V2 Chapter 13
Again and again, deafening collisions of steel and muscle burst out. Each time, an explosion of sparks flew out, a shock wave scattered, and Rain had to brace himself stronger as he watched from the side.
This was an epic battle, a showdown of two Monsters.
There was no flashy technique, nor battle speed and style- only pure strength!
Brute Force against Brute Force!
"Goooborrrooooooh!!!"
After his strike was warded off, the Goblin Champion immediately pulled back its weapon to steady itself. The long, rock-covered tail of Granite, however, had already swept out before that.
Baaaang!
A dull thud reverberated in the chaotic Mausoleum.
"Ugh..."
A powerful tail whip landed on the Goblin Champion’s knee. And the posture of the giant monster broke. And then, without hesitation, Granite followed her attack with a powerful swing of her barbaric battle axe. It caused a loud explosion that even shook the entire Mausoleum.
Still, the axe didn't touch the ground when it was swung, but the debris and rocks were scattered by it. Even the surrounding dust rose and the stone floor split open from the violent shaking.
Rain knew this skill. It was Granite's favorite attack. An Earth-type skill: [Earth Fissure]. A power capable of splitting the ground with nothing but brute force.
The power of the axe was strong enough for the monsters surrounding them to feel it. The Goblin Champion jumped on the right to evade this disaster-level strike. Then with a loud, deafening roar, swung its weapon horizontally as if it was swinging a bat.
In response to this sudden counter, Granite immediately hides her body behind the tower shield she was holding, but the impact alone caused the entire mausoleum to shake, and the rock Lamian was knocked back a few meters away.
A long, blackened skidding trail could be seen on the ground, displaying the path she had made after being pushed back.
“Wow…”
Rain didn't know what to say, other than this.
He was surprised, not only because the Goblin Champion was actually able to fight against Granite without even losing, but also because Granite was able to stand on her own against the attack of not only the Goblin Champion but also the other Goblins and Hobgoblins that were looking for an opportunity to attack her.
Her rock armor was really an incredible ability in amplifying one’s defense. Not even a sword, magic, or an arrow was able to pierce through it. It was an enviable defensive skill, one that could go against even an entire army.
As long as she was attached to the ground, she was a War Machine!
If the people of Earth saw her, being called an Earth Goddess wouldn't be an understatement. She might even be called the female version of [The Th*ng].
Just watching her fight, Rain immediately understands why Drova was fond of her, or the fact that Zarda and the others have incredibly huge trust in her. She was like a mountain that protects in front of the others.
Nevertheless, she too has limits.
Granite is still weaker compared to Drova, and she still has a long way to improve on. She just ascended to the Second Evolution, after all. It was obvious to all, that she was being pushed back by her opponent. Or perhaps, this is also the testament of the opponent's power- the Monster's incredible strength.
Rain saw Granite’s face distorted in pain, and the arm holding her shield trembled. With Granite stunned, this time the Goblin Champion charged and attacked repeatedly.
Granite blocked with her shield, parried most of its attacks. However, she was yet to completely recover from the attack just now. The Goblin Champion continued his onslaught and slashed repeatedly while the Rock Lamian parried became more frequent.
Granite is being cornered!?
Granite felt the pain on her hand as she blocked every strike of her enemy, and because some monsters had held her tail, restricting her movements, even by a little, the Goblin Champion was gaining the favor of the battle.
Immediately, Rain began his move.
“Granite, let me help you!”
He was certain that fighting both the Goblin Champion along with the Hobgoblin and Goblin Elites would be extremely troublesome. So, without hesitation, he charged towards Granite’s position.
With his rapier on his right hand and dagger on his left, he slaughtered all the monsters that stand his way. His speed is becoming faster and faster, and he rushed through the battlefield like a strong gale that blew past the battlefield.
Rain invoked all his [Enhancement-type Skills] including [Agility Ex] and [Blink] and [Flicker Snap] as he swept through the battlefield.
Although there is a high number of Goblins and they attack together, but this time, they have encounter Rain with pinnacle positioning and judgment, and they fall one by one- from the beginning to the end they couldn’t graze him even once.
Instead, their excessively huge number allows his speed to be used to its full potential. His killing rate also reaching its peak.
“No, Rain, this monster’s strong!”
“Then, all the more reason!”
Granite tried to stop him, but Rain would never stop.
The moment he decided something, he would never stop until the end. He was like drops of rain that fall on the ground, never stopping once fallen.
“Scarlet, cover me!”
He cried out.
“What?! NO, wa, wait Rain! That’s dangerous!!”
Scarlet burst with fireballs, shooting almost randomly around her, and then jumped aside.
Another elite goblin landed in the spot she was in just a moment before.
The number of Goblins showed no sign of decreasing.
The Goblins that were hit by Lafetti and the others, those that had not died charge, dragging their bodies towards Scarlet and his direction. The group had been attacking these monsters for a long while now.
...Indeed, it felt like a long while.
Scarlet couldn't tell just how much time had passed. But surely, a long while already. Then, she attacked the Goblins beside her with Flame Burst, managing to destroy a large group that charged together.
Perspiration dotted on her forehead. Fortunately, the movements of these ugly Goblins were clumsy and repetitive. All the monsters move in groups as if afraid one would be left out and cry in the corner.
Thus, they were able to easily kill a large number simultaneously.
But that large number seemed to be just a drop of the ocean.
The monsters appeared endless.
“Damn it, Rain, a Goblin Champion is still not something you can fight against,”
Scarlet cried out in anxiety, but she still obeyed what he wanted a pair of flame throwers burst out from either side of him as he ran through the crowd of monsters.
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“Damn it, Lamian leave the small ones to me, and go help Rain over there,” since she couldn’t stop him, she could only ask someone for help. And she turned towards Lafetti who was also being ganged up from all directions, though it was not a problem for her, it was enough to stop her from her tracks.
Scarlet placed her hands together as if she was praying, and immediately after, the temperature around her rose up as if someone had just increased the heater’s temperature.
Even the Ant Queen's face clearly turned red, and even redder as seconds passed, crimson scales started appearing on her skin.
There was barely a sound coming out from her mouth, and even those who were close by could only hear some murmurings, but the Ant Queen’s mouth continued flapping like a fish out of water.
“Peerless Strike!”
Lafetti roared.
The blow sent a Goblin Elite flying outwards.
Water Blade! Her beautiful, straight blue sword flashed with azure light, and a Goblin was cut into pieces, and blood scattered in every direction.
She resembled a god of slaughter, tearing through everything in her path. In the blink of an eye, a pile of dead bodies had been left behind wherever she goes, as she chased towards Rain who had charged toward Granite and the Goblin Champion like a swift wind.
Who could’ve imagined that this beautiful, fairy-like Lamian would release such a formidable, murderous aura in the middle of a battlefield!
Her killing intent was not the least bit weaker than Drova who was older than her and had undergone numerous battles already.
As she slaughtered a path open, unimpeded, heads would roll with every meter taken. The beautiful, cold Lamian swept up everything before her!
Numerous weapons and magic attacks ruthlessly bombarded her from every direction, some even streaking through the air like tongues of fire. Yet Lafetti remained fearless, radiating an awe-inspiring aura.
However, as Lafetti heard Scarlet’s voice about wanting her to chase after Rain, she turned around and her brows rose slightly. A horrifying, boundless amount of fire elemental energy was gathering around the Ant Queen. It was enough to make anyone pale with fright.
This spell… surely it’s at least a fourth level Spell... or even perhaps above that.
Witnessing the deluge of fire elemental energy flooding towards Scarlet, the nearby Goblins, and Goblin Elite Mages wore blank expressions.
Giving up all hope, they turned tail and ran, despising the fact that they couldn’t grow another pair of legs.
Just where did this bunch of killing gods come from!?
Scarlet was still in the middle of casting a frightening area-of-effect spell, and at this point, no one was capable of stopping her.
The Flames she cast around her, the Flame Domain, are still active and burned those who stepped within five meters away from her.
The Goblins were running around like headless chickens. Most of them didn’t have the mind to notice Rain darting here and there with a ghastly speed.
Some elites and mages that were more mindful of their surroundings charged over, wanting to kill Scarlet or at least, stop her from completing the spell, but they were all blasted away in front of an iron wall-like guardian of the Ant Queen; the Ant General, and the other Antmen.
Lafetti also gave a hand, clearing away any enemies who drummed up enough courage to try and stop her.
At that moment, Scarlet finished making two sets of incantation gestures and chanting two sets of incantation syllables.
“Meteor Fall!”
The Ant Queen raised her arms, and a high-level magic phenomenon occurred before their eyes.
An enormous sphere of fire emerged over the mausoleum. It churned and rolled before smashing down to the ground like a giant meteor.
BOOOOOM!!!
A massive explosion engulfed the several dozen monsters from the horde caught at the center of the spell.
It was as if the stars had fallen, like rain, right on the shameless group of monsters.
Enormous size fireballs that looked extremely like meteors appeared above her and started flying towards the gathered group of monsters. After the giant sphere of fire struck the earth, it blossomed into countless embers that rained down on the other monsters in the surroundings.
It was gorgeous like a display of fireworks in the dim place. Even though she randomly shot her magic, it was still able to kill an incredible amount of monsters, all while creating deep craters and destruction. Even, the scattered embers were the same as Fireballs, killing countless monsters at once and scorching the earth clean of any life.
“Go!!”
Scarlet cried out.
“… …”
Lafetti looks at her, then shrugged and hurriedly chased towards Rain. There’s nothing to be said as of this moment, Scarlet had truly become one of them—her comrade, and a member of her family. And Lafetti found herself quite comfortable with that notion.
It’s actually not bad…and besides, she had truly changed. Somehow her annoying, cowardly nature had disappeared.
Is this also Rain’s influence?
Truthfully, the Lamians have always been quite selfish creatures. All for the sake of survival, she and the other Lamians would not hesitate to kill, rob, and plunder. And they would never look at anyone from the other races as their equal, much less, think of them as friends.
Whether it was their mindset that had been built after wandering around, doing everything to survive, or the inborn prideful nature of a Lamian within them, they just couldn’t see any races apart from them eye to eye. Especially, the Killer Ants.
Even if Scarlet was an Ant Queen, and even possess a rare, [God’s Gift], to the Lamians she was actually nothing special at all. Even Lafetti saw her as nothing but a slave for their tribe, or whatever status she had which is completely beneath them.
If not for Rain, they would have already killed them, and would never spare, even if they are good manpower resources for their tribe.
The Ant Queen also felt this as well, and also understand it, but what could she do? She can only accept it. Endure, accept and feel satisfied that she is still alive. And that’s why; she had never gotten close to any Lamians even now. Nor like, she tried or attempted to integrate herself in their circle, anyway.
She just thinks of it as a give-and-take kind of relationship—she helps them with manpower, while they gave her security, despite it being forced.
After all, a Monster King’s protection power, especially in this harsh and cruel land, is something very precious and one would never dare ignore. There would never be any danger to her life again, as long as a Monster King is standing behind her.
She would just think of it as being absorbed by another tribe.
And besides, it’s not like she can run away, or rebel…her life is basically in their hands. And also, the other thing that keeps her from doing anything stupid was the existence of the black-haired boy that the Lamians have been keeping and protecting.
She had truly become fond of this human, as every day; he would go over at her place and ask her well-being, talk with her, and even sometimes helps her with her work or adaptation to the new life she was having.
He didn’t treat her as an outsider, or a slave, or anything like that. Instead, he treated her as if she was just a new friend that newly joined them. And this gave her an incredible feeling of closeness, a familiarity that she just couldn’t understand or ignore.
What’s more, an invisible power-like thing was also tying her fate to him.
She didn’t know why but whenever she talks to him, she was always very casual, very natural. It’s as if they were already friends since a long time ago. And most strangely even, is the fact that there seemed to be something within her that was urging her, telling her ‘to protect him, to take care of him' or something like that.
It was not a subconscious thought, but seemingly coming from deep within her soul. It was strange; almost bewitching-kind of feelings. But what made it even stranger is the fact that she actually didn’t feel anything weird at all!
Despite knowing that something is wrong, she didn’t think that it was bad. But she too understands this is not a hypnosis-type of skill, as she was far stronger than him. And even if he has some outwordly skill that can bewitch or control other people, being able to affect them is hard to think about. Especially, even able to charm and bewitch a Lamian Medusa—a Monster King.
That’s completely impossible.
Well, the Charming ability is not only a Demon’s power but also, it’s also a great ability that is innate to the Lamians. Especially to a Medusa. Therefore, aside from being able to use this kind of ability, they also have great resistance to this kind of power.
So Rain able to bewitch or control the Lamians, or her in that matter was an impossibility of itself.
Hence, there’s no external power here at work. And even if there was, there should be no apparent incredible effect.
And besides, it was not like she was acting as if she was being bewitched anyway, so such a possibility is impossible. Nevertheless, whether this was his inherent charm or not, but Rain is, without a doubt, had an incredible attraction from demi-humans, especially like her.
Though, of course, even without that strange attraction, she would still protect him just like now.
Everyone had their own personal charisma. Some people hold the right disposition, with which they could involuntarily attract people to be close to them. Perhaps, Rain was one of them. Not only he has an incredibly handsome appearance, which to the Ant Queen, was very attractive and her type, she realized as she spent time with him that he was completely different than what she thought of him at first.
The first time they met, she thought that he was just a naïve, innocent, and ignorant human. But later, she found that he was actually just casual rather than ignorant and incredibly intelligent as well, rather than dumb.
And most of all, he was not pretentious but free, leading a life of innocent freedom and only caring about the people he cherished. His family was always his top priority. And he could be cold, or cruel if it comes to their well-being. Sometimes kind, and benevolent. But once angered, even a Demon God would cower.
This was what had attracted her the most!
To her, Scarlet felt like Rain was her friend and confidante. He was so easy-going which caused her to gradually become attached to his personal charisma... of course; this feeling was also attributed to her admiration for the young human boy.
If Scarlet had someone that would tell her in the past that she would fight together with a Lamian in the future, much less, trying to protect a human, she would never believe it. In fact, she would even scorn it.
But now, not only she was fighting together with them; she was trying to protect them, all while being obviously forced to be their servant.
Furthermore, the key point is that she was actually even started to feel a great camaraderie and belonging to this group.
Did she, the [God Blessed] Ant Queen, suddenly accepted her role as Scarlet of the Amani Tribe?
Well, she didn’t know. Nor she is interested to know. Since she wanted to protect Rain, one that had become an irreplaceable close friend to her, she thought that even if she had, all her hard work was worthwhile.
And so-
“You better protect him, you damn Lamians!!”
Scarlet cried out her deep feelings as it echoed in the crazy battlefield.