Although I did say that I'd be taking this one on by myself, my chances of winning were pretty much zero. This isn't a matter of being lucky or not, but more about the fact that I was lacking in power.
'I can't use Lifeblood anymore, as my halo was already used up earlier...'
If I knew this would happen, then I'd definitely choose to fight those 9th stages normally... No, I guess even if I knew that a god-level would come to attack us later on, I'd have done the same thing.
"Well, it's only a matter of dying now or later."
I shrugged my shoulders, looking at the girls, who were all gazing at me with worry.
"Everyone, please delay those two god-levels and wait for me."
I requested them before I activated [Lifeblood] at maximum output. It was a gamble, after all. If I can't end this side fast, then the girls will probably die under the two god-level demons approaching them. I did improve on using [Lifeblood], limiting its adverse effects on my lifespan, but even with that, I was still losing almost half a day's worth for every second I had it on at maximum.
Five minutes. That's the limit to which the girls could stably repel the two god-level demons. Beyond that, they'll probably be gaining casualties already.
"So I need to end you in under five minutes!"
I roared, trying to rouse my fighting spirit as I took large strides, approaching the demon before me. This fight is literally an uphill battle, not only physically and mentally but also in terms of power.
"But I have no intention to back down without a fight!"
I took out my trusty sword and waved it in the air. As I was now a few hundred meters away from it, almost reaching the top of the anthill once more, the demon finally turned in my direction and opened its large mouth.
*RAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!*
The roar alone almost sent me flying, but I stabbed my sword into the ground and held on stubbornly. After the shockwave passed, I resumed my run but was forced to dodge to the side instead.
A powerful beam aiming for me rushed past, searing the entire slope of the anthill like a hot wire touching styrofoam. I, who was literally right next to it, had my skin roasted just from the radiated heat.
"Ugh!"
I looked at the end of the beam and saw that it was far from reaching the girls, making me feel a slight relief.
'I need to be careful of my positioning too!'
I made a mental note before using [Shadow Skip] and appearing behind the giant demon's head.
"Take this!"
Using my sword, I tried striking the back of its head, but as if trying to hit a hard stone with a wooden stick, nothing much happened. Well, other than my hand becoming numb from the impact, that is.
I didn't give up and ran down its body, moving to the neck. However, similar to the back of the head, it was still too tough for my sword to penetrate. As I was moving around, trying to find a vulnerable part, a large shadow covered me from above.
"Sh*t!"
I cursed as I quickly used [Shadow Skip] once more, moving out of the way. As soon as I did, the demon's hand slapped down on its own neck, creating a powerful shockwave that sent me tumbling down.
Just the impact from its slap was enough to hurt me! I could imagine what could happen if that hit. A tragedy.
I looked at my sword, whose edge was now full of cracks. Just two swings, and it was almost destroyed. That's just how powerful the demon's skin was.
"This reminds me of the Void Beast somehow..."
I turned to Fatima as I recalled a scene from the past and noticed her doing something.
"...!"
I quickly realized her plan and moved in concert with her. Earlier, I was aiming to kill the demon by myself, but now I focus more on attracting its attention, irritating it, and making it attack me and only me by all means necessary.
I quickly noticed that sticking closer to its gigantic figure was much safer for me, as if I moved away, the beam attacks would rain down. Dodging the slaps was easy, as I just needed to time my use of [Shadow Skip] in concert with its initial movements.
Dodging the attack at the last second proved more effective in irritating it, so I did it as many times as I could.
"Soon...!"
I was waiting for Fatima's signal, but honestly, I was almost reaching my limits. It wasn't my energy that was reaching rock bottom, but rather my joints and muscles.
Moving them continuously beyond their limits was taking quite a toll, and honestly, I think only the adrenaline was making it possible for me to move as I did. I don't even want to imagine what would happen if I stopped moving.
"Will!"
Finally, a voice called for me through the special link. Without even the need to turn around and confirm, I already knew what I needed to do.
"Come here, you slowpoke!"
I taunted the demon while standing right in front of it. Angry from all the dodging I was doing earlier, it completely lost sight of everything else.
It raised both its arms, trying to smash me like a mole, but that pose was what I was aiming for.
*BANG!*
Before I could even hear the sound, a large hole as big as its own fist was opened in the middle of its chest. Blood didn't flow out, as the wound was cauterized by the heat of the bullet and was also infected by the curse of the cursed ore, the casing's material. I'm not entirely sure how Fatima was able to fire such a powerful shot or how she could withstand the recoil from it, but now's not the time to think about such things.
The demon, as if a puppet with cut strings, fell to its knees and lost power. It used its hand and touched its chest, feeling the gap that was supposed to be where its essence crystal was.
"...!"
It still didn't die instantly after having its essence crystal destroyed?! This thing's too tough!
Before it could do a desperate attack on the brink of death, I rushed up to the gaping hole and faced upward. There, a large lump of energy was visible, probably the reason why it was still able to move despite having its crystal destroyed.
"But not for long!"
I focused energy into my right palm and thrust it upward, sending a wave toward the vital point and disturbing the energy flow. As soon as I did, the demon raised a grievous howl as it slowly lost its vitality, falling forward to the sloped mound.
I didn't have time to look around its corpse, though, as the girls were still struggling to fight against the two similar-looking god-level demons that finally reached their position. Unlike this demon, whom we demolished just now, the ones that were fighting the girls were a little smaller. They were about five meters tall each, which was around half the size of this one.
However, even though they're half the size, that didn't change their level of power.
As I watched the battle, I noticed that they were actually holding up better than I thought. Threya and the pug, Peabody, were acting as the main tanks, holding back one of the two demons each. They weren't blocking the attacks, of course, as that'd be suicidal, but more on dodging and earning their hate, letting them focus on the two of them alone.
While the demons were focused on them, the others were raining debuffs on the two enemies, but most were ineffective. The only one that could slightly affect them was the smokescreen from Fina.
However, it could only block their vision temporarily and was still mostly ineffective. Furthermore, just like I am, the two tanks were getting tired, as could be seen in their movements slowly turning sluggish.
I quickly turned around and used [Shadow Skip], reaching a few kilometers away in one jump. As I approached, Fatima's figure caught my eye. I was actually wondering whether my eyes were playing tricks with me before, but it was really her right arm that was now in the form of a rifle! So she could actually transform her body partially?
"Rather, how many bullets does she have?"
I think she had a full clip before she transformed, so that's about five rounds. She just used one, so that means she could still fire four times. I want to pass some more bullets to her, but I don't have the leeway to do that yet. Four shots should be more than enough anyway.
"Master, take this!"
Just as I approached the girls, Ember quickly called to me before throwing something. It was heavy! Just as I was wondering what she just passed to me, a loud roar echoed from the one that Threya was facing.
"Kyaah!"
The demon that she was guarding flung her to one side, ignoring her completely, and ran in Fatima's direction!
"Did it see what happened to the other one and is now wary of Fatima?!"
I quickly moved, not wasting time or waiting for tragedy to unfold.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)ebnov(𝒆)l