Sst!

After finishing spinning its hammer, the monster vanished from their sight. Only a slowly fading whirlwind remained.

"Vanished?!" Zaefal stopped instantly, his eyes scanning the room warily.

"Ran away?!" Rasie, who had just gotten up from slamming into the wall, spat blood onto the sand. Her face was red with held-back rage. She swung her greatsword impatiently, searching for the enemy's location.

Illya's eyes widened, her head turning quickly from left to right. Her heart pounded as she tried to sense mana fluctuations in the air.

Near the cathedral entrance, Fyar, who had just re-entered, stopped in his tracks abruptly. The hair on the back of his neck stood up.

Sst!

Suddenly, the monster was standing right in front of Fyar's nose. Its wide grin full of white teeth was clearly visible. It thrust its giant hammer straight toward Fyar's chest.

Fyar held his breath. His hands moved as fast as lightning, crossing his katana and pistol in front of his chest.

"AREAN!" Fyar muttered.

"That voice!" Illya turned sharply toward Fyar. Her eyes widened. "Over there! Over there!"

Sst!

Illya immediately chanted a teleportation spell and vanished from her spot.

Zaefal and Rasie turned simultaneously toward the entrance. Without a word, they sprinted with drawn swords, ready to strike.

Instantly, the area around Fyar and the monster turned into a transparent energy dome. A bright purple glow lit up around them. The effect of Neutralize worked instantly. The swing of the monster's hammer, which had been lightning-fast, now slowed down.

Sst!

Fyar threw his body to the right, dodging the trajectory of the slow hammer. In a fluid spinning motion, he aimed the muzzle of his pistol straight at the monster's temple.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three bullets pierced the side of the monster's head. Blue blood splattered onto the white sand. The monster's head jerked to the side, its gray skin tearing to reveal scorched flesh.

Sst!

Illya appeared from thin air on the monster's left side. She fired a barrage of fireballs from both palms.

The fireballs hit the monster's ribs squarely. Small explosions occurred on the surface of its skin, burning flesh and creating a pungent smell of singed meat. The monster roared in pain, the movements becoming chaotic.

"Fire!" Rasie shouted.

She charged like a bull. Her blazing greatsword was thrust straight into the monster's back. The tip of the blade pierced the spinal armor until it shattered. Rasie twisted her sword inside the flesh, causing the monster to arch backward in pain.

Zaefal did not waste the opportunity. He dashed low, slashing his greatsword toward the monster's calf. The blade tore through the leg muscle until the shinbone was visible. The monster fell to its knees.

Fyar jumped high into the air. He held his katana with both hands above his head, preparing to decapitate the enemy. His katana blade glowed with a sharp purple light.

However, just as Fyar's slash was one inch away from the monster's neck—

The duration of Arean and Neutralize ran out.

The purple dome vanished. The monster's speed returned to normal in an instant.

Sst!

The monster vanished.

Fyar's slash only cut through empty air. He landed hard on the ground, his knee hitting the sand.

Vanished?! Damn it! Fuck it! Almost! Fyar muttered in frustration. His breath came in gasps.

Fyar wiped cold sweat from his temple.

Even though we ganged up on it like that and its regeneration stopped for a moment, it acted as if nothing happened once the Neutralize effect wore off. Tch.

Illya rushed toward Fyar. She knelt down, checking Fyar's body in panic.

"Fyar?! Are you okay? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Fyar nodded slowly while regulating his breathing. "Just a bruise."

"Ah shit, lost it again! Fuck!!!" Rasie shouted. She kicked the sand in frustration. "It was so close, damn it!"

"Tch," Zaefal hissed. He observed the surroundings with his sword at the ready.

"Over there!" Rasie pointed toward the outside of the ruins, to the stretch of empty white sand.

The monster stood silently there, staring at them while smiling widely. The gunshot wounds on its head, the burns on its ribs, and the tear in its leg began to close rapidly. Thin smoke rose from the wounds as the flesh knitted back together.

The monster stowed its giant hammer on its back. Parasitic worms emerged from the skin of its back, coiling around the hammer handle to hold it. It then stretched its neck to the right and left until it cracked, krak, krak.

Slowly, its giant body shrank. Its muscles condensed until its size was reduced to almost that of a normal human.

"W-what is that asshole doing?" Rasie asked in confusion. She lowered her sword slightly.

"It's shrinking?"

"Is it exercising?" Fyar narrowed his eyes. "No. What is that? Is it shrinking because it lost energy?"

Is it because of Zaefal's Void effect absorbing the monster's magic? Zaefal launched quite a lot of Void attacks earlier, Fyar thought.

Zaefal, however, smiled with satisfaction seeing the change. He raised his sword high.

"Go!" Zaefal shouted.

He dashed forward, charging across the sand.

"Agh, I got beaten to it!!" Rasie immediately followed from behind, her heavy footsteps stomping the sand.

Fyar turned to Illya, then smiled thinly.

"Illya."

Illya, understanding the signal, nodded firmly. "Yes!"

Fyar lowered his body slightly. Illya jumped onto Fyar's back, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

Sst!

The two of them vanished from that spot using Illya's teleportation.

On the other side, the monster ran to meet Zaefal. It launched a very fast spinning kick aimed at Zaefal's head.

With trained reflexes, Zaefal ducked quickly to avoid the deadly kick. Without wasting momentum, he slashed his sword horizontally toward the monster's chest.

Sst!

The monster vanished and instantly appeared behind Zaefal. It pulled back its fist, ready to launch a crushing blow to Zaefal's exposed spine.

Whoosh!

An ice spear shot from the side, striking the monster's arm and causing the punch to miss.

Rasie appeared from behind a ruined pillar, thrusting her fire sword at the monster's back.

The monster reacted quickly. It ducked and slammed one hand into the sand. The white sand beneath Rasie's feet suddenly rose up like a wave, then solidified into a stone wall blocking Rasie's path.

Zaefal spun his body, thrusting his greatsword toward the back of the monster's head.

Grak!

The monster caught Zaefal's blade with its teeth. Its powerful jaw held the metal. Earthworms around its feet writhed up, shooting sharply toward Zaefal's face.

Bang!

A bullet pierced right through the monster's forehead. The worms about to attack Zaefal jerked back. The monster's bite weakened instantly.

Zaefal seized the moment. He pulled his sword and kicked the monster's head hard. The creature's body was thrown back, crashing into the sand wall it had just created.

Boom!

The sand wall shattered into pieces.

Rasie emerged from the dust cloud on the left side.

"Bitch!, what was that! Annoying shit!" Rasie shouted while thrusting her sword toward the ribs of the staggering monster.

Sst!

Fyar, carrying Illya, appeared on the monster's right side via teleportation.

"Neutralize!"

His katana was once again enveloped in dense purple energy. Fyar launched a straight thrust toward the monster's heart.

The monster frantically pulled the hammer from its back to block Fyar's thrust.

On the left side, Rasie's sword was almost touching its shoulder.

In front, Zaefal had already raised his sword, ready to split the monster's head.

On Fyar's back, Illya aimed both hands forward, her mouth chanting a finishing spell.

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