R4STWH - Chapter 145
Chapter 145
“You said… He never left?”
However, he wasn't the type to be kind enough to repeat the same answer. So, Elias turned his back on the Saintess, who was looking at him with wide eyes, and knocked away a few broken blades.
Judging from the familiar energy rapidly approaching, it seemed Crow had successfully retrieved the ‘fragment of the world’ that had been taken by Melder. ‘The conditions should be met now.’
Having finished his preparations, Elias turned his gaze to the battlefield to check Ilesha's position. What he saw was her running on top of Ermitar's body.
“……!”
His legs reflexively tensed. He once again felt the urge to run to her, take her away from danger, and put some distance between them.
He forced himself to take a step while repeatedly telling himself to remain calm. After observing her movements and predicting her landing point, he waited for her. She had managed to create a tattered wound on Ermitar’s neck, and then jumped to his side. “I think his skin is a bit thicker than in our world.”
“Probably.”
He also must have noticed that Ilesha and her comrades had limitations. He probably gave up some of his attack power, and focused more on defense so that the battle wouldn't be decided quickly. However, Elias judged his strategy to be flawed. He took her hand, which was about to launch her back into the fray, and said, “Ilesha, can you try to push Ermitar as close as possible to the divine barrier? Even if you just get close to the perimeter, that’s fine.”
“Hmm… I think I can do that.”
She glanced in the direction of the Saintess, guessing that something was going to happen over there, and asked, “How should I time it?”
“10 seconds after the light starts to blink.”
“Okay, I’ll try.”
Even though she could have said something about him not actively participating in the attack, she just smiled and immediately ran off. Maybe she already knew his situation as well as everything about the balance. Her ability to read the flow was better than anyone else’s.
‘There really isn’t much time left now.’
49.298 : 50.702
Having checked the numbers of the scale for the last time, Elias gripped his sword’s sheath. Perhaps, just once. An opportunity to act for Ilesha would come. So, until then, he should just endure a little longer.
‘Elias is probably going to do something again.’
His eyebrows slightly drooped, as if he felt sorry that he couldn’t act directly. He didn't need to do that. I didn’t know exactly what rules Neo and the God of this world were following, but if I considered everything that had happened until now, there were things I could guess.
First, the balance of power between both sides had to be maintained to some extent. I knew this because Ermitar had found an opening when Zero and Yumi ignored all the previous quest progression and sided with me. As if he had taken over their roles, Ermitar was now feeling triumphant, having grown larger and donned a thicker and tougher skin than when he had appeared as the final boss in our world.
On the other hand, unlike Ermitar, who was recklessly rampaging around, Elias seemed to be careful about every single word and action. In fact, since obtaining the title of 'Executor' and regaining all of his memories from the previous timelines, Elias had always been like that. Knowing all the possible outcomes, each of his actions would have a very large impact. Indirect help by using others seemed to be acceptable. Judging from the way he was creating favorable conditions by moving the Saintess, priests, and knights. And perhaps, there would be a change on that side once more. Maybe that would be the most important moment that would lead us to victory in this battle. I used hand signals to communicate with my comrades whenever we made eye contact.
'Okay.'
'Alright.'
Yumi and Baeksa.
'What nonsense are you spouting?'
…And Zero also seemed to understand roughly, so from now on, I had to believe in Elias and the Saintess and give it my all. It felt a bit unfamiliar.
Because until now, the way I fought had been entirely centered around me and my comrades. So, both victory and defeat were entirely my own, my responsibility. But this time, it was Elias who was planning it all.
The relief that came with this! To just do my given role and rampage was so much easier. As expected, I preferred using my body over my brain. The black blade given to me by Elias, called ‘Gram’, was as easy to wield as my own axe, which had a separated blade and handle. The way it felt in my hand was nice, and it was easy to release mana as sword aura. Thanks to that, I could easily continue fighting, even with my stats being limited.
-You rat-like…!
As I darted between the legs of the dragon, each as big as a building, the enraged screams of the dragon echoed loudly. It lowered its huge body, as if it was going to crush me. “How foolish.”
My comrades and I had long since adapted to our current bodies. But today was the first time for this guy. It was obvious that he wouldn't be able to perfectly control it like it was his own body. I used the jagged sword aura to cut the inside of its leg as it bent with a slight error, then rolled out of the way. Yumi, not missing the moment the dragon wobbled, cast a decay curse on his wounded leg. The leg started to rot, emitting a hissing sound.
-Kuaaaaak!
Unable to endure the pain, the dragon raged and spewed flames from its wide open mouth. Just then, the light around the Saintess began to flicker.
‘He told me 10 seconds from now.’
While counting down the time in my head, I barely managed to dodge outside of the breath's reach. “Stop recklessly rampaging around. It’s dangerous.” Zero grumbled as he rushed past me. However, even as he said that, he went straight to Ermitar’s feet, where lava-like flames were dripping down, and stuck his sword in. He certainly acted like a guy from the ash.
Of course, I wasn't the only one who had memorized the dragon's attack patterns. I easily escaped before getting stepped on, and used that momentum to climb up the dragon's body.
-Where are you!
And then I stabbed his eye, which was frantically searching for me, causing it to burst.
-Aaaargh!
“That bastard.” Baeksa cursed while grinding his teeth, kicking the tail of Ermitar who was flailing around violently. He nearly got crushed by it. Thud! The dragon, who was already staggering due to one of his legs being nearly unusable, lost its balance and fell forward. ‘About 5 seconds left.’ Not missing this chance, I used all my might to hit the dragon’s side, sending his body rolling towards the divine barrier. Yumi’s magic came at the right moment.
-Guhhh......
As if the gates of hell had opened, eerie hands sprouted wildly from the cracked ground. With the help of these hands, we were able to push the dragon's body almost all the way to the barrier.
Chiiiik!
A part of the dragon's tail that touched the edge of the barrier melted away, emitting a smoky haze.
-Keuhuhu, just with this......
Despite the pain, Ermitar seemed relieved that he hadn’t been pushed into the barrier. His quick recovery meant that even the leg that had seemed almost unusable had healed up well enough.
In response, I smiled brightly and rushed at him. “Yeah, give me that jerky.”
Elias only wanted us to push it near the barrier, but wouldn’t it be better to just throw it in there completely, if possible? I stabbed my sword into the dragon’s side as he struggled to stand, and poured all the mana I could into it.
‘Skill name, Shatter.’
-……!
The blade, which was probably at least S-grade, shattered while embedded deep in Ermitar's side. The fragments of the blade dug into the flesh inside, causing the dragon’s body to crumble and be pushed back.
‘Yes!’
The moment Ermitar's body became half-lodged in the divine barrier, exactly 10 seconds had passed. Whoosh! The rapidly blinking light spread out like an explosion. Ermitar couldn’t get a single tail out of the doubled range.
The [Divine Barrier: Ruah] applied to the field has been enhanced to its limits.
-Kuaaaaaaaa!
The evil dragon, engulfed in the holy light, finally began to melt away.
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