R4STWH - Chapter 123

Chapter 123

'It seems like I wasn't too late.'

The reason why I had brought the saintess here was because I had judged that either Gerent or Elias would be severely injured and unable to battle.

That estimation was somewhat accurate.

Although he was somehow holding on, Gerent seemed to be having a hard time even dodging the tentacles.

It was thanks to Baeksa and Elias drawing the monster’s attention that he had even managed to survive this long.

On the other hand, Elias was…….

'There are barely any noticeable injuries on him.'

Of course, I was happy and proud of him.

However, the fact that made my heart heavy was also true.

'As expected, he…….'

The moment he had obtained the title of ‘Executor’, he would naturally have regained the memories of when he had received the god’s will.

He would also have recalled his powers and abilities from that time as well.

Of course, he couldn’t exert all of that right now. His level would be lower than before, and the same would be true for his stats.

It was a similar situation to the restrictions that I had.

Even so, the fact that he was able to keep the SS-rank monster at bay with such stability meant that the possibility of him being ‘that person’ that Ermitar had mentioned was very high.

'No, I can't confirm anything until I hear it directly.'

After shaking off my anxiety, I quickly jumped down behind Baeksa, Elias, and Gerent.

“Aaaagh!”

When I landed alongside the saintess’s scream, Baeksa let out a sigh.

“You’re finally here.”

“Sorry for calling you out so suddenly.”

“I was surprised that you might have already been eaten by that tentacle monster.”

I entrusted Gerent’s treatment to the saintess first.

As every single awakened person was needed, losing this much manpower would be a significant loss to the world.

And then,

“Clea, how much has your mana recovered?”

“Thanks to the items that you had lent me, sister, I’ve already recovered about 10% of my total amount.”

“Alright, then…….”

After asking one thing that wasn’t excessive, I joined the battle.

“Ilesha.”

Elias, who had cut through the endlessly regenerating mass of tentacles, came towards me.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was delayed because of a situation.”

“A situation……?”

I did my best to show a smile like I always did.

“I’ll tell you everything after we take care of this first.”

“……Alright.”

I tried to avoid or cut down the tentacles while checking the monster’s behavioral pattern.

“Did you happen to find a weakness?”

I asked Elias, not knowing if he might still have his ‘Chaser’ skills. After a moment of silence, he replied.

“The very center. The core is located there.”

“Other than that, there are no weaknesses?”

“Yeah. It will regenerate infinitely until you destroy the core.”

The monster’s body was, without exaggeration, about as big as a city.

If we were to just dodge and wait it out, we could do it as much as we wanted in the current state.

However, it was impossible to reach its core while it was constantly regenerating at an unbelievable rate. In other words, there was no other way other than to use the skill to release my stat restrictions to finish it off.

'Well, I didn't think I would be able to defeat an SS-rank monster without any losses from the start.'

“Let’s finish this in 10 seconds.”

I told my plan to Elias and Baeksa.

“I will fulfill my role perfectly.”

Baeksa, who had taken over Howell Ricks’s body, said that he could draw out his original power for about 30 seconds.

However, since a crisis had appeared all over the continent, it was necessary to conserve our power as much as possible, so I only asked Baeksa to assist me.

“I’ll finish this quickly, Elias. Please take care of the saintess and grandfather.”

“Yeah, you don’t have to worry about it.”

Yeah. To be honest, I wasn’t worried about his safety anymore.

Because I knew that he was capable of putting up a fight comparable to Baeksa, if he really wanted to.

I was only worried about his inner state that always smiled gently towards me.

'I hope he’s okay.'

I had no way of even estimating how devastated his soul would be while being driven into a situation where he had to lead the destruction of his own world, where he had grown up.

Also, what his heart would be like when he remembered all of it.

So the only thing I could say was just a clumsy request to not overdo it.

After making eye contact with Clea one last time, I lowered my stance and gripped the axe handle.

And then, I released the restrictions that were on me.

The restriction on your abilities has been lifted.

Strength: 300→770 Stamina: 300→709 Agility: 300→930 Mentality: +999

All Trait Penalties have been removed.

My condition was at its peak thanks to the contribution that I had accumulated while clearing dungeons daily under restrictions.

The timer, which had decreased to 40 seconds because I had snuck out Ermitar, started moving again.

'9.'

Whoosh-!

While Baeksa drew the monster’s attention by opening the power of the holy sword, I started to pour all kinds of mind-related skills onto it.

'8.'

Fear. Illusion. Hypnosis. Interference. Restraint. Poison…….

The Gluttonous Monarch (SS) resists the status ailment.

Due to high resistance, the skill has been nullified.

. . .

Numerous windows appeared.

'7.'

That was to be expected. Most monsters of that kind usually had resistance to most mental abilities.

However, that only meant ‘most’ and not ‘all’ and I knew that from my past experiences.

'6.'

After pouring half of my mana in dozens of attempts, I finally managed to find its weakness.

The Gluttonous Monarch (SS) is inflicted with the status ailment ‘Sloth’.

'5.'

Its movements became extremely slow and its grotesque shell started to melt away. The reason why was that its regeneration power had decreased.

“Okay, Baeksa!”

After pushing him behind me, I rushed towards it, swirling mana all over my body.

'4.'

'Skill name, Torrent.'

It was a skill named after the feeling of being drenched with blood by the swordsmanship that would pour down like rain in the blink of an eye.

The sword energy that bored into it like a drill carved into its flesh. Dozens of times, hundreds of times.

'3.'

Thump!

The black core that was pulsing menacingly finally revealed its appearance. Although it was just a small part of it, Clea didn't miss the moment.

As I had asked beforehand, she manipulated the spirits and froze the area around the core.

'2.'

'Skill name, Execution.'

I focused my mana into one point and swung the axe. The sword energy that had split the air sliced my vision in half.

Swish-!

'1.'

After confirming the cracks that were spreading on the huge ice, I quickly backed away.

Crack! Crack!

The sensation that spread through my fingertips and the eerie cracking sounds told me.

Who was the victor.

And so, I didn't hesitate to end the release of my stat restrictions.

'0.'

The timer had stopped exactly at 30 seconds.

Successfully defeated the Gluttonous Monarch (SS). Calculating total contribution.

1st Place - Ilesha Tenaclad

2nd Place - Elias Lakdel Tenaclad

3rd Place - Howell Ricks

4th Place - Clea Protia

5th Place - Gerent Tenaclad

Rewards will be given according to the contribution.

At the same time, my quest was cleared.

Successfully cleared the quest 'Qualification Verification (2)'

The influence in world E-17ACEM has increased by 1 step. (Current: 6/10 steps)

You can release the stat restriction for 60 seconds once a day.

It seemed that the protection of the saintess of the Amern order had also been fulfilled along with defeating the biggest threat, the SS-rank monster.

Thanks to that, the timer, which had stopped at 30 seconds, had increased to 40 seconds again.

After putting the axe back into my inventory, I turned around and saw everyone staring into the air.

Since this was probably the first time that they had defeated an SS-rank monster in the world named E-17ACEM, the achievement reward would probably be quite big. And their levels would have increased quite a lot too.

However, Elias was only staring straight at me, instead of at the notification windows.

Just as I was standing there while looking at him.

While keeping his gaze on me, he sheathed his sword after wiping the blood from it, and walked towards me.

When I was still standing there, unable to understand why I was standing still, he stopped when he was about a foot away from me.

And then, he took out a handkerchief and started to meticulously wipe my face and neck.

My heart ached as I saw his serious attitude as if he was doing something very important.

“You'll tell me what the situation is now, right?”

It must have been because of his sudden question that I had become flustered.

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