Chapter 232: The End Of Waiting (2)

Chapter 232: The End Of Waiting (2)

The veil of light protecting the fortress had disappeared.

In its place, dozens of Divine Spears floated in the sky.

Though simple in appearance, each one was a high-level divine spell refined to the extreme.

A fierce miracle created solely to annihilate evil.

Beneath them, a pure white woman walked out from the now lightless fortress.

Her white hair grew long enough to touch the ground. Her translucent skin showed her veins. Even her clothes were white.

The only colors were the green of her eyes and the light pink of her lips.

But her beauty was so striking that it evoked admiration rather than strangeness.

I looked at her face reflexively, and her familiar beauty made my mouth hang open.

The former Saintess Clara. The owner of this dungeon and the rescue target, who should have been holding out inside the fortress.

...Why is my sister here?

Well, judging by the atmosphere, she’s here to join our side. But is this really okay?

If Clara falls, we’d have to start over from the beginning.

Of course, I knew Clara was strong. After all, she was a saint of the Church of Righteous Radiance, not from anywhere else. She was even tempered in the Great War, so she couldn’t be weak.

The pinnacle of knights was the Swordmaster, the pinnacle of magicians was the Archmage, and for priests, there was the Saint.

But Clara was not in her best condition right now. After fighting nonstop for days, she was mentally and physically exhausted.

The time limit of one day was because her remaining divine power would be exhausted before today ended.

Tarasque seemed to have the same thought, as it turned its body towards Clara instead of me.

“You came out on your own. Were you lonely to die alone?”

“Indeed. That’s why I brought all of you along.”

“Hm? Are you planning to self-destruct?”

“...If you don’t know, that’s fine. Anyway, what I have to do hasn’t changed.”

“I agree.”

The atmosphere instantly thickened with killing intent.

Tarasque’s heels lifted slightly, ready to charge at any moment, and Clara’s Divine Spears began to spin simultaneously.

Tarasque, preparing to charge at an invisible speed, and Clara, ready to intercept it.

Whether Clara’s Divine Spears would hit the timing, whether they could penetrate Tarasque’s thick carapace, or whether they would all fail and result in a futile blow.

Feeling uneasy about their brief confrontation, I cast a spell at the back of Tarasque’s head.

“Stone Spear.”

A low-level spell that creates and shoots a crude stone spear.

Perhaps because its power was so weak compared to Clara’s Divine Spears, Tarasque didn’t even glance in my direction.

It was confident in its hard carapace, believing that a mid-level magician could do nothing to penetrate it.

That was its mistake.

Whoosh!

The sharp stone flew through the air, hitting the cervical area of Tarasque... more precisely, the small inverted carapace between its neck and waist.

Crack.

“What the...?”

It stopped abruptly, glaring at me with wide eyes, as if it couldn’t believe it.

Yes, it might not seem like much on the surface, but it knew. The connection of the carapace had become unstable from that hit.

No matter how much of a masterpiece it was, a chimera was still a chimera. It was based on another monster.

Tarasque’s hide was made from a drake. Though it was hard to recognize due to the special alloy scales and modified shape.

What’s important was that it shared the same weakness as the drake species.

Armor-like scales densely packed together. Among them, the inverted scale on its heart.

Destroying this part, commonly known as the “reverse scale,” greatly weakens a drake’s defense.

The scales’ interlocking structure collapses, causing issues with impact distribution and reducing magic resistance to less than half.

This applied to Tarasque as well.

The creators, despite being fallen, were skilled enough to hide this clear weakness, even if it meant sacrificing some defense.

The problem was, they didn’t trust Tarasque from the start.

Tarasque’s carapace wasn’t just physically hard; it also had strong magical resistance.

It even received the blessing of the God of Tainted Unity, allowing it to neutralize divine power until that strength was exhausted.

Mana extended from the tip of my staff, forming a dark cloud, and then a bolt of lightning struck Tarasque.

Boom!

“Grr...”

The sheer amount of mana poured into it, enhanced further by resonance, made it far more powerful than an ordinary mid-level spell.

Even Tarasque, protected by the blessing of the God of Tainted Unity, took some damage as the blessing began to wear off.

Grinding its teeth, it let out a low groan, and I continued gathering mana.

“Thunder Calling! Thunder Calling! Thunder Calling! Thunder Calling!”

Last time, my staff broke, and my fingers burned, but not now.

The metal staff made by Faye merely heated up slightly, enduring the overload without a problem.

Lightning struck repeatedly. Aiming again at the places already hit, I spoke to Clara, who had just used up all her Divine Spears.

“After you’ve used all your spears, please set up a barrier. We can’t afford any interruptions now...”

“...Understood.”

Clara, with a wry smile, knelt on one knee. A white dome of divine power spread out around her.

The barrier excluded all but us and the boss-level opponents we were fighting, driving away all other creatures.

Even Tarasque, left inside, was emitting black smoke from its body.

The blessing of the Evil God fiercely resisted Clara’s divine power.

In other words, it was taking continuous damage, eroding its protective barrier.

“Phew...”

Though things didn’t go exactly as planned, they turned out well.

Thinking it was over for now, I sighed and took out a mana potion.

Seeing Tarasque, which had only taken hits, suddenly coil like a spring and leap up.

“I was careless! I won’t be careless again! I’ll tear you apart in one go!”

With a loud shout, Tarasque leaped from the pit to the ground in one motion.

And it fell again at incredible speed.

Boom!

“Argh! What have you done now?!”

“You fool. Jumping that high means you’re considered flying that far. Have you already forgotten why you crashed in the first place?”

“Th-then...!”

Tarasque raised its hand towards the wall. It must be trying to dig sideways to escape smoothly.

But why had I shown a gap earlier? To replenish my mana.

“Thunder Calling!”

“Ugh.”

Tarasque flinched in pain from repeated hits. Clara, quick to notice, set up a barrier along the wall without me saying anything.

No matter how hard Tarasque kicked, it was futile.

Three hundred years ago, Clara only lost because her divine power ran out, not because anyone broke her barrier.

Even with all the chimeras charging, the barrier remained intact. It couldn’t be breached by a single creature.

“A... ah....”

The wall was completely blocked, and jumping only led to crashing.

Tarasque, who had once driven Clara into the fortress, now realized it was trapped.

Its mouth, once full of arrogant words, now let out a desperate sigh.

Meanwhile, Clara’s face brightened upon realizing that Tarasque couldn’t move.

Clara clenched her fist, drawing out the divine power she had reserved in her familiar medallion for a self-sacrifice spell.

“Wise magician.”

“It’s embarrassing. Just call me Yandel.”

“Then, Magician Yandel.”

Clara, creating a shining spear between her clenched fists, smiled broadly.

“Let’s attack it mercilessly.”

“Of course.”

We’ll make sure it’s crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.