#10 Stonevic Cultist Extermination Battle (Lete - Nude Bunny Lete) (3)
Tat tat tack— Heart leaped with feather-light movements, stepping nimbly to dodge the enemy's attacks. Her form was graceful and fluid, but the situation wasn't favorable.
Though Heart was a Lv.2 unit, she was specialized in mobility and stealth operations. She excelled at ambushes and reconnaissance, but in a head-on fight, she was at a disadvantage. Her opponent was a human warrior of the brawny type she particularly disliked. If there had been a clear gap in skill, that would be one thing, but in this evenly matched scenario, Heart was inevitably being pushed back.
And worse still.
Crackle—!
"Eek?!"
A black bolt of lightning poured down at her feet, just barely evaded. It was magic hurled from the mage far away. Before she could even catch her breath while scanning the incoming spell, the warrior's sword came slashing in. She deflected it with her knife and barely dodged, but her skin was grazed, drawing blood. She already had several such wounds scattered across her body.
One moment of carelessness, and she'd take a direct hit from that magic. Moreover, the spells kept coming relentlessly at crucial moments, leaving no room to breathe. Even the warrior before her eyes seemed enhanced by some vile magic. Was that the mage's doing too?
The only reason Heart had held out this long was her status as a top-tier Lv.2 unit with quick movements optimized for evasion. And above all, Lete's presence was huge.
Heart was struggling against just one foe, but Lete was fending off three warriors at once while enduring the mage's assaults. Most of the mage's spells targeted Lete, so fewer attacks came Heart's way. Otherwise, she would've been roasted or sliced open long ago.
Thud—!
One warrior surrounding Lete was struck by a massive tentacle and sent flying. Several such tentacles sprouted from the shadows at Lete's feet, relentlessly herding the warriors. It looked dominant at a glance, but Lete was visibly exhausted. Moreover, her tentacles were being intercepted one by one by the mage's spells, yielding less effect than hoped.
At this rate, the outcome was uncertain. No—it was tilting toward their defeat.
"Ha—hahahahahahaha!! Sows, filthy sows! Dare, DARE DARE DARE DARE to obstruct His will? Receive your punishment, PUNISHMENT PUNISHMENT PUNISHMENT!!!"
The mage looked leisurely even as he intercepted Lete's tentacles. Raising one hand high, a sinister magic sealed the warehouse door. The entrance, previously blocked by Lete's shadows, was now barricaded by the mage's power. Not just the door—the walls around the warehouse were the same.
It would take focus to smash through by force.
—I won't let you escape.
—I'll finish you here.
That seemed to be the intent.
"First, I'll slice off your limbs! Sear the wounds so you don't die! Then, veeeery sloooowly, I'll drain your blood!!"
"Feel death creeping in sloooowly! Go mad from the terror and death! From our god and His blessings—"
The mage shouted in rapturous frenzy. His irreversible madness echoed through the warehouse with that evil power. The moment Heart heard his voice, she felt a strange weight settle on her body, like a tiny anchor.
'Oh no...!'
She shouldn't have listened. She should have plugged her ears. That voice carried a curse that bolstered allies while debuffing enemies' stats. It wasn't overwhelmingly strong, but in this precarious standoff, it was fatal.
"Groooar!!"
The standoff shattered as the warrior roared, unleashing a storm of strikes that cornered Heart. She couldn't withstand it, and her stance crumbled. A fatal mistake. The precarious moment arrived where a finishing blow could decide everything.
The warrior raised his sword high overhead.
Slash—!
Rumble!!
But before the blade could fall.
Something happened at the warehouse door. A flurry of slashes in quick succession rent the door and nearby walls, shattering the blocking magic along with it. From beyond the crumbling, splintered entrance emerged a holy knight with brown hair and red eyes.
"I've cleaned up all the ones outside! Joining you now!!"
The initial strike team had rushed in first to prevent the leaders from fleeing. The external assault team waited outside, moving in tandem to suppress outer forces and any escapees. Noa Florence, from the external team, had just finished her task and joined them.
Thanks to that sudden appearance creating an opening, Heart evaded what would have been a lethal strike. The mage hurled a black bolt at the newcomer Heart, but a sword aglow with holy light cleaved it apart.
"Y-You damned bitch goddess's dog...!!!"
"Vile heretic! Foe of the Goddess! I shall purify your soul, stained with evil and sin, right here!!"
And the battle intensified further.
* * *
The fierce duel raged not just inside, but also at the city outskirts.
Hordes of Ruin Seed monsters swarming from the roads into the city clashed with the undead legion led by orcs. The Ruin Seed beasts were powerful, but the undead matched them closely. Above all, the undead felt no pain or agony even as their bodies were torn and shattered. With no fear of death, they never retreated, biting and clawing at the enemy to the end.
Though controlled by the cultists, as the fight dragged on, the monsters' suppressed reason began to resurface—the innate survival instinct all creatures possess. Facing undead that knew no fear of death, that instinct awakened.
The more they hesitated, the fiercer the undead and orcs pressed.
"Kroooaaaaaargh!!"
Splat—!!
And Barosy's massive axe severed another Ruin Seed monster's lifeline, smashing its skull dead center and granting certain death.
Bathed in Gaon Moon's baptism, Barosy had reached Lv.3, and recent dungeon explorations plus territorial defense had further honed him. He was now a hero fully worthy of representing the Steel Fang tribe.
His valor, his strength, and the deepening loyalty to the Gaon King who forged him soared the orcs' morale even higher. Their boiling spirits erupted in roars that reached the distant city.
Perhaps even reaching King Gaon. That thought made them roar all the louder.
"Fight! FIGHT! FIIIIGHT!!! For our—for OUR KING!!!"
"FOR OUUUR KIIING!! KROOOAAARGH!!"
Amid the tangle of slain Ruin Seed monsters, wrecked undead, and scattered orc corpses, the chaotic battlefield raged on.
* * *
"Haaaaah!!"
"Ngh...!"
Clang!!
Noa Florence's knight sword clashed against the thick shield conjured by the mage. But the shield wobbled unstably with a bizarre sound, on the verge of collapse. It shattered with a crash!, but the mage had already retreated far back.
Whoosh—!!
Next came a sphere of black flame. Too close to dodge. But Noa stayed calm, readjusted her grip, and swiftly swung. The fireball was sliced diagonally in one stroke, merely singeing the tips of her hair before scattering harmlessly.
"Y-You wench...!! The smell, the ROTTING SMELL...!! You damned foul goddess...!!"
"Do not insult the Goddess, heretic!!"
A massive stone chunk erupted from the floor, blocking Noa's charge. A stone golem. To summon such a thing in an instant—his skill was impressive. Without her advantage in holy power compatibility, victory wouldn't be assured against such a formidable mage.
Or rather, from the start.
By her original stats, even exploiting the matchup, she couldn't win. That cultist mage was that strong.
But Noa now was different. Blessed by Gaon—elevated by his magic.
She was a [Lv.3] holy knight. The mage was undoubtedly a seasoned powerhouse, but at the same level. No way she could lose. No chance.
Shiiiine—!
The knight sword in Noa's hand blazed with even brighter holy aura. The sacred glowing blade carved countless arcs, shredding the stone golem before her. A storm of strikes shaved, sliced, and demolished the massive construct in seconds.
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