Chapter 116
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: Who is the Monster?
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She held nothing back. She'd already sensed the massive surge of power from outside, and thanks to Alfred recognizing Lumen, she knew her opponent was the 5-star hero he'd been so wary of.
-Rumble!!
Blood poured fiercely from Erzsebet's body. Of course, filling the entire space with pure true blood would require an enormous amount, but the shortfall was made up by the power of that strange staff whose owner had returned it to her.
'The quality of the blood has risen slightly compared to before.'
It still tasted utterly revolting, same as always... but now she could generate more blood at once, and with its slightly elevated quality. In battle, it would give her a power more suited to her than any weapon ever could.
"Just as the reports said... you wield blood."
Facing the ominous flood of blood surging before him, Lumen slowly drew upon the power of radiance. Then, watching Erzsebet handle her blood with expert skill, he felt something familiar and asked,
"What’s your connection to the 'Empress' of the East?"
"...What are you talking about?"
The demonic realm of the East wasn't widely known. Little information existed about its ruler, the 'Empress.' But when humans had once assaulted the southern demonic realms, they'd gathered intel on the others too—and that's how they'd uncovered some of the shrouded Empress's abilities...
Only a select few knew. But Lumen, as a 5-star hero, was one of them.
"No use playing dumb. That blood manipulation. Isn't it the same power wielded by the 'Empress' of the East? Has her influence reached this far? Or... are you kin to that Empress somehow?"
"...Blood manipulation?"
And as Lumen indirectly confirmed that the East's 'Empress' wielded blood powers, Erzsebet's bored expression shifted.
'My... kin...'
Erzsebet had little interest in the world, letting time pass powerlessly without much grief over her lost strength... but there were still a few keywords that could stir her heart, and one was her kin—the Blood Demon Tribe.
"Care to elaborate?"
"You don't seriously expect me to answer."
Throwing her earlier words back at her, Lumen cloaked his body in aura burning more fiercely than any knight's, then layered radiance over it. Now that both had information they desperately wanted from each other, there was no more hesitation.
-Rumble!!
-Crunch!!
The blood filling the surrounding space lunged at Lumen with ferocious hostility. He vaporized it with the aura enveloping his body, then swung his radiance.
-Crunch!!
The radiance pierced the river of blood in an instant, blasting Erzsebet's upper body clean off. Her torso exploded, unleashing an unbelievable torrent of blood from what should have been a single demon's body.
-Halt.
But the blood, about to flow to the ground, stopped dead—then flowed backward. Some reconstituted her body, while the portion infused with her true blood compressed to extreme density, just like the magic her master often showed, and shot toward the enemy.
-Splatter!!
It pierced the fiercely burning aura defense, burrowed into Lumen's body, and detonated—ripping his right shoulder apart and tearing his arm clean off. But Lumen, expression unchanged, manipulated his radiance to expel the blood, then pressed his severed arm back to the stump.
-Crack!!
Vessels, muscles, nerves—all reconnecting in an instant, his arm reattached perfectly. Flexing his fingers a few times to regain sensation, Lumen clicked his tongue at Erzsebet, whose upper body had fully regenerated.
"You're a monster."
"...Pot, meet kettle."
Both clicked their tongues at each other's monstrous regenerative abilities. And as if the previous exchange had been mere foreplay, the two began rampaging in earnest.
-Crunch! Splatter! Boom!
Dazzling radiance erupted repeatedly, searing Erzsebet's eyes with sheer brilliance, erasing her blood, and slashing her limbs with sweeping sword strikes.
-Splash! Crack!
Even in that chaotic melee, not a scratch marred the staff, from which blood endlessly poured to fill the gaps left by evaporation, pressuring Lumen from all directions.
"This is...!"
Jeanne, who had stepped back to witness the battle, recoiled in horror and retreated further. It was a brutal bloodbath. With defenses ignored, body parts flying only to regenerate mid-fight—the scene made it hard to tell who was the demon and who the human.
'Don't use blessings rashly. Save the Saintess's miracles for your own protection.'
Lumen's final words, leaving some radiance for the Saintess's safeguard. Recalling them, Jeanne hesitated to bless him. No, more than hesitation...
'...I'm scared.'
The people killing demons outside this dungeon terrified her. The two monsters clashing before her eyes terrified her. And above all...
'...I'm terrified that I'm making the wrong choice.'
The growing sense of wrongness fed her doubt. The brighter and wilder Lumen's radiance grew, the deeper her inexplicable revulsion. Conversely, since entering this dungeon, it felt like some shell around her had shattered.
'[........!!!]'
"Huh...?"
And in that fleeting instant, sensing a faint power flow into her, Jeanne instinctively looked up at the ceiling-blocked sky.
'God?'
As if... God were about to issue a decree...
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"Gah...! You rat bastards...!"
Firing arrows from Astra nonstop while darting like rats, the elves made Chiron abandon his original position in a flash.
-Boom!!
And that spot was crushed underfoot by the massive wood golem moving beyond its limits.
'Damn... what kind of speed is that? And it's tough as hell...'
Chiron didn't know, but the wood golem, now akin to a 'plant,' was stacked with multiple buffs.
The elves' plant communion. Dryad's power integrating distant plants with itself. And...
"Dryad. Eat this one for this round."
"Woof!"
Monitoring the battlefield via cameras on scattered [Robot Cleaners], he kept Dryad nearby to link with the wood golem and relay [Meals] buffs. Responding to enemy attacks with timely [Meals] for Dryad, he switched buff types accordingly.
[Iron Armored Shark Soup]
Physical damage from collisions, falls, etc., reduced by 50%.
[Ricotta Salad]
Movement speed +40% in 'forest' terrain.
"Argh! Damn it!"
Unable to endure, Chiron unleashed the power of his fourth holy relic, one he'd saved for dungeon entry. But to vent his rage, he needed to sweep away that damned golem and the pointy-ears.
-Whirr!!
The moment Chiron activated his reserved power, the light-arrow nocked in his bow pulsed red, emanating an ominous aura.
"...! Enemy's stopped. Everyone, attack...!"
"No! Everyone, evade!"
As Chiron halted his frantic arrow-dodging, the elves' eyes gleamed, readying a volley—but Lil, ears twitching, urgently exerted dominance over them, forcing everyone off their wood golems.
"Die, all of you!!!"
Holy Relic - Avaris. Simple, yet Chiron's strongest. Its power...
-Boom!!
"Huh?"
The single arrow Chiron fired glowed red, then swelled massively before reaching the wood golem. Doubling, quadrupling... it ballooned to over 100 times its original size in seconds.
-KABOOM!!
The wood golem, steadfastly blocking and regenerating, had its upper body obliterated. Only its ankles barely remained, and even part of the forest behind it was gouged out. The elves paled in shock.
"W-What... power...!"
As the elves panicked, Chiron, spotting survivors, kicked off the ground and leaped high, aiming his bow at the clustered elves below.
-Creak!!
"No way?!"
The elves, stunned by the power, gaped in horror at Chiron nocking another red-pulsing arrow. If he fired another like that...!
"Die!!!"
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"Dryad. You 'connecting' properly?"
"Yeah, Dad!"
"Good. Then..."
[Employee Management]
7,568p required to restore target employee's status!
"Eats a ton, damn it... Proceed!"
This was exactly why he'd stockpiled points.
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-Thud!!
"Guh?!"
In that instant, a massive impact hit, something grabbing him mid-leap skyward. Chiron looked up.
"Cough! Gah...! What the...!"
"Groooar!!"
The wood golem.
The one Chiron had obliterated with 'Holy Relic - Avaris' moments ago had regenerated in a flash, snatching him from the air.
"Groooar!!"
"Ngh... Argh!!"
Resisting the golem's iron grip, Chiron conjured an Astra arrow in his tunic, enlarged it with Avaris's power, shredded the hand, and escaped.
Captured briefly, bones cracked and blood flowed, but he wouldn't go down to this.
"I'll kill you all!!!"
Eyes bloodshot, no longer holding back, he nocked three Astra arrows, infused them with Avaris simultaneously, and aimed at the restored wood golem and clustered elves behind it.
.......Where'd that pointy-ear on top go...?
"Yah!!"
"...!! When did you...!!"
As a high elf, more deeply linked to Dryad than any other, Lil had foreseen the golem's revival even without prior notice. Waiting at the regeneration spot, she stuck to Chiron's back post-escape, aiming at his brow.
"Ngh... Graaaah!!"
In that life-or-death moment, Chiron accelerated with 'Aznavl's' power, twisting desperately to evade.
'Dodge this one shot!!'
Plus his holy relic 'Eagle Eye' at peak. Dodge this single arrow, and no more carelessness. No mercy—he'd kill this insolent elf and the rest without restraint.
With this movement, plus Eagle Eye's trajectory vision...!!
Movement speed greatly increased in forests.
Can control some [plants].
"Ngh...?!"
And that instant.
A small root sprouted from the ground, tenaciously snaring Chiron's ankle.
-Thwack!!
"Damn it...!!"
Through his relic-enhanced vision, Chiron witnessed the red trajectory of the arrow zeroing in precisely on his brow.