”
Hus, who had uttered a careless answer at the sight of Cuebaerg, whose half of his body was crumbling.
Zion looked like he was dissatisfied with Hus’s words and tried to say something to him.
As they were talking while watching Cuebaerg collapse.
Cuebaerg’s skin tore and a strange voice came out from behind it.
The skin that was not pierced by any ordinary weapon cracked, and an alien sound came out from beyond it.
Cuebaerg’s voice was so bizarre that it made the listener’s spine chill.
Everyone who watched the progress of the battle looked at the direction where the sound came from.
-Grrr··· Gwak··· Gurururuk······!
-Eeeek··· Kruruk······!
-Gwooooooooooo······!
Beyond the jet-black skin that covered Cuebaerg.
All kinds of monstrous shapes began to pour out from there.
Hus could understand why Cuebaerg looked like that as he watched their appearance.
Cuebaerg was a monster worthy of the name of lord, as he claimed himself.
He was like a territory that carried his subordinates in his body.
Zion chuckled and opened his mouth as he saw Cuebaerg spewing out countless monsters.
“I think I get it now. Maybe he was the lord of the abyss because he looked like this?”
“Damn monster, he had other monsters inside him.”
Hus and Zion raised their weapons again at the same time.
The battle with the monster that ravaged the empire was not over yet.
The battle with the many minions that Cuebaerg had.
The real battle had just begun.
***
“I’m going crazy.”
I scratched my head with both hands and looked at the screen beyond my smartphone.
It was bad enough that I had wasted 2 million won on gacha, but now my creature that I had made last time was also damaged.
It was my precious creature that I had created using my <Creature Maker> skill.
It was a desperate situation indeed.
I sighed deeply as I watched Cuebaerg being attacked.
“Ha······.”
Even though he looked like someone I didn’t want to see often, he was my child that I had created with my skill.
He was being attacked by boss characters that I didn’t know where they came from.
And they were pouring all kinds of vicious attacks on Cuebaerg in a swarm.
There is no parent who would be happy to see their child being hit.
Even if that child was born by my touch alone.
I looked closely at the message at the bottom of the screen as I moved it on my smartphone screen.
A warning about Cuebaerg kept popping up in the message box.
-[Abyssal Beast : Cuebaerg] has entered <Reduced Form>.
-To preserve [Abyssal Beast : Cuebaerg], you must retrieve its body.
-If [Abyssal Beast : Cuebaerg] dies, the connection with it by <Karma’s Blessing> will be completely severed.
Cuebaerg entered a phase called ‘Reduced Form’ when it suffered fatal damage.
And while it was in that reduced form, I had to rescue Cuebaerg.
There wasn’t much time left to save Cuebaerg.
If I wanted to protect Cuebaerg, I had to intervene right now and get him out of there.
But the situation was not so easy that I could interfere recklessly.
I saw familiar faces of characters in the area where Cuebaerg existed.
“Why did that boss have to show up there?”
The last time I sent Eutenea, I encountered characters that I guessed were teaser bosses.
And those bosses had a special pattern that blocked my sight.
They were enemies that were not easy to damage even with magical damage, let alone physical damage.
I haven’t finished setting up my physical character yet.
If I encounter a situation where my sight is obstructed again, it would be difficult to respond rashly.
Moreover, the firepower of the enemies I see now seemed much stronger than before.
If I send my apostles and fight a frontal battle recklessly, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone died.
So I needed to avoid colliding with them right now to avoid any damage.
“Then who should I send there······.”
But it was also difficult to leave Cuebaerg alone just because it was dangerous.
Cuebaerg was also one of my precious characters.
Even if I looked at the karma I had collected so far, Cuebaerg’s contribution was considerable.
I couldn’t let such a great character die.
I had to save him and build a foundation for him to use again later, even if he was weakened now.
How to rescue Cuebaerg in this situation.
An idea flashed through my mind as I looked at the characters on the screen and the message at the bottom.
“······Maybe I should send Evan.”
The second apostle, Evan Allemier.
My eyes turned to Evan, who had a special ability among my apostles.
Evan inherited my lightning magic and could temporarily transform into a lightning form.
He could ignore any physical damage while he was in lightning form.
Maybe Evan could escape safely by avoiding the enemy’s fire.
He also gained a powerful trait after passing the trial recently.
“When I think about it, the trait I got recently was pretty good.”
The name of the trait that Evan acquired was <Black Lightning Wings>.
It was a type of trait that gave a huge advantage in terms of movement or speed.
Thanks to this trait, Evan was more agile than anyone else among my apostles.
It would also be a great help in terms of time to approach Cuebaerg.
I reached the head of Uto, who my apostles were riding on, and moved my finger toward my smartphone.
I had to make a decision now.
Who to send. And how to bring Cuebaerg back.
“After all, you’re the only one.”
The decision I made after a short deliberation was Evan.
Tuk.
I touched the speech bubble that appeared above Evan’s head.
It was time for my second apostle to step up.
