novelraw Chapter 138 : Face of Calamity (2)
Chapter 138 : Face of Calamity (2)
Chapter 138: Face of Calamity (2)
Though it was a brief probing battle that didn’t even last three minutes, the information gained for the upcoming fight was more than sufficient.
Betty Scarletwood, who had clashed with it directly, must have felt the same.
As she brushed over the cracked areas on her body, she spoke.
“These aren’t just blades.”
“Yes.”
“But did Dabios originally have an ability like this? This feels more like….”
“It’s the ability of that Erosion Pillar.”
Mana Contamination. Also called Mana Infect.
As the name implied, it was the power to contaminate mana.
Mana was ultimately a form of energy. If nothing entered, nothing could be produced.
Just as one couldn’t gain strength from spoiled food, the types of mana humans could handle were extremely limited.
Beasts, on the other hand, had almost no such restrictions. Even if mana was considered contaminated by human standards, they could use it without any limitation.
The essence of Mana Infect was to corrupt normal mana and make it usable only by themselves.
The way Beasts invaded human territory wasn’t much different.
Through erosion and contamination, they turned environments uninhabitable for humans, and then used the abandoned, tainted mana as nourishment.
In fact, roughly 20% of the world’s continents were already under the control of Beasts.
Even with just nest Beasts, humanity had been pushed this far—if Gate Beasts began to rampage in earnest, humanity as it stood now would never be able to handle it.
‘And now this already troublesome opponent has appeared with mana contamination on top of everything….’
An already absurd SS-rank Beast had been given yet another ability beyond its base nature.
No wonder it was called Apocalypse Mode.
I rubbed my lips, then shouted loudly.
“Rubia!”
“Yes!”
Whether she had been nearby or waiting for my call, Rubia Magnus arrived beside me instantly.
“Gather all mages of Grade 3 and above. We’re going to lynch Dabios.”
The key was how long it could sustain Slaughter Field.
‘The enemy is taking a defensive stance anyway….’
It was an efficient strategy.
Just by protecting the Erosion Pillar, they could fully contaminate the area within six hours.
‘And they know external reinforcements won’t arrive easily.’
If no reinforcements were coming, it made sense to complete the erosion first and then leisurely crush us afterward to minimize losses.
As expected of Gate Beasts—far more rational than nest Beasts.
‘Which is exactly why we can catch them off guard.’
After briefing the mages, who had gathered in less than two minutes, I emphasized once more.
“We need to determine at what level of power it activates that ability. Then we measure its duration.”
They nodded silently.
I responded with a grin full of fighting spirit.
“Then stand by. I’ll give the signal.”
---
Bang! KWAANG!
Swoooosh!
Whoooosh!
For ten minutes, the mages unleashed bombardments in sequence.
—There’s no need to fire everything at once. If the number increases, even weak attacks might trigger the ability.
At first, it was uncertain—but by the five-minute mark, it became clear.
‘…There are definitely techniques it’s wary of.’
Once magic reached advanced levels, regardless of type, it triggered Slaughter Field. That much was certain.
However, there were some mid-level spells that also triggered it.
Earth-element magic and Needle Magic were the most representative.
On the other hand, it mostly endured fire, frost, and Spear Magic with its body.
Which meant—
“…This might actually work.”
In battles against the strong, the smallest edge always mattered.
It had been the same in my fight with Karen.
Francia and I, both far inferior in raw ability, had managed to land a decisive blow only because Karen let her guard down.
We needed to make it think the attack was too weak to trigger Slaughter Field, force it to use its ability elsewhere, and then land a lethal strike.
The question was—who would deliver that strike?
‘Six candidates.’
Karen was already heavily exhausted, and her control over output was poor. Her techniques always looked powerful—there was no way she could deceive it.
Rubia was the same. Her Holy Descent was meant to counter Karen, but she still wasn’t used to concealing her strength.
Her combination of Divine Enchant and Saint’s Touch was still powerful, but divine magic was the greatest threat to Beasts. There was no way it wouldn’t prepare for it.
Betty was better at catching opponents off guard than those two, but her actual attack power was far lower. There was no guarantee she could deal a fatal blow.
Moreover, since she had already revealed part of her strength earlier, the enemy would be subconsciously wary.
Frederick was similar. His finishing move required at least a minute of preparation—easy for the enemy to respond to.
My position wasn’t much different from Betty Scarletwood’s. I could deceive—but I lacked power.
Which left only one person.
Only Francia Brida could deceive that monster and deliver a fatal strike at the same time.
‘Aura Blade… she can definitely do it.’
But—
She hadn’t returned to the battlefield yet.
Even after returning, she wouldn’t be able to jump straight into combat. She would need time to analyze the situation herself.
As I sank into thought—
Kyaaaak! Kyaaaak!
Grotesque cries echoed from afar.
Beyond the outer wall, the enemy’s second wave was arriving.
Flying Beasts.
“…Right.”
Now this was Apocalypse Mode.
We couldn’t defeat Dabios until Francia arrived anyway.
So until then—
We just had to go wild.
We could finalize the operation after she joined.
“Keh?!”
I pierced through a charging Beast, killing it instantly, then grabbed its neck and tore it apart with a grin.
“Good. This is good.”
Then I slashed upward.
“Come at me. I’ll kill every last one of you.”
The battle had only just begun.
---
Thud… Thuuud…!
The ground had been rumbling continuously.
As the vibrations persisted, her distant consciousness slowly began to return.
“…….”
Feeling the trembling earth through her entire body, Francia Brida opened her eyes.
“Ugh!”
A sharp pain stabbed through her whole body.
Thanks to it, she regained her senses much faster and blinked as she looked around.
She was lying on a makeshift bed in the lobby.
On both sides were injured people who had been transported there.
Most of them were unconscious, while the rest endured their pain as they received treatment.
Two beds away, she saw Colonel Belfor struggling to rise.
Thuuud!
A loud explosion from outside transmitted inward as a shockwave.
Feeling the tremor beneath her feet, she staggered toward the main entrance.
Creeeak—
As she forced the door open, a foul smell struck her nose.
Dust, sweat, and blood mixed together into a stench.
But even that didn’t matter—
The scene unfolding before her was utterly devastating.
“…What is this.”
Creatures were charging toward the tower.
There was no need for explanation—she immediately knew they were Beasts.
Skin tones clearly different from humans or animals, eyes filled with hostility and killing intent, sharp claws and fangs, the unpleasant residue of mana, and their grating shrieks.
They were creatures she had heard about and studied countless times.
Questions about how they had reached this place followed—but quickly faded.
Because the sight before her was far more shocking.
Humans joining forces to fight the Beasts.
“Move them quickly! Over here!”
“Can they be treated?”
“They’re all human lives. We have to try.”
“Upper right! The barrier is collapsing! Reinforce it now!”
“We’re doing it! But the erosion speed—!”
“We’ll buy time.”
“Wait! If you go outside the wall, you won’t be able to come back!”
“Our mission is to purge evil. If we fall at the end of that path, then so be it—martyrdom.”
“…We’ll join you, Believer David.”
“You crazy bastards! Get back here!”
Duel—Mallet, Karbenna, the Imperial Special Task Force, and Dellowell.
Who could have imagined these forces fighting together against Beasts?
Francia instinctively drew the sword at her waist.
The blade, broken in half, still bore bloodstains from her previous clash.
“…The real enemy.”
She had grown stronger to take revenge on the enemy who destroyed her family.
Instructor Carter had asked her where that revenge would end.
At the time, she couldn’t answer.
She didn’t know how far she would go before she could stop.
Was her enemy Halenber, who destroyed her family?
Or Bernhardt, who stood behind it?
Or the Empire’s ruling class that allowed Bernhardt to act freely?
She didn’t know. Not yet.
But one thing she could say for certain—
Beasts were the enemy of humanity.
And so—
She gripped her sword and ran.
Toward the one who would be waiting for her.
At that same moment, Rubia Magnus held her position at the front line, waiting for the right time.
KWAANG!
KWAANG!
The explosions pounded her ears so relentlessly that they were beginning to ring.
She let out a faint sigh and surveyed the battlefield.
About 6,000 Beasts in the plaza.
Around 1,000 targeting the turrets and main tower from the outer wall.
Another 1,000 flying Beasts joining in.
At the center, the Demonic Tree had grown close to 3 meters, continuously contaminating the area.
And beyond that, a massive Mammoth Beast was pushing back the Golems and advancing.
By simple numbers, it might seem manageable—each person only needed to handle four or five Beasts.
But the enemy was anything but easy.
‘To show this level of coordination with only low-rank Beasts and no Command Entity….’
Against ordinary nest Beasts, she could easily handle ten alone.
But these enemies moved with speed and precision that didn’t match their ranks.
‘It’s like their ranks have increased by two levels.’
Even the E–C rank Beasts that made up the majority were like that.
As for the higher-ranked ones—their performance was outright shocking.
Talents capable of defeating A+ rank Beasts within five minutes were now struggling even against B-rank Beasts.
This applied even to the strongest fighters of each faction.
“Damn it…!”
Leaving Dabios aside, since they had no method to deal with it yet—
They needed to eliminate the other high-rank Beasts as quickly as possible.
Yet not a single one had been taken down.
‘To think even those invincible Executors can’t kill A+ rank Beasts….’
That meant they were already exhausted—both physically and in terms of mana.
The same applied to her.
She could only smile bitterly.
“If I had known my mana would run dry this quickly….”
No—even then, that would have been too harsh a demand.
If she hadn’t held back Karen Rosefield, the alliance would have collapsed.
And then, even maintaining the current stalemate would have been impossible.
If anyone wanted to assign blame, they should win the war first.
There was no solution other than defeating the enemy leader as quickly as possible and wiping out the Beasts in the area.
As Rubia steeled her resolve once more—
A familiar voice called out from behind her.
“Professor Rubia!”
Francia, now conscious, was running toward them.
Rubia’s face brightened as she shouted toward Eugene at the front.
“Eugene!”
Hearing both voices from the front line, Eugene immediately signaled the two Executors and Frederick.
The six strongest fighters had now gathered.
After briefly scanning the five others, Eugene spoke firmly.
“There won’t be a second chance. If we fail, our odds drop below ten percent.”
They nodded silently.
Returning their acknowledgment with a faint smile, Eugene pointed his sword at Dabios.
“Now then… let’s test what the future of the Empire will be.”