Chapter 130: Mortals, Gods and Monsters[5]

The battle raged on for an hour until the sun began to rise above the horizon, casting its warm light across the battlefield. The demonic horde began to relent, the thousands now went down to a few dozen.

Since only destruction and death the demonic beasts had in mind, their survival instincts nonexistent, the demonic beasts fought until they were dead.

As the last demonic beast fell to the ground, a heavy silence settled over the battlefield, broken only by the sound of ragged breathing and the soft moans of the wounded.

The air was thick with the smell of blood and smoke, a grim reminder of the fierce battle that had just taken place.

"We did it..."

"Yeah..."

"W-We're alive!"

"We won!"

It started with a mutter by a random soldier on the verge of exhaustion, barely able to believe that they had survived the onslaught. But soon, their voices swelled into a chorus of relief and jubilation, echoing across the battlefield as more and more soldiers joined in the celebration.

"We did it, we defended the wall." Zenkichi said, he and Gudako exchanged a weary but triumphant glance, their faces mirroring the mixture of emotions washing over the soldiers around them.

He didn't expect fighting in a battle against a horde of demonic beasts in his lifetime, but it surprisingly ended well; they won the battle! That was all he and everyone else could ever hoped for.

Still, despite hours of burning demonic beasts and sometimes helping out soldiers, he just can't help but feel that this was all... underwhelming. He was actually expecting there to be some monster boss appearing out of nowhere.

"Hey, isn't the horde this time more ferocious and many?"

"Now that I think about it...yeah, it isn't usually this hard. Sure their numbers are vast and seemingly endless remains the same, but something about this is horde feels weird."

"Ah, what's important is that it's over. I feel pity for the cleanup crew arriving tomorrow. They have to deal with all these damages and those demonic beast corpses..."

Zenkichi paused, hearing the whispers and chatter of the soldiers around him, narrowing his eyes, he looked down at the aftermath of the battle and closely inspected the remains of the demonic beasts.

'Why... haven't their bodies and blood crumble into magical particles?'

'Wait, what is that?' His eyes widened as he watched the pools of demonic beast blood started to move, as if it were alive, pulsating with an eerie energy. Zenkichi's instincts screamed at him to be cautious, warning him that something was not right.

Gudako noticed his sudden alertness and followed his gaze, her expression turning serious. "W-What's happening, Zenkichi?" she asked, her voice slightly cracked.

Before anyone could react, the pulsating pools of demonic beast blood began to coalesce, forming dozens of grotesque shapes that were hundreds of feet tall and dozens of meters wide, all writhing and twisting around as if alive. The purple colored demonic beast blood trembled, not out of fear or pain, but with a sinister energy.

"What the-?!"

"What is that?! A n-new enemy?!"

"No way! We just barely held back the horde and now this?"

The soldiers around Zenkichi and Gudako were in a state of shock and disbelief as they witnessed the grotesque shapes taking form from the pulsating pools of demonic blood. Fear rippled through their ranks like a wave.

"Men! Remember your training! Fall back to the wall and prepare for another assault!" Leonidas' voice cut through the chaos, his command firm and authoritative. He remained on the frontline as he waited for the soldiers on the battlefield to retreat.

"Zenkichi!"

"Master!"

Altria, Brunhilde and Mash arrived by their respective partners' sides, worry on their faces as they looked towards the pulsating mass of demonic blood.

"That is..." Altria's hand tightened around her lance, her eyes scanning the abomination with a sense of urgency. She didn't just felt repulsion towards it, but also a sense of hatred. But why? Just what was those strange bloody abominations?

"What is that?" Brunhilde asked, her voice tinged with concern. "I've never seen anything like it."

Mash, who seemed to know what it was, took a deep breath before responding. "It appears to be some sort of... demonic evolution; one or some demonic beasts might still be alive and had evolved by devouring the flesh and blood of their kin." she said, her tone steady despite the uncertainty of the situation. "We need to destroy it. As soon as possible-!?"

Suddenly, the pulsating mass of demonic blood went deathly still, causing everyone to stare at it with widened eyes, not understanding what it was doing.

Swoosh!

"Encounter!"

Zenkichi's scorched hands instinctively reached out and a brilliant golden light barrier manifested over the big wall, encompassing the entire wall and shielding the soldiers from the looming threat. The barrier shimmered, pulsing with energy as it stood firm against the grotesque shapes formed from the demonic blood, reflecting back its attacks.

"Whoa. You can do that?!" Gudako exclaimed, her eyes wide with astonishment as she watched the barrier materialize.

"Skreeee!!"

It let out a deafening beastly screech as it seemed infuriated by the barrier's resistance, even though it had no mouth. The grotesque shapes pressed against the barrier, their twisted forms contorting in frustration as they sought to breach the golden light.

Each strike it struck at the barrier was enough to leave a hole on a mountain, and those strikes was reflected back towards it, creating holes and obliterating half of their bodies, yet, all of their 'injuries' almost instantaneously healed as if it never suffered any damage in the first place.

'Almost instant regeneration? No, it seems more... advanced? And with seemingly endless energy from devouring so many of its own kin, this problem wouldn't be solved any time soon. Unless I use my authority or...' He glanced at Altria.

There was no hesitation. He didn't want to use his authority so early and at a time when something was up; this part wasn't in the original story of FGO, well, as far as he recalls. Someone or something had done something to create those strange freaks of nature.

Or was it simply because he attacked Kingu and he ran back balling to their mommy? Crying that someone bullied them and wanted revenge, so they made this for revenge.

Thinking about it made him snort in amusement.

As the soldiers cheered on, Zenkichi turned towards Altria and said with a serious expression. "Altria, I permit usage of your Noble Phantasm."

Altria's eyes widened briefly in understanding before she nodded resolutely. Without a word, she raised her lance high into the air, channeling her magical energy into a concentrated burst of light.

A golden pillar of light pierced through the clouds, casting a divine glow over the battlefield. Every soldier, Leonidas, Brunhilde, Mash and Gudako turned towards the light in awe. All of them felt

Altria's voice rang out, clear and resolute, as she invoked the full power of her Noble Phantasm.

"Light, may you be released from the ends of the world. Split the heavens and tether the earth, anchor of the storm! Rhongomyniad!"

The brilliant lance in her hand radiated with an overwhelming force, its light intensifying with each passing moment.

The grotesque shapes formed from the demonic blood seemed to sense the impending threat, their writhing forms growing more frantic as they hammered against Zenkichi's barrier with renewed desperation.

"Everyone, brace yourselves!" Leonidas commanded, his voice cutting through the tense atmosphere. The soldiers, their fear momentarily giving way to awe, watched as the golden light enveloped Altria, her figure becoming almost ethereal, Godly.

With a final, determined shout, Altria brought down her lance upon the abominations. A colossal beam of light surged forward, crashing into the pulsating mass of demonic blood. The impact was immediate and devastating. The grotesque shapes, once seemingly invincible, began to disintegrate under the sheer power of the Noble Phantasm.

However, they were too wide spread, the beam of holy light mostly hit the middle-most demonic blood creatures, leaving those on the far left and right to be unattended.

Altria knew and exhaling a sharp breath, she retracted her magical energy for a moment and positioned her lance over her right shoulder like a scythe. Then, with a powerful motion, she swung the lance from left to right, in a single motion, the lance arced through the air, and golden energy surged forth like a crescent moon, cutting through the remaining grotesque shapes.

"Skreeee!!" The demonic abominations let out one last, collective screech of agony before they were completely obliterated, their forms evaporating into nothingness.

As the light faded, the battlefield fell into an eerie silence. The soldiers, still processing the miraculous turn of events, slowly began to cheer once more. Their victory, now undeniable, felt even more profound.

"I-It's gone..!" Gudako let out a huge sigh of relief, then gasped in surprise as Mash hugged her.

"You did pretty good there, Altria. Altria?" Brunhilde smirked, complimenting her friend, As she turned to face her however, she noticed that Altria was showing a frown, still clutching her weapon tight.

"It's not over yet."

Zenkichi was about to let out a sigh of relief when he got a sudden appearance of the system interface, reading it made all color from his face drain away.

[System Alert! One of the hidden objectives of Quest "Become a Demon God" is being revealed!]

[Hidden Objective(1): ???%$#$#%#@]

[Reconstructing...]

[Quest Trial 1: Defeat the Ancient Monster of Gluttony - Zeb]

"Aaaah! H-Help me...!"

Suddenly, one of the soldiers on the battleground, cried out in agony, clutching at his chest. A pale white arm burst forth from his chest, clawed fingers digging into his flesh. The soldier's eyes widened in terror as another arm burst forth. The soldier didn't even manage to let out another scream for help before he was quickly ripped apart by the arms, revealing a demonic figure emerging from within him. The creature stood tall, its form twisted and grotesque, a manifestation of pure malice and hunger.

Zenkichi's eyes widened as he witnessed the horrific scene unfolding before him, everyone else pretty much did.

They couldn't understand what just happened. Where did this demon come from? How did it get pass their senses? Especially the servants and Brunhilde! Even though none of them were Caster class, with the ongoing battle, their senses were heightened, and yet this demon had managed to sneak up on them undetected.

The grotesque monster twisted itself around, as if thousands of threads were rearranging itself, and it revealed itself as a two meter tall demon. It took on a male appearance, a rather handsome one with pale white skin and purple veins all over, completely black eyes, bulging muscles, no genitalia, and sharp, jagged horns protruding from its forehead. Its eyes glowed with a sinister light, filled with hunger and malice.

"You-!" Leonidas was enraged, readying his spear without any hesitation and threw it straight at the demonic being.

He had fought with these soldiers for several months now, they were like his brothers.

And like Hades was he going to let some demon looking fucker harm them!

But to his shock, the spear passed right through the demon as if it were made of mist, leaving no visible mark.

"What kind of trickery is this?!" Leonidas bellowed, his voice echoing across the battlefield.

The demon let out a guttural laugh, its twisted features contorted into a wicked grin. "****," it hissed, incoherent sounds escaping its form. Its eyes glowed with an otherworldly light, fixating on Leonidas with a predatory gaze.

Zenkichi widened his eyes and quickly shouted, "Run! It's an afterimage!"

"What?" one soldier muttered out in confusion, but before anyone could react, he and several other soldiers' necks flew into the air, blood spewing out.

"Jie jie jie!" The demon laughed maniacally as it lunged forward with blinding speed, its claws slashing through the air with deadly precision.

Zenkichi's warning was barely enough for Leonidas to dodge to the side, leaving a bloody scratch on his neck, narrowly avoiding the demon's attack. But the soldiers behind him weren't so lucky. The demon's claws tore through their ranks, leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake.

"Let's go!"

"Hm!"

Without any hesitation, Zenkichi jumped down while his companions followed after him. Brunhilde glowed and enveloped her Einherjar, turning into her Völundr form. Altria whistled and her steed appeared to catch her and Mash in the air. Gudako remained on the wall as she would be a burden on the battleground, but useful on the rear as an assist.

Creating a long iron spear with barbed wires around its blade, Zenkichi channeled his demonic power into it, as blue flames enveloped the spear with a searing heat that caused space to distort, he unhesitatingly threw the spear straight at the demon.

The spear flew with lightning-like speed, appearing like a blur or falling star as it hurtled towards the demon with deadly accuracy. The demon, caught off guard by the sudden assault, barely had time to react as the spear pierced through its flesh with a sickening crunch, the fiery flames completely enveloped it and exploded.

"RAAAA!"

The demon let out a roar of pain.

When Zenkichi and the others arrived at the ground, they look up to see a cloud of smoke and dust of where the demon was.

......

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