Chapter 344: Light Shield
Boom!
Like crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood, the continuous charges decimated the enemy. In just half an hour, four winged Shadow Demons and dozens of Little Demons lay dead.
The demons were enraged. This “Virtue Holy Light” seemed to provoke their fury, causing them to charge recklessly at Ancestar and his group. This time, Ancestar slowed his pace.
He slowly activated the fused power of several virtues, discovering that this Virtue Holy Light would first weaken the demons’ overall attributes. Every attack left traces of Holy Light on the demons’ bodies. These traces were difficult to dissolve and significantly weakened the demons’ attack, defense, and vitality.
“My Holy Light! These evils are worth fighting!”
Ancestar involuntarily let out a battle cry.
After leading the group to kill the remaining Little Demons, he said:
“I think I know what’s going on. A single Virtue Creed has a restraining effect on evil, but it’s not enough to produce an overwhelming victory.
“However, the combined Virtue Creeds have undergone a mutation, greatly expanding this restraining effect. I’ve seen this power before; Lord Ace calls it ‘Virtue Holy Light.’
“We currently possess only five virtues: Compassion, Humility, Honesty, Sacrifice, and Honor. When these five Virtue Creeds merge, they form an incomplete Virtue Holy Light with the strongest virtue, Compassion, as the main body.
“Even this power suppresses demons immensely and leaves Holy Scars on them, constantly weakening their strength.
“We must have Courage and Justice join us. Once we gather all seven Virtue Creeds to form a stronger Holy Light, we will surely purify this evil!”
Just as Ancestar was contacting Arno, Arno informed him via his Grimoire that he was already rushing toward Mt. Baal with Xavier, the Advanced Knight Squire representing the virtue of Justice!
On the other side, Alex had also noticed the abnormal attrition of his demon forces.
“What is going on, you bunch of respectable saints!” Alex cursed common languange, uttering the most vicious insults a demon could muster. As for why he didn’t use Abyssal, it was because the Abyssal language lacked such words (like “respectable saints,” which are insults to a demon).
“Lord Alex, whose head oozes pus, a strange guy riding a flying horse was provoking us and cursing us non-stop. A few demons couldn’t hold back and went to chase him.”
The demons fell to their knees. One demon, who happened to be sprayed by Alex’s spittle, raised his head trembling, praising Alex in Abyssal while stating the facts.
Alex frowned. He wasn’t a natural-born demon but a Great Demon fallen from a Divine Descendant. He understood humans better than demons did.
“So we’ve been discovered. But so what? I am the Great Demon Alex, the Lord of the Abyssal Projection!”
With that, he led all the demons directly toward the foot of Mt. Baal. Ancestar and the others, patrolling in the sky, saw the movement of the main demon army.
…
“We must wait for Arno and the others to arrive. Retreat immediately! Accelerate to rendezvous with Arno, combine to form a stronger Light of Virtue, and then deal with these demons!”
Pitch-black shadows surged behind Alex as he led the demons in pursuit all the way to the foot of Mt. Baal. Watching Ancestar and the others flee, he bowed respectfully toward Mt. Baal.
“Chase them!”
Under Alex’s command, the demons scrambled to pursue. Alex narrowed his eyes; he wanted to witness the enemy’s combat situation personally before deciding on his own course of action.
Meanwhile, in the nameless swamp northwest of the Larr Mountains, adjacent to the West Coast of Salia. Time rewound to when Daina sent the magic signal.
Turion and the five Heroes were keeping watch at the edge of the swamp, while Karim led Aleias deeper into the marsh.
Aleias took out a mirror-like wondrous item from her chest pocket and shone it on the swamp. She frowned, her expression turning ugly, and said somewhat uncertainly:
“Lord Karim, this is unexpected. The Earth Giant Bear’s size seems excessive, and it appears to have mutated?”
Karim asked in confusion, “How big? What kind of mutation?”
As soon as he spoke, the swamp began to shake violently.
Aleias frowned and leaped away, running to the edge of the swamp first. She pulled a shield-shaped wondrous item from her chest pocket, called out to Turion and the others keeping watch, and slammed the shield onto the ground with a thud.
A protective light barrier, like a smaller version of the “City of Protection,” appeared, shielding the seven of them.
“As expected of Lady Aleias. This is a replica of the ‘City of Protection’ you forged, isn’t it?” one of the Heroes praised.
Aleias said modestly, “I only used a bit of the bloodline power bestowed by the Ancestor God to imperfectly replicate some functions of the Quasi-Noble Phantasm ‘City of Protection.’ It can’t compare to the real thing at all.”
Ace’s eyes shone brightly. Staring at Aleias and the others, he had already deciphered their lip movements.
“Descendants of the God of Craftsmanship should possess the ability to deconstruct wondrous items and replicate their textures. This overlaps somewhat with the Eye of Truth (Pseudo). I wonder if I can integrate it into the rune structure of the Eye of Truth (Pseudo) to optimize these eyes of mine.”
Ace subconsciously licked his lower lip, as if seeing something delicious. He hadn’t noticed this aspect during his previous fate deductions, but now he was suddenly very interested in the descendants of the God of Craftsmanship.
“It would be best to capture her alive this time!”
Ace made up his mind.
While he was thinking, the environment of the entire swamp changed drastically. A giant bear seemingly made of mud stood up from the bottom of the swamp. It was nearly three hundred meters tall, with a waist circumference equal to its height. Its scarlet eyes opened, looking exceptionally irritable. it has mutated to Mud Giant Bear.
“It seems the poor big guy was woken up by Aleias’s mirror.”
Karim flew in the sky, his eyes blazing like torches. Activating his authority of protection, hundreds of round shields appeared and flew toward the Mud Giant Bear with a whoosh. The giant bear’s scarlet eyes showed disdain. It slapped the ground, and a wall of mud appeared. None of the hundred round shields managed to pass through.
The Giant Bear roared in anger. Ace felt his body suddenly become heavy, as if affected by gravity manipulation.
Karim, who was at the center of the attack, fell in a sorry state, crashing directly into the swamp mud. The Mud Giant Bear then sat on him.
The Mud Giant Bear didn’t seem satisfied; it twisted its butt vigorously, seemingly trying to crush Karim to death.
Clang!
A sound like metal drums rang out. A golden light emerged from beneath the Mud Giant Bear’s buttocks. A massive shield slowly appeared—Karim had actually lifted the gravity-manipulating giant bear all by himself.
The giant bear struggled to climb off, but the shield suddenly clanged and proliferated with a crack-crack-crunch sound. Within seconds, it encased the giant bear in a cage made of light shields.
“It’s Lord Karim’s strongest authority, the Super-Large Light Shield Prison!” a Hero shouted excitedly.
Aleias deactivated the barrier, took out the eerie “Life-Hunting Arrow,” and ran over quickly.
The giant bear, trapped by Karim, struggled violently, constantly pounding on the light shield. Hairline cracks began to appear on the shield. Ace narrowed his eyes slightly, a question rising in his mind.
“Karim’s magic power is depleting rapidly. His strength shouldn’t be enough to trap the Mud Giant Bear indefinitely. What do they plan to do?”
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