Chapter 308
Chapter 308
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 308
Chapter Title: Skirmish (3)
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Whoosh—
The air currents swirling around them flipped in an instant.
The Bancheon Leader, who had remained utterly composed until now, twitched his brow several times.
The Hahoe Mask, already enveloped in dark energy, had leaped back, but he could no longer afford to focus solely on that side.
'...When?'
And rightly so.
Aside from the undead that had annoyingly clung to him, this space had been a one-on-one duel between him and the Hahoe Mask...
Clank— Clank—
"So here you are, filthy heretic."
An unexpected intruder had appeared.
Amid the rhythmic, heavy metallic echoes, a Holy Knight clad in elegant, pristine white armor slowly emerged from beyond the thicket.
"I am the Main God's first sword, Heinrich Saint Landgard."
Golden eyes gleamed from between the heavy plate armor that scattered the surrounding light and the face-concealing visor.
From that overwhelming presence...
"Heretic, in the name of the great Main God—"
Shing—
"—I shall judge you."
A beautiful sword drawn from his hand sliced lightly through the air, radiating brilliant light.
And the blazing halo rising from his entire body repelled not only the deathly aura filling the surroundings but also the alien divine power that had no place in this world.
"...The champion of the Aautelica Main God."
The Bancheon Leader's brow furrowed slightly.
He had anticipated their intervention, of course, but their speed was far quicker than expected.
'And...'
That wasn't the only problem.
His gaze shifted sideways.
"Kuhahaha! This tingles!"
There stood a muscular brute bursting into boisterous laughter, exuding a presence rivaling the Main God's champion.
Saw-like teeth, impossible for an ordinary human, were bared naturally in his wide-open maw.
"Man, first time facing an angel!"
The being who looked more beast than man—Harley—grinned at the Bancheon Leader with eyes full of bizarre hunger.
Madness he couldn't conceal gleamed within them.
"Bro, those wings... Mind if I take just one bite?"
As if to prove it wasn't mere talk, drool dripped from his ferociously grinning mouth, and his body swelled massively, primed for the hunt.
No matter how one looked at it, that wasn't a request for permission, but no one here challenged it.
"...I must have underestimated this dimension. To think they could move this fast, and at this level... four—no, five of them."
The Bancheon Leader let out a small scoff.
And as his quiet murmur ended, two more presences hidden behind him revealed themselves stealthily.
"Hmph, you noticed already. What a pity."
"The World Tree has decreed... Not even a sip of air shall be granted to the progeny of the outer god invading this dimension."
A red-eyed vampire emerging from the shadows, adjusting his black suit's lapels with both hands, and a golden-haired, green-eyed high elf standing atop a tree, declaring heavily while gazing down.
Together with the earlier arrivals, they naturally encircled the foe, and heavy auras rose from them in unison.
Roooar—
The atmosphere churned violently as auras of every color boiled fiercely.
In that escalating tension...
[Kehh— Looks like you're busy. Quite the popular one, aren't you.]
"Hahoe Mask..."
Hans's mocking voice rang out just then, hardening the Bancheon Leader's expression once more.
No matter how he saw it, this situation was anything but normal.
'Too systematic for something spontaneous. As if they prepared in advance...'
Moreover, the circumstances so far clearly indicated some connection between those four and the Hahoe Mask.
The exquisite timing of their arrival, the way they'd crossed space, and how these mismatched types—mutually incompatible in affinities—had banded together solely against him.
An undead black mage ruling death, a Holy Knight seemingly the Main God's champion, a humanoid chimera of unknown origins, a fairy race radiating nature's power, and a vampire with an ominous air.
How had these peak existences from their respective domains joined forces and swarmed him all at once?
What on earth had the Hahoe Mask done?
His face soured at the unresolved question.
[Then I'll bow out here. They'll handle you from now on.]
But no time was given to find a clear answer.
With those words from Hans, who had retreated, killing intent surged from the group, now fully battle-ready.
"...All talk and no bite, Hahoe Mask. Fleeing with your tail between your legs now..."
Even so, the Bancheon Leader, unwilling to let his foe slip away easily, opened his mouth to taunt—
Boom—!
Only for the hot-tempered barbarian warrior Harley to cut him off, charging forward first by kicking off the ground.
"Kahaha! Look this way now, bro!"
Armored in dense scales and bulging muscles, fused with savage madness and murderous intent into a lethal form.
Krunch! Boom—
His enlarged hand's razor-sharp claws tore through the air and gouged a deep crater into the ground.
Any ordinary foe would have been shredded without reaction, but regrettably, his opponent wasn't easy prey.
Rumble—
Right after Harley's attack missed.
The air pierced by his supersonic body unleashed a sonic boom and storm, the colossal physical clash triggering an earthquake.
Yet that shockwave was merely a prelude to what followed.
"Then let the judgment of the heretic begin."
"Wonder what his blood tastes like. Intriguing."
"By the will of the World Tree..."
Heinrich, Heinz 2nd, and Harris swiftly joined the fray in Harley's wake.
[Uninvited outsider. Invader forever unwelcome in this world.]
At that moment, Hans's final parting words echoed across the battlefield as he prepared to depart while watching the fight.
[Remember this.]
A voice vibrating like a demon's whisper from hell, overflowing from the depths.
[There is no place for you on this land.]
It was a declaration that they would ensure it so, no matter what.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Immortal King Hans vanished from the battlefield.
He had considered fighting alongside the other avatars, but for maximum efficiency, this rotation was best.
After all, the energy Hans wielded clashed entirely with the others—especially Saint Heinrich and the high elf Harris.
'It'd hinder rather than synergize, eating into each other's strength.'
Better to rotate them as now.
Having withdrawn, Hans focused on recovering his condition to peak levels, preparing for potential redeployment.
'The other fronts are progressing smoothly too. Not sure how much this helps, but better safe with contingencies.'
He briefly checked each faction's movements via Sovereign's Authority, then nodded.
Far better to overprepare than get caught off-guard like with the Qianghuan Realm.
'Alright then.'
Meanwhile, the battlefield—now a 4-on-1, or strictly speaking, a fair one-on-one—raged on.
Boom—!
Unceasingly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The mountain range, already ravaged by the clash between the Bancheon Leader and Immortal King Hans, now faced fresh catastrophe in real time.
Several peaks had vanished without trace, new valleys formed—the terrain itself utterly transformed.
"Hoo."
Naturally, High Elf Harris, who had contributed to the destruction, wore a poor expression, but the situation left no choice.
He forcibly banished distracting thoughts with a deep breath and dashed across the treetops once more.
Finally reaching an optimal vantage, he drew another arrow crafted from the World Tree's branch from his extradimensional magic tool, nocked it on his dedicated weapon 'Themis,' and drew the string.
Hummm—
A multicolored blaze of every hue roared to life on the arrow.
Nature-affinity skills like Revised Infinite Eight Trigrams Arrow activated in unison, sucking immense energy into the arrowhead in an instant.
Even the surrounding natural forces visibly coalesced.
'Now.'
Reaching the critical threshold, Harris released the string with a low hum.
The next instant, it was already at the Bancheon Leader's nose.
Rumble—
Thunder roared through the air.
The strike, like those before, was blocked by the wings shielding his face, dealing no major damage—but restricting his movement was enough.
Such linked assaults were his specialty.
"Main God!"
"Just one bite! Really, just one!"
In that brief pause, vanguard Heinrich and Harley lunged ferociously.
The Knight of Light, cloaked in unprecedented radiance, swung a light-sword over five meters long, while the monstrous lifeform thrust forward its gaping maw backed by a near-four-meter solid frame.
With relentless pressure exploiting every gap, even the Bancheon Leader had to move more actively than against Hans.
"Hoo, nuisances."
His mutter halted Harley's charge abruptly.
An invisible barrier in the air had sealed his motion.
Boom boom boom boom—!
Amid it, Heinrich's holy sword and sunset-hued divine handblade clashed dozens of times in a blink.
Fresh scratches marred the pristine armor, repaired after the Immortal King battle in the south; shockwaves shattered everything around.
"Graaah! Let me in too!"
Crackle—!
Then, crimson and green beams erupted from Harley's eyes, his claws shredding the blocking barrier.
Now fully monstrous, Harley joined the duo, further tangling the Bancheon Leader's limbs—but he still punched holes through that massive body, forcibly twisting his wings to swat them away.
"Hoo."
Yet despite gaining the edge through repeated clashes, the Bancheon Leader's face remained grim.
Glancing down, wounds from the holy sword on his hand healed sluggishly.
His body's durability waned over time, regeneration severely hampered.
Likely from back-to-back battles right after facing the Hahoe Mask.
"...A hassle."
Moreover, while Heinrich's raw power fell short of the Hahoe Mask, his elemental advantage over the Bancheon Leader was the issue.
Inevitable in the enemy's domain, even if both wielded divine power.
And that wasn't all troubling him.
"You're wounded."
A cold voice suddenly from the side.
Roooar—!
Immediately, a massive energy storm engulfed their position.
No respite—combat resumed, long-range sniping striking like a breath-cutter at any lapse.
He countered with divine barrages toward the shooter's path, but the foe dodged like a cockroach, grating his nerves endlessly.
'How are they all so damn tricky?'
Regenerating accumulating wounds, he licked the white blood from his hand and scowled at the vanishing vampire.
Not fully losing track by hiding, but sudden ambushes mid-fight delayed reactions, irksome.
Without divine power's edge, it'd be worse.
But no leisure time remained.
Heinrich closed in with Blessing: Leap.
This meticulously orchestrated wheel tactic was designed solely to whittle the Bancheon Leader's strength.
To pin him down, forcing full commitment of their preparations.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Thud thud!
Crack— Crack
"Munch munch. Gotta hurry."
Harley, slammed into the ground, brushed off dirt and rose, cracking his neck sideways.
The holes in his body were now faint scars.
Crunch crunch—
Stretching, white feathers protruded from his chewing mouth.
He'd successfully torn a chunk mid-impact.
"What a waste! A bit deeper and it'd have been perfect."
Just feathers, no flesh or blood—effect minimal, but better than nothing.
Keep trying, success would come.
Toughness was one of Harley's strengths; no issue there.
'Not much time left.'
Merely driving the foe from this land wasn't enough.
This was just the skirmish.
For the real battle later, gather all advantages now.
"Up we go! Let's move!"
His leg muscles ballooned explosively.
Boom—!
And he hurtled back into the roaring battlefield.
[Skirmish (3)] End