kscans

Chapter 217 - The Saint's Church's Deadly Battle.

The Saint’s Church.

The human army was engaged in a fierce battle with the monsters. The two sides were locked in a back-and-forth struggle.

The battle between the Earth Bear and Altorine began. The tree branches unleashed by the Earth Bear attacked like tentacles. Altorine slashed through them with her sword. One after another, she cut them down, and as she drew closer, the Earth Bear swung its right claw down.

…It was blindingly fast. …An ordinary person would be killed without being able to dodge. But Altorine dodged it by a hair’s breadth. She swung her sword in a horizontal arc at its wide-open stomach.

However, its thick flesh and fur were so tough that it didn't even draw blood, let alone inflict any damage. …Just then, the Earth Bear swung its left claw down. She parried it with her sword, but it was immediately followed by an attack from its right claw.

…Altorine continued to parry the Earth Bear’s fierce onslaught with her sword.

If she moved carelessly to dodge, she could become its prey. …But if she continued like this, she would be overwhelmed by its sheer strength.

As Altorine parried the next attack,

"...Flash!!"

A bright light burst from her sword.

The Earth Bear stopped moving, blinded by the light. …Altorine immediately retreated.

Catching her breath, Altorine said, "...Hah, hah. …Strong. And tough. It’s no wonder there’s no record of it being defeated."

She calmly assessed the situation without even wiping away her sweat.

…With so little information on the Earth Bear, it was natural for unexpected things to happen. Altorine cloaked her sword in light. A `Sword of Light` that could cut through anything, no matter how hard.

The Earth Bear became wary and took some distance.

…And then it increased the number of trees it controlled, and the branch tentacles all attacked Altorine at once. Branch attacks came from all directions. …Even Altorine had no choice but to stop and intercept them.

An attack of innumerable branches. She slashed through them. …But a branch caught her right leg. As her posture crumbled, branches attacked her one after another. …Her right hand… left hand… left leg were caught by branches, and she was restrained in a spread-eagle position.

She struggled to move her body, but she couldn’t budge. …As Altorine panicked, the branch tentacles bundled together to form a single spear. It shot towards Altorine’s stomach.

Her body was immobile. Her sword was in her right hand, so she couldn’t defend herself either. …She prepared for death. But the attack stopped just short of her.

Altorine, and of course the Earth Bear, looked confused as to what had happened. Just then, the smell of something burning drifted on the wind.

…In the forests to the left and right, the knights were setting fire only to the trees being controlled. This caused the controlling power to be lost. It seemed the plan had succeeded. …Convinced, Altorine put her strength into it and shook off the branches.

Unlike before, they came off easily.

Altorine shouted, "...My thanks!!"

She thanked them and charged.

…The Earth Bear was surprised that it couldn’t control the trees, but seeing Altorine approaching, it immediately began to intercept her. …Since it couldn’t control the trees, it moved on to its next move.

The Earth Bear lifted its left foot and stomped down hard. The ground split, and rocks shot out like spears. Altorine dodged and slashed through them.

Just as she was about to reach the Earth Bear, a wall of rock appeared in front of her. Caught by surprise, she stopped and slashed through the wall. …On the other side of the wall, the Earth Bear had raised its right hand and swung it down. She tried to step back, but the uneven footing of the jumbled rocks made it difficult to move.

She couldn’t block with her sword in time, and the attack hit her. …Three lines were drawn on her armor, and blood spurted out. It was clearly a fatal wound. …But Altorine didn’t fall; she stood her ground and swung her sword in a horizontal arc.

The Earth Bear’s right hand was severed, and blood gushed out from it like a fountain. The Earth Bear shrieked. Altorine panted for breath.

…Both were seriously injured.

Altorine said, "...Hah, hah. …Impressive. To use such a strategy, you must have some intelligence. Or is it instinct? Either way, the next one will decide it."

She steeled her resolve and readied her `Sword of Light`.

…With such a wound, there was no time for half-measures. Her skill, `Recovery`, was only effective when she was resting. As long as she had the will to fight, the skill wouldn't activate. …She decided to go all-in.

The Earth Bear was shaken by the loss of its right hand and the pain, but sensing its opponent’s killing intent, it quickly recovered. Its only means of attack were the earth and its left hand. …Its legs were too short for kicking.

…The Earth Bear decided it had no choice but to use its trump card.

They glared at each other, the air thick with killing intent. …The one who moved was Altorine. She ran with her `Sword of Light` in an overhead stance.

…The distance was about five meters. Its earth magic was sure to come. She ran cautiously. …She had a simple plan to deal with it. …Even a surprise attack would always have a tell. …As long as she paid attention to that, there would be no problem.

But there was no sign of it at all, which only raised her suspicion.

However, she quickly switched her line of thought. It was probably planning something. …Something she didn't know about. …She didn't know what it was, but she couldn't afford to be intimidated.

If she wanted to win, not fighting was not an option.

And then, when she was within sword’s reach, Altorine shouted, "Flash Sword!!"

A slash of light shot out in a horizontal arc to cut down the Earth Bear.

…Immediately after, the Earth Bear’s head dropped sharply, and its horn stopped the slash of light. Altorine was surprised, but she recovered and put more force into her sword. But it didn't budge. …In fact, the horn began to glow, emitting a faint, pale blue light.

This was the Earth Bear’s trump card. …By pouring magic into its horn, it became a horn of light that could cut and pierce any substance. …Controlling trees and using earth magic were, for the Earth Bear, abilities it could do without.

…Sword and horn were locked in a stalemate. …But Altorine was at a disadvantage.

…The Earth Bear had the upper hand, and she was gradually being pushed back. No matter how much she enhanced her physical abilities with `Body Enhancement`, she couldn't match the Earth Bear’s strength. …On top of that, the wound on her chest from the previous attack was throbbing.

The Earth Bear also seemed to be in pain from its right hand, but it had a higher pain tolerance than Altorine.

She searched for a way to turn the tables. …Suddenly, she had an idea.

To be honest, she didn't know if it would work, but it was better than doing nothing.

Altorine took a step forward.

"...Skill: ‘Charge’!!"

She activated her skill.

…Normally, this skill was only effective when moving forward and wouldn't activate from a standstill.

But by stepping forward, the effect activated. An invisible wall appeared in front of Altorine. It crashed into the Earth Bear’s face. It was like a slap, and its head was turned sideways. …She deactivated `Charge`, and her `Sword of Light`, now free from the Earth Bear’s horn, swung in a swift counter. …She slashed the Earth Bear’s stomach in a horizontal line.

The Earth Bear’s body was cut in half; its upper half fell backward, and its lower half collapsed, gushing a fountain of blood.

The toughest of the high-level monsters had been defeated.

A knight shouted, "...We did it! We did it!! Altorine-sama has defeated it!!"

He shouted with joy.

In response, roars rose from other parts of the battlefield. …And with that momentum, the attack on the monsters intensified.

The knights and adventurers were full of life.

In the midst of this.

"...That’s right!! Our Valkyrie is the strongest!! Finish them off!!"

The Guild Master, with a spear in hand, had appeared out of nowhere.

He was supposed to be unable to move due to a bad back, but he was energetically running towards the monsters. He held his spear horizontally and charged at a Goblin. The Goblin saw the Guild Master and ran to cut him with a knife.

An adventurer watched, thinking that if he was that energetic, he must be fine.

But then… BOKI!! …A dull sound, and the Guild Master’s movement stopped. The Goblin saw its chance and was about to stab him with its knife, but…

The Guild Master shouted, "...G-G-G-GUTS!!!!"

He yelled and thrust his spear.

It struck the unprepared Goblin in the stomach. …It was thrashing about. The Guild Master collapsed on the spot, unable to move.

An adventurer watching the thrashing Goblin lopped off its head with his sword.

The adventurer said, "...You’re a tough one. …But don’t be a nuisance."

He slung the Guild Master over his shoulder and left the front lines.

…There was nothing left to fear. That’s what they thought.

But a roar rose from the forest, and the trees trembled. …And it was more than one.

…That roar was… The human army thought it was impossible. …But reality was cruel.

Five Earth Bears appeared.

To add to the desperate situation, a Slime leaped onto the burned and partially scorched trees.

It was whiter than the Slimes they had seen before, and had a holy feel to it. It clung to the tree for two seconds. When it detached, the scorched part was gone, and the tree was as fresh as new.

A knight said, "...N-No way. That Slime… …it’s a Reverse Slime."

The human army was terrified.

A high-level Slime monster. A Reverse Slime.

…It had no attack power at all, but its healing ability was god-like. A single touch and anything would be restored to its original, brand-new state. So, it wasn't a matter of defeating it first. Even if you attacked it, it would instantly regenerate and heal, and even if you used magic to attack its entire body, it would regenerate at a speed that surpassed the attack.

It was known as the most immortal monster among them.

However, it wasn't aggressive and was a harmless monster that only healed things that were damaged. …But now it was attaching itself to the scorched trees and regenerating them, swarming only the wounded monsters, and not touching the humans at all.

No matter how you looked at it, its actions were hostile to humans.

Altorine said, "...This is so far beyond the worst-case scenario that I don’t even feel anything."

She tried to stand up, clutching the pain in her chest, but a knight said, "...You mustn’t!! You’re at a disadvantage with that wound!! Please leave this to us! Altorine-sama, please fall back for now. …Otherwise, your skill won’t activate."

To the urging knight, Altorine said, "...But, you all…"

The pain in her wound made it difficult to speak properly.

The knight said, "...No. You are our hope. …Please take care of yourself."

He bowed his head.

With a pained expression, Altorine said, "...I understand. …Don’t be reckless."

Altorine was escorted to the rear by the knight.

Facing the five Earth Bears, the knight said, "...Now is the time. To show them our will. The true strength of humanity!!"

With resolve, he raised his sword.

The other knights also raised their swords and charged.