Chapter 236
The Seoduls Plateau was covered by a vast grassland, with enormous stone pillars rising from the ground.
In the middle of it, loud explosions and shockwaves continued to erupt one after another.
KUUUANG-!
Holy power spread in every direction and exploded at the same time, creating a cloud of pure white smoke.
Then, breaking through the smoke, a huge Orc charged forward and swung his enormous axe.
KANG!
The gigantic axe, large enough to kill a man with a single blow, was blocked by a translucent barrier of holy power.
SWOOOSH-!
While swinging his axe, a gray-haired human man took advantage of the opening and slashed repeatedly at Garoksa's arm.
“Keuk! You little rat…!”
Garoksa raised his foot, intending to shake off the annoying fly.
But the man had already stopped attacking and hidden behind the barrier created by the white-haired woman.
“Gruk!”
Honestly, the human man's sword was neither particularly deadly nor threatening.
But they say that even a light drizzle will eventually soak your clothes if you keep standing in it.
With his eyes burning with anger, Garoksa's arms and legs had already become covered with countless small wounds.
The arm holding his axe was beginning to tremble.
Only then did he realize that his body was becoming sluggish.
Do not become excited, my warrior.
At that moment, the dignified voice of a woman rang inside Garoksa's head.
It was the voice of Wena, the God of Hunting and Traps, who had bestowed her power upon him.
‘Goddess of Hunting!’
Are you going to allow yourself to be caught in the prey's petty tricks while you are supposed to be the hunter?
Can you still call yourself someone favored by the God of Hunting and Traps after behaving like this?!
At the irritated voice of the goddess, Garoksa let out a low groan.
I took pity on you and shared a portion of my power with you…
Yet look at yourself now.
You are not even acting like a hunter.
You look like the prey!
‘I'm sorry, Goddess….’
If you disappoint me any further, I will abandon you forever.
Remember that.
If you understand, then move.
‘Y-Yes! I will do my best!’
As if desperately pleading with Wena, Garoksa called out to her in his mind and corrected his gaze.
Then he calmly thought about everything that had happened in the battle so far.
There were two opponents.
A human priestess and a paladin.
The priestess possessed a remarkably high level of holy power, but her combat instincts were extremely poor.
On the other hand, the gray-haired human man's level was lower than his own, but his combat instincts were equal to Garoksa's.
In the end, their overall strength was almost equal.
However, the two humans were using their advantage in numbers to fight him.
The woman faced him directly while the man slipped through the openings and steadily accumulated damage.
Thinking about it carefully, their tactics were similar to the hunting method of the Red Rock Tribe.
The strong one blocked the enemy from the front while the skilled one fired arrows from behind.
‘And slowly kill the prey.’
They were hunting him.
Anger boiled inside Garoksa at that realization.
But he desperately tried to remain calm.
Instead of getting angry about his current situation, he began thinking about how he could break through it.
Soon, an experience from his past came to mind.
An experience from when his tribe had failed a hunt.
‘That's it!’
A strange light appeared in Garoksa's eyes.
Then he puffed out his chest and roared.
“GWOOOOOOOOOO!”
“He's coming.”
“Yes!”
The human man and woman exchanged signals in response to his hunting cry.
Garoksa gripped his axe and swung it heavily toward the woman.
SWIIIIISH-! KANG!
The enormous axe slammed into the barrier.
At the same time, the man left the protection of the barrier and charged at Garoksa.
The situation looked exactly the same as before.
But Garoksa ignored the man and raised his axe again.
SLASH-!
“GRAAAAAH!”
Pain exploded through his arm as it was cut.
But Garoksa did not stop.
Instead, he took the man's attack with his body and swung his axe again.
“You bastard…!”
Only then did the man realize what Garoksa was trying to do.
He tightened his grip on his sword and charged deeper into Garoksa's body, intending to inflict a fatal wound.
But it was already too late.
Garoksa's axe was already crashing down on the woman's barrier.
CRAAAAACK-! CLANG!!
“Kyah!”
The sturdy holy-power barrier shattered like glass and knocked the woman backward.
Meanwhile, the man's sword came straight toward Garoksa's heart.
But instead of dodging, Garoksa quickly twisted his body to the side.
THUD-!
The man's charging sword narrowly missed his heart and pierced his chest instead.
“Gruk! GRAAAAAAAH!”
No matter how great the difference in rank was, the man's sword still caused tremendous pain.
The pain was worse than Garoksa had expected.
But he had already prepared himself for this much.
“Grhehehehe!”
Just like a monster in a group hunt would endure being struck by arrows while going berserk.
As long as he could separate the man and woman, he was willing to accept even two wounds that were not immediately fatal.
“Shit…!”
“Grhehehe… GRAAAAAAAAA!”
Garoksa gave a sinister smile and swung his arm with all his strength toward the man who was pulling his sword back.
BANG-! SWOOOSH!
The man desperately pulled his sword away.
But he could not withstand the impact of Garoksa's arm, which was as thick as a tree trunk.
He was sent flying to the opposite side.
The two humans were now completely separated.
“Cough…!”
“Brother!”
“GHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
He would not give them any time.
Garoksa immediately kicked off the ground and charged toward the human man.
BOOM-!
His enormous body closed the distance in an instant, leaving cracks in the ground beneath his feet.
“No!”
VMMMM-!
The woman dropped a flash of light from the sky to intercept Garoksa.
But despite his three-meter-tall body, Garoksa moved with astonishing agility and dodged the flash.
“Do not interfere, woman!”
WHOOSH-!
He then threw the axe in his hand with all his strength.
The woman could do nothing but desperately raise another barrier.
“…You bastard!”
The man also quickly raised the sword in his hand and took a defensive stance.
However, the difference in strength between Garoksa and the man was overwhelming.
BAM!
The man could not withstand Garoksa's body slam and was sent flying.
“Keuk!”
“Brother!!”
The corners of Garoksa's mouth rose.
The woman's scream coming from behind sounded incredibly sweet to him.
“Ugh… Stop right now!”
But the woman had no time to intercept Garoksa.
“Keuheuheu! KHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
The unpleasant feeling of being hunted had now completely transformed into the thrill of hunting.
What an incredible pleasure it was to completely crush those who had dared to play around above his head.
There was nothing more enjoyable than teaching an arrogant prey its place.
But the true joy of hunting had only just begun.
Seeing the angry expression on the man's face lying in the distance and hearing the despair in the woman's voice, Garoksa intended to put the finishing touch on the hunt bestowed upon him by his goddess.
THUD-! THUD!
“…Agh…”
The enormous figure approached step by step.
But the man could not properly stand up.
Garoksa grabbed his torso with both hands and lifted him into the air.
“Ke… Ugh!”
“The prey can struggle all it wants.”
Garoksa intended to tear the man's body apart with his bare hands.
That way, he could clearly enjoy the woman's desperate expression.
With a smile on his face, Garoksa put strength into both hands gripping the man's torso.
Then the man groaned and barely opened his lips.
“…You stupid bastard.”
Garoksa frowned.
“Hmm?”
“During a battle… Keuk! Who taught you to let go of your weapon…?”
“…You're an arrogant human until the very end.”
“You may think this is a battle for your life, but to me, this is nothing more than a hunt.”
“Who would recognize someone like you, who cowardly hides behind a woman, as a warrior?”
“Keuk… Ahahaha…”
Even while suffering from the pain of having his body squeezed and nearly torn apart, the man looked up at Garoksa and gave him a mocking smile.
Garoksa's expression twisted further when the reaction he expected did not come.
“What did you say…?”
“No wonder you Orcs are going to perish.”
“You've gathered nothing but a bunch of brainless idiots who can't even tell the difference between hunting and fighting.”
“That's why you can't live up to your size and keep losing battles.”
“…This isn't even funny.”
“Do you really think you're my opponent right now?”
A sharp look appeared in Garoksa's eyes.
“Look at yourself.”
“How can someone whose limbs would be torn apart the moment I apply a little more strength possibly be my opponent?”
“If you're asking how…”
The gray eyes of the man flashed with an unusual light.
“Like this.”
At the same time, Garoksa suddenly sensed something strange behind him.
He quickly turned around.
And the next moment—
CRACK-!
“Meuk?!”
A huge sword pierced into Garoksa's chest.
The pain was on an entirely different level from the shallow wound caused by the man's previous sword attack.
Garoksa could not understand what had happened.
He had been concentrating on the man, but that did not mean he had forgotten about the woman.
‘I was definitely keeping watch…’
‘Then where did this sword…?!’
The answer was right in front of him.
The person who had driven the sword into Garoksa's chest was a man he had never seen before.
The human male had a translucent body and looked somewhat more mature than the gray-haired man.
Garoksa had no idea where he had appeared from or how he had attacked without making the slightest sound.
“Gruk…!”
All Garoksa could do was taste the thick blood rising into his throat and glare at the man who had escaped his grasp.
“Surprise, asshole.”
The gray-haired man grimaced from the pain tearing through his entire body.
Yet he was still smiling as though mocking Garoksa.
“You little rat…!!”
VMMMM-!
Just as Garoksa clenched his teeth and tried to grab the man somehow, an enormous amount of holy-power particles began swirling above his head.
Only then did Garoksa realize that he had given the woman far too much time.
“……”
The woman concentrated her mind, her purple eyes shining with a sharp radiance.
A ghost-like man who had suddenly appeared and plunged a sword into his chest.
And above all, the man who looked up at him with a mocking smile, as if everything that had happened had been planned from the beginning.
‘Have I been the one being hunted all this time?!’
‘I can't accept this…’
‘I absolutely cannot accept this!’
‘This…!’
He was an Orc of the Red Rock Tribe, known as the strongest predator on the plateau.
And among them, he was the one favored by the God of Hunting!
“I WON'T ACCEPT THIS!!”
KWAAAAAAAAAANG!
But Garoksa's furious roar disappeared beneath the waterfall-like beam of holy power crashing down from above.
Dozens of thunderous explosions echoed throughout the plateau.
Then silence descended.
The gloomy sky had cleared as the clouds disappeared, allowing bright sunlight to shine down.
Beneath that clear sky, in the middle of the vast grassland, the enormous figure that had been standing tall was now burned black and collapsed onto the ground.
THUD!
Garoksa, the chief of the Red Rock Tribe and the avatar of Wena, had fallen.
Even after making an avatar contract with Wena, a lower-ranking god, and raising his rank to 9 stars, he had failed to account for the card Glenn had kept hidden until the very end.
It was true that Glenn's combat power had been weakened because he could not use the Gray Ring.
But that did not mean Glenn had no means of fighting.
By using the armor of the Artifact Hero Graham and summoning his ancestor, Graham Wordsworth, he could inflict considerable damage even on a 9-star monster.
Of course, it would have been extremely difficult for Garoksa to predict that Glenn possessed such a skill in the first place.
However, Glenn's act of pretending to rely heavily on Lucheria had also played a major role in making his opponent lower his guard.
‘Thanks to that, my body hurts like hell again.’
He had blocked the body slam with his sword, yet he had still taken this much damage.
If he had failed to react in time, Garoksa's body slam would have crushed him as if he had been hit by a truck.
‘Anyway…’
“Brother!!”
Glenn let out a breath as he watched Lucheria hurriedly run toward him.
“Are you all right?!”
“Yes… Well, I think something might be broken.”
“It hurts a little, but I'm fine.”
“How is that fine?! Lie down. I'll heal you.”
It was amazing that she still had enough strength to perform miracles after using so much holy power.
“…I'm sorry.”
Lucheria suddenly spoke while making Glenn lie down and using a healing miracle.
“I said I would protect Brother.”
“But I was inexperienced…”
“I only ended up making you suffer like this.”
“I'm really sorry.”
Glenn quietly looked up at Lucheria, who was looking at him with a sad expression.
Then he gave a small laugh.
“What are you talking about?”
“I survived because of you.”
She had many areas where she was still inexperienced.
But she had nevertheless been a tremendous help.
If Glenn had fought Garoksa alone without her, he would have summoned Graham and eventually lost after the battle dragged on.
“If Saintess had not been here, that monster would have hunted me down helplessly today.”
“I survived because of you.”
From the moment she continuously repaired her barriers and advanced despite enormous spikes flying toward her, to the tremendous amount of holy power she unleashed to finish Garoksa in one attack.
Lucheria had already grown far beyond Glenn's expectations.
“Brother…”
Lucheria's eyes became red.
Then she suddenly wrapped her arms around Glenn's neck.
“Saintess…?”
“I…”
“I'll become stronger than I am now.”
“I'll become strong enough that Brother won't get hurt even a little.”
Glenn looked at Lucheria in his arms with a startled expression.
Then he gave a faint smile and gently stroked her white hair.
“…I'll look forward to it.”
“Yes.”
“Please wait for me.”
“But before that…”
“Could you heal me a little more…?”
“My bones… I think they hurt…”
As Glenn groaned, Lucheria was startled and immediately summoned holy power.
“S-Sorry!!”
“Aaaaaaaah!!”
A scream echoed through the temple.
With a hysterical expression, Wena grabbed her own hair.
“What a useless, inferior creature! Why did you lose?!”
An avatar who had been granted the power of a god had lost to an insignificant being from the mortal world.
“If he had used the power of Minis and Nox, I could understand!”
“But how could you lose to someone like that?!”
She threw objects in every direction, but she could not calm down at all.
Whenever she stayed still, she remembered the arrogant smile of that human.
The thought made the back of her head throb painfully.
“What am I supposed to do now?!”
“What am I supposed to do now?!”
The Avatar was the greatest means by which a god in the heavens could interfere with the mortal world.
Now that she had lost her Avatar, she had no way to interfere with the mortal world anymore.
Even if she wanted to make a contract with a new Avatar, she would only be able to do so after another thousand years.
“Then what about my promise to Nox…?!”
Her plan to regain the glory she had enjoyed as a high-ranking god had been completely ruined from the very beginning.
“…At this point, I'll have no choice but to descend directly into the mortal world…!”
But Wena soon closed her mouth.
She absolutely did not want to take the risk of going to the mortal world while carrying restrictions and having a Godslayer wandering around there.
“Ah…”
“Garoksa, you useless piece of trash!”
“Why…?”
“Why did I have to lose to an insect like that…?!”
“Wow…”
“You made quite a mess, didn't you?”
At that moment, Wena heard a voice from behind her.
Wena's breath caught.
As far as she knew, there was only one god who spoke in such a soft voice, deliberately dragging out the ends of her words.
“……”
Wena's pupils widened as she slowly turned around.
And there stood—
“M-Minis…!”
The Goddess of the Sun and Light.
The goddess standing opposite Nox, whom Wena had chosen to side with.
And, at the same time, the master of the human she had tried to eliminate.
She had come here.
“W-What brings you here…?”
“Did something unpleasant happen?”
Minis smiled softly with her eyes.
But the heavy atmosphere hidden behind that gentle smile made Wena instinctively hold her breath.
“I'll listen to you.”
The eyes that looked at her kindly contained an unusually sharp radiance.
“I'll give you some advice.”
