I surveyed the interior of the Elder Council chamber with a sweep of my eyes.
Collapsed buildings and corpses piled like mountains. Lin Praha with her missing arm, Kai in an exhausted state, Roxen, Roxha. And before them all, a monster radiating trendous presence.
This was what the end of the world might look like—if the apocalypse itself could have an apocalypse.
What’s more, the Aura flowing from that monster was Demonic energy, wasn’t it? I’d lost count of how many tis I’d encountered Demonic energy—sothing most people might see once in their lifeti, if they were lucky.
“I’m asking a question. Is this so kind of trend?” I asked the Elder Council’s knights as I stepped forward. Fortunately, they seed to have been scared witless by the monster and had stopped fighting.
“Tsk. Nothing but mutes, I see.”
I turned and approached the monster directly.
Rock-like gray skin. Lava flowing through the cracks. Massive size. Sharp horns. Anyone could see this was a monster, not human, growling while wielding a sword.
“A Gargoyle?” I studied the creature with puzzlent. Why was a monster that supposedly only spawned in the depths of the Demonic Realm here? And since when did Gargoyles use weapons?
“Monsters seem to have evolved quite a bit these days.”
Well, it was a progressive age, wasn’t it? Even monsters were evolving…
“Shut up! Where does so nobody co from to babble nonsense!”
Ah, so it was human after all.
I addressed the growling, shouting Gargoyle. “Corrupted by Demonic energy, I take it?”
“Kehehe. Not corruption, but blessing!”
“Corruption, I’d say. Look how your face got all ssed up.”
Honestly, wouldn’t it be better to bite your tongue and die than end up looking like that? I made a sympathetic expression and offered the Gargoyle so comfort.
“Chin up. Surely your original appearance was better than this.”
“Shut up!” The Gargoyle swung its sword at .
“What a fuss, even when I’m trying to comfort you.”
I shifted aside slightly to dodge the sword.
KRAAAAASH!
The ground crumbled from the impact of its overwhelming mass.
Thud thud thud—
“A re archer dares approach ! You must have a death wish!”
“Say that after you actually hit sothing. You’re embarrassing yourself.”
“Fine! I’ll show you!”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The creature kept swinging its sword. I kept dodging its sword.
Others might think this was so impossible feat, but surprisingly, avoiding the creature’s attacks was simple.
All I need to do is read the flow of Aura.
When corrupted by Demonic energy, the scent of Aura becos thicker. Of course, others might not notice much difference, but for soone as sensitive as , it was different. Night and day different.
The lingering traces of Aura would tell where and how the creature would attack before it even moved. In other words, any reasonably trained knight could dodge with ease.
KRAAAAASH!
I dodged the creature’s attack once again while reading the lingering scent of its Aura.
So that’s how it works.
After taking one final read of the creature’s lingering traces, I created distance between us.
“Are you running away!”
The creature charged at , screaming. But I paid no heed, continuously maintaining my distance.
Actually, there was a reason I’d been dodging without attacking until now.
The creature’s range of action and habits, the trajectory of its sword use and the properties of its Aura, and so on. I needed to understand everything.
Only then can I form a plan.
My eyes flashed as I gripped my bow.
People sotis make a mistake—thinking archers are just people who shoot arrows well. Sure, accuracy is a must. But that’s sothing even ordinary archers can do.
A true archer must beco a hunter. The kind who slowly strangles their prey and drives them to death.
To do that, you need to confirm everything—the prey’s habits and actions, their resources, and overall positioning. Only then can you begin the hunt.
A strength-focused knight. Uses a greatsword, but his skill isn’t particularly outstanding. Is his Aura lava mixed with Demonic energy? It seems he only reached the Master level thanks to his Aura.
After confirming every minor detail about the creature, I nocked an arrow to my bow.
Click.
Then I drew back the bowstring.
Swish—!
The arrow flew toward the ceiling.
Rumble rumble rumble—!
The ceiling struck by the arrow developed a small crack, then began collapsing rapidly.
“That’s what you were aiming for? Pathetic!”
The Gargoyle bellowed, spreading the wings on its back wide.
Swoosh—
The Gargoyle flew away from the falling debris. However…
“Huh?”
Where the Gargoyle had dodged, there was a massive fallen stone. A very sharply carved fallen stone, at that.
CRASH—!
The gargoyle collided with the stone, creating scratches on its skin. It was only because Gargoyles were famous for their toughness that it ended with just this much—any other monster would have died instantly.
“You bastard.”
The Gargoyle ground its teeth as it rose from the rubble.
“There’s still more to co.”
I shot another arrow, striking the inside of the Gargoyle’s thigh.
Thunk—!
The Aura-infused arrow drove in quite deep.
“Gragh!” The creature groaned in pain. But this wasn’t the end.
Like dominoes falling, that single arrow created countless consequences.
As the Gargoyle heavily dropped to one knee, its center of gravity shifted to one side.
Crack—
CRASH!
“KRAAAAH!”
The floor collapsed and the Gargoyle plumted straight down into the underground. The creature had wings, but the debris created by my initial arrow fell alongside it, interfering with its flight.
“Agh! These annoying things...!”
The Gargoyle scowled and roared in frustration. I watched the falling creature and nocked dozens of arrows to my bowstring, one after another.
Creeeeeak—
“Here’s a welcoming gift from —I hope you’ll accept them all.”
Snap.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
The arrows poured down like rain, rushing toward the Gargoyle. Each one was an arrow imbued with Aura. The arrows gradually closed in on the Gargoyle.
“You think you can catch with such attacks?! Not a chance!” the Gargoyle scread.
I quietly agreed. “I think the sa. Trying to defeat a Gargoyle with such small attacks? Utterly absurd indeed.”
“What?”
“I do hope you’ll like what’s coming next. They should be quite explosive.”
I released the control I’d been maintaining over the arrows.
KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH—!
A massive explosion ensued.
Spectacular fireworks engulfed the creature’s body.
* * *
…How is it possible to do that?
Roxen stared at his liege in stunned silence.
A Gargoyle. One of the deadliest monsters known, on par with Master-level knights.
And this one hadn’t rely beco a Gargoyle—it had already been a Master-class knight before the transformation. In other words, even the most seasoned Master-level fighters couldn’t guarantee a win against it.
Yet an Aura Expert archer had just overwheld it.
If Roxen hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it. No—he still couldn’t.
Gargoyles didn’t take critical damage unless struck by attacks on the level of a Master. And yet this one had been dodging falling stones, skirting collapsing buildings.
Everything he knew about combat, about monsters—it was crumbling in real ti.
And what kind of monster was his liege, to notice all of that mid-battle and exploit it?
A single arrow had decided the fight. It collapsed the ceiling. It forced the Gargoyle into the pit that he and Roxha had carved out during their skirmish. Then, it finished the creature off with a precise blast.
Yes, a devastating technique had been used. But even so, it should’ve been impossible.
Did he calculate all that in advance?
And if so… could Roxen still call him human?
He let out a breathless, hollow laugh as he stared at his liege.
Just then, a grumbling voice beside him drew his attention.
“…Are you serious?”
Roxha Praha—third daughter of the Praha Ducal House, and the one who had gifted him his Aura cultivation technique—stood glaring toward his liege, her face sour with frustration.
Her body was covered in cuts and bruises, wounds earned from saving him more than once.
“What are you looking at?”
“Nothing,” Roxen replied calmly.
Roxha clicked her tongue and turned toward the pit. “Tsk. That’s the pit we made while fighting, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” He gave a small nod. The sa pit the Gargoyle had stumbled into at the start—created by the monster itself while locked in battle with them.
There was no way his liege could’ve known about that pit...
“No, seriously. How does soone use that?” Roxha kept grumbling to herself, her complaints sounding more bewildered than bitter.
From what Roxen had gathered, she hadn’t held their liege in high regard before. It seed this battle had shifted sothing.
“Because he is my liege,” Roxen said softly.
Roxha gave a humorless laugh and turned to him with sharp, frosty eyes.
“Your loyalty is truly sothing.”
She said nothing more, and Roxen didn’t press further.
* * *
I stood at the edge of the pit, staring into the darkness below, when Lea approached, supporting Lin Praha.
“Is it over?” Lin asked.
Her left arm was gone—just… gone.
“Are you all right?” I asked gently.
She gave a dry chuckle and waved her remaining hand. “Good thing it wasn’t my right. I’d have to retire if I couldn’t hold a sword.”
Lin Praha smiled like it was nothing. And because she treated it like nothing, I didn’t let myself feel sad.
I forced my voice to stay even. “What happened to the High Elder?”
“That old man? I froze him. Over there.” She nodded toward a corner of the chamber. “He’ll be stuck for about thirty minutes.”
Thirty minutes. I gave a satisfied nod. That would be enough.
In thirty minutes, reinforcents would arrive. The Imperial Knights would be here too. Once they took over, even the High Elder wouldn’t be able to resist.
She’s already mastered it...
My gaze flicked to Lin Praha. Aura materialization—the advanced technique only Aura Masters could wield. The very sa one Lea used when she was tainted by Demonic energy.
Lea’s version had been a wide-area freeze, affecting everything around her. Lin’s was more focused, aid at sealing a single target.
I hadn’t expected her to learn it this early.
According to the original tiline, Lin mastered this technique five years from now—after the Grand Duke’s disappearance.
Apparently, this crisis had brought her potential to the surface.
I nodded slowly. “That should be enough. You did well.”
“What a ss... But is that thing really dead?” She squinted toward the pit, frowning.
Dead...
I chuckled quietly and picked up my bow.
“As if.”
ROAAAAAAAAAAAR!
No sooner had the words left my mouth than a deafening roar erupted from below. The Gargoyle burst from the pit, wings flared wide, its massive fra towering once more.
“I’ll kill you... I’ll kill you... I’ll kill youuuuuu!”
The creature’s voice was guttural, trembling with rage.
Wounded, burned, and broken—it was still alive.
And it was coming back.
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