Ch 77 - Against the Behemoth

On one section of Necroton's defensive wall, a man stood with composure, overlooking the battlefield below. He had long black hair flowing behind his back and wore heavy armor forged from dark steel with deep maroon accents.

"All ranged units, shift your fire to the eastern flank! Suppress every monster trying to break through! Do not let them reach the walls!"

Moments later, the sound of war drums and blaring horns echoed across Necroton. The signals spread from one unit to another as the entire defense force adjusted its formation under his command.

The man raised his voice once more.

"Shield units, hold the front line! Spearmen, advance five paces! Archers, maintain continuous fire! Mages, prepare your next volley! No one breaks formation!"

He was Knight Commander Naldrom, the very commander Jester had won over several weeks earlier when the corrupt nobles tried to exploit Prince Caelan.

Back then, Naldrom had been under Pearl's control, his actions no longer his own. But after that incident, Pearl released her hold over him, allowing him to regain both his freedom and his honor.

Now, he stood proudly beneath the banner of Prince Caelan, becoming the first Knight Commander to swear his loyalty to the young prince.

Naldrom's arrival had transformed Necroton's knight order. His years of battlefield experience, tactical brilliance, and ability to train and shape ordinary soldiers into disciplined warriors had strengthened the city's defenses far beyond what they once were.

His commanding voice thundered across the battlefield once again.

"Rotate the frontline every thirty seconds! Wounded soldiers, fall back immediately! Reserve units, fill every gap! We hold this wall no matter the cost!"

With a sharp metallic ring, Naldrom drew his sword from its scabbard and raised it high above his head.

"Knights of Necroton!" he roared. "Draw your blades and march! There will be no retreat today! We fight for our people! We fight for our home! We fight until the last monster falls! Forward!"

The Knight Commander leaped down from the defensive wall and landed heavily on the battlefield below.

At the same time, dozens of Necroton's knights surged forward behind him, their battle cries echoing across the plains as they charged into the advancing monster horde.

Amid the rushing formation, two figures immediately stood out.

Both were noticeably taller than the surrounding knights, each bearing a magnificent pair of golden horns that curved proudly from their heads.

One of them was a broad-shouldered man carrying a massive stone club. With a powerful swing, he smashed the weapon into the ground, sending nearby monsters flying as the earth cracked beneath the impact.

"This is seriously amazing! I know there are way too many of them, but this means we can finally fight without holding back! If only the others were here too, this would've been even more exciting!"

The woman beside him immediately shot him a sharp, irritated glare.

"Korak, focus. This is no time to fool around. We can't let a single monster break through the city's defenses. Destroy them as quickly as possible."

Korak clicked his tongue before glancing around the battlefield.

"Drina... do you think the High Chief is coming? We still haven't seen him anywhere. I hope nothing's happened."

"You don't need to worry about the High Chief," Drina replied firmly. "He entrusted this battlefield to us. Our duty is to carry out his orders, nothing more."

Korak grinned. "I won't hold back even a little!"

He lunged forward before his body suddenly began to expand. Larger. And larger.

Within moments, he had grown several times his original size, towering high above the battlefield. Raising his gigantic stone club overhead, he brought it crashing down with earth-shattering force.

BOOM!

The impact blasted monsters away in every direction as the ground caved beneath the strike.

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"You idiot, Korak!" Drina shouted. "People are going to think you're one of the monsters!"

The nearby knights and players instinctively tensed when they saw the colossal horned giant standing among the battlefield, his enormous frame making him almost indistinguishable from the invading creatures.

Korak burst into laughter.

"Don't worry about me! Everyone fighting for Necroton, just keep attacking! Give me a little room... and I'll crush every last one of these monsters!"

On another side of the battlefield, a relentless series of explosions echoed through the air.

Blast after blast erupted deep within the heart of the monster horde, farther than almost any player or knight could hope to reach. The bombardment was so intense that entire sections of the battlefield disappeared beneath clouds of fire and smoke.

At the front of the assault stood Siki, his greatsword planted firmly into the ground before him.

"We have to focus on the boss. If we leave it alone, it'll keep getting closer to the city. Once it's within range, the damage from its attacks will be far worse."

Windious stood beside him, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the blinding flashes in the distance.

"Damn... that thing's huge. Where do we even start cutting it apart? The tentacles?"

At that moment, the giant flower buds at the ends of the Behemoth's tentacles slowly bloomed.

The instant they opened, enormous clouds of glowing pollen burst into the air. The tiny particles spread with terrifying speed, carried by the wind until they began blanketing the battlefield from above.

A figure suddenly landed in front of them. It was Clover. Without wasting a second, she spun her spear repeatedly before slashing it toward the sky.

The attack unleashed countless massive wind blades that shot upward in every direction. They tore through the spreading cloud of spores, shredding and scattering it before the poisonous particles could descend onto the allied forces.

Siki and Windious instinctively lowered their bodies against the powerful gust.

At the same time, hundreds of glowing magical projectiles shot into the sky from another direction.

Serissa!

The barrage streaked upward before colliding with the expanding cloud of spores.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

One explosion followed another, shaking the sky itself as waves of fire engulfed the poisonous cloud before it could spread any farther.

The Elder Bloom Behemoth let out a furious roar that echoed across the battlefield.

"It releases that pollen every sixty seconds," Siki said, keeping his attention fixed on the colossal monster. "That gives us a full minute to attack before the next wave."

A roaring tornado suddenly tore across the battlefield before spiraling violently to a stop just a few meters from them. The raging winds howled with terrifying force, pulling in everything nearby as the towering vortex continued to grow.

Siki and Windious immediately dashed straight toward it.

The moment they entered the vortex, the raging wind seized their bodies and launched them high into the sky at incredible speed.

"Don't fall, Siki!" Windious shouted with a laugh. "Dying like that would be embarrassing!"

"I'm not as reckless as you are, Windious!"

A moment later, Clover shot upward beside them, effortlessly controlling the surrounding winds as she flew through the air.

Within seconds, the three reached one of the Behemoth's enormous tentacles.

They landed and immediately rushed forward.

Siki sprinted along the thick tentacle as though he were charging across solid ground, his crimson cape streaming behind him.

Windious followed close behind, his feet clinging to the massive surface as though gravity had completely lost its hold on him.

Meanwhile, Clover remained airborne, as the surrounding winds carried her effortlessly beside the two warriors.

"Watch out!" Windious shouted.

A gigantic tentacle whipped toward them at terrifying speed, aiming directly for him.

Before it could connect, an enormous battle axe forged entirely from golden energy came spinning through the air.

The massive construct sliced cleanly through the incoming tentacle, showering the battlefield below with fragments as it continued spinning toward its next target.

But then, the remaining tentacles suddenly came alive. They moved with terrifying speed, twisting and whipping through the air from every direction without warning.

The three of them instantly lost their footing.

"Whoa, whoa! Damn it, it's too fast!" Windious shouted.

A massive tentacle slammed into him with overwhelming force, launching his body high through the air before sending him crashing across the battlefield.

Siki tried to regain his balance and push forward, but another tentacle swept across his path.

BAM! The impact sent him flying just as violently.

Meanwhile, Clover darted through the barrage with incredible agility, weaving between one tentacle after another as the raging winds carried her movements. Even so, the sheer number of attacks eventually overwhelmed her. A giant tentacle caught her from the side, hurling her away as she spun uncontrollably through the air.

Moments later, all three crashed back onto the battlefield in different locations.

They quickly climbed to their feet.

"Damn it... this thing's ridiculous. We can't even get close. It's too massive, and those tentacles are way too strong. We need overwhelming firepower if we're going to bring it down from a distance."

"We don't have that kind of firepower," Siki replied grimly.

A moment later, Kingston came crashing down beside them in his massive armored bear form, forcing the ground beneath his feet to tremble.

"Siki, I'll attack from below. I should be able to keep it distracted long enough. While it's focused on me, you guys go after the blooms."

"No. That's suicide," Siki replied immediately. "You won't last that long. There are too many monsters beneath it. They'll surround you before you even get close."

Kingston clicked his tongue but didn't argue.

Siki clenched his fist as another chain of massive explosions echoed across the battlefield. Fire and smoke continued erupting around the Elder Bloom Behemoth, yet the colossal monster refused to slow down.

"...We'll try again."

Siki tightened his grip on the hilt of his greatsword.

"It's way too early to give up!" he shouted.

The moment the words left his mouth, Siki burst forward once again, charging straight toward the Elder Bloom Behemoth.

"Hahaha! That's more like it!" Windious laughed as he kicked off the ground and raced after him.

"We're finishing this!" Siki roared at the top of his lungs. "And we're definitely not letting our future business partner look down on us!"