TEOCH 84

We tried desperately to at least stay alive, but the limit came sooner than expected.

“Keuk……?!”

A sharp muscle pain suddenly struck the right arm I was aiming my sword with at the monster. I managed to swing the sword to block the monster in front of me, but the monster’s arm, which should have been severed, struck the sword as hard as iron, making a loud noise. The moment I hesitated in the sudden situation, Rehas’s scream from behind me made me aware of the situation.

“Hngh, aaack……!”

When I looked back, Rehas, who until just a moment ago had been using the power of his gauntlets to fire arrows, was sitting collapsed on the ground, half-fainted. His face was contorted in terrible pain, and his arms, now back to normal, trembled, unable to even properly support him on the ground. It seemed to be a side effect of overusing the gauntlets’ power.

Even at a glance, his condition was serious, but I was not in a situation to worry about him right now. The fact that Rehas’s paralysis had worn off meant that Damian’s ‘Combat Ready’ magic could no longer be maintained. The reason was obvious……!

“Damian! Damian, can you hear me?!”

“……”

“Rehas, I know it’s hard, but please check on Damian’s condition! It’s dangerous if we leave him like that!”

I knew Rehas was in no condition to listen to me, but I had no choice. Damian’s condition, which I managed to check, was more serious than I thought. His right arm was swollen to nearly twice its usual size, and his golden eyes had already lost their focus. Seeing him sitting powerlessly on the ground, it seemed he couldn’t even use ‘Flame’, let alone ‘Combat Ready’. Damn it, I thought Damian’s parasite would hold out for at least a little longer!

I should have run over to check on Damian’s condition immediately, but confound it, I just didn’t have the time right now. It was because it had become much harder to defeat the transformed monsters.

Because Damian’s ‘Combat Ready’ magic had disappeared, the strength enhancement included in that magic had been completely released. The monsters’ arms, which I could cut off without a problem when my strength was enhanced, now felt so hard that I had to strike them two or three times with my sword to barely sever them.

It wasn’t just me; Tristan and Rikiel were also struggling considerably due to their weakened strength. Especially Tristan…….

“Your Majesty, are you alright?!”

“I, I am fine……, ugh!”

Tristan’s arm was visibly trembling. Perhaps due to the injuries to his limbs sustained during the battle, his movements were much more unstable than before, and he even let out groans as if enduring pain every time he moved. Rikiel, the only one whose movements hadn’t slowed, was drawing the monsters’ attention using ‘Taunt’, but the current situation was a total mess.

“Rohan, what do we do?! Those eyeballs are getting closer!”

“I know, Your Majesty! But we can’t retreat now either!”

As Damian and Rehas, who were in charge of long-range attacks, became incapacitated at the same time, the eyeballs, with no more obstacles, were flying towards us without restraint.

If I had my way, I would want to run away right now, but escaping from those monsters with two people who couldn’t move was virtually impossible. For now, the best course of action was to defeat more of the transformed monsters to level up, and with that, recover everyone’s health and magic power. That way, we could hold on for a little longer.

But even that was just a temporary measure. If the monsters continued to swarm in at this pace, it was only a matter of time before the situation worsened again. I glared at the endlessly swarming monsters and gritted my teeth. Just how, just how long do we have to keep fighting these monsters……!

I wished the monsters would retreat, if only for a moment. I thought it was a vain hope, but surprisingly, that wish was granted quickly.

—Human, not dead yet. Annoying……!

At the sinister voice suddenly coming from far away, I gasped. As a strange magical power enveloped the air, the eyeballs and transformed monsters that were approaching us began to move in a bizarre way. The transformed monsters moved with a compulsive gait, even ignoring Rikiel’s ‘Taunt’, and the eyeballs that had spread throughout the island moved in unison to form lines and take their positions in the air.

A change in pattern, no matter how you look at it, was a bad sign. Of course, in a way, it could be seen as an opportunity……!

“Your Majesty, please take down as many of those monsters as you can with Sir Rikiel! I will take care of Damian!”

With the sole intention of resolving the situation somehow, I shouted that and then immediately ran to Damian and poured the energy of purification into his entire body. As the parasite’s movements subsided, focus finally returned to Damian’s blank eyes. Rehas, who was next to him, also seemed to be slowly recovering from the shock, stumbling as he raised his head.

“D-damn it……. It hurt so much I thought I was going to pass out!”

“Are you alright, Rehas? And Damian, from now on, absolutely do not use the parasite. The parasite’s rampage has already progressed quite a bit, so if things go wrong, it could be really big trouble. Understand?”

Damian couldn’t even speak properly and just nodded, panting. I rolled up his right sleeve and removed the egg sac while monitoring the monsters’ movements. Thanks to that, I bought some time to treat Damian, but I couldn’t help but feel anxious.

What on earth is the Human Centipede trying to do by moving the monsters it summoned? I couldn’t be sure, but a pattern prepared by moving such a large number of monsters would certainly not be easy to handle.

Fortunately, thanks to them not attacking, Tristan was defeating the monsters with ease, but…….

[Your level has increased by 1.]

[Rikiel’s level has increased by 1.]

[Tristan’s level has increased by 1.]

[Rehas’s level has increased by 1.]

[Damian’s level has increased by 1.]

[As an effect of leveling up, all health and magic power have been restored.]

[Congratulations! The performance of the ‘Purification’ skill has improved. Now your companions will be able to endure for a longer time with the purification energy you infuse.]

I let out a sigh of relief at the most welcome message I had seen all day. With this, we could hold on somehow for a while. Of course, we wouldn’t be able to last long, but we could probably hold on for at least 5 to 10 minutes, which is better than not being able to hold on at all and dying.

Let’s see. Now the key is what the Human Centipede’s next pattern is……. Thinking that, I raised my head, and my jaw dropped at the astounding sight unfolding in the sky.

‘Wait, this doesn’t look like a problem that can be solved by leveling up.’

The eyeballs that had spread throughout the island began to draw a giant magic circle in the sky. I immediately turned my head to check the monsters on the ground and confirmed that the monsters were standing still in a single file line. If viewed from the sky, the monsters on the ground would also be forming the shape of a magic circle.

I immediately looked at Damian. Seeing his face turn pale as he stared at the magic circle in the sky, I realized the seriousness of the situation.

“Th-that is……!”

“Damian, is the situation bad? Do you happen to know what kind of magic it is?!”

“I don’t know that much! But it’s not an ordinary spell! An enormous amount of magic power is moving along with the movements of those monsters! They are using living creatures themselves as a magic circle!”

“Then should we kill those monsters? Can we stop it that way?”

“A magic circle like that won’t be greatly affected by killing a few! If you don’t blow away at least half of the magic circle, they can just use the remaining monsters to replenish it! Besides, setting up magic circles in two places, the sky and the ground, this doesn’t seem like an ordinary spell……!”

—Island will be blown away. Then human die. Island can be fixed later, all at once……!

My heart sank at the creature’s muttering from afar. Blowing away the entire island, could it be an instant-death skill? I had expected a wide-area attack to come as the pattern changed, but an instant-death skill already!

‘Damn it, I shouldn’t have wasted time leveling up!’

Of course, if we hadn’t leveled up, Damian’s magic power and the other companions’ health wouldn’t have been restored either, but if we had run away immediately, we could have at least escaped this island by clinging to Rikiel! Of course, then Rikiel’s overexerted parasite might have gone on a rampage, but……. damn it, this is a total mess!

“Let’s run for now! We have no choice but to get out of this island somehow!”

“Wait, by what means?! Even for the Captain of the Guard, he can’t fly with the four of us at the same time!”

“Then are we just going to sit on our hands and do nothing?! We can’t just watch that thing use its magic!”

Rehas, letting out a sigh, lifted the staggering Damian onto his back. Even knowing that it was impossible to escape the island before that magic circle was activated, I led my companions and ran towards the edge of the island.

The eyeballs, having formed a complete magic circle, began to slowly emit a red light, and the already dark sky was now fading in color as if a storm was about to pour down. Even the transformed monsters on the ground were emitting a red light from their entire bodies and melting away.

We won’t be able to escape. That thought had already taken root in my dizzy mind, my breath catching in my throat. Perhaps the problem was thinking that we could escape from a boss whose strategy we didn’t even know in the first place. To escape from that boss, to get to the next area, I might have to die a few more times. Die, come back to life, die, come back to life, repeating such a meaningless life for several years…….

But, right at that moment.

—Mage, take this!

A familiar voice came from the other side of the sky.

Wait, what’s going on? The other harpies have already withdrawn with the monsters, haven’t they? The moment I thought that far, an unidentified bundle of items suddenly flew towards Damian. Rehas caught it in place of Damian, who was on his back, and my companions and I turned our heads in the direction the sound came from. Upon confirming who had thrown the bundle, I couldn’t help but gape.

“Ch-Charon……?!”

—There’s no time! If you don’t use the magic now, it will be dangerous!

“You, don’t tell me you went to get this……?!”

—I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner. Iren hid this deep inside the island, so it took time to find it! Anyway, use this to activate the magic! I will help as well!

While I was staring at Charon with surprised eyes, Rehas, who seemed to have grasped the situation, set Damian down and hastily untied the bundle. Inside it were the quest items that had been taken away yesterday, all intact.

Damian and Rehas immediately inserted the jewel with the ‘Defense’ magic into the empty slot at the top of the controller, and attached the disc-shaped ‘Amplifier’ on top of it. The combined quest items formed the shape of a complete magic staff.

“This isn’t just a matter of protecting our bodies! That thing was spouting nonsense about blowing away the entire island!”

—I heard that too! But if we combine this human’s magic power and my magic power, we should be able to prevent the island’s collapse as well! That monster, to think it would try to destroy the island when it said it came to restore it……!

Charon’s face was filled with anger as she glared in the direction of the monster. Landing next to Damian, she spread her wings wide and poured magic power into the staff. An enormous amount of magic power that couldn’t even be compared to what Damian could use enveloped the staff, and Damian grabbed the staff without hesitation.

—Human, I will kill all……!

The moment the Human Centipede let out a roar, Damian’s magic was activated. As Damian slammed the controller onto the ground with all his might, a blue magic power that crackled like lightning enveloped him. The amplifier attached to the top of the controller amplified the magic power infused by Charon and Damian several times over, releasing an enormous amount of magic power.

Most of that magic power was absorbed into the ground, dyeing the surrounding ground blue. I couldn’t confirm it, but perhaps the entire island was enveloped in light? But even the remaining magic power that wasn’t absorbed exceeded the limits of what Damian could normally use, so a solid barrier, what must have been several tens of centimeters thick, completely surrounded us. I had never seen the ‘Defense’ magic deployed on such a large scale before.

At the same time, the Human Centipede’s magic also completed its activation. The magic circle on the ground, which had been made of monsters, disappeared as if melting away, and the magic power that constituted the magic circle rose high into the sky and intertwined with the magic circle in the air. The moment even the magic circle in the air, which held a large amount of magic power like a cloud, completely melted away, a bloody thunderstorm poured down on the island with a flash of light, and…….

An explosion loud enough to deafen the ears shook the entire island.