437

Episode 437 It's okay if we just keep going like this (4)

The light spread out intensely around the fortress.

Kaaaaaaah!

The crackers who were suddenly touched by the spreading light screamed in pain and were all turned to ash.

Cheeeeek!

As the light passed by, Equidema's body also began to burn in various places. The beast bared its teeth in anger and turned its head in the direction the light spread.

"Strength, strength overflowing!"

"I can move again!"

"Get up! Quickly!"

The soldiers took up their formation, their weapons tightly gripped. The Crackers were gathering again, but now that they had recovered, they were more than capable of dealing with them.

Fiote walked out from among the soldiers. He looked a little nervous, but his eyes were determined.

'I have to hold out well.'

I tried to come forward several times, but I held back because of Jiselle's request. Even when the friendly forces were pushed back and the Crackers attacked, I couldn't come forward.

Jiselle said that eventually everyone will get tired at some point. Everyone will not be able to perform to their full potential.

And I was sure that Equidema would definitely come running here.

So, Piote had no choice but to endure it. If he used all his strength, he wouldn't be able to properly deal with Equidema.

Krrrrrr… … .

Equidema looked at Piote with murderous eyes.

The beast instinctively knew who had spread that light.

I wanted to rip that hateful spirit apart right away.

Kaaaaang!

Equidema roared and rushed at Fiote. With Fiote's presence, the beast could no longer see its surroundings.

He was moved by only one murderous intent: to kill the author.

Kwaaaaang!

Cheeeeek!

Equidema's front paw, which had struck Piote, burned with divine power. Equidema was startled and pulled her foot back.

Kaaaaang!

Equidema roared again and trampled Piote, but nothing happened.

Fiote neither flew away nor fell, but remained standing in the same spot. This was thanks to the activation of 'Juana's Protection'.

But Equidema, who couldn't know that, got angry and hit Fiote several times.

Kwaaaaang! Kwaaaaang!

The power that was not properly released spread outward. The shock wave pushed away and knocked over the soldiers in the vicinity.

But Piote didn't sit still like before. He stood up straight and faced Equidema with his eyes wide open.

'I have to do it.'

Everyone is tired. You have to attract Equidema's attention even a little bit. That way, others will be able to attack Equidema more easily.

Paaaaak!

Already, Jiselle and the others were moving and cutting Equidema's body. Equidema shook off her body and tried to attack the others.

It was the same pattern as always when catching Equidema. But this time, Piote's actions were a little different.

Paat.

Cheeeeek!

Kwaaaaang!

Fiote slid forward and clung to Equidema's feet.

He learned several combat techniques from Giselle. Although he never actually participated in combat, he still studied hard whenever he had time.

The most practiced of these was Taeju. Giselle taught Piote how to move well in order to maximize his defensive capabilities.

Thanks to the martial arts he had learned in this way, Piote was able to move while attached to Equidema's feet.

Cheeeeek!

Kaaaaah!

Equidema let out a painful cry. The place where it touched Piote's body was slowly burning.

The aura he gave off was nothing short of antagonistic and a natural enemy to Equidema.

Kwaaaaang!

Equidema tried to kick Fiote with his other foot, but he didn't even flinch. Instead, Fiote was busy climbing up Equidema's body while wrapped in divine power.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

If a bug were to get stuck on your body and cause you the pain of burning it, there would be few living things that could endure it.

This was the current state of Equidema. The beast was struggling to somehow shake off Fiote.

Kaaaaang!

Jiselle cried out when she saw the sight.

"Now is the time! Don't miss this opportunity!"

Even though Equidema was bleeding from being attacked by them, he somehow managed to attack only Fiote. Fiote wouldn't be able to last long in that state.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Every time he gets hit by Equidema, Fiote's divine power is completely lost. No one can restore that.

If there is a delay in dealing with Equidema, Fiote will lose all of his divine powers… … .

He will turn to blood in just one move.

"Ugh!"

Even though he knew that, Fiote climbed up Equidema's body all the way up to her neck.

It seemed like half of the divine power had already disappeared. This was because a lot of divine power had been used to initially heal the soldiers.

Still, he gritted his teeth and persevered.

'I should be more helpful!'

It was just that one thought.

In fact, I have wished to connect with the goddess several times for the sake of my exhausted allies. If I could succeed, it would be a great help. Perhaps I could even kill the crackers faster.

But no matter how much I wished and wished, the connection did not work.

It's called a miracle. You can't succeed just because you want to.

So, Piote wanted to help in some way, even with his own strength.

"Haa, haa… … ."

Fiote clung to Equidema's neck with difficulty.

Equidema continued to buck and tried to throw Piote off. He even tried to scratch Piote with his feet as if he was scratching his neck, but he wouldn't fall.

Eventually, Equidema flipped his body over and crashed to the ground, trying to crush Piote.

Kwaaang! Kwaaang!

From the side, Equidema appeared to be glowing on its own. The stones on the floor were shattered and broken, but Fiote was not hit at all.

Of course, the divine power was draining away in a tremendous amount to endure that collision. It wouldn't last long if it continued like this.

'You can do it!'

Fiote gritted his teeth as he grabbed Equidema by the scruff of her neck.

I have begged and pleaded with God many times. But I cannot rely on prayer alone. Prayer alone cannot solve everything.

… … I forgot.

That the goddess had already given him power.

Now is the time to act.

Fiote held Equidema by the scruff of her neck and repeated the scriptures over and over again.

[Now the trial of your faith is much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it is refined by fire. You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith, and I will show you my faith by my works.]

When Equidema rose again and tried to scratch Fiote away, Fiote's hands dug into Equidema's neck faster.

Cheeeeeeek!

Kaaaaah!

Fiote's hand, filled with divine power, began to burn Equidema's neck.

The power gradually spread and soon the area around Equidema's neck turned black.

"Ugh… … ."

Blood flowed from Fiote's mouth. This was because he had neglected his own body and released divine power beyond its limits.

His hair had now turned silver, meaning that his divine power had become stronger.

Cheeeeeeek!

It was clearly a big blow to Equidema, but it felt like it was draining her divine power.

Equidema felt it too. The attack still didn't work, but the beast knew instinctively.

That means this tenacious and cursed creature has little strength left.

Kwaaaaang!

Other bugs around him keep hurting him. This cursed aura digging into his neck is tormenting him.

But if you just hold on a little longer, you'll be able to trample them all down.

Equidema endured the pain, radiating great strength. The area around her neck was melted to the point of tatters, but she did not die.

Eventually, Piote exhausted all of his divine power. His hair also returned to its original color.

Equidema felt the cursed aura finally disappear.

Paaaaang!

Equidema's forelegs flew towards the staggering Piote, but there was someone who moved faster than him.

Whirlirik!

The rope connected to Belinda's dagger wrapped around Fiote's body and pulled him towards her.

Kwaaaaang!

Fiote dodged just before Equidema's feet touched him. But Equidema followed Belinda with incredible beastly reaction speed.

He seemed determined to kill.

Equidema rushed towards Belinda in an instant, before she could even get into position while holding Fiote.

If this continues, both of them will get torn apart by Equidema's front legs.

"this guy!"

Zvalter, who was in the path of Equidema, swung his sword while spewing out mana.

Kwaaaaang!

I slashed with all my might, but Zwalter bounced back instead. Randolph also helped from the side, but it was the same.

The power and fury of Equidema were so great that Gillian and Kaor, who were on the other side, could not even keep up.

Kwakwakwakwakwakwang!

Vanessa's magic, which had been standing a little distance away, poured out countless times toward Equidema. However, Vanessa had also used up most of her magical power, so the power of her magic was reduced.

Equidema endured all of this with her body and advanced solely to kill Belinda and Fiote before her eyes.

"Tch!"

Belinda managed to roll her feet and back away, but Equidema was faster.

Kaaaaah!

Equidema, who caught up with its huge size, raised its front legs. If it just swung them like this, the two insects in front of it would be crushed.

Phew!

Equidema's forelegs stopped with a sound like sharp metal piercing something. Belinda took advantage of the gap and rolled over, barely avoiding the attack.

Krrrrrr… … .

Blood was dripping from Equidema's mouth. The beast was glaring at Belinda and Fiote, who had dodged to the side, with bloodshot eyes.

Dddddddddd!

There was a sound of something breaking again, and Equidema's body flinched.

Only then could people see the situation clearly.

I'm talking about the aura of a giant sword that came out through Equidema's neck.

Jiselle, her entire body covered in dark red smoke and her eyes emitting red light, was climbing onto Equidema's neck.

His sword had a crimson aura blade of incredible length protruding from it. The aura blade was piercing through Equidema's neck.

"Whew, Fiote did something."

Thanks to Fiote, the skin and muscles on Equidema's neck were completely burned and disappeared.

Thanks to that, Jiselle was able to completely pierce Equidema's neck with what little strength she had left.

Krrrrrr… … .

Equidema let out a few boiling sounds and then collapsed.

Kuung!

The beast's huge body lay on the ground.

"Whew… … ."

Giselle sat down and exhaled. Blood was also flowing from the corner of his mouth.

He poured out all the strength he had been saving up. His body was not normal because he exploded with strength at the last moment.

"Yeah, I won."

"I finally got it… … ."

"This time it was really dangerous."

Everyone else also collapsed. After fighting for several days without stopping, everyone was running low on mana.

If Piote had not been active, there might have been great damage.

Although the Crackers were still coming up here and there, the knights and soldiers were joining forces to deal with them.

They were exhausted, but thanks to Fiote's recovery at the end, they were able to move a little more.

Jiselle, who had been watching the soldiers deal with the remaining crackers, got up with difficulty.

"Okay, let's take care of the rest."

The Crackers simply kept on attacking based on their instincts. They didn't care if there were many or few of them.

Equidema had already fallen and the number of people had decreased, so it wasn't difficult to deal with those who rushed in at random.

As time went by, only a few came up, and eventually none came up at all. So many of them had died here.

"It's finally over."

Jiselle said a word and fell to the floor. At those words, all the soldiers also fell to the floor and laughed.

"Hahahaha! I won! I won!"

"We stopped all those guys!"

"Skoban! Get out there and die! You damned bastard!"

Everyone shouted happily. Although they were overcome with a deathly fatigue, it was also proof that they were alive.

So everyone could be more delighted with this victory.

Giselle muttered as she looked at Piote who had passed out in Belinda's arms.

"The new hunting method seems good."

It seemed like it would be okay to use bait a little more riskily. Piote had really grown a lot.

Even though he was unconscious, Fiote felt an inexplicable chill and his body flinched.

Gillian asked, struggling to get up from her seat.

"The barbarians have probably already entered the North. Shouldn't we attack them from behind?"

Then Giselle waved her hand.

"Moving as it is now won't help. Let's just rest for a bit and then go."

That's true, there were knights who lay down and passed out.

We fought for days without sleeping. Moving now was like killing each other.

Gillian also sat down on the floor again, her legs shaking.

"It's been several days already, so I'm not sure if they're holding it back well."

"They're probably holding it off better than we think."

"Is that so? The difference in force must be significant."

Gillian looked worried. If they were to break through, Perdium would be the first to be trampled.

But Giselle answered with a sly smile.

"Yeah, everyone was surprised."

* * *

The Warokas moved their forces before the rift could completely engulf the Kaipillar fortress, knowing that even if they were to notice their movements, the Ferdium would not abandon the fortress.

Waroka led the warriors and shouted loudly.

"Warriors! The time has finally come for our wishes to come true!"

"Waaaaaaaaaah!"

The barbarians who had been paying humiliating tributes shouted in joy. They were itching to fight and plunder Ferdium.

Even Waroka, who had made the agreement for food, was beginning to grow dissatisfied.

But now that he was leading all the tribes and causing war, everything was just fine.

All they wanted now was one thing: to kill.

They wanted to take everything in the North and kill them. That was the warriors' wish.

They advanced north with great pride and soon encountered an unexpected situation.

"What? I clearly heard there was no military?"

At the northern entrance, Waroka found an army blocking the road. They had arrived before him, and they were well-formed and in formation.

This situation was completely unexpected. The Duke had said that no army would stop them.

Waroka looked at the flag of the army in front of him with a puzzled face.

"No way… … Raypold?"

It was different from what I heard from the Duke. There was an army right in front of me that couldn't move.

The troops waiting at the entrance also discovered the savages approaching.

Bernap looked at the most senior member of the command post.

Amelia was sitting slouched in her ornate chair, resting her chin on her hand and closing her eyes, as if thinking about something.

Bernap spoke to her carefully.

"The barbarians have come."

Amelia slowly opened her eyes after hearing the report. Soon, an emotionless command fell from her mouth.

"All troops, prepare for battle."