Zora Vador tried to reassure everybody that the threat had been eliminated for now, but her words calmed the residents of Haven only to a certain extent.
Everybody was a little apprehensive after the recent incident and wondered when and how these invaders might return with a vengeance.
Realizing the general gloom, Zora cleared her throat loudly and decided to distract them a little.
“Amidst all the other chatter, I forgot to show you something.”
She reached for her pockets, pulled out a few bronze Card Decks, and placed them on a table. Her little trick seemed to work as everybody’s attention was dragged to the decks. A few shifted uncomfortably in their seats, leaning forward eagerly while some straightened their backs.
Everybody wanted to claim them, but nobody dared. They were not strong enough, nor did they have enough empty Card Slots to fill in. Xavier felt the collective gaze of the people on him, but he did not react. He was too busy trying to figure out a solution to the current issue.
But Silvia got a little suspicious and narrowed her eyes at her son.
“You were the one to alert everybody, right? How did you even notice something was wrong?”
Xavier shrugged. “I just heard a strangled cry and went to take a closer look.”
“Is that it?” She asked again.
“I mean, there is not much to elaborate on. I heard the sobs of the women and noticed a light in the abandoned home outside our border, so I went ahead to investigate.”
He wanted to add ‘Curiosity killed the cat’, but he was unsure if his mother was in the mood for a joke. He could already see the creases appearing on her forehead.
“Those wretched bastards. Good that you blasted off their dicks. Filthy scums!!”
Xavier raised an eyebrow. His mother did not swear a lot, but he was glad for once, her ire was not directed at him. His gaze drifted to his father, who was also enraged by the heinous act of fellow humans who were supposed to unite against monsters.
Zora Vador cleared her throat again to pull everybody's attention to herself.
“So now, as you all can see, we have a few Cards waiting to be used. I suggest we discuss and distribute them together according to everybody’s strengths.”
Her words made everybody subconsciously inch closer to the table, greed glinting in their eyes.
“Before we begin, I need to clarify a few things. The Cards will be strictly distributed on merit and your affinity to the Card’s power. So, for those who already have their slots full or don’t have any use of the card, please do not state how you would learn and adapt to use it. We do not have time for that.”
Her words were spoken in a rather stern but confident voice, and a few of the greedy survivors stepped back just as sneakily as they had moved earlier to put their case forward.
Xavier looked at his grandmother with relief, glad she had nipped it in the bud and stopped another fight from breaking out.
The room had fallen silent for a while, and Xavier’s ears twitched as he sensed something. Only a second later, one of the alarms they had set up all over their settlement started ringing loudly.
Everybody got out of their stupor, and their first thought was that the humans were back to attack them. However, nobody knew that it was not the humans this time.
It was a giant and powerful monster- a huge Behemoth.
On the other side of the settlement.
A massive creature just triggered the alarm by walking into the trap designed to alert residents of Haven. It was a four-legged creature, around five meters tall, its huge legs thumping on the ground, making it rattle like an earthquake. Long tusks protruded from the underside of its broad jaw, gleaming in the dim light. The monster's hide was thick and gnarly, mottled with patches of moss and lichen. It opened its massive jaw to let out a roar, thick, gooey saliva splattering on the nearby trees and houses.
A few Card holders tried throwing spears and one even conjured a ball of fire but the monster deflected the attacks without even doing anything. Only then did they notice a thin translucent hue enveloping the beast from head to toe, acting as a protective barrier. The behemoth shook its head wildly and looked around to see what had dared attack it.
“Did we just piss it off?” One of the Card Holders asked another as he staggered back as the behemoth’s eyes caught sight of him.
The behemoth thumped its huge forelimbs on the ground, turning its massive body toward the Card Holder, who had just attacked it with fire.
The others almost froze to statues as the monster lowered its head, the tusks scraping the ground and sending gravel flying everywhere.
“Don’t move,” The Card holder’s friend whispered from behind.
The behemoth’s eyes focused on the puny little human, its dark red eyes staring into the depths of his soul.
“Don’t make a sound,” His friend whispered again, hoping that his friend would listen to him.
But the behemoth opened its giant maw and roared again, making the Card Holder scream.
Before either of the friends could run, the behemoth had tossed them off into the air by lifting them on its tusks and marched forward, angrier than ever.
It began trampling everything that came in its way, living or dead alike. The survivors started running around as the monster’s eyes turned crimson. They began to glow so fiercely that the eyes were suddenly filled with hot, sizzling lava. Steam bellowed out of its ears and eyes, and it looked like the behemoth lost its balance for a second.
It shook his massive head and let out another sound, but this one was more of a pained growl than an angry one.
That was weird.
Xavier yelled, “Keep trying. It looks wounded. Strike now!!”
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Another batch of Card Holders used a combination of elemental attacks to slow down the behemoth, which began smashing through rocks and walls as if they were made of cardboard.
The attacks turned it even angrier, but Xavier noticed that just one of the many attacks managed to penetrate through the thick hue. It hadn't been strong enough to inflict a severe injury, but it managed to enrage the beast even more.
This was serious. The damage inflicted on the Behemoth by their attacks was minuscule compared to the self-inflicted damage caused by the smoke that oozed out of the monster’s pores.
Driven by rage and pain, it charged through a building and razed it to the ground. The residents tried to escape the massive creature but were too slow to react. Their screams got buried under its massive feet, just like the building.
Mark jumped up and appeared above the Behemoth bearing a double-headed war-axe. A crimson sheen engulfed the large blades as he struck down. The hue coating the Behemoth was pushed aside by the tremendous force that crashed down upon it. The war-axe collided with the Behemoth’s skin and cut deep.
Blood gushed in all directions like huge crimson fountains. The Behemoth roared in fury and pain as it swung its head around to hit Mark Vador. Mark ignored the Behemoth’s retaliation and utilized more Cards now that he’d inflicted the first deep cut. The Uncommon Cards, Bleeding, Corrupted Wound, Break Defense, and Berserker Mark were used on the Behemoth’s wound, worsening the wound considerably.
More blood spurted from the wound, and it looked worse than before as well. A yellowish glimmer invaded the wound and infected it, corrupting the wound.
While Bleeding and Corrupted Wound worsened the Behemoth’s Injury, Break Defense and Berserker Mark temporarily decreased the Behemoth’s defense. Berserker Mark amplified the force applied to the marked area, while Break Defense did exactly what its name suggested: it broke down the Behemoth’s defense for a short duration.
Leyla and the other long-distance Combatants took advantage of Break Defense and Berserker Mark. It had been a long time since they devised several plans to tackle powerful monsters that couldn’t be dealt with individually. Some monsters were too strong to be fought alone. It was necessary to team up and combine their strength to emerge victorious.
Leyla and the long-range Combatants readied their weapons, nocked their reinforced arrows and bolts, and used as many Cards as possible to amplify their attacks.
Mark Vador tried to distract the Behemoth, but the massive creature struck him heavily shortly after Mark inflicted the Berserker Mark. Mark was hurtled through the air. He smashed into a nearby house and burst straight through the wall. Nobody knew if he was still alive, but it was not like anyone had the luxury to rush over and look for him. They only hoped that he was okay.
The Behemoth was beyond mad and thumped its feet wildly on the ground, roaring. It thrashed the surrounding buildings and squashed two melee fighters to death as they attempted to distract it.
While the behemoth was busy razing buildings, the long-range fighters finished their preparation. Their bodies were drained of energy with every bit of power inserted into their attack. They knew that they couldn’t inflict a severe injury on the Behemoth with barrages of weaker attacks. It was necessary to kill the Behemoth with one tremendous and lethal attack. However, to ensure their only attack would hit accurately, the Behemoth would have to slow down or stand still if possible.
Xavier was just about to charge forward when his mother grasped his shoulder. She and several Card Holders churned through their stored energy rapidly to use a handful of Cards repetitively.
Dozens of roots, as thick as refrigerators, burst through the concrete streets. They circled the Behemoth and coiled around its legs and neck, entangling it faster than the Behemoth could react. The hue shrouding it tried to lock the roots, but they were too strong. An emerald glimmer engulfed the roots, reinforcing their power.
Several Card Holders focused their attention and energy on reinforcing the roots, whereas Silvia went all out with the massive roots.
More residents of Haven rushed to Silvia. Most weren’t Combat Card Holders, but everyone had a Card Deck. They were all Stage-1 Card Holders, and everyone had at least one Card that amplified someone’s power or the potency of a Card.
Silvia never wanted to force Haven’s residents to fight if they weren’t willing. However, it was a matter of fact that they would die sooner or later if they were defenseless. Therefore, Silvia ensured that every resident had the means to fight independently or to aid the combatants in battle if necessary.
The massive roots expanded. More roots burst through the concrete, restraining the Behemoth.
The Behemoth struggled and tore a few roots apart but didn’t regain freedom.
Leyla was the first to release her arrow, but more projectiles followed suit shortly.
They cut through the air with terrifying velocity and showered the surroundings in dazzling light. The projectiles looked like a shower of shooting stars as they curved beautifully through the air. But no matter how beautiful it looked, Xavier and the others couldn’t help but stare at the Behemoth in awe as the projectiles impacted.
The projectiles targeted the Behemoth’s face, joints, and underbelly to cause maximum damage. They all exploded upon contact, making the Behemoth roar in pain. Blood gushed out of the wounds.
Xavier bellowed, “Target that big wound dad created, NOW!!”
His gaze kept nervously flicking to his mother, who was trying hard to hold back the Behemoth and the place his father had crashed into. He could not go to either of them. He had to strike at the perfect time and could not avoid distractions.
The Card Holders listened to him, and all targeted the huge wound. The behemoth staggered back when the projectiles hit the already large wound.
This time, not just blood, but Xavier could swear he saw bits of flesh and bone splatter with the blood as well.
At last, Xavier made his move. He used Dash and Thunder Step and kicked the ground, reaching max speed in no time. However, that was not all. Everyone knew that Xavier progressed rapidly in the last few weeks. Rumors about his progress had already been revolving through Haven for a while, but they all witnessed it in person today. Xavier’s Class was stronger than the others suspected.
It might have taken him longer to initiate the Class Path integration, but he progressed faster than everyone else. He was the strongest fighter in Haven.
Therefore, everyone chose to aid Xavier when they saw him charge ahead.
Lesser Agility Augmentation has been cast upon you. Your Agility increases by 5% for the next 100 seconds.
Energy Circulation has been cast upon you. Your energy control increases by 30% for the next 60 seconds.
…
…
Haste has been cast upon you. Your Agility increases by 20% for the next 300 seconds.
Brute Strength has been cast upon you. Your Strength increases by 25% for the next 250 seconds.
More than 10 Support Cards were used on Xavier, and his strength was augmenting rapidly. His top speed increased, and a moment later, he appeared before the Behemoth. He kicked the ground and leaped above the massive creature until he reached the gaping wound.
The Onyx Blade vibrated in Xavier’s hands as if anticipating what would happen. The corner of Xavier’s lip curled upward.
Xavier combined Armor Pierce, Break Armor, Shadow Blade, Energy Blade, Coat of Fire, and Glut’s fire attribute to amplify Coat of Fire. However, he didn’t use his Cards only once. On the contrary, Xavier used all Cards repetitively on the Onyx Blade, coating it in layers of dazzling lights, dark shadows, and transparent hues.
He used his Cards repeatedly until the World Energy accumulated from his 270 Star of Energy had been drained entirely. Various notifications popped up in the corner of his eyes, but Xavier didn’t pay any attention to them. His focus was on the Onyx Blade, as he noticed some cracks forming all over its surface.
Just a little bit longer. Xavier begged while integrating the remaining Soul Essences from his Card Deck into his Foundation. He had only one attack to kill the Behemoth.
Integrate 53 Soul Essences into the Star of Strength
100/500 → 153/500
He appeared above the Behemoth’s gaping wound, the Onyx Blade extended by tens of Energy Blades, Coats of Fire, Shadow Blades, and the perfect combination of Pierce Armor and Break Armor.
Xavier heard a crack in his sword arm as the pressure of the multi-used Cards affected him. A searing pain spread through his hand and wrist, but Xavier ignored it. He pushed forward and drove the Onyx Blade through the Behemoth’s gaping wound and neck with all the energy he could muster.