Chapter 137: Dawn Breaks
Dikens watched the Great Hero Moore, who was focused solely on fighting Alexius. A profound chill intensified in his heart. He had a premonition that the bizarre, tumorous tentacle Monster might be more terrifying than Alexius himself.
He had to escape immediately. Dikens’s heart felt gripped by an unseen force, filling him with dread.
“Lord Moore, you must beware of that monstrous tumor! I sense something ominous is about to happen!” Dikens hesitated but finally shouted the warning to Moore.
Moore, utterly immersed in combat and on the verge of defeating Alexius, was too preoccupied to heed anything else. Hearing the shout, Moore’s assault remained relentless, only growing fiercer.
“Once Alexius is defeated, the rest is negligible. The frost is destined to purify this evil!”
With an angry roar, Alexius’s shadow body was sliced in half by Moore’s ice frost blade!
The tumorous tentacle Monster also reached its most bizarre state. With nearly all mortals inside the city dead, the smaller tumorous Monsters surged back into the main tumor, biting and struggling against each other.
Countless tentacles, dripping with blood and liquefying flesh, shot out, attacking the remaining Divine Descendants. Anything the tentacles touched was instantly captured and swiftly devoured into the tumor for digestion.
Ace, the eagle, watched the monstrous tumor gradually swell into a mountain of flesh. Ominousness and horror spread. The chaotic sounds, like invisible whispers, surfaced again.
He tapped the Spirit of the Book on his head. Pat! The Spirit of the Book, already full to bursting, transformed into a plump cowlick. This plump cowlick seemed to burp, then lay still, as if asleep.
“I cannot stay. The greedy will surely die! I must run now!”
The eagle Ace flew deftly through the sky, turning a few times, heading toward the Larr Mountains.
Dikens watched the tentacles of the tumor capture his kin one by one. The fear in his heart peaked. He glanced at the fiercely fighting Moore, gritted his teeth, and turned his frost warthog, fleeing.
“I am sorry, Lord Moore! I cannot die here with you in this state. I still have my vengeance to claim and the Royal Family’s grace to repay. Alexius will likely not die easily either. I cannot forfeit my worthless life here!” Dikens muttered to himself, driving his frost warthog away, never to return.
The tumorous tentacle Monster absorbed the surviving frost descendants, beginning a rapid cycle of expansion and contraction.
Boom!
The tumor shrank to its absolute minimum, then rapidly swelled into a colossal, rotting mountain of flesh.
The rotting mountain of flesh extended several colossal tentacles, striking directly at Moore. It dragged him out of the ocean of frost and hoisted him high into the sky.
At this moment, the east broke white. The first ray of sunlight illuminated the mortal world.
The Northern March Fortress began a new day. The fortress walls, standing on the hill, were mottled, covered with thick ice and snow. Beneath the ice and snow, thick moss grew.
The interior of the fortress was stained a bright red, utterly silent. As the sunlight passed over it, the bright red faded, turning into dark red scabs. In the center of the scabs was an ocean of frost, and the colossal mountain of flesh stood upon it, several tentacles raised so high that they appeared level with the sun.
Sunlight bathed the mountain of flesh, covering it in a soft golden glow. The mirror image Ace, transformed into a Night Owl, hovered in the air. Looking at the golden mountain of flesh in the fortress, he let out a high-pitched cry.
Bayen, the black cat, held Anazir’s Dice in his mouth, perceiving the path ahead. Following the instructions on his Grimoire, he advanced with the Night Owl, guiding the Wizard Apprentices and the families and friends they had brought.
The weathered knight Ancestar walked at the rear. Watching the long line of people trudging forward, a slight smile touched his lips.
Betty’s emotions had somewhat stabilized, but the occasional furrowing of her brow showed her mind was still unsettled. Killing someone for the first time—where neither side was inherently right, only concerned with their stance—was difficult for her to accept. She had set down her parents and Donna’s father. Wielding the greatsword with the mechanical arm, she slowly drove Apprentice Model 1 forward.
Donna watched Betty with concern, constantly talking to her, trying to distract her. In an accidental glance back, she noticed the weathered knight Ancestar.
That melancholic gaze, the wavy golden long hair—Donna could never forget him. She looked at Ancestar at the rear of the line and gave him a wide, bright smile. The smiling girl, looking back in the light of the morning sun, was extraordinarily beautiful.
Among the children from the relief home, the boy who had fought with Arno hesitated, then ran to Arno and bowed 90 degrees.
“Thank you, Arno. Your refusal to give up ultimately saved us. I apologize for what I said about your father. You, like your father, are a man of true Heroic quality!”
Arno looked at the bowing boy, exchanged a glance with Ollie, and smiled brightly. He reached out his hand and said, “I am a man of true Heroic quality. I will never abandon a comrade! Xavier, let the past remain in the past. For the future, I hope we can move forward together.”
Xavier looked at Arno in surprise. His teeth shone brightly, making Xavier’s eyes well up. He grasped Arno’s outstretched hand and said, “Arno! I want to be like you and become a Knight who protects everyone!”
Arno smiled and replied, “No problem. As long as you possess virtue in your heart, you can become a Knight. I will take you to seek advice from Melancholy Uncle, but you mustn’t complain about the hardship!”
The Night Owl, the mirror image Ace, continued to circle in the sky. They were now nearing the remnant Enchanted Wizard Apprentices, who were fighting a guerrilla war on the edge of the Larr Mountains.
On the edge of the Larr Mountains, Daina emerged from a hiding cave, staring blankly toward the fortress. A bright, white, dazzling light seemed to emanate from the massive mountain of flesh raising its tentacles in the distance.
Even from the distant Larr Mountains, Daina felt the light was painful to look at. Dawn had broken.
“Iron Face Boss, there seems to be a strange light flashing from the direction of the Northern March Fortress.” Polina walked out of the cave. She looked vibrant and young, though her overall beauty was marred by the mud covering her clothes.
“Something must have happened at the Northern March Fortress. Perhaps those bastard soldiers who have been hunting us will finally have to go back.” Daina said, gritting her teeth as she looked toward the fortress.
Meanwhile, the host body Ace, who had evacuated earlier, arrived at the Mount Baal signal high tower.
“I will temporarily reside here, waiting for the mirror image and Bayen to guide the Wizard Apprentices to rendezvous. I must set up an ambush. Some enemies might pass by here.”
The host body Ace took out all the remaining Imperfect Transformation Glycerin Magic Tubes and the wailing Resentful Soul Powder. He began setting up the corresponding Rune Arrays, Magic Arrays, and magical patterns in a recessed area on the side of Mount Baal.
Concealed magical patterns slowly formed. The Glycerin Magic Tubes, transforming into trees, broken rocks, and sand, and the large amount of resentful soul powder permeated the recessed area along the magical patterns. The Mana rhythm here became uneven, and the atmosphere grew gradually ominous.
“The Spirit of the Book’s cowlick is still with the mirror image. I cannot use its concealment ability to mask this area. It seems I will have to set up a dedicated concealment Rune Array after the trap is finished.”
Time was limited. The host body Ace worked with increased haste.
He meticulously repositioned the transformed Glycerin Magic Tubes, modified the magical patterns, and made space for the new concealment Rune Array.
Inside the Northern March Fortress, Alexius, who had survived by the skin of his teeth, panted heavily. His lower half of his body writhed, undergoing a second shadow transformation that swallowed and consumed the other half of his body.
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