Chapter 394: The Fatal Flaw

Once before, Hulim Heyerar had wounded Karimal with the Helkem. But on that occasion, Karimal had not been on guard—and so he had paid the injury no mind.

Now that momentary lapse had become a fatal flaw.

BOOM——!

A colossal blade of light sliced through his magical shield as easily as a hot knife through butter, then sank deep into his body, carving a path of destruction all the way down.

“ARGH——!!!”

Karimal let out a scream of agony that shook the heavens.

A gaping wound split open his body from shoulder to chest, and a flood of pitch-black liquid gushed forth from the gash.

The liquid tried to mend his wound, but the injury was far too severe. Worse still, the lingering power of the Helkem continued to interfere with his regeneration, making it impossible for him to heal in a short time. Instead, the black blood kept pouring down, splattering onto the ground below.

“How is this possible!?”

Karimal shouted in disbelief, his three crimson eyes widening with shock.

“That sword... it actually...!”

“Is that the Hero’s Sword?! How could it break through my defenses so easily? Impossible! Are you the Sword Hero?!”

Hulim let out a slow breath, steadying her churning magical power. That full-powered strike had drained her significantly.

“Hulim is no hero.”

Monroe’s voice drifted over from far away, growing closer with each step.

Karimal’s head snapped around.

Only then did he notice that, at some point, all the Rank A Demonic Beasts under his command had vanished without a trace. And now, these Rank A Adventurers were closing in on him once again, forming a tight circle of death.

Their bodies were covered in blood, their appearances tattered and worn, their auras unsteady. But the fighting spirit burning in their eyes was fiercer than ever before.

“Mr. Monroe—you’ve finished them off?”

Hulim asked.

“Of course.”

Monroe nodded with a grin,

“This time, I’ve killed more Rank As than you have. By tavern rules, you owe me a drink tonight~.”

Over half of the remaining Rank A Demonic Beasts had fallen to his sword alone. The others had done little more than assist him.

“......?”

Ignoring the question mark floating above Hulim’s head, Monroe slung his blood-dripping sword over his shoulder and addressed Karimal, his voice cold and sharp.

“Hulim is no hero. And neither are we. Besides, it would take no hero to deal with a weakling like you.”

“Let’s move out——!”

As soon as Monroe finished speaking, he struck first. A sharp sword qi streaked toward Karimal’s neck, aiming for the kill.

The others launched their attacks simultaneously, each strike landing with devastating force.

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Already gravely wounded, Karimal had struggled to hold his own against Hulim alone. Now, besieged by so many powerful foes, he was instantly thrown into mortal peril.

Black blood continued to pour from his body, painting the ground beneath him.

“ARGH! CURSED HUMANS! CURSED ADVENTURERS——!”

He roared in fury, his voice cracking with pain.

Anyone watching could see that he was trapped in a hopeless situation.

HUM!

Nine overlapping magic arrays unfolded above his head once again.

BOOM——!!!

As a massive mushroom cloud rose into the sky,

Karimal finally collapsed to the ground, his body motionless......

......

While Hulim and the other Rank A Adventurers were locked in their life-or-death battle with Karimal on the southern battlefield,

on the western battlefield.

“ROAR——!”

A beast-shaped demonic beast raised its massive palm—bigger than a human being—and slammed it down toward Lucian.

THUD——!

Lucian lifted his shield with all his strength, blocking the attack dead-on.

But under the continuous pressure of the demonic beast’s brute force, his body was pushed back inch by inch, his boots scraping against the ground.

“Hold on—for just a little longer——!”

He gritted his teeth, a surge of power erupting from within him. With a mighty heave, he threw the demonic beast off balance, sending it tumbling backward.

“Now’s our chance!”

Eileen shouted, raising her wand and unleashing her magic.

CRACKLE!

Sharp earth spikes and pitch-black shadow spears pierced the demonic beast’s body simultaneously as it lay on the ground. Finally,

“Take this, you overgrown brute! Wind Blast Spiral Spear!”

BOOM!

As Russell’s spear pierced the demonic beast’s eye socket and drove straight into its brain,

the battle finally came to an end.

“Phew! Piece of cake~!”

Russell pulled his spear out and said triumphantly, puffing out his chest.

“Don’t get complacent, Russell. Carelessness will get you killed.”

Lucian warned him, his voice serious.

“Relax! Hulim took out all the tough demonic beasts earlier. Most of the remaining ones are too scared to come this way. What could possibly happen to us~?”

No sooner had Russell spoken these words than, on the southern battlefield, Karimal issued his final order: a full-scale assault by all demonic beasts.

RUMBLE......

“Huh? What’s going on?”

Russell stared dumbfounded at the horde of demonic beasts charging toward them recklessly, as if possessed.

“Hey, hey... This doesn’t look good.”

“Shut your mouth already!”

Eileen snapped at him,

“It’s all your fault for jinxing us with that big mouth of yours!”

Lucian looked out at the approaching tide of beasts, his brow furrowing deeply.

“There are too many Rank B Demonic Beasts. We need to fall back to the walls.”

Under his command, the Silver Team began to retreat toward the city walls.

But it wasn’t just the incoming demonic beasts that had gone berserk. The ones already on the battlefield had also lost all sense of self-preservation, attacking with reckless abandon.

Their retreat quickly became a struggle, every step forward met with fierce resistance.

Under the demonic beasts’ relentless assault, more and more adventurers fell to the ground, their bodies trampled underfoot.

As far as the eye could see, the battlefield was littered with the corpses of adventurers and demonic beasts alike.

The blood of both sides mixed together, pooling into crimson lakes across the ground.

“This is... too terrible......”

The sight before him made Russell clench his jaw tightly, his eyes burning with anger.

Suddenly, he froze in his tracks.

In the distance, lying atop a small mountain of demonic beast corpses, was a familiar figure.

He recognized that person.

It was one of the guild members who had mocked him earlier that day—someone who had bragged endlessly about his own strength, looking down on everyone else.

But now, that same person lay motionless on the ground, his eyes empty and lifeless, a gaping hole torn through his abdomen.

Russell’s right hand tightened around his spear, his knuckles turning white from the force.

“Hmph. Big talker. If you were so tough, why’d you end up like this......”

“Russell......”

“I’m fine.”

Russell shook his head, his voice gruff.

“Just another know-it-all who laughed at me, dead and gone. Talked a big game, but couldn’t even last five minutes out here. Ah well—at least my ears will be quieter from now on. Silver lining, I guess.”

“......”

“Alright, quit staring at me. Let’s move out! And if any of you die, I’ll laugh at you just like this too!”

Russell gripped his spear tightly and charged forward without looking back.

The other three exchanged a glance, then silently followed in his footsteps.

THUD!

At that very moment,

a massive shadow descended from the sky, blocking out the sun.

The four of them paled, quickly forming a defensive formation.

But before they could even engage this demonic beast in battle,

“ROAR!”

another colossal shadow appeared behind them, cutting off their retreat.

“Two of them? This is bad—”

Russell muttered, his voice tense.

“GRRR......”

A low growl rumbled from their right side, interrupting Lucian’s words.

“......”

The hearts of the four sank like stones.

Three Rank B Demonic Beasts—and they were surrounded.