When the six Originals clashed with the Minotaur, the released energies swept through the surrounding area.
They blasted into the few other Originals that were able to endure the pressure weighing them down.
'I knew that we might have to face such a Calamity-class monster, but I never expected them to be that powerful…' Sam Anderson thought while staring at the Minotaur in shock.
It slashed its huge broadsword at the opponent in front of it, using only one arm. When the huge and heavy broadsword collided with the weapons of the three members belonging to the Heaven's Gates, its speed was forcefully slowed down.
The three Originals of the Heaven's Gates organization were pushed back, and their eyes widened in an almost inconspicuous manner.
'So powerful!' They could only think before the Minotaur roared out once again, displaying its might and providing it with the necessary strength it needed to complete its attack in a smooth manner.
The heavy broadsword hit the three Originals that were blasted several meters back and the Minotaur was ready to pursue them to eradicate its opponents in an instant.
It was still at an advantage right now and received the opportunity to kill the only beings that could be considered a threat.
However, just as it dashed forward, and caused the surrounding ground to burst open as three holy white auras surrounded it.
The Leader of the Sacred Knights and two of his members had circled around the Minotaur to attack it the moment the beast would make just one wrong move.
Releasing their holy, pure aura, they shackled down the Minotaur and prevented it from paying attention to the three Originals, who the beast had just overwhelmed with its great physical strength.
The Sacred Knights' Leader was completely unbothered by that. His blue eyes stared coldly at the beast in front of it, and he lashed out with the longsword in his hand.
Shrouded by the holy aura, it glowed in bright light as it penetrated the Minotaur's thick black skin.
Blood spurted through the surrounding area when he retracted his weapon. However, the moment he retracted the longsword, the Minotaur had already punched out with its empty hand.
The high velocity of the punch was more than enough to overwhelm every kind of mortal being.
But instead of panicking, the Sacred Knights' Leader twisted his body and released one of his abilities called [Holy Guard]. He then lifted his longsword and kept twisting his body until an uncomfortable sensation coursed through his body.
A white shining veil manifested in front of the Sacred Knights Leader's longsword, just before the Minotaur's large fist impacted the weapon's flat side.
Reducing the attack's impact, the Holy Guard grew powerful enough to allow the Sacred Knights Leader to initiate a counterattack.
A white glint emerged in his eyes and his holy aura began to change all of a sudden as his strength was elevated.
The change in his holy aura suggested that the Leader of the Sacred Knights had been holding back. He had wanted to make it look like the holy aura every member of the Sacred Knights had was exactly the same.
However, after piercing in the Minotaur's hide the first time, and overcoming the simple, yet destructive high-velocity punch it had issued nonchalantly, the Sacred Knights leader knew that he would die if he did not try to deflect the attack.
'It's not like anyone will understand what my aura truly signifies, either way.'
The Secret Knights leader's thoughts were quite simple. He could tell that the Heaven's Gates organization was favored by some Divine existence, otherwise, they wouldn't be in possession of the weak aura that the Secret Knights had been studying for a long time.
However, their aura was completely different to the Holy aura of his people, let alone his own.
His aura was the most unique, and it was actually not something one would be able to create at the Prometheus rank. The aura's special characteristics were too difficult to manifest at such a low rank.
But this was not something anyone present could do now. After all, the boy he had hoped to prove a worthy ally was entirely useless.
While releasing the intense aura that overwhelmed his subordinates' aura and the bloodthirsty and heavy aura of the Minotaur, the leader of the Sacred Knights looked over at Sam Anderson and the people around him.
His gaze lingered on the ground next to Sam Anderson for a moment before his head turned back to the battlefield.
'I was already excited that it might be him. It has been so long since we found a new toy. Well, whatever.' The Sacred Knight leader thought and shrugged his shoulders.
For a moment he thought about the past, but instead of letting his mind linger on the reminiscence of old glorious deeds, his body leaned forward and he dashed ahead.
His entire body was shrouded in holy light and almost untraceable lines of a devilish sensation. The devilish sensation intertwined with the holiness of the Sacred Knights leader's aura.
Nobody was supposed to notice it and the Sacred Knights leader slashed out with his longsword while facing the Minotaur head-on without showing a trace of hesitation.
Both had slashed out, using their whole strength. They ignored the three Originals from the Heaven's Gates, who had already gotten up from the ground, and were ready to join the fight once again.
Even the two members of the Sacred Knights were completely ignored by both their leader and the Minotaur as they clashed with each other.
However, instead of completing his attack, the Sacred Knights leader changed his way of attack at the last second.
Several duplications of his longsword made of pure white light enveloped his longsword all of a sudden.
They blasted toward the Minotaur in an attempt to injure it severely, while the Sacred Knights leader's slash changed its trajectory.
He intended to close the distance and to increase the pressure on the Minotaur.
But, to his misfortune, the Minotaur's wild instincts and exceptional combat awareness kicked in.
The beast released hot steam from its entire body, thereby increasing the temperature in the surrounding area by several degrees.
Simultaneously, its speed seemed to increase, which was how the Minotaur could change the trajectory of his heavy broadsword as well.
But that was not all! Other than changing his attack's trajectory, the Minotaur shot toward his left side, his hand reached out and he grasped one of the Sacred Knights members.
The Sacred Knights members hadn't held back on attacking the Minotaur either. It might look like their leader had everything under control but they couldn't just sit back and let their leader do everything for them.
Their own reputation and that of their entire organization were on the line!
Yet, even then, they didn't expect to be used as a living shield by the Minotaur, who had grasped one of them in an instant.
The unfortunate Sacred Knights member was hurled through the air by the Minotaur, whose eyes were gleaming like red rubies before it was thrown back to the other Sacred Knights member a second later.
However, the moment he was flung over to the fellow member of the Sacred Knights, the unfortunate young man's eyes had already turned lifeless.
The flying holy blades had pierced through the Original's back and cleanly pierced through it. The tip of the holy blades had even emerged on the other side before they disappeared after being dispelled into thin air.
'How useless!' This was the only thing on the Sacred Knights leader's mind as he saw that one of the few Prometheus-ranked Originals of his group died.
'They're more of a burden than help right now…. Why did I even try to nurture them?! How come all humans are so useless?'
The Sacred Knights Leader frowned but he used the momentum to his advantage as he leaned his body even closer to the ground.
His aura was released in an explosive manner and was shining brightly enough to dazzle the Minotaur. A moment later, the Sacred Knight Leader disappeared from his earlier spot.
He re-emerged several meters ahead and pierced his weapon into the Minotaur's waist.
Simultaneously, the members of the Heaven's Gates organization had appeared as well.
Their weak, bluish aura surrounded them tightly. Through the influence of the weak aura that they had studied, the members of the Heaven's Gates organization moved smoothly, almost as if they had rehearsed it to perfection.
And that was exactly what they were doing.
Taking advantage of the battlefield's flow, the three Originals emerged around the Sacred Knights leader.
Each of them made use of several abilities to increase their strength momentarily before they started their barrage of attacks to eliminate the black-skinned and red-eyed Minotaur.
Each of the Originals was considered to be amongst the top of mankind's ranking. They had attained a new rank, a rank that was still unknown to the public.
Their strength was incomparable to the others. Even other Originals, who called themselves true powerhouses because they exceeded the publicly known strongest Original's strength, were merely rookies in their view.
Advancing to the Prometheus rank was an honor, and something only a few Originals were actually capable of.
Thus, they were very prideful. However, even then, their pride was nothing in comparison to the shock caused by the Minotaur's actions.
It had used a fellow Prometheus-ranked existence as a meat shield before throwing the Original's dead body away.
The Originals hadn't even been able to do anything against the Minotaur's actions.
They had been way too fast and it had been a totally unexpected turn of events.
But even if it had been unexpected, the Original should have been able to take a step back instinctively the moment the Minotaur revealed its intentions to move toward him.
However, that had been impossible, clearly indicating that the Original's reflexes were either bad or that the Minotaur was much faster and stronger than the Prometheus-ranked Original, whose body was currently lying on the ground, dyeing the ground bright red.
'Is it a Mutant? Was it especially sent by one of the Divines to conquer some lands?' The Sacred Knight Leader asked himself, his frown deepening as he saw how fast the Minotaur began to move as the three Heaven's Gates members joined his fight.
The other Sacred Knights member had also joined the fray after his mind was cleared of the shock of his friend's sudden death.
With five Prometheus-ranked Originals fighting the Minotaur, sending out one wave of attacks after another, the beast should have been forced to succumb to its inevitable fate.
However, not only were the injuries it sustained minor, but it was easily able to regenerate. The Minotaur had a shockingly high regeneration ability that allowed it to fight even after sustaining several deep gashes at various vital points.
Everyone was frustrated about this, especially the Sacred Knights leader because he could clearly tell that one of the Divines had used their special authority to create and transport the Minotaur to Jundra.
'Who is this nut head, who thought of sending a Mutant Beast to our new playgrounds?!'
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.co(m)