Chapter 265: Chapter 265: On My Way To Meet You (2)

“Roooaar!”

A green giant, easily three times my height, let out a furious roar.

An ogre. Among large monsters, it always ranks near the top in terms of raw physical power.

A red aura began to radiate from its entire body.

It was already strong, but now it was empowered by the Blessing of Reckless Roar, making it even stronger.

In its berserk state, an ogre was like a living siege weapon, able to crush walls with its bare hands and stomp the ground to create earthquakes, but…

Thud!

When faced with a vertically falling rock stake from high above, it was nothing more than a piece of meat.

“Wow! Iris is really good at this kind of thing, huh? Look at how it hit dead center on its head!”

“Exactly. I think we should set aside a whole day later to just praise her.”

“…Isn’t that a bit too much?”

Even while tilting her head in confusion, Iona swung her arm towards a troll, who had frozen in the midst of the sudden natural disaster.

Splat, splat.

The blood droplets she shot pierced the troll’s body, leaving behind small wounds. The creature blinked, staring dumbly at the holes on its body.

It then alternated between glancing at its wounds and at Iona before letting out a faint chuckle.

For a troll with strong regenerative abilities, such small wounds were nothing. Or so it thought—too hastily, though.

Thinking that no more stakes would fall, the troll fearlessly stepped forward, its hand squelching in the blood of the ogre.

“Rooaaar!”

But just before its thick fingers could touch Iona–

Crunch.

It was skewered from the inside, unable to move.

The blood Iona had injected into its body had absorbed the troll’s vitality, transforming it into spikes that trapped it.

Though Iona easily dispatched the troll, an orc saw an opportunity and charged at her from behind.

Well, it tried to charge.

“Huh…?”

Suddenly, its body froze. Its limbs trembled uncontrollably, as if defying its will. Confused, the orc let out a bewildered grunt and struggled to lift its head.

That was the last thing the orc saw.

One of the paladins, following behind to support us, swiftly beheaded it.

“It’s a cheat! A cheat! Iris’s magic tool doesn’t even have that function!”

“I figured it out as I went along.”

Laughing at Iona’s carefree attitude even in the midst of battle, I raised my staff.

“Come forth. One as deep as a river. One as fierce as a waterfall. Leave your mark here. Tidal Wave!”

A magic circle instantly formed in midair, and from within, a massive torrent of water poured out, crashing toward the frontlines.

It looked like a river had been sliced in half, or like a serpent made of water slithering along the ground.

From the monsters’ perspective, they had already lost their medium and large-sized creatures who had been holding the line.

Moreover, unlike before when my resonance was limited to my heart, now my entire body resonated as a core.

Unless they were some kind of mutant, orcs wouldn’t be able to stop or escape from this.

Whoooosh!

The orcs were swept away by the torrent. Their bulky bodies bent and twisted under the force of the water, carried off in the rushing current.

Kicking off the now-muddy ground, I shouted out.

“Let’s keep running! If anyone gets hurt or tired, speak up immediately!”

I gave a paladin who raised his hand a slightly excessive amount of potion before we resumed our sprint.

The pattern after our breakthrough was relatively simple.

If there was a large monster that was difficult to deal with quickly, or if there were too many gathered in one place, Iris would bombard them from afar.

If it was a medium-sized monster, either Iona or I, whoever was more available, would handle it while the paladins cleaned up the small fry that popped out from the sides or behind us.

It wasn’t a particularly sophisticated strategy, just a brute-force approach. But the enemy was doing the same.

With our superior firepower, we were able to punch through their defenses effectively.

After some potion refills and blessing recharges, we finally reached the entrance to Solaris.

The collapsed city gates. Looking up at the now much closer temple, I let out a sigh.

“There really is no end to them. I must’ve killed hundreds, maybe close to a thousand, but they’re still swarming like this.”

“Now the real fight begins. Stay sharp, Yandel.”

“I know. Just from the increased pressure around the entrance, you can tell things are about to get serious.”

Even without that, anyone would nod in agreement just by looking at the scene—the city filled with large monsters that had only appeared occasionally before.

The enemy’s true strength had been concentrated here, in this city.

However, there was no time to get sentimental over the ruined cityscape or to prepare ourselves by glaring at the one-eyed creatures peeking out from between buildings.

Just by pausing briefly, orcs were already flooding in from the flanks and rear.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

We finally entered the inner city of Solaris. It seemed there was some sort of command in place, as the monsters outside couldn’t come in.

They just ground their teeth and let out furious roars.

Thanks to that, we didn’t have to worry about our backs, so we pressed on quickly.

“…There’s nothing left intact.”

“Well, yeah. With so many large monsters gathered, most buildings would get smashed like toys even if they just moved around a little.”

Iona was right.

All the once grand mansions in the residential district, and the bustling streets of the commercial area—all reduced to rubble.

Judging by the way some corners were only partially destroyed, it looked like most of it had been crushed by accident rather than on purpose.

The only relief was that the rumor of a swift evacuation seemed to be true, as there were hardly any human bodies to be seen.

Instead, the remains of monsters were scattered everywhere. Probably from the fights that took place just before the barrier was completed.

Though now, they seemed more like a feast for the remaining monsters.

“Keuk?”

“Euk?”

A two-headed troll, chewing on the corpse of a minotaur, spotted us.

We locked eyes. Its mouth still chewing, as if it hadn’t fully grasped the situation.

A twin-headed troll, huh?

Just as there were cultists among humans who rose to high positions by better receiving the blessings of Evil Gods, some monsters were particularly adept at absorbing the powers of such gods.

Normally, this results in a more elaborate appearance… but the Blessing of Reckless Roar enhances only the physical body.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

A follower of the Reckless Roar couldn’t withstand the power of their god, causing their bodies to distort.

More grotesque, more powerful.

The same applied to the twin-headed troll before us. Its regenerative powers had been strengthened to the point of causing mutations, resulting in its current unnatural form.

It had grown stronger in every way.

“Roooar!”

“Roooar!”

As the creature stood up, its massive size dwarfed even the largest of ogres.

It no longer looked like a medium-sized monster at all.

That’s how it is with mutants. They surpass the limits of their species, earning the name “mutant.”

But I’d taken down countless large-sized monsters on the way here.

…Well, actually, it was Iris who did that.

Boom!

A bolt of lightning, tracing a parabolic arc, flew through the air.

It resembled my mid-level magic Thunder Calling, but it was far more powerful.

Instead of a single bolt, this was a massive spear formed by bundling multiple bolts of lightning together.

Even from a distance, the electrical energy was strong enough to make my hair stand on end as it pierced the twin-headed troll’s abdomen.

“Raaaaah!”

“Owwoooah!”

The troll grabbed at the spear embedded in its belly, writhing in pain.

Its enhanced regeneration, which had caused its mutation, allowed it to survive. But it wasn’t enough to let it remove the intangible lightning spear.

Its innards were roasted and regenerated repeatedly, spilling its contents as its flailing hands scattered blackened ash, only for them to regrow once more.

Iona, seeing that the troll had forgotten about us, extended her hand.

Her lips moved slightly, and a dark crimson aura, like threads, began to gather in her palm.

Thanks to Iris, she’d had enough time to form a small seed.

“Take this!”

Her cute battle cry belied the catastrophic result.

The seed quickly burrowed into the troll’s body, rooting itself. Feeding off the troll’s life force and Iris’s magic, it swelled.

“Grrr…!”

“Huff…!”

The troll, realizing something was wrong, furiously scratched at its chest where the seed had embedded itself.

But it was too late. Its chest swelled larger and larger until–

Boom!

Its upper body exploded.

The half-eaten minotaur’s corpse now had a new companion—a fresh green one. I kicked one of the troll’s heads that had rolled near my feet and looked up.

The monsters, who had been focused on breaking the barrier, now took notice of our presence and began looking around.

“Now that we’ve made enough noise, should we proceed with the final operation?”

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

We all held hands and formed a circle. As I infused our robes with magic, our bodies quickly turned transparent.

Iona also cast an invisibility spell on herself and the paladins.

Up until now, we had deliberately drawn attention to receive Iris’s fire support, but there was no longer a need for that.

The inside of Solaris was swarming with large monsters, probably to destroy the barrier.

Even high-level magic wouldn’t be able to take out multiple large monsters with just one shot.

If Iris and Iona could combine their powers like they had in the last scenario dungeon, it would be a different story… but that wasn’t possible right now.

It’s fine if it’s just one or two monsters, but if five or six come at us, we’re in trouble.

So, we decided to forgo support and proceed stealthily instead.

Iris should be engaging the monsters outside around this time.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The ground-shaking footsteps grew closer. A minotaur sniffed the air as it poked its head out from a nearby building.

I quickly cast a levitation spell on everyone. The sensation of weightlessness, like escaping gravity, tickled my spine.

With her vampire strength and countless buffs, Iona kicked off the ground forcefully.

Bang!

With a light sound, her body shot forward. She hopped across the half-collapsed buildings, leading the way for us.

As the wind hit my face, we drew closer and closer to the church.

We were getting closer to Helena.