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Shin quickly used the Elemental Spirit Possession with Hanzo as he also made his move. He charged forward and ran behind Astaroth and Whitie, who were currently taking the vanguard.
The two were exchanging blows against the Stoneback Gorilla, trying to hold the monster in place while Solus cast her spell from the distance.
The gorilla was naturally quite intelligent as it was able to see through the intention of the two. It repeatedly tried to break through the blockade of the two but was constantly met with strong resistance.
Astaroth, being a Hybrid Elemental Spirit between earth and mental element, possessed a sturdy body that was hosting a powerful strength and a strong defensive capability. And using this as the foundation, he was able to contend against the Overlord Rank Monster in front of him despite having a lot of disadvantages from different areas.
And by having a much stronger control over the earth, he was able to nullify most of the elemental attacks of the Stoneback Gorilla as well as weaken its defenses to a certain degree.
On the other hand, Whitie was providing solid support with his well-timed assaults and ambushes.
With his speed, he was able to dodge most of the attacks of the gorilla that was throwing at him. He was also able to escape from the large-scale attacks that the monster was throwing from time to time.
His Light Element was also helped in a lot of ways during the battle. He was blinding the gorilla to disrupt its attacks or using the firepower and slight burning effects that it provided him to increase the intensity of his attacks.
He could also heal with its innate sacred properties, which lessen the risk of injuries that they were getting in battle.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In the distance, Solus was throwing fire spells one after another. The power of each of her spells was strong enough to damage the Stoneback Gorilla despite the strong defense that its body had.
Each fireball and blazing spear that she was throwing were dealing at least hundreds of thousands of damages, clearly signifying how strong they were.
Shin joined the battle at the frontline. With his speed and the extra mobility that his movement skills were providing him, he was not having any problem keeping up with the rest.
And since he was currently in the state of Reality Manifestation, he was also dealing quite a huge damage to the Overlord Rank Monster. Though, it was also on the same scale as Solus at most.
The defenses of the Stoneback Gorilla were really high, especially its back which was covered with thick stone armor.
This continued for a few moments as Shin and his gang had control over the overall rhythm of the battle.
But it did not last that long as the change of the tides arrived a little too sudden.
Roar!
The Stoneback Gorilla released a world-shaking roar that forced Shin and the others to pause their movements for a brief moment. And before they could even respond to what happened, the gorilla suddenly slammed its arms on the ground like a pair of hammers.
Its action made the ground crumble, sending a strong shockwave that moved outwards. It pushed everything away from the epicenter and dragged the fragmented ground of different sizes alongside it.
Shin, who was able to use a teleportation skill at the last second, still found himself in the middle of the storm-like shockwaves. He did not hesitate to envelop himself with the Power of Eclipse and summoned a dome-shaped barrier around him.
'Slayer Skill: Eclipse Pulse'
Bang!
It has been a while since he had used this skill, but it still came out as naturally as possible.
The black and white barrier shook violently as it was repeatedly bombarded by the storming shockwave and rock fragments of different sizes. Some of the stalactites at the ceiling of the cave were also got affected and started falling toward the ground.
Crack! Crack!
Multiple cracks appeared on the surface of the barrier, signifying that it was already reaching its limits. But Shin quickly responded and swung his sword in a horizontal manner, detonating the barrier before it could fully collapse.
'Slayer Skill: Eclipse Counter'
Swoosh!
Bang!
The explosion produced a strong outward force that fought against the storming shockwave around, which crushed the rampaging rock fragments and falling stalactites with pointed tips.
Shin then proceeded to move with great mobility to avoid the rest, preventing himself from suffering from any damage.
When everything calmed down and the dust settled, he quickly turned his head around and checked the surroundings.
The devastation was pretty huge. That attack even reached the place where Solus was.
Fortunately, the three Elemental Spirits were still fine.
Astaroth summoned a dome that was made of earth and metal that protected him.
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm Whitie was emitting a golden aura in the distance, which signified that he used his light element to get away from the range of the earlier attack.
Solus, on the other hand, was covered by a raging flame that melted anything that was trying to approach her.
After checking their states, Shin finally turned his head toward the direction where the Stoneback Gorilla was. And once he did, the corner of his eyes and mouth could not help but twitch due to what he saw.
There, standing at the previous epicenter of the attack earlier, the Stoneback Gorilla was currently looking straight into Shin's eyes with a cold look.
The body of the gorilla was currently emitting a visible flow of brown energy that was continuously moving upwards in a slow yet steady manner.
And when Shin got a closer look at it with his 'True Sight' ocular skill, he could visibly see a thin layer of energy enveloping the entire body of the monster.
Shin suddenly got a bad feeling about it as he could guess what that layer of energy was for.
And sure enough, his suspicion quickly turned into truth in the next instant. "My Lord, this monster absorbed a huge amount of Earth Element from the entire cave and further strengthen its body. It even created an extra layer of protection with it."
At the same time, Solus suddenly added. "It can also produce an earth elemental attack on each strike that it will have. You have to be careful, my liege."
Shin curled his lips a little as he knew that the situation was somewhat getting out of hand.
Unfortunately for him, the Stoneback Gorilla would not wait for him to come up with any precautionary plans. It quickly slammed one of its around on the ground, directing a strong shockwave toward Astaroth, who was already preparing to charge again.
At the same time, the monster sank its other hand deep into the ground before grabbing the still intact part of it and flipping lit as it pulled upwards. And following that, the ground seemed to be flipped while moving toward Whitie, who was about to charge forward too.
Those two attacks kept the two occupied. Astaroth had to deal with the incoming shockwave that was targeting him while Whitie had to navigate his way forward through that flipping ground filled with broken boulders.
With that, the Stoneback Gorilla was now free to jump toward Solus in the distance. It leaped in the air without any hesitation and raised both of its arms above its head. And as it descended, those huge arms were swung down like a pair of huge metal hammers.
Solus did not even wait as she quickly turned herself into fiery embers that flew backward at a speed slightly slower than Whitie.
Swoosh!
Boom!
Right at that instant, the Stoneback Gorilla landed on her previous spot like a meteor while slamming its arms on the ground.
The collision created a strong current in the air alongside an explosive impact that threw rock fragments in every direction and created a deep crater on the ground.
Shin could also see the yellowish-brown energy that was transferred into the ground, shining through the gaps of the broken ground.
It was clearly the energy that was infused on the previous attack of the monster gorilla, which was the thing that Solus had warned him earlier.
"If each of its attacks is this strong, then our situation is not going to be that good," he mumbled before instructing the three to use their respective transformation right away.
"Don't hold back. Show it your real powers!" he shouted.
Hearing his words, the three did not even hesitate and quickly underwent their respective transformation.
'Elemental Spirit Transformation (Earth/Metal): Earth Warden'
Shin first saw Astaroth gather the earth elemental mana from the surrounding just like what the Stoneback Gorilla had done earlier. And when the accumulation of powers reached its peak, he saw the elemental spirit shine with golden light from head to toe, seemingly transforming his whole body into elemental energy.
A moment later, when the lightly finally subdued, Shin saw Astaroth turned into a knight that was clad with medieval earthen armor that had an exquisite design. Even the helmet that the elemental spirit was wearing looked majestic and magnificent.
The helmet was almost covering his head, leaving only gaps for his huge horns and glowing eyes, and a small hole on its back for his long white hair that was tied into a ponytail.
That was not the end as the metal elemental mana was next to be pulled in and fused with the earthen armor. The grey color that it had filled the exquisite design engraved on the armor and helmet, giving it a dignified vibe.
On the other hand, the simple-looking mental greatsword that Astaroth was using earlier also gained a sublime design due to the earth elemental that fused with it, which also highlighted a striking pattern on its surface. Even the edges of the sword adopted the earthen color.
Shin disregarded all the notifiable boosts in strength that Astaroth had after the transformation. The only thing that entered his mind when he saw the Elemental Spirit was the coolness of the current appearance that he was seeing.
Out of all his Elemental Spirit Companions, Astaroth's transformation seemed to be the coolest.
'D*mn! I think that I am being influenced by Arthur,' he cursed when he realized that he slightly became distracted in the middle of the fight.
'Elemental Spirit Transformation (Light): Divine Ruler'
On the other side, a glowing third eye appeared at the center of Whitie's forehead, boosting his overall strength and battle prowess. It was clear that he was currently the weakest out of all the Reaper's Retainers since he was yet to enter his real evolution phase.
But that did not mean that he could be underestimated, especially since his element was quite special.
Meanwhile, Solus was enveloped by the gorgeous flame with orange and yellow alternating colors when she once again used her real form after a long time.
That armor also turned into a luxurious-looking set of armor that covered her body. But despite the armor covering her entire being, it still failed to hide her perfect figure. It seemed to be even highlighted instead.
Her beautiful face remain bare while her blazing hair continued to dance along with the wind as there was no helmet appeared to cover her head.
Nevertheless, the divine aura that she was releasing intensified alongside the sudden increase in her power.
'Elemental Spirit Transformation (Fire): Firestorm Goddess'
Sensing the change in atmosphere and seeing the sudden transformation of the three Elemental Spirits, the Stoneback Gorilla understood that it was going to be difficult to defeat all of them by itself.
But since it could not do much in its current situation, all it could do was target the weakest person in this place.
Having that thought, the monster suddenly turned to Shin and glared at him with its fierce eyes.
Noticing those actions, Shin fully understood that he was now being targeted. But instead of backing down, he felt rather excited.
"You want to take me down first, big guy? Try me and I will make sure that it will cost you a lot!" he said as he licked his lips and assumed a battle stance.
...…
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