Rusak took the opportunity to attack from the side, his claws glowing with energy as he struck at the demon’s head. The impact actually made the creature stumble, but again, it didn’t pierce the bone.
"This thing’s a damn nightmare," Rikka muttered, wiping a little sweat from her brow.
The demon raised its wings again, this time pulling them in close. A dark energy began to build between them, pulsating with raw power.
Lance’s eyes narrowed. "It’s preparing something big!"
The demon suddenly flung its wings open, releasing a massive shockwave of black mist. The wave surged outward, corrupting everything it touched.
Fortunately, everyone was behind Lia’s barrier, but the force of the attack was taking a toll on her as she had to consume her magic energy continuously to keep it up. The pressure of the attack made her stagger, but she gritted her teeth, doing her best to keep it up. "I can’t hold this one for long!"
The demon didn’t wait. It lunged again, aiming for the weakest point in their defenses.
Lance clenched his fists. They were running out of options. If they couldn’t figure out a way to permanently wound this thing, they’d be forced to retreat, and that wasn’t an option.
"Everyone, focus on one point!" he commanded. "We need to crack that armor open before it builds up more of that mist!"
Listening to Lance, everyone steeled themselves. Read new chapters at freewebnovel
Their attack against the demon continued as they alternated between group attacks from the warriors and individual attacks. The continues barrage of attacks was looking effective, and there was progress against the demon, but even in then, the battlefield was drenched in death.
The demon’s corrupted mist clung to the air, its decayed influence warping everything it touched. The bodies of fallen warriors; goblins, orcs, and beastkin alike, littered the ground, their flesh already rotting away under the demon’s cruel magic. Some still clutched their weapons, their expressions frozen in agony. They had lost almost half of their forces in under half a quarter of an hour.
Despite their numbers, they were being overwhelmed. Every attack that landed was undone in seconds, the demon’s hardened body resisting as though it had never been harmed. And every attack from the demon only claimed more lives, its rot spreading like an unstoppable disease.
Lance turned to Rusak, who was panting faintly after a relentless attack, "we need to pull back, at least regroup!"
"No!" Rusak growled, his sharp eyes locked onto the enemy. "We end it here! If we back off now, it’ll only keep spreading its filth!"
Lance cursed under his breath. He wasn’t wrong. If they left, the demon would only grow stronger, and the goblin territory would be next.
But then—
"Rikka! Look out!" Zarra shouted.
She barely had time to react as a ball of rotting energy, pulsating with death, shot toward Rikka. Rikka who had been weaving through, her twin daggers flashing as she struck at the demon’s wings, looking for any weakness, didn’t see the attack coming. The black mass struck her mid-dodge, consuming her left side entirely.
Rikka let out a scream of pure agony. The flesh where the ball of energy touched instantly decayed, spreading like wildfire across her body. Her arm withered, her skin blackening, her veins turning sickly green as the corruption raced up her chest. She collapsed, convulsing, barely able to breathe as the necrotic energy consumed her.
"Rikka!" Zarra screamed, rushing toward her, but Lance moved faster, appearing beside Rikka almost in an instant.
He didn’t think, he couldn’t afford to.
Without hesitation, he dropped to his knees beside her and pressed his hand to the infected area.
The moment he made contact, a searing pain shot through his arm.
The rot spread instantly, creeping up his fingers and forearm like an aggressive parasite. His skin darkened, nerves screaming in protest as decay attempted to take hold of him. But Lance didn’t let go. He shouldn’t have made contact with the part of he that was affected, but he hadn’t even had time to think it through as he responded more off instinct than anything else.
A brilliant golden glow erupted from his palm as he activated his healing ability. The magic surged into Rikka’s body, burning away the corruption at an unnatural speed. Her decayed flesh began to mend, the blackened veins retreating, her arm restoring itself in mere seconds, and the rest of her body did same.
The moment she was fully healed, Lance withdrew his hand, but the rot had already spread further up his arm, reaching past his elbow. The pain was unlike anything he had felt before.
He clenched his jaw, and without a second thought, he pressed his other hand against his shoulder. His healing magic worked at an insane pace, burning away the corruption just as fast as it spread. His body felt like it was being torn apart and put back together at the same time. Sweat poured from his brow, his breathing ragged a bit. But within moments, his skin was back to normal, his arm whole again, and his body returned to its peak, after all, his ability didn’t just produce a local effect alone.
Lance exhaled sharply, his limbs trembling from the strain.
Rikka coughed, blinking rapidly as she stared up at him in shock. "Lance...?"
"You’re fine now," he said, forcing a smirk despite the exhaustion on his mind. "No dying on me."
Rikka shakily got to her feet, staring at her completely healed body, then at Lance’s arm. "You... touched the rot, but you..."
Lance pushed himself up. "I can heal it directly, but I won’t be able to do that for everyone."
Zarra exhaled in relief but quickly refocused. "We need to keep fighting."
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Lance nodded and turned back to the battlefield. Their forces had been thinned significantly. Many orcs and beastkin had fallen, and even the goblins who fought bravely were now either dead or gravely wounded, or tired out. Lia was doing her best to keep them alive, but her magic was stretched thin.
The demon stood in the center of the carnage, its rotted wings folded around itself once more.
Lance rushed around, healing everyone who was still alive and affected with the rot before it was too late for them.
The demon watched keenly as Lance countered its magic, a sickening empty grin stretching across its face, its bulging eyes locked onto him. Then, for the first time, it spoke.
"Hu-man... in-teres-ting..."
Its voice was warped, hollow, like a dead creature speaking.
Rusak cracked his knuckles. "Let’s kill this thing."
Lance steadied his breathing. He had just risked his life to save Rikka, and he wasn’t sure how many more times he could pull a stunt like that. But if this battle was going to continue, they had to find a way to end it, and Lance had just found the only move against the impossible odds.