“Be careful not to be scratched by them, or infection will set in,” Luoge cautioned Lucy and the others, highlighting the necessary precautions.
“You all, step back.” Lucy seized Luoge’s hand, intending for her to stay behind them. This battle was far beyond the capabilities of children with mere E-rank strength.
“No, this one shall fight as well.” Luoge stood unmoving, her gaze brimming with resolute determination. She was certainly not a coward who would merely flee.
“The same goes for us! We won’t abandon our friends and cower in the back!” Jeanne and the others stepped forward, aligning themselves with Luoge.
“An interesting bunch of brats.” Zalenk hoisted his greatsword, giving it a nonchalant swing. In that same instant, a mutated beast was sent flying.
“Then be careful, all of you. Do not stray from the group.” Lucy saw no point in trying to dissuade them, knowing it would be futile. It was Grandma Muma, however, who harbored genuine concern.
“Hukelent, you and I will protect these six.” Ultimately, Grandma Muma enlisted Hukelent, and together, they assumed the critical duty of guardianship.
“You must be careful as well.” Luoge nodded towards them, then turned her gaze to Sacred Flame.
“Does that transformation have a time limit?”
“To answer the master, yes, there is a time limit. Given your current state, Master, it can be sustained for less than six minutes at most,” Sacred Flame replied.
“And if this one’s magical power were at its peak?”
“Around twenty minutes.”
“Then do you know the Nightmare Beast’s weakness?”
“It appears to be a specific organ within its body.”
“Are you certain?”
“Not entirely certain, but I can at least affirm that its fatal point resides there.”
“Then this one shall make an attempt.” As Luoge concluded her exchange with Sacred Flame, she retrieved a small vial of blue liquid from her pouch, unstoppered it, and swiftly drank its contents.
It was a potent mana restoration potion. Any alchemist present would have immediately recognized it as a high-grade elixir, fetching a hundred gold coins per bottle on the market. Its efficacy was unparalleled, devoid of the minor side effects often associated with common mana potions.
“Help this one clear a path to the Nightmare Beast.”
“Jeanne, you are on rescue duty. Should this one face danger, I place my trust in you.”
Luoge’s deepest trust lay with only four individuals: her companions. Jeanne, however, was an exception, having only been met that very day. Consequently, she wasn’t entirely privy to their intricate battle plans.
“Children, allow us to assist you as well.” Grandma Muma, still feeling uneasy, offered their help.
“Then I shall trouble you, Grandma, to help this one hold back the mutated beasts and those black-robed figures. The Nightmare Beast, however, will be left to this one; I wish to test my strength.”
Having spoken, Luoge immediately transformed, her attributes multiplying severalfold.
“Shana, we’re taking the lead.”
“Understood.”
The six-person strategy instantly unfurled, with Shavier and Shana initiating a powerful assault to clear their path.
“Five-Consecutive Swift Slashes!”
The instant Shavier drew her blade, her figure vanished, only to reappear ten meters away. Every two meters, a lingering afterimage and a flash of sword light marked her passage. Several beasts caught within her lethal arc were cleaved in two, yet miraculously, none perished.
This entire devastating sequence unfolded in a single, ungraspable moment, too swift for the naked eye to track. This particular sword technique, a closely guarded secret, had been passed down through generations of her family, with very few currently possessing its mastery.
Shana’s figure moved in swift pursuit. The beasts, still in a state of regeneration, were mercilessly hacked into a dozen pieces before they could fully recover, as if brutally dismembered.
While Shana’s movement speed couldn’t match Shavier’s, her attack speed surpassed even her sister’s. Though employing the same sword technique, Shana’s Five-Consecutive Swift Slashes possessed the gruesome capability to truly dismember any beast or person she encountered, leaving a trail of extreme gore.
Ordinarily, Shavier and Shana could not casually unleash such body-breaking sword techniques. In the past, deploying this particular move would inevitably plunge them into a state of physical rigidity. Shana might recover slightly faster than Shavier, but not by any significant margin.
However, since undergoing the baptism of Sacred Flame, they had unexpectedly gained immunity to this debilitating stiffness. Perhaps the manifold growth in their physical capabilities allowed them to wield these formidable sword techniques without any lingering repercussions.
“Thunder Wing!”
Shavier channeled her mana into her single-handed sword, causing deep green currents to shimmer around it. As plants began to sprout from the ground beneath her feet, she unleashed a swing, sending a torrent of deep green sword energy hurtling forward.
“Prayer Spell: Rain.”
While Shana launched her subsequent attack, Windy Feron was already channeling and chanting her sacred magic. Dark clouds swiftly gathered over the Nightmare Beast’s vicinity, unleashing a deluge of heavy rain that quickly pooled across the ground.
Shana, meanwhile, didn’t spare a glance backward. Instead, she positioned her sword behind her, adopting a stance as if poised for a single-handed draw, clearly anticipating something.
“Now!”
The instant Shavier unleashed her skill, Shana perceived the incoming sword energy from behind. With a swift upward draw, she intercepted the energy and then directed it with a powerful swing towards the dark clouds.
Boom!
The very next moment the sword energy pierced the dark clouds, thunder rumbled, and several bolts of deep green lightning descended, striking the pooled water on the ground. Every person and beast caught in the vicinity, including the Nightmare Beast itself, seemed to freeze in place.
This paralysis was due to the rampant growth of vegetation from the ground, ensnaring their escape paths. However, this phenomenon proved utterly useless against the Nightmare Beast; any plant life that merely brushed against it instantly withered and turned to ash.
“Incoming fireball!”
Alisa Dragon raised her left hand, conjuring a massive fireball, larger even than herself. Treating it like a baseball, she gripped her staff with both hands and batted the fiery orb away.
Boom!
The colossal fireball landed with pinpoint accuracy in its intended location, sending numerous people and beasts flying from the explosive impact.
“Holy Relic Liberation: Elpati.”
“Resound, Solitary Star Spear!”
Empowered by her transformation, Luoge could forcibly unleash her sacred relic. Having been reforged by the Sacred Flame Divine Stone, its power had vastly increased, even allowing her to cast her most advanced spells.
Above the Nightmare Beast’s head, a constellation of pale blue magic circles materialized, varying in size. Each circle shimmered with the distinct arrangement of stars, and at their heart, a single pale blue spear connected them all. Its tip pointed directly at the Nightmare Beast.
Luoge raised her hand, and one by one, the magic circles were absorbed into the spear. This was Star Magic, an ancient, lost art. Its primary drawback lay in the presence of multiple nearby targets, which would cause the spell to fragment, diluting its formidable power across each division.
Despite this, it remained Luoge’s most potent single-target spell.
The Nightmare Beast ceased its movements, instead tilting its head to gaze upward at the spear hovering directly above it.
“Descend.”
Having absorbed the final magic circle, the spear pulsed with an intense aura. Following Luoge’s command, it plummeted with terrifying speed towards the Nightmare Beast’s head.
*Thud!*
The Nightmare Beast’s body was impaled by the spear, pinned to the ground as if skewered. The majority of its internal organs were obliterated, and even the monsters it controlled ceased their movements. It appeared, for a moment, that Luoge’s attack had been a resounding success.
In the very next moment, Luoge’s transformation and the powers of her sacred relic automatically dispelled. She appeared profoundly weakened, her face alarmingly pale.
“Did it succeed?”
For reasons unknown to her, Jeanne’s heart was gripped by a profound unease, as if a terrible premonition of impending disaster had settled upon her.
“Master, the Nightmare Beast is still alive!”
Upon hearing Jeanne’s words, Sacred Flame attempted to sense the Nightmare Beast’s life fluctuations. To its dismay, it discovered the beast was indeed still alive; the preceding strike had been utterly ineffective.
“It’s over.”
Luoge let out a self-deprecating laugh, then turned to Alisa Dragon beside her, her gaze filled with apology.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought you out here.”
“What nonsense are you spouting? We’ll absolutely make it out alive, won’t we, Jeanne?”
Alisa Dragon, remarkably, showed no trace of tension in this dire situation. Instead, she pulled Luoge into a comforting embrace.
“You idiot.”
A smile touched Luoge’s lips, and she returned Alisa Dragon’s embrace.
Lucy and the others had already initiated emergency procedures. Rushu and Nangong Ye swiftly moved towards Shavier’s position, aiming to retrieve them.
However, the Nightmare Beast abruptly stirred, its maw opening wide to spew forth a torrent of internal fluid, its target unmistakably Shavier and Shana.
“Shavier, Shana, danger!”
In that sudden moment, Jeanne witnessed the spear within the Nightmare Beast’s body decompose instantly. Its internal fluids began to surge, and all nearby beasts turned their gazes towards them. Shavier and Shana, caught isolated, were now in grave peril.
“Shavier, Shana! Get out of the way, now!”
“Holy Sword Art: Calibur.”
To extricate Shavier and Shana from their dire predicament, Jeanne resolved to make a desperate gamble, choosing to unleash the Holy Sword Art—a technique she had yet to fully master. This particular move was arguably Jeanne’s most potent attack. While casting it would likely deplete all her magical energy, she was determined to proceed, knowing it was their only hope for Shavier and Shana’s escape.
The Holy Sword Art, spanning forty meters, descended with devastating force. Numerous beasts vanished in its wake, utterly annihilated without a trace. Even the liquid spewed by the Nightmare Beast disappeared. All that remained was a forty-meter-deep chasm and a gaping hole blasted through the Nightmare Beast’s body.