A Spine-Chilling Oppression Descends
A chilling oppression washed over them. It was utterly different from the pressure of the highest erosion beast he had just slaughtered moments ago.
Clearly, this was the form it had taken upon evolving into a devourer, yet it felt like an entirely different being.
‘This is bad…….’
Ludenberg sensed that the situation was far from favorable. And for good reason—the current Liberatus was far weaker than the one from the first trial.
Much weaker, in fact. Even the Liberatus of the first trial had struggled immensely against a devourer. Against this version, there was no contest.
He might not even be able to track its movements properly.
But even so…… Ludenberg had no desire to witness Ashytara's death. Even if this was merely an illusion of the trial world.
With that, he gripped his sword and fixed his gaze on the devourer.
This time, even Ashytara seemed to sense the gravity of the moment. She stood beside him, staring down the devourer as she began channeling her divine power.
The devourer glanced around curiously, as if puzzled by its own transformation into this form, then unclenched its fist.
Its eyes locked onto Ludenberg—the one who had slain it in its highest erosion beast state—and four pairs of crimson eyes gleamed menacingly.
Boom!
The instant its eyes flashed, its foot shattered the ground as it charged straight at Ludenberg.
It closed the distance at a speed that made "swift" seem inadequate, then unleashed a ferocious punch toward him.
The savage fist hurtled toward Ludenberg's front. But that was just the beginning.
Wings still protruded from the back of its humanized form. Those repulsive wings embedded with human faces.
Ludenberg barely dodged the fist, only to be confronted by a nauseating breath attack barreling toward him.
‘Damn it……!’
He couldn't help but feel a moment of disorientation. He had noticed the wings still attached to it, but its approach speed was beyond imagination—there was nothing he could do.
Yet the devourer's foul breath never reached Ludenberg. Ashytara had blocked it with a surge of dark energy from his side.
"Lude!"
But the breath's power must have been immense; Ashytara looked visibly strained.
Seeing her like that made it starkly clear to Ludenberg. The gulf between a highest erosion beast and a devourer.
He had felt it acutely even in the first trial, but since this trial's Liberatus was so much weaker, the devourer's presence loomed all the larger.
He couldn't even properly perceive its attacks.
Of course. In a way, it was inevitable.
Even in the first trial, recognizing the devourer's attacks had required tremendous effort.
And in this situation, "not perceiving attacks" meant……
Thud.
……he was defenseless against it.
"Gah!"
An even fiercer pain than before wracked his body, and in an instant, he was smashed into the rubble of a collapsed building.
This devourer wasn't much different from the first one he'd faced, but the impact was incomparable to that previous blow.
"Lude!"
Ashytara's shrill scream rang in Ludenberg's ears.
He barely clung to consciousness and hauled himself up.
The devourer, intent on eliminating the greatest threat first, ignored Ashytara at his side and advanced on Ludenberg.
Ashytara tried to block it by invoking a saint law with her divine power, but the devourer took little damage from her spell.
As if swatting away an annoying insect, it swung its hand once, and her saint law dispersed like bubbles.
"……What……is this."
Ashytara stared at the devourer in stunned disbelief.
But the daze lasted only a moment. With resolute eyes, she began channeling her divine power once more.
It wasn't paying attention to her? This was an opportunity.
A chance to land a solid hit on the overconfident foe.
Ashytara focused more intently than ever, manifesting her saint law.
Dark currents surged toward her, roiling violently.
Yet the devourer, without so much as glancing her way, continued burning with hostility toward Ludenberg.
As if compelled to do so.
Ludenberg endured the searing pain and watched the devourer approach.
He abandoned any thought of dodging based on visual cues. He had to trust his instincts.
He had always trusted his eyes, but not in this moment.
The devourer was far too fast for his vision to capture.
So……to counter it somehow, he couldn't rely on sight.
Ludenberg sharpened his other senses.
A cacophony of nearby sounds flooded his ears. The feel of the ground beneath his feet sharpened.
The repulsive stench emanating from the devourer's skin assaulted his nose.
That was enough.
Its muscles twitched.
The only moment he needed sight was this one—to confirm the twitch.
Muscles moving meant the whole body was in motion.
Once he registered that, vision became unnecessary.
He shifted focus entirely to his other senses.
The foul smell grew closer. The pressure on his skin intensified.
The air tore with a screech in his ears.
The instant all three converged, Ludenberg twisted his body.
In that moment, the devourer's lunging form shot past him, mere inches away.
Had he not moved, its fist would have pierced his torso clean through.
He swung his sword at its flank with all his might the instant he evaded.
But the devourer was no pushover. Sensing the sharp sword strike, it twisted its leg in an unnatural direction and pulled away from Ludenberg.
A swift evasion.
It exploited the erosion beast's body-warping ability with ruthless efficiency.
Moreover, having been slain by Ludenberg once before, it already knew his attacks were dangerous.
Unlike typical erosion beasts, it didn't sacrifice flesh to counterattack.
It knew it held an overwhelming advantage over him.
The devourer pressed Ludenberg methodically, without haste.
Each swing of its fist warped the space around it.
Clang!
Ludenberg parried the fist with his sword, but he felt the savage shock accumulating in his body.
And it didn't end there. In the aftermath of the relentless assault, his sword began to chip away.
‘……Damn.’
Worse still, it unfurled its wings again, spewing forth that nauseating breath.
Blocking its fists and evading the breath was no easy feat.
Inevitably, the breath grazed Ludenberg's arm.
His armor melted away, and excruciating pain radiated from his arm.
"Argh……!"
His hand trembled violently, but he forced his focus.
‘Get it together.’
With his half-melted arm, he gripped his sword and swung at the devourer.
But such a strike couldn't faze it.
Immediately after, its fist pierced through Ludenberg's abdomen.
"……Lude!"
Ashytara, mid-saint law incantation, seemed to fall into panic at the sight.
But she couldn't rush to his side recklessly. Losing focus now would forfeit even the slim chance of saving him.
She had to land a meaningful blow on the devourer to buy time, no matter what.
Steeling herself against the shock, she poured her full concentration into completing the saint law.
The dark currents coalesced into a small sphere.
Ashytara hurled it at the devourer.
Everything in the sphere's path pulverized, then melted away.
No sound accompanied it.
The devourer, distracted by Ludenberg, spotted the incoming sphere a beat too late…… and took a direct hit.
Instantly, the black sphere erupted, beginning to melt the devourer's body.
Slowly, the dark divine power eroded it, and the devourer writhed in agony.
-Grraaah!
Ashytara seized the opening to rush to Ludenberg.
"Lude! Pull yourself together!"
"Ugh……."
With his gut pierced and blood spewing from his mouth, Ludenberg's state was dire by any measure. His one arm was nearly melted beyond recognition.
Ashytara channeled her divine power and began healing him.
"Just a bit longer. Hang in there."
Her hands touched his arm and abdomen. The dark divine power swirled around his body, mending him.
His arm regenerated bit by bit, and the pierced gut began to knit, however slowly.
Even as he endured it firsthand, Ludenberg couldn't help but wonder.
How could this divine power do all this? Healing like Mare's power, melting foes like Solem's.
‘What……in the world…….’
Amid the agony, Ludenberg looked at Ashytara.
She devoted every ounce of focus to restoring him.
She knew they still had to deal with the devourer, but any delay might have cost him his life—she had no choice.
But no matter how much divine power she poured in, his wounds healed agonizingly slowly.
And while Ashytara focused on healing……
Ludenberg's eyes widened in horror.
What he saw was…… the devourer, shaking off the dark divine power amid its torment, swinging its arm viciously.
Ludenberg tried to move, but the accumulated shock from its attacks left his body unresponsive.
And then……
Squelch.
Something pierced flesh.
"……Huh?"
Hot blood gushed onto Ludenberg's body—from Ashytara.
"Ah."
Ludenberg stared at her blood pouring over him, a shattering shock ripping through his mind.
"Aah……."
From his lips emerged a guttural roar like a beast's howl.
He had repeated to himself endlessly that this was an illusion, imprinting on his mind that this world wasn't real.
Yet the moment he saw Ashytara pierced by the devourer……
……he could only feel profound despair.