Chapter 243: Life and Death Battle

"You guys..."

Brutt did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Earlier, when they were ambushed by this unknown monster while exploring the uncharted cave, he had instantly realized they stood no chance of winning.

Therefore, he decisively told them to go back to Harmonia and request reinforcements while he bought them time.

Along with that was his acceptance of his possible death.

Now, seeing the two people whom he had trusted again and again, come back for him, he felt speechless.

GRRRR—-

The grotesque monster growled, its grating voice snapped them back to their senses.

"Ha... okay."

Brutt sighed as he muttered an instant later, "I’m sorry, Regis. I’ll be relying on you once again."

It lacked true intelligence, but it possessed enough instinct to recognize something unnatural— something dangerous.

The young human who had been on the verge of death mere moments ago now stood tall, unblemished.

Perto and Brutt cautiously backed away, retreating toward Vanessa’s position.

Their eyes fixed on the grotesque monster, ready to react if it made any sudden movements.

As they neared Vanessa, they stopped just a few inches away from her.

"Are you sure about this? You might not be able to move if we didn’t kill it in less than ten minutes."

"Yes." They both answered with a nod.

"...Alright"

Vanessa drew a sharp breath. Her hands took on a graying hue, her nails darkening, lengthening—morphing into wicked black claws.

Then, without hesitation, she drove them straight into Brutt and Perto’s temples.

Yet strangely, no blood spilled.

No physical harm could be seen.

It was the Platinum-grade gift Vanessa had awakened back at the demonic human camp.

Hand of Dominion.

With it, she could control the minds of anyone who would be wounded by her claws.

Said wound was not to be confused with physical injuries, but more like a direct damage to one’s consciousness and ultimately; their soul.

The degree of her influence on one’s mind was decided by the "injury" she had caused them.

As for Perto and Brutt, who accepted her attack directly in their heads, the effects were much more apparent.

Their sclerae turned pitch black as black nerves appeared around their eyes.

Their sclera turned pitch-black. Veins darkened, slithering beneath their skin like ink. Their flesh turned pale, ghostlike, marred by traces of blackened vessels.

"You have ten minutes."

Vanessa warned, voice trembling, "After that, you’ll both be paralyzed by backlash. Your souls won’t endure beyond that."

Tears gathered in her eyes.

She really hated using her gift in this way.

She had studied her gift with painstaking care.

From its normal usage of gradually dominating her opponents’ minds, to helping Regis regain consciousness back then, to now enhancing her friends’ battle capabilities.

Normally, she would rather just slowly influence her opponents’ minds, but the situation called for it.

At this moment, she had forcefully pushed both Perto and Brutt’s minds into a battle state.

In this state, they could only think of taking their opponents down with no faculty for anything else.

The mind’s natural limiters, which were meant to protect the body from overexertion, were stripped away.

Therefore, at this moment...

...both Perto and Brutt could be said to be fighting at 120% of their full potential.

Grrr—

The grotesque monster flinched at the sudden shift in the atmosphere.

It showed wariness as the two young men slowly took steps, gradually advancing towards it.

Purple energy erupted through Vanessa, Brutt, and Perto’s bodies, but no stars could be seen on their chests.

In this instant, both Perto and Brutt turned into purple streaks as they charged at the grotesque monster from both sides.

The former wielded a sword and shield, while the latter used his broken blade.

CLANG—-!!!!

A loud sound echoed in the area as two swords were blocked by the long, skeletal arm of the grotesque monster.

However, this did not stop the two young men as Perto suddenly hugged the arm.

The various protruding bone spikes pierced his body, but only a crazed expression remained on his face.

Instead, a chant escaped his lips.

[Immovable Mountain]

Along with that, aether moved as a crater formed beneath Pertowhich fully planted his feet to the ground.

Despite the grotesque monster struggling to free its arm, it felt like a whole mountain was weighing down on it, making it impossible to even move by a little bit.

Meanwhile, Brutt leaped and used the skeletal arm as a foothold to make his way towards the chest of the grotesque monster, where the black core was located.

Unfortunately, it seemed to have expected this as it used its other arms, that was not unlike a huge tumor, as a hammer in order to swat the pesky little human who dared climb its body.

Brutt immediately crouched, but his back was scratched along with some black fluids burning through his skin as it dropped on his skin.

Nevertheless, his crazed expression did not falter even by a little as he forcefully made his way through the gigantic body of the grotesque monster.

Numerous slithers bone spikes attacked him, but as if he could not feel pain, he continued to charge onwards.

[Crimson Sword]

A chant left his lips as his aether gathered into his broken blade and ignited a blood-red flame that covered it.

Whoosh— Clank!!

Whoosh— Clank!!

Whoosh— Clank!!

Sparks flew in the air as the blade of crimson flames met head-on with the slithering skeletal spikes.

At this moment, while the grotesque monster was busy with Brutt while having one of its arms impeded by Perto, a figure appeared behind it.

A black haired girl sneaked through the jagged skeletal spikes protruding from the grotesque monster’s back in an agile manner and attempted to drive her black claws on the back of its neck.

Whoosh—-

Unfortunately, it seemed to have expected this as its head turned, with one of its three heads now facing her.

"Shit!"

Vanessa cursed out loud, but decisively charged forward.

Vine-like skeletal spikes slithered like snakes as they converged towards her.

[Graceful Wind]

The aether surrounding her body powered her aura art as another layer of greenish energy covered her body.

Her movements became even sharper as the air resistance vanished and was replaced by a gust of wind that enhanced her agility even further.

The movement of her limbs resembled that of a dance as she dodged the countless spikes coming for her.

Vanessa’s flexibility had always been her edge when it came to fights, especially with bulky and slow opponents.

Whoosh— Whoosh— Whoosh—

"Tsk, if only I obeyed his advice and learned some damn magic..."

She complained out loud as she did her best to dodge the incoming spikes.

Regis had once recommended that they at least learn a little bit of magic.

Since aether was capable of powering both magic spells and aura arts, it was better to dabble in the other while focusing on one to use it to its full potential.

However, even after trying it, Vanessa and the others opted for aura arts itself.

The reason was simple: learning magic almost caused their heads to explode.

"Just how do those mages manage to not go crazy while looking at those numbers and equations!?"

Vanessa cursed and continued to focus on dodging.

However, it seemed like the skeletal spikes going for her were never-ending.

’More than five minutes had already passed, and we hadn’t made any progress...’

She thought to herself, glancing at her teammates who were also struggling to deal with the grotesque monster like her.

At this moment, the battle was not making further progress.

It was taking Perto all his might just to keep the long skeletal arm of the grotesque monster from moving.

Despite this seemingly simple action, it was already a great help to have one of its limbs rendered useless.

Meanwhile, Brutt, who was still covered in crimson patterns, became even more aggressive as he continued to shed blood.

He became increasingly faster and stronger as time passed by, yet it was still not enough for him to reach the grotesque monster’s black core.

’I need to do something!’

Vanessa thought as she stopped dodging some of the spikes and desperately leaped in an attempt to touch the grotesque monster’s body with her black claws.

Whoosh—

"Shit—" She was not able to curse as something greeted her sight.

It was none other than the tumor-like hand of the grotesque monster, which it used like a hammer to swat her away.

Thud— Thud— Thud—

After bouncing on the ground a couple of times, Vanessa landed a few meters away.

Injuries could be seen all over her body, along with some burns, though they immediately vanished right after.

She struggled as she lifted her head, but the sight that greeted her made her widen her eyes in shock.

In the distance, Perto, who was still holding the skeletal arm, was being pummeled by the grotesque monster’s other hand.

He lasted for a full minute before he gave in to his injuries, as his knees broke from the continuous impact.

In the next second, Brutt’s head flew as he was decapitated by the grotesque monster’s skeletal arm.