617
Chapter 617
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
With all of its might, the Leviathan pierced through the protective barrier surrounding the temple and rushed toward Hercules.
At that moment, Hercules knelt on one knee and lowered his lion head helmet.
Suddenly, light flashed from the eye holes of the equipped lion head helmet, and an Orichalcon door was summoned right in front of Hercules.
The Leviathan flying towards Hercules collided with the summoned Orichalcon door.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A massive shockwave spread in all directions.
As the dust cloud from the impact settled, Hercules was revealed standing proudly on both feet.
The Leviathan thrown by Zeke was stuck in the Orichalcon door summoned by Hercules.
Although the force of Zeke's attack had nearly torn the door apart, the powerful physical properties of Orichalcum had successfully blocked the strike.
Seeing this, Nabu's jaw dropped.
"What the... how did he block something like that?!"
Having blocked Zeke's attack with the Orichalcon door, Hercules prepared for a counterattack.
He raised his longbow again, aiming at Zeke's group.
But this time, something was different.
CLICK!
Hercules' thigh section opened, and an Orichalcon arrow emerged from within.
When he placed the arrow on the bowstring, a string made of light formed.
Hercules aimed the bow skyward and drew it with all his might.
WHOOOOSH!
The drawn Orichalcon arrow caused a faint vibration.
Simultaneously, Hercules shot the arrow into the sky.
PIIIIIIING!
The arrow soared upward at an invisible speed.
Watching this, Nigel sensed something ominous and shouted.
"Zeke! Nabu! Put up barriers!"
Nabu reflexively chanted defensive words of power, and Zeke likewise raised his Shadow Armor.
Nigel also used her soul technique o strengthen the barrier.
Soon, something began to pour down from the sky.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
Very thin metal needles rained down like precipitation.
The Orichalcon arrow that Hercules had shot skyward had dispersed and was falling in all directions.
Nabu saw the Orichalcon rain falling from the sky and strengthened the barrier in panic.
"Damn it! Hold oooon!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Orichalcon needles poured down heavily onto the protective barrier created by Zeke's group.
Though thin, as they fell from the sky, their acceleration made them as powerful as a natural disaster.
Nabu's barrier at the frontmost position dissipated immediately after being struck by just a few Orichalcon needles.
"UGH!"
The Orichalcon needles penetrated even through Zeke's Shadow Armor.
The problem was that Hercules was preparing to shoot a second arrow.
Seeing this, Zeke spoke to Nabu and Nigel.
"We don't know how many Orichalcon arrows he has, but we can't just keep defending here."
He continued while looking towards Hercules.
"Please draw his attention. I'll rush in and strike him from behind."
Nigel questioned Zeke's suggestion.
"Will you be alright alone?"
"I have a plan. If you create an opening, I can subdue him."
Nigel nodded at Zeke's words.
She spoke to Nabu.
"Nabu, we'll remove the barrier. You and I will split up and draw his attention from both sides."
Nabu grumbled at Nigel's words.
"Ugh, this is my fate, huh? Zeke, finish this quickly! I don't want to die here!"
Zeke nodded and slowly gathered his Shadow Armor.
Meanwhile, the second arrow was shot, and Orichalcon needles concentrated on falling towards them from the sky.
At that moment, Nabu and Nigel sprang out to opposite sides.
The agile Nigel drew Hercules' attention while deflecting incoming Orichalcon needles with her sword.
Simultaneously, Nabu on the opposite side flew up into the air on his magic carpet.
He opened his book and shouted.
"The enemy's arrows shall meet a headwind and return whence they came!"
Following his words of power, the wind began blowing in reverse.
Though the wind should have sent the arrows back, unfortunately, it wasn't strong enough to return the heavy Orichalcon arrows.
It only managed to slightly slow the speed of the falling arrows.
"UGH! This isn't right. Then let's try something else..."
But at that moment.
PIIIIING!
Nigel, who was on the ground, caught a slowly falling Orichalcon arrow with her sword and threw it towards where Hercules was.
The Orichalcon needle, empowered with Soul technique, pierced through the barrier surrounding the temple and flew to Hercules' feet.
Seeing this, Nabu grinned.
"Ha, so it wasn't completely ineffective! Good! Let's try something similar again!"
While Nigel and Nabu were distracting Hercules' attention, Zeke stealthily moved to the back of the temple.
He had nullified and reconstructed the barrier using the power of the Arrogant Savior and entered that area.
Hercules was still focused on shooting arrows at Nabu and Nigel.
Hidden in the shadows, Zeke spoke to the System while watching Hercules.
'System, connect to that golem.'
If he could connect to Hercules' management system and gain control, he could potentially turn this formidable golem into an ally.
But contrary to Zeke's expectations, the System displayed a warning message.
[Unable to connect as no access point was found for this entity.]
[Entity appears to operate independently of the management system.]
[Direct contact with the drive core is required to connect to an independent entity.]
It seemed to have been designed to move autonomously, separated from the city's management system for security.
'Then I'll have to strike directly and connect to the drive core.'
Zeke drew out Ascalon.
A sword made of the same Orichalcon should be able to damage Hercules' main body.
"KYOOOOH!"
Outside the barrier, Nabu was noisily drawing Hercules' attention while Nigel continued counterattacking by returning the Orichalcon needles.
Zeke stealthily approached Hercules.
He planned to seize control by making contact with the drive core in one swift move.
But then he sensed something strange from the side.
'What's that?'
KIRIRIRIK!
Black insects could be seen swarming in from the air.
Zeke focused his sight to examine the incoming insects closely.
'Those are?'
The insects, taking various forms, looked quite grotesque even for magical beasts.
It seemed as if insects had attached themselves to the backs of magical beasts scattered throughout the area, using them as hosts to control them.
KIRURURUK!
These horrific beings were monsters created by combining the insects Baron summoned with the magical beasts in Atlantis.
Soon, these monsters possessing characteristics of both magical beasts and insects descended towards where Nigel and Nabu were, letting out horrific screams.
KEEEEEK!
They opened their mouths wide and began spitting poison needles at them.
Nabu panicked at the sudden appearance of the monsters and sharply turned his magic carpet.
Though he dodged quickly, the poison needles grazed his magic carpet.
CHIIIIK!
Though only a small amount touched it, the carpet began rapidly disintegrating.
"AAAACK! What is this?!"
The magic carpet, with one corner almost completely dissolved, lost power and fell towards the ground.
Nabu quickly opened his book and summoned clouds with words of power.
GOOOOO!
Nabu landed safely on the rising clouds, and once he got up unharmed, the clouds dispersed like mist.
"Oh my, my bones."
Nabu, patting his waist, looked up to identify what had attacked him. He saw hundreds of monsters swarming in black from the sky.
"Damn it!"
Nabu summoned light arrows again and shot them at the incoming monsters.
On the other side, Nigel was slashing at the charging monsters.
CHIIIIK!
The acidic fluid spilled by the cut monsters emitted green smoke.
Soon everywhere was filled with that smoke, and Nigel felt momentarily dizzy.
'This is terrible poison smoke.'
When she swung her sword while restricting her breathing to avoid the poison smoke, her power clearly decreased.
Watching this from behind, Zeke clenched his teeth.
'Baron... you knew we would strike here first and waited for an opening.'
Zeke expanded his perception to find Baron who must be hiding somewhere nearby.
At that moment, Hercules holding the longbow began to make another move.
Zeke watched Hercules while considering what to do.
In a situation where Baron could strike at any moment, moving rashly could leave them vulnerable to ambush. If he were alone, the decision would have been quick, but with Nabu and Nigel present, he had to consider their safety too.
While Zeke was deliberating, Hercules put down his longbow and put the lion helmet back on his face. Then he took a firm stance and formed a triangle shape with both hands, bringing them to his chest.
WOOOONG!
Vibrations occurred throughout Hercules' Orichalcon body, concentrating in the triangle-shaped hands held at his chest.
He soon fired the concentrated vibration wave straight ahead.
KIIIIIING!
The vibration wave released by Hercules struck the monsters charging at Nabu and Nigel.
Surprisingly, the magical beasts combined with Baron's summoned insects began falling to the ground, unable to withstand that single attack.
KIEEEEEK!
The magical beasts writhed in agony, spewing bodily fluids, as the insects began separating from them.
After the beasts died from fluid loss, the detached insects spread their wings and soared into the air.
Then, the lion mouth of Hercules' helmet opened wide.
HWARARURURUK!
White flames erupted from the lion's mouth, unleashing a firestorm at the flying insects.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The insects caught in the flame storm instantly turned to ash and scattered.
Nabu and Nigel's eyes widened in shock seeing Hercules instantly eliminate hundreds of monsters.
"Wow... incredible. With a golem like that, who needs Highlanders?"
Even Nigel, who usually never agrees with Nabu, had to nod this time.
After sweeping away all the magical beasts instantly, Hercules picked up his longbow again.
Nabu and Nigel, who had been watching his performance in a daze, backed away in panic.
"Damn! It's still not over?"
Just as Hercules was about to draw another Orichalcon arrow,
JJEONG!
A powerful impact from the side knocked Hercules' heavy body sideways.
Zeke, holding Ascalon, had struck Hercules while deploying the Elemental Sword Gravity Field.
'I need to end this quickly.'
He needed to make contact with Hercules' drive core quickly, not knowing when or where Baron might ambush them.
Zeke charged at the fallen Hercules.
He raised Ascalon, mounted the still prone Hercules, and struck at his breastplate.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Each collision between Ascalon and Hercules' body sent shockwaves strong enough to shake the atmosphere.
As Zeke's attacks continued, the light in Hercules' eyes changed again.
JIING!
Suddenly, Hercules dropped his longbow and grabbed the club at his side.
WOOOONG!
A faint vibration emanated from the massive Orichalcon club Hercules held.
Hercules immediately swung the club at Zeke.
KWANG! KWANG! KWANG! KWANG!
Zeke, who had been striking the breastplate, sensed the incoming club and quickly turned to swing his sword.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The collision of sword and club created an explosion-like sound.
Zeke grimaced at the impact reverberating through his sword hand.
'This is the power of a mere golem?'
The power in the mace was not just that of a simple golem; it felt like the force of a well-trained knight’s skill, not just a swing, but a true mastery of combat.
As Zeke wondered about this, vibrations began emanating from Hercules' entire body.
WOOOONG!
Feeling the vibrations penetrating his body, Zeke recalled a similar power.
'This is... Strong Wave Resonance?'
The golem Hercules was using a power similar to Strong Wave Resonance, the demon realm fighting technique Arataso had taught him.
Hercules tried to swing his vibration-imbued club at Zeke again.
Noticing this, Zeke bounced away from the golem and retreated.
KUGUNG!
After standing up again, Hercules glared at Zeke while raising his club.
Zeke likewise held up Ascalon and steadied his breathing while glaring at Hercules.
Then he spoke to Hercules.
"You're not a golem, are you?."