217: The Beggar Siblings - Union with the Sacred Sword
- Sluuurp
Oriax bowed his head. Leo stared in stunned silence at the creature licking up the blood on the banquet hall floor, maggots dropping from its body.
The horrifying flesh and the sinister aura were impossible to ignore. The creature's back was nearly as high as the chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
Its massive bulk obscured the stairs behind it, and its head alone seed to weigh as much as ten grown n, causing everyone in the banquet hall to freeze in place.
'How...how could this be...?’
This was impossible.
The boundary between Ashin and his creation should not have been so easily crossed. Even if Prince Eric had stolen the life force ant for him, this sudden descent shouldn’t have been possible. Leo felt a sense of defeat as the strength drained from his limbs.
But...what’s done is done.
Leo pounded his chest to jumpstart his heart and stood up. He snatched the sword from a stunned Rev and raised it high.
The blood-soaked banquet hall, the terrifying Ashin, and the radiant aura blade that seed to challenge it. All eyes turned to the returning prince. Leo shouted, infusing light and hope into everyone in the hall.
"My subjects! Raise your weapons and your chins - fight!"
[ Achievent: Master-Servant Relationship.2v - '299', Those who swear loyalty will never betray Leo. ]
Without even ntioning the achievent, a cheer erupted.
The continent's strongest human, a sword master. The return of their symbol was as shocking and dramatic as the appearance of Ashin. The ignorant soldiers, as well as knights, paladins, and dignified priests, all shouted in exhilaration.
Leo, who had inspired their morale, commanded them. The soldiers were to continue facing the bull-headed monsters.
The paladins stepped forward to form shields, and the knights willingly beca the sword. Priests at the rear blessed the knights, and a brilliant light shone in the blood-soaked banquet hall.
That light reached its peak as Cardinal Verke once again raised his sword. The divine figure, wielding both sword and shield, bestowed a warm grace upon the warriors fighting the monstrous god.
- Roaaaar!
Oriax didn't stay still.
The creature, having licked up most of the blood on the floor, howled. If the humans' shouts created a sense of euphoria, its roar plumted them into despair.
Thud! Its front paw struck the ground, causing maggots to fall. A crimson wave spread in all directions, and we braced ourselves for its charge...
= Rot Thiab tuag!!
“Aaaargh!”
Soldiers scread.
The long banquet hall echoed mostly with cries from the wounded at the back. So of the knights in formation also collapsed, gasping in pain.
The wounds were burning.
No, they were rotting.
Maggots were crawling out of the wounds of the injured. Bright red blood discolored, mold covering the wounds, and the rot spreading rapidly. Even those uninjured felt a stinging sensation, rubbing their unintended red eyes.
= Kuv yuav yog ib tug!!
Black lines filled the air. From Oriax' massive body, hundreds of lines shot out, attaching to every human in the banquet hall: soldiers, knights, priests, and paladins alike. Their purpose soon beca clear.
“Wh-what, what is...!”
Corpses began to rise. It was an unreal sight. People who had died fighting the monster floated up and were sucked into Oriax, becoming part of him as if it were the most natural thing.
- Gulp.
If you die, you'll end up like that too.
The sound of people swallowing their saliva had never been louder. Leo, realizing the drop in morale, shouted “Charge!” but the soldiers’ feet seed reluctant to move.
[ Achievent: Master-Servant Relationship.2v - '299', Those who swear loyalty will never betray Leo. ]
Still, the knights bravely stepped forward.
For the prince they swore loyalty to, they charged at the hulking Oriax, wielding disproportionate power. However,
- Boom!
The creature stomped down, not just accepting the attacks, but retaliating with a flood of rotting blood. The knight, drenched in it, rolled on the ground, losing all composure.
“Aaaaargh!”
His flesh lted away. As the rotting wound spread, the knight quickly lost his life. The dead knight floated up, becoming part of the leg of Oriax he had struck.
It was hopeless.
How could humans fight such a monster? As Oriax, with rotting blood swirling in his eyes, looked down arrogantly, knights and paladins began to feel a hint of reverence.
“Everyone, move aside!”
“Sir Latzar!”
Leo leaped. The sword of Latzar, the fourth incarnation of the main god, slashed Oriax' shoulder, and Leo, wielding the aura blade, cut through his chest.
- Swoosh!
Blood spurted from Oriax' chest, but the knights managed to avoid it thanks to the warning. No blood flowed from the shoulder cut by Latzar's sword.
“Cut and avoid! If you're a knight, dodging blood should be easy! Answer !”
“Yes, sir!”
“Then - everyone, charge!!”
Inspired by the prince's leadership, the knights charged with renewed courage. The paladins, impressed by the grandeur of Latzar, whom they prayed to daily, raised their shields high and bravely blocked the spraying blood. Priests chanted holy spells, inscribing the symbol of the cross church in white on the air and floor.
Oriax was cornered.
There were 300 knights. Coupled with dozens of paladins and priests, he began to bleed profusely. He stomped his feet heavily, but the knights in light ceremonial attire attending Akinen were not easily trampled.
= Ruam thiab rhuav tshem!!
Oriax, with blood swirling in his eyes, found the root of his problem. He hung curses all over his body before charging with his massive bulk.
“Whoa!”
“Get out of the way!”
There was no way to stop such a massive figure.
The knights split to the sides to avoid it, and Oriax, gaining speed, ramd into Latzar. Seventeen horns shattered his radiant shield.
“Ugh!”
A god’s shield shouldn’t break. However, Latzar was summoned by Cardinal Verke.
The cardinal, who had been raising his sword in prayer, coughed up blood. Though confident in his divine power, it was far from enough to withstand the clash of god and Ashin.
Latzar vanished without a sound.
- Roaaaar!
“Keep striking!”
From that mont on, it was a fierce battle.
As the knights began to read Oriax' movents, the situation seed to improve, but Oriax was cunning.
He deliberately splattered blood around and occasionally used "Rov qab los!!", a spell Prince Eric had used, to send knights flying. If they couldn't quickly regain their footing, they were trampled into a pulp by his hooves. Leo's sword strikes didn't seem to have much effect on such a massive creature.
However, the creature was undoubtedly weakening. The decisive evidence was when Oriax grabbed and devoured Prince Eric's summoned minotaur, which had been fighting the soldiers. It was clear that Oriax was running low on divine power.
"That creature is tiring!"
It was strange for an Ashin to overflow with divine power. Ashins always suffered from a lack of it. In a previous iteration, Barbatos, who had taken over Rev's body, was an exception.
How much divine power did Oriax have? That depended on how much Prince Eric had offered and saved over the past decade.
The efficiency of divine power also varied significantly depending on the apostle (usually only affecting the third decimal place, with extrely high efficiency reaching the second). Thus, it was hard to calculate accurately.
However, it was reasonable to assu that the divine power Eric had gathered was mostly consud when he initially summoned the monsters. Given the sa number of summons this ti as before, it was likely the sa.
Where did the divine power to summon and sustain Oriax in battle co from? Leo concluded that Eric must have stolen his efficiency and sacrificed his own life.
He didn't know how that was possible. But if not, this power couldn't be explained.
Despite this, how could one man's life make Oriax so powerful? The information in "The History of Ashin" provided the answer.
Ashins accepted anything valuable, anything infused with the emotions of their creations. The more precious and emotionally charged, the higher the value. There was almost nothing more precious to a living being than its own life. Eric had offered his life at its highest efficiency.
The knights clung to Oriax' legs, slashing at his belly. His four legs were becoming tattered, exposing black bones.
Priests were generously casting blessings and holy spells. From Leo's experience as Barbatos' apostle, he knew blessings consud a lot of divine power.
At this rate, Oriax would fall.
But Oriax, swallowing his pride, turned his attention from the difficult-to-fight knights to the slower priests and weaker soldiers, making Leo anxious.
It seed best to deal a fatal blow and end the battle quickly. Leo retreated montarily to observe Oriax, looking for a weakness.
Then he noticed sothing strange on Oriax' neck...
'Why is my sword stuck there?'
The sword in his hand was Rev's. A bound item. Identical in every way, he had forgotten that his own sword had been left in Prince Eric's chest when Oriax was summoned.
It was lodged in Oriax' neck. Upon closer inspection, amidst the pile of corpses...
There was Prince Eric's body. It moved with Oriax, its head nodding slightly.
It might have been a coincidence, but Leo set his target. Now fighting alongside the knights, he called to Rev, "Here! Catch!" and threw him the sword, then began climbing the wall. With golden and silver ornants and burning candelabras, it wasn't difficult.
But Oriax didn't conveniently move to his desired spot, so Leo had to repeatedly climb walls, columns, and stairs.
Finally, he had to throw himself into the pile of corpses.
With Oriax below, Leo swallowed hard. Knights were dying protecting the priests, so Leo pushed off the wall and leaped. For a mont, he felt weightless before crashing into Oriax' back.
Ugh.
Luckily, his back had no wounds, or he would have lted away from the flowing blood.
Thinking positively, Leo held his breath.
He grabbed the shoulder of a half-rotted, naked woman and took a step. Grabbing an unknown creature's tail, he took another step. When Oriax charged and almost threw him off, he clung to a child's body and crawled slowly.
After much struggle, Leo reached Oriax' neck.
Half-buried was Prince Eric, with the sword still in his chest. Leo realized this wasn't a particular weak spot after all.
Damn it. My life is just like this.
Leo stood and gripped the sword's handle. He tried to pull it out with all his might,
= 늦었 lig lawm. Kuv 오길 tos koj 기다리고 ntev ntev.
Prince Eric's dead eyes snapped open. With eyes burning red, he smiled at Leo.
Leo was shocked to his core. But as Eric grabbed his arm, blood spurted from the spot, making Leo jump in fright, still gripping the sword handle.
The sword was firmly lodged, leaving him in a handstand. He faced a choice: get trampled and die, or get doused in blood and lt to death.
"Damn it!"
Neither option was appealing.
Leo activated the aura blade on the sword. Suddenly, an ominous ssage appeared, obscuring his vision.
[ Achievent: Beast Hunter - '2', A trace of mana infuses your body. ]
The Beast Hunter achievent counter dropped. As Leo sliced through Oriax' neck, the mana infused in his body rapidly depleted. The aura blade wasn’t limitless, and the swordmaster’s realm was, in reality,
Union with the Sacred Sword (身劍合一).
It was the state of the sword and body becoming one.
The aura blade was simply the mana stored in the body spreading to the sword, which the swordsman perceived as part of his body.
[ Achievent: Beast Hunter - '1', A trace of mana infuses your body. ]
Leo fell, cutting through half of Oriax' neck. He rolled to avoid the blood, but Oriax' massive hoof landed squarely on him.
Is this the end?
Still, Lena would beco a princess even without him. As he prepared to accept death,
- Thud!
Latzar's godly fist ca down.
Cardinal Verk, having expended all his remaining divine power, summoned Latzar without sword or shield, and he struck Oriax' head.
The half-severed neck couldn't withstand the blow. Oriax' head fell with a thud, and cheers erupted, but Leo's vision darkened.
Blood was gushing from Oriax' severed neck.
'Must... avoid the blood... I can't die in such a disgraceful way...'
As he tried to push off the ground, Leo froze. Oriax' fallen head, eyes swimming in blood, was staring at him.
[ Debuff: Oriax' Footprint - Taunt, cannot flee. Fixed for 11 years, 11 months, 11 days, 11 hours, 11 minutes, and 11 seconds. ]
It was as if Oriax had sensed he would reverse ti or had promised to find him first in the future. It seed to smile faintly. But more imdiately, Oriax' blood was about to engulf Leo.
Cursing his immobile legs, Leo closed his eyes. But feeling no sensation, he cautiously opened them to see Rev standing before him, covered in Oriax' blood, lting away.
"Rev!"
"...You lied to ."
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