Chapter 1089: Falling Star

Effie was having a hard time standing her ground against the giant centipede... in fact, she was barely holding on. Even though a furious barrage of bullets, enchanted arrows, and magical projectiles was raining on the ghastly carapace of skulls, the abomination did not seem slowed down at all. Its massive body moved with dire speed, thousands of scythe-like legs tearing up the ground with each motion.

The difference in size between the Tyrant and the fearless huntress was just too big. Effie's only saving grace was that her body, despite being hundreds of times smaller than that of the ghastly centipede, seemed to contain truly astounding strength.

She was incredibly swift and agile, as well, dashing around with stunning speed to dodge the crushing blows of the monstrous creature. Above everything else, the huntress was all but invulnerable - her innate resilience was reinforced by two Aspect Abilities, and then strengthened by a Transcendent armor on top of that.

She had received several glancing blows from the abomination, which would have turned almost any other Master into a broken corpse. Effie, however, was able to shake them off and continue to fight.

...Of course, there was no such thing as true invulnerability. The huntress was fine for now, but she was still dancing with death.

The round shield she wielded possessed an enchantment called [Indomitable], which functioned similar to Sunny's own [Feather of Truth] and allowed Effie to change its weight at will. Her spear was not able to deal serious wounds to the Tyrant, but its strikes must have stung - Sunny saw the creature recoiling after the huntress managed to land a solid blow.

...All that allowed Raised by Wolves to tie down the Skull Centipede, at least for a short while.The source of this content no/v(el)bi((n))

However, it did not mean that she would win.

It took all Effie had to simply match the menace of the Corrupted Tyrant's massive body - all her Abilities, all her skill, and all her powerful Memories - while the abomination had not revealed any of its powers yet.

Once it did, the situation would inevitably change.

And that moment... had already come.

As Sunny watched, Effie managed to push the centipede back once again. The shockwave of the impact threw her back, as well - the huntress slid through the dirt, leaving two grooves in it. Her spear shot down, piercing the ground and bringing her to a sudden stop.

A moment later, she was already lunging forward, ready to deliver another strike... however, the Tyrant seemed to be fed up with their furious clash.

The Skull Centipede raised its appalling head, the branches of the dead trees growing from the carapace of skulls swinging in the wind. Sunny's eyes widened slightly as he felt a sudden chill run down his spine.

Sunny let out a relieved sigh.

'It worked...'

The Tyrant opened its maw, letting out a blood-chilling screech.

The bone fiends trembled, becoming disorganized and somewhat sluggish.

The soldiers roared with dark glee, invigorated by the sight of the giant creature losing one of its horns.

Effie was already advancing, her spear ready to strike.

Kai had managed to regain his balance and pushed himself off the surface of the water, shooting back into the sky and summoning his bow.

A black arrow suddenly shot out of the cloud of darkness surrounding the Shadow Lantern. Empowered by Saint's Transcended strength and the [Death Dealer] enchantment, the arrow struck the neck of the Tyrant with harrowing force, annihilating layers of skulls and ripping a huge chunk of flesh out of it.

...However, Sunny did not pay any of it much attention.

Because right at that moment, the Spell whispered into his ear:

[You have slain a Fallen Monster, Malignant Root's Sapling.][Your shadow grows stronger.]

Sunny froze, his face turning deathly pale.

'Here we go again...'

The voice of the Spell grew louder.

[...Your shadow is overflowing with power.]