Ohjin turned and gave her a slight smile. Stay there, and dont leave the barrier. Though it was weakened after the monsters attacked it, the barrier could still block an attack or two, which was enough.
Huuuuuuuu! Houuuuuu! A monster with a bear's body and an owl's head screamed through its sharp beak, and the other monsters that survived his attack began to get back up.
Did around half of them survive? Ohjin calmly looked at the monsters and gripped his spear. They were all powerful enough for him to believe they came from the Demon Realm, so he couldnt get careless just because hed landed a successful surprise attack.
Fuu. He took a deep and long breath as the mana from the stigma curled on his chest spread through his body. The thrilling sensation of every cell coming to life filled him as the condensed mana pressured his mana circuits as if he were about to explode.
Exceed.
Kzzzzzzt!
Blue lightning swirled around him like fire as he held his spear forward and leaped toward the monsters.
One
Crack!
The weapons tip pierced through the bottom of a monsters jaw and shot out the top of its head. He pulled the spear back out in a graceful movement and struck one of the creatures coming up behind him with the butt of the spear.
Stigma of Pyxis. He was surrounded, but he intuitively knew where to step and swing his spear.
Krrrrrrrrkk! The monsters screamed in his ear, and the sharp odor of blood and sweat assaulted his nose.
He continued to fight, not knowing how many he killed or what he was even fighting from one moment to the next as the corpses piled up.
He felt every vibration through the shaft of his weapon as he pierced flesh and broke bone; the already unpleasant odor grew steadily worse from spilled monster guts.
"Haa, haa!" Wounds slowly appeared over his body from his assailers claws and teeth. Unfortunately, he didnt have enough time to treat his injuries with the stigma of Hippocampuss water.
One movement after the other, he fell into a rhythm and continued to mechanically swing his spear at the surrounding monsters.
U-uncle! The monsters keep coming! NT shouted and pointed to one side. "That monster! That monster is suspicious!"
He turned to where she was pointing.
Huoo! Huoo! Huoo! An owl-headed monster cried out unpleasantly from the top of a tall tree and avoided participating in the battle.
That same monster seemed to give instructions to the others earlier Ohjins eyes narrowed. The monster didnt have a necklace anymore, but he could easily guess what rank it was.
A red-rank monster Hed frequently encountered green and blue-ranked monsters during his search for a safe zone with NT, but it was his first time encountering a red-rank enemy. Of course, that showed how few red-ranked monsters were in the dungeon. Just like with the black-ranked monster, scarcity showed strength.
If the black-ranked bastard is a king then that ones like a general. He gave the owl-headed monster a closer look. Unlike its head, its body from the neck down was bulging with rock-hard muscles like an overdosed Hulk on steroids.
An Owl-bear. He remembered hearing that Owl-bears were powerful monsters that could freely handle mana and had great intelligence. They were second only to named monsters.
'It's still just a monster.' Ohjin bared his teeth at it and readied his spear.
Krrrrrrrrrkkkkk!
"Keuhung!" The green and blue-ranked monsters gathered from the Owl-bears roar and rushed in from every direction.
Heup! Ohjin reversed the spear and raised it into the air. Lightning Charge! Then, he stabbed it back down, and dirt exploded outward, causing the monsters to slow down and retreat.
Huo! Huoooo! The Owl-bear observing the battle from its tree seemed to scold the monster, which caused them to throw themselves back into the cloud of dust.
Mana flowed into his body and created a sensation that was beyond familiar to himit was the same sensation he felt when he absorbed mana with Black Heaven.
Why is it? He narrowed his eyes at the Owl-bear and noticed a dark cloud wafting through his spear.
"Ha!" He laughed as he remembered what the message window had just said. Right, it mentioned a skill resulting from the fusion of Black Heaven and the stigma of Lyra. If blue lightning was Lyras power, then absorption was the Black Heavens.
In other words, even if whatever he pierced with Divine Punishment survived, its mana would be continuously absorbed by the Black Heaven until it perished.
Hu, Huoooo The Owl-bear continued to be robbed of its mana and stumbled before falling from the tree.
This is fantastic. Ohjin smiled as he felt the monsters mana flow through his body, but he could only afford to be happy for a momentthere was still work to be done.
"Krrrrrrkkkk!" The monsters, still happily biting into his Mirage, roared in outrage as they realized Ohjins deceit and looked up at him.
"Let's wrap this up first." He leaped from the try and into the group of monsters, who ran around like headless chickens after they lost their strategist. It was like the roles of hunter and prey were reversed as Ohjin swiftly massacred them.
Keuhung, krrrrrrrrrkkkk. The leopard monster was the last to fall, and it let out a wild roar as it fell limp to the ground.
Ohjin tried to catch his breath and leaned on the protective barrier.
U-uncle! NT ran out and wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug. The blood covering him dirtied her clothes, but she didnt care. "Sniff Waaaaaaahhhh! She cried and didnt let go.
Ohjin raised a hand to pat her head before noticing how soaked in blood he was and lowering it again.
"Sniff paeng! Hehe. I was counting on you to come," NT said through tears.
"Oh? You looked quite surprised when it happened." Ohjin smiled and looked at the civilians within the barrier, who looked back at him in fright. "Let's get out of here first." It wouldn't be easy to take care of about 10 people, but they couldn't stay there.
The people within the barrier looked at each other for a moment before immediately walking out.
Uncle, another candidate seems to have come! NY exclaimed.
"What?" Ohjin asked.
"Look over there!" NT brightly smiled and raised her hand to point toward a narrow gorge, where they could see someone approaching.
When Ohjin recognized the figure, his expression fell.
Lets ask them to come with us! NT shouted.
NT, go back into the barrier, Ohjin quietly said.
"What?" she asked.
Hurry."
She tilted her head in confusion while Ohjin pushed her back into the barrier.
Haa. A deep sigh left Ohjins mouth before he bit his lip and tightened his grip on his spear.
In the distance, the approaching figures dark outline gradually became visible. It was just as he expected
Burning, dark-red eyes burned within the blue armor covering the things body, and a rusty sword hung from its waist.