Chapter 45
Chapter 45
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Teamwork
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The fact that the black hound could speak was secondary; the real problem was that it was scampering across the sacred tree like it owned the place, setting everything ablaze.
As the black hound raced up the trunk like it was scaling a wall, dark crimson flames spread in its wake, engulfing the massive sacred tree.
The elves cried out in horror, unleashing a barrage of arrows, javelins, and spells to stop it, but most were swallowed by the hound's infernal blaze and vanished.
Even when they managed to hit its body, the flames simply regenerated its flesh, leaving the elves to scream in despair.
"N-No...! The sacred tree...! Our great tree...!"
"Watch out!"
Kwajik—
Blazing branches began to snap and fall from the burning sacred tree one by one. Elfin hurriedly summoned vines and foliage to shield everyone overhead, directing the evacuation.
"This area's too dangerous! Anyone who can't fight, get out now! You'll be crushed if you stay!"
"G-Got it! Everyone, this way—head outside—"
The black hound, which had been circling the tree above me like a prison yard patrol, let out a bellow and dove toward me in a diagonal plunge from on high.
"Damn...!"
To block the black hound's sudden dive, I swung my Light Saber horizontally at its outstretched right forepaw, unleashing a blade of light qi. At the same time, Ravi leaped up alongside me, aiming a punch at the same spot from the side with her right fist.
Kwaaang!
The flaming forepaw collided with the light blade, then Ravi's punch sent it flying sideways. The residual light qi from the saber sliced straight into the hound's burning shoulder.
"Grraaaaaarrrgh!!"
Whether from pain or rage, the black hound roared as its body reignited, the cursed mist knitting its split flesh back together.
"I'll draw its attention! Knock it away again!"
Seeing this, Elfin summoned plants from all directions—above, below, everywhere—to obscure the hound's vision.
Vines and stalks caught fire and didn't last long, but this was Arborness, the elves' home turf.
With near-infinite plants at their command, and Elfin wearing the Miracle Boots of Life to boot, she could summon endlessly. She kept calling forth more and more, binding the black hound despite the flames.
The black hound erupted in flames across its body, incinerating the binding plants in one go.
That momentary opening allowed the second light blade to carve straight through its chest.
Chwaaak!
The black hound's chest split open from the light blade strike, and inside, I spotted something bizarre.
A pitch-black orb swirled violently at its core, mist radiating outward like nerves connecting to every part of its body, channeling the energy that formed it.
'That looks just like...'
A golem's core. That was the first thought that flashed through my mind.
Come to think of it, it wasn't all that different.
I didn't know the exact principles behind the black hound, but recalling the dark spirit from before, it was almost certainly born from mist, blood, and life as sacrifices.
If it was a ritual-born entity, there had to be something sustaining the ritual somewhere in its body—and for this black hound, that was a small orb near its heart.
The light blade had successfully sliced open its chest and exposed the orb's position, but it fell short of reaching it. The hound's counter had weakened the strike.
'To pierce that, I'd need Judgment... but the window to expose the weakness is too short, and even then, I can only use it twice at most...'
A one-shot situation.
If I could narrow Judgment's range to focus everything on that orb, I could shatter it—but the black hound's ability to absorb massive damage and regenerate broken flesh made effective hits unlikely.
I needed everyone else's help.
"Ravi, Elfin, Lenis! I spotted the monster's weakness. But to destroy it, I need to focus all my power there. That means you three have to smash its body apart. Can you do it?"
"Where?"
"Chest, right where the heart would be."
"I'll try my best, but no guarantees. This thing's a bad matchup for my abilities from the start."
"Use everything you've got. Lenis, you in?"
"Huff... huff... You think my mana is infinite?! I'm barely hanging on from all the healing spells—I'm withering away here!"
Lenis really was exhausted; she'd healed hundreds of surviving elves and was chugging mana potions just to keep going.
A twinge of guilt hit me—I couldn't push her—but Ravi stepped in.
"Lenis, please. Can't you push just a little more? You're the only one who can do this."
"Ugh... grr... Fine, can't have the party falling apart without me!"
Weak to praise as ever, Lenis panted heavily but hauled herself up to face the black hound.
The black hound roared, and cursed mist erupted around it, blanketing everything.
With the survivors' escape blocked, the non-combatant elves screamed and huddled together.
"Aaaah! The mist! That mist from before—it's spreading again!"
"N-No! Save me!!"
"Run! If it swallows you, you'll rot and die like the others!"
"Combatants! Concentrated attack—now!"
At Elfin's command, the fighting elves unleashed a volley at the black hound.
It swallowed the spears, arrows, and spells whole, but that bought Elfin a moment. She slammed both hands to the ground and called out.
"Lenis! Can you use your staff on what I'm about to summon?"
"Plants? Never tried, so no clue if it'll work!"
"Just try! I'm summoning now! Hnnngh!"
Elfin poured every ounce of mana into focus, and a root from the sacred tree burst from the earth, coiling around the hound's torso.
Unlike the weeds and shrubs before, this root boasted incredible durability. It caught fire but held form, binding the hound tight.
"Here it goes!"
A white magic circle flared over Lenis's winged staff, enveloping the root.
The root's burning slowed dramatically under the Pain Delay effect. The black hound roared and detonated its flames, but the root still gripped its body.
"Huff... It worked! But I can't hold much longer... mana shortage!"
The hound's three heads filled with fire and spewed toward Elfin in unison.
"Oh no...!"
"Elfin!"
Elfin couldn't move after summoning the root, and Lenis was mana-dry and frozen.
Exposed before the flames, they squeezed their eyes shut—but the fire never touched them.
Ravi had leaped in bare-handed.
"Ravi, what are you doing?! Get out— you'll burn!"
"It's fine! I can tank it once!"
The knuckles on Ravi's hands were covered in reptilian scales, absorbing the blaze.
A ability of the Ancient Knuckles: Counter—Shock Release.
Once per battle, absorb an attack. And that absorbed shock...
"Hnn...!"
Ravi springboarded from midair straight at the flame-spewing black hound.
Several meters up? No issue for her.
Peong!
The absorbed flames detonated on the hound's jaw, snapping all three heads back.
The redirected fire blazed higher into the sacred tree, but it created a huge opening.
Ravi's scaled knuckles morphed into jagged fangs mid-fall, and she slammed them into the hound's chest.
"Haaaaah!!"
Kwaaaaang!!!
Another Ancient Knuckles technique: Demolishing Strike.
An intangible shockwave that shattered from within. True to its name, an explosion ripped through the hound's chest, blasting most of its body apart in an instant.
The black hound began regenerating, but the damage was so severe its ritual core was fully exposed.
Elves caught Ravi as she rebounded to the ground, and I unleashed my prepared final blow.
"You all did amazing! Leave the rest to me!"
I'd been narrowing Judgment's range the whole time. With the core exposed, I targeted it precisely.
Kukukukung!!
A pillar of light spears lanced down in an ultra-narrow focus, piercing the black hound.
The black orb at its ritual heart cracked under the onslaught, then shattered with a pop.
The crimson-black mist from the orb evaporated, and the regenerating black hound screamed.
Core destroyed, the black hound writhed in agony before the monster that had doomed Arborness vanished entirely.