Chapter 155
[I want to die in those arms...]
[If you get hugged there, wouldn't it hurt like hell even if you lower the synchronization rate...?]
[It's fine, if I can be held by The One, I don't care if I burn to death]
[Chae-rin, let's not kill Amon and just let him live, yeah...?]
[These bitches with tits for brains go into heat the moment a Man appears lol]
[Are you guys abandoning Yor?! Huh? Are you throwing Yor away!]
Various exclamations popped up in the chat window.
Watching that, I felt dizzy for the first time in a long while.
Just as the chat said, they truly were bastards with dicks for brains.
It probably wasn't my place to say, but to think they were busy looking at appearances even in the middle of this.
No, even if the chat window was like that, the Adventurers whose lives were on the line shouldn't be acting this way. I was a little confused.
Still, that opening didn't last very long.
“Everyone, snap out of it!”
It was because Jurgen shouted a single word loudly.
“What are you doing taking your eyes off the battle?”
She was right. At those words, the Adventurers quickly snapped to their senses and began preparing for battle.
Still, it seemed their years of eating by the sword hadn't gone anywhere, seeing how quickly they all regained their focus.
Right around then, Amon also began to move.
BANG!
He twitched his index finger, and the Entrance we had come through slammed shut.
Looking at the startled Adventurers, he quietly muttered.
“...I let far too many small fry slip away last time. This time, I will turn every last one of you into ashes without missing a single one.”
In effect, our escape route was blocked.
However, fewer People panicked than I expected.
“Whoa, that startled me.”
“This is actually better. The bastard is digging his own grave.”
We were here for an Extermination anyway.
Rather than thinking about running away already, it was right to think about defeating him and walking out proudly.
Since these Forces had gathered for that very purpose in the first place, everyone's morale was quite high.
The first to launch an Attack was Amon.
“Die!”
A Fireball that looked incredibly hot just from a glance flew toward the Extermination Squad.
But the Extermination Squad had already experienced three failures and accumulated plenty of experience.
Naturally, countermeasures had been established to some extent.
Clack.
Without anyone giving an order, the Knights stepped forward and raised their shields. It was a Special Shield imbued with Fire Resistance. The kind of shield that Mages had diligently poured Magic into right before reaching This Place.
Thanks to that, his Strike faded away in vain.
“...I'll go first.”
“C-Commander!”
Right after putting up that Defense, the first to charge forward was Vivian.
Even though they had successfully blocked the Strike, Flames still lingered beyond the shields, making it a rather bold move.
She usually kept her eyes downcast with a gloomy expression, but during battle, her gaze was distinctly alive.
As if she had become a different person.
Vwoom.
A deep blue Sword Aura, as dark as her own hair, surged from her sword.
Amon diligently launched Attacks to intercept her as she approached, but none of them reached her.
It was because she deflected or dodged every Attack.
I marveled inwardly and thought to myself.
[...Flashy.]
From the wide swings of her sword to her relentless Footwork.
Unlike her timid personality, her combat style was incredibly aggressive.
Honestly, just looking at her fight, it was the most threatening display I had seen so far.
It made me realize that was exactly why she held the title of Knight Commander.
Around that time, Jurgen also stepped forward.
“Shall I play around too.”
She looked as incredibly relaxed as she had been over the past few days.
However, the sword she held was not so peaceful.
Mana gathered over Jurgen's longsword.
Energy bloomed from the blade like a flickering flame, and soon began to intertwine and clump together into one.
Then, a vivid blue edge was overlaid upon the sword.
Seeing that, I couldn't help but be astonished.
[Sword Qi!]
It was my first time seeing it in person, but it seemed unmistakable.
Because taking on a distinct physical form with mere particles of mana was an absurdly difficult art.
“My god, the rumors were true...”
“I was half in doubt, but to think I'd actually see it with my own two eyes.”
Even the Adventurers nearby were currently marveling at the sight.
Honestly speaking, I was incredibly bewildered.
Even the Knight Commanders I had fought alongside until now had only ever increased the density of their Sword Aura...
That meant the realm of this person named Jurgen was higher than that of a Knight Commander.
Even if she was at the top of the Adventurer industry, still.
Didn't that mean a mere Adventurer was at least one step above a Knight Commander?
On the other hand, I was also puzzled.
[Where on earth did a Human like that suddenly pop out from?]
With that level of skill, she should have stepped up during the biggest event, Demon Hunting, and raised her merits.
Because I had never seen her even once until now. What in the world had she been doing during such events...
“Now's the time!”
“Push him back while we have the opening!”
“Fire your arrows and Magic!”
I was quite curious about it, but I didn't think too deeply. Right now, it was time to fight first and foremost.
With that, I also stopped watching and dashed forward.
Perhaps because the others were working hard to draw his attention, getting close to him wasn't difficult.
Standing in front of him like that, I immediately thrust my spear.
Shhk—
The spear lodged deep into his body.
Compared to his solid-looking exterior, the spear dug inside easier than expected.
It was a clear Impact. But I couldn't help but feel puzzled.
[...What is this?]
Because no matter what, there was far too little resistance.
Even Amon, who had taken multiple Attacks with his body, didn't seem bothered at all.
It merely stoked his anger.
“...Do you know this?”
As I was finding that strange, he opened his mouth.
“Fire is a symbol of Destruction, but at the same time, it is also a symbol of vitality. For a flame blooming brilliantly in the darkness resembles the birth of a Life Form.”
*At that moment.*
BOOM—!
A massive explosion erupted from around his body. A fierce Fire Demon instantly swallowed the area around him.
“Ugh...!”
Sensing something unusual, I hurriedly stepped back. However, I couldn't help a part of my clothes burning away in the fierce flames. The fire that pierced through my Fire Resistance even scorched my skin.
Still, someone at my level was on the considerably better side.
Right now, several of the vanguard who had run in with me were rolling on the floor, burning in the flames... I forced myself to ignore the Adventurers flailing nearby.
As the flames cleared and I looked ahead, I saw that bastard Amon completely healed. Whether it was Regeneration or something else, it essentially meant that all the Attacks we had done so far were rendered meaningless.
“Try attacking for a hundred days. It is of no use against me.”
He let out a sneer as he looked at the devastated Extermination Squad.
Suddenly, the Extermination felt hopeless.
As I watched him for a moment, another decent idea suddenly came to mind.
[Wait, is there really a need to attack Amon...?]
Come to think of it, he was only half-manifested, using the Altar as a Passage. He hadn't fully popped out into this World.
In other words, if we just closed the Passage, he would definitely be forced back.
Therefore, I urgently shouted to the People around me.
“Attack the Altar!”
The Personnel of the Extermination Squad who heard my words immediately nodded.
It must have sounded like a pretty good method to them too, as color returned to the People's faces.
But that was only for a moment; we had no choice but to face a more fundamental problem.
One of the Adventurers muttered.
“But... where exactly does the Altar end?”
It was because there weren't any patterns that could distinctly be called an Altar. The flames on the floor made it difficult to even check the ground.
Furthermore, this Space was ridiculously wide. It was bigger than the soccer stadiums I had seen in my past life.
*At that moment, an ominous thought crossed my mind.*
[Could it be that this entire Space is part of the Altar?]
That would be a bit of a disaster.
While everyone was thinking vaguely like that, Jurgen blindly attacked the floor.
CRACK—!
With her low Horizontal Slash, a portion of the floor was sliced away as if it were being filleted.
Then, she spoke with a relaxed face.
“Why are you thinking about something like that? In the time it takes to think, you just need to smash everything in sight.”
In a life-or-death situation, that relaxed demeanor inspired considerable trust.
Because it felt like your life would somehow be guaranteed just by following her lead.
BANG! BANG!
At those words, the Extermination Squad immediately began smashing their surroundings.
It was a bit ignorant, but she was right. Since there was no other plan anyway, we had no choice but to destroy everything in sight.
Perhaps because they were all folks with a knack for Destruction, it didn't take long for their surroundings to turn into a mess.
“You bug-like bastards!”
Naturally, Amon didn't just watch this happen.
He constantly threw Fireballs to run Interference on us. Still, seeing how his Attacks had grown fiercer than before, it seemed what we were doing wasn't wrong.
I thought to myself as I smashed the floor with heavy thuds.
[...This isn't easy.]
The method seemed correct, but honestly, this felt just as vague. No matter how I thought about it, the dome was simply too wide.
Still, for now, the Extermination Squad steadily continued to Conquer Amon.
“Everyone, don't move in a rush! The Wounded, fall to the back and get first aid!”
“Throw the holy water generously! We have enough to take a bath in it. Just throw it and suppress the bastard as much as possible!”
A system was somewhat established.
The fact that the inside of the dome was incredibly wide was helpful at times like this. While he couldn't move from the Center, we could at least run away within this area.
The Wounded only needed to gather in one corner and rest.
Of course, that didn't mean his Attacks wouldn't fly over there, but there was enough time to see them and react accordingly.
Even in the middle of a raid, a single Safe Zone had been created.
The battle continued like that.
“...I shall acknowledge it. This batch of small fry is fiercer than expected.”
After about an hour of moving diligently, he opened his mouth.
“You must surely be considerable elites among Humans?”
The battle had dragged on, but aside from the beginning, there weren't many noticeable Wounded.
It was because the three previous Extermination Squads had already failed, allowing a certain amount of information to accumulate.
The Flames he rained down were certainly fierce, but we could somehow block and dodge them.
We were dying of heat, but it was still bearable.
But it was then.
“If that is the case, then This Place will also suffer a considerable Impact if you die.”
Fwoosh!
The fire burning on the floor grew even fiercer.
The flames that had been burning up to our calves instantly surged up to our waists.
Rather than the immediate heat I felt, the first thing I worried about was my clothes.
[My pants...!]
My body was somewhat fine since I had Fire Resistance, but my pants did not.
I could feel my lower half gradually becoming bare in real time.
“Ugh!”
I hurriedly pierced my body and unleashed my Blood Power Art. Then, I spread the blood thickly and wrapped it around my lower half like boxer briefs.
Done. With this, I should be able to prevent my balls from becoming literal fire eggs.
[To think I'd live to see the day I use my ability so indecently...]
Thinking that, I looked ahead.
Amidst the panicked Extermination Squad, Amon spoke in a high-handed manner.
“I have released a bit more of the power I had gathered just for you lot. With this, my descent has been delayed by three years, so rejoice in that fact as you die.”
Seeing that, I let out a sigh.
[Phew...]
The Extermination was still in full swing.