Chapter 80: Battle of Desperation
Magical attacks rained down on the army, killing the soldiers almost instantly as they came in contact with the corrosive magic.
The soldiers collapsed to the ground, wailing in pain as their bodies were sucked dry until resemble husks.
The princess grimaced and clenched her teeth at the horrifying sight.
"They planned for this."
The speed at which they attacked was as if they were waiting to ambush her when she returned.
Immediately, she knew who was behind it.
It was the man standing on the wall overseeing the ambush. Her own father.
The same father who sold her to the orcs and used her as a bargaining chip while doing so.
Somehow, he had figured out her plan to seek the help of the creature that had become a sort of folktale for her people.
All across Kronus, people told tales of the centipede-like creature who was ridding their land of the monsters that tormented them all while restoring the beauty of their homeland.
The people’s beliefs were mixed. Some believed that this monster was one of the old gods that had come down to save them.
While others believed this creature was nothing more than a beast acting out its beastly ways and that they should treat it like any other monster.
The king never believed that this centipede was here to help them, no matter how Cassandra tried to convince him.
’Don’t get swayed by fairytales. You believe this nonsense only because you wish for someone to save you.’ He told her.
Cassandra remembered it vividly. How angry she was to hear him say such a thing especially when he himself bowed down and became the puppets of the orcs who invaded their land.
A part of her despised her father and saw him as weak even though he was the most powerful demon currently in the kingdom.
This event forced her hand to sneak out on her own to request the help of this Apex, but this was what awaited her when she returned.
The princess’s eyes drifted to the sky where a black dot was floating aimlessly far above the clouds.
Her mind felt muddled as she couldn’t understand the monster’s reason for not taking action.
’Did we anger him somehow? Don’t tell me that you’re gonna disappoint me now too...’ She wondered, but in the end, she was forced to put the thought aside as she raced through the battlefield, eager to get to the gate to give her men some leeway, but it was already too much for her to keep riding under such heavy fire as she continuously dodged the attacks raining down from the sky.
But just then, she felt the earth beneath her feet begin to tremble so much so that even her horse almost lost balance.
She was forced to tug on her horse’s reigns to pull the horse back and keep from falling.
Still, the ground continued to move as if something was moving just beneath its surface.
In the chaos, none of the soldiers seemed to have noticed this, much less the ones who were firing from the wall.
Princess Cassandra felt a chill move down her spine as she watched the ground ripple until a loud collision could be heard.
Within a second, an entire section of the wall was sent toppling down. The demons standing atop the wall were sent crashing down, but before their bodies even hit the ground, a massive worm-like monster erupted from the ground and swallowed the demons whole.
"Monster!"
At the same time, she could hear horrifying screams erupting around her from her own men.
She quickly craned her neck to see another horrifying sight. A monster that resembled a hornet was feasting on the dead corpses of her comrades.
As they were still under heavy fire, there was nothing the demons could do but watch in horror.
Her gaze once again drifted to the sky, towards her only hope but the figure she was looking for was nowhere to be seen.
At that moment she felt a cold Sting that felt a bit too much like betrayal.
Her eyes flashed with anger and siappointment as she steeled herself and finally drew her sword.
"Forward! We won’t give up! This is for our kingdom and our proud demon race!" She roared so loudly it felt as if her lungs were going to burst.
With a section of the wall destroyed, she didn’t want to waste another second.
Hearing their princess’s shouts and determination, the soldiers gathered their courage and followed behind her in a mad rush as she moved towards the crumpled section of the wall.
The worm continued to devour the soldiers while destroying more of the massive wall, but just then, a powerful magical attack rippled through the air and struck the worm monster in the head, sending the beast crashing to the ground.
Above the beast, a muscular figure floated in the air, dressed in expensive robes like a celestial god except it was a demon.
Looking at this demon, you would’ve thought he was in his late 20s. His expression remained serious as a purple ball of energy formed in the palm of his hand as he readied himself to kill the behemoth below him once and for all.
"Father?"
The princess’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw her father, but she quickly regained her composure and raised her sword.
It pained her to draw her sword against her own father, but she buried those emotions and charged forward, hoping to catch him from behind.
With her trusted sword in hand, she leaped into the air from her horse, but just then, she felt something grab onto one of her feet, and for just a second, she got a glimpse of an orc’s hideous face before she was violently slammed into the ground which resounded in a loud crash breaking a few of her bones in the process.
A massive orc had her in his grasp. The creature was so big that it looked more like an ogre than an orc.
She groaned in pain and spat blood as the beast once again raised her up by the throat.
Her eyes drifted to her father for help, but his back was turned as he prepared to kill the monstrous worm, without even bothering to spare her a glance.
At that moment, she felt ashamed. Ashamed that she was always looking for someone to save her.
First, she threw all her worries on Apex, and now she was pining for the father who betrayed her.
The shame she felt was almost unbearable.
’I only wanted to save my people... My family was right. I’m undeserving of the title of princess.’
A single tear rolled down her face as her vision slowly faded. The last thing she saw as she closed her eyes was her father’s back as he released a powerful magical attack.
...
A rush of power coursed through me as I watched the battle from above the clouds.
My monsters did good devouring the demon corpses.
The amount of biomass I gained from each of them was unreal.
Their bodies were thick with latent magical energy and all the biomass my monsters consumed was passing to me.
Gradually, as the battle was coming to a disappointing end, I finally gained the biomass I needed to purchase my next evolution.
[50,000 biomass has been spent to change your common magic to chaos magic!]
[Congratulations, your Boss Monster Core has evolved into Primordial Core]
