章 128: Monstrosity
The giant knight husks were enraged by the resistance of the expedition force. Their attacks became more frantic whilst Styx had his weaker monsters retreat so they simply didn't become food for the husks.
The situation rapidly changed when the giant knight husks changed their targets to the prostrating husks on the ground.
Neither Styx nor the expedition force reacted in time as they dropped their giant glaives on the ground with a dull echo and picked up the weak husks with their hands. Their helmets split open around the mouth before the began feeding on the weak minions.
Each only took one bite, consuming the smaller husks shoulder and heart in one mouthful before turning on the next one.
Whilst the husks didn't have any mana, they still had a slight amount of lifeforce. These knights immediately empowered themselves like a tank finally getting a drizzle of gas.
"ORAAAAAAA!!!" Red lines lit up all over the knights armor and their fallen weapons flew to their hands.
They stamped their feet on the ground and exploded it from the sheer force of strength. The weakened buildings in the surroundings also topple and released a cloud of dust and ash the enveloped the battlefield.
They were entirely different from how they were before, using that several drops of lifeforce to erupt with heaven shaking strength. They had previously only had Second Step strength, but now they had instantly jumped to having the strength of Fourth Step rankers.
"Defend yourselves!" Therina called out whilst fearlessly and crazily confronting the intimidating monsters which could only be seen by the glowing red lines of esoteric arrays and crimson eyes through the dust and ash smog.
The first knight turned into a streak of crimson lightning and impaled a giant evolves Second Step stone-tailed fox with its glaive, crimson blood flowing out onto the ground before being absorbed by the knight, who only became more and more active.
The others charged into the expedition force and the blood of Styx's people flowed, several elves and beastmen being directly cleaved in two.
Vivy jumped and danced like an acrobat through the knights unhindered, two soulium curved daggers striking necks and elbows. As she struck though, small defensive formations automatically sprung out of the armor and blocked the strikes, although each one caused the lifeforce powering the knight to diminish.
Those which managed to absorb mana and lifeforce had become an unstoppable force and were starting to cause Styx serious losses.
At this moment, Loreley and Dragon came out from the main area of his dungeon, crossing the bridge and finding Styx sitting in a messy pile of soot and ash with a frown on his face.
"I have contacted heaven and they will send a delegate shortly. They are interested in such an area and wish to seal negotiations as fast as possible. Before they arrive though, we would like to ask for preferential rights over The Void."
Styx first turned his attention to the expedition force, which had his first dungeon wife Therina leading it whilst Kale and Klair also partook.
"Aura, I need you to act immediately! I don't care what's in the city, kill the knights and bring everyone out. I also want their armor and weapons for study," Styx spoke directly into the wolf-eared Monster Lord's mind.
Aura, who had previously been nonchalantly following the monsters with her eyes heard Styx's command and clenched her fingers into a claw grip.
The ground shattered and the entire street split in half as she ran into one of the knights and kicked it with her bare foot. Defensive arrays sprung up automatically, but they didn't stop her blow at all before the kick connected, blowing a giant cavity through the knights chestplate and torso as it was send catapulting through countless old and dilapidated buildings.
It was almost inevitable as being of the Fifth Step, Aura was as much mana as mana was her, meaning all her mana was stirred under the exertion of her strength.
"I need those armors intact…" Styx helplessly reminded in her mind.
Caw~ Caw~ Caw~
Monstrous and hideous birds of prey flew up from dark corners all over the city and circled in the air both startled and starving.
Aura didn't hesitate and created more destruction, clawing off their limbs and head or otherwise dismembering them into pieces.
The wolf-eared woman was like a spotlight in a pitch dark room with how much mana and lifeforce she had, causing something even more sinister to stir inside the city.
From the nearby grand cathedral, where the husk knights had emerged from, a pair of ancient yellow eyes covered in blood vessels opened, crimson blood flowing from the corner and staining the creatures face.
A thick and deep heartbeat caused the ground itself to throb under the expedition force that quickly cleaned up all the weak husks that were currently too cowardly to even fight.
With eat beat of this heartbeat, everyone felt the own hearts skip a beat as a soul rooted fear emerged from within them. Aura wasn't any exception to this, her large ears and tail lowering as she squatted and growled in defiance in an equally deep tone.
"Yorak! Grov! Anuk delv tor tanus!!"
An ancient voice echoed as the roof of the cathedral and several buttresses collapsed in an enormous burst of noise. From within a coffin 200 feet in height rose in the air by its own power. Several sounds of trees snapping were heard as the lid of the coffin popped open and fell back down into the ruins of the cathedral with a large explosion.
Within the coffin was something that was humanoid, but it was as far from human as it could become.
The monstrosity within was as tall as the coffin. Blood freely ran down its face and dripped onto the ground before it quickly licked up the fallen blood.
Its twisted and distorted limbs were made up of countless pieces of people's flesh, now wrinkled and almost clinging to its bones. It even had several extra limbs, whilst its body had countless peoples organs inside of itself.
What frightened Styx the most was the pressure the monstrosity gave off. It was a divine oppression belonging to gods.
Aura stirred her mana and used Phantasmagoria, the entire reality warping and revealing an old mansion alone in the woods. Before she could have everyone flee and escape, the monster howled and vomited a river of blood that washed through the streets.
"Kavak! Amana ulger gihtr!!"
Aura's Phantasmagoria immediately shattered as the monstrosity sucked up her mana, even creating a small backlash in the Monster Lord's body.
Styx, who was watching this, quickly turned to Loreley and Dragon with a dead serious expression.
"I don't care for any bargaining, I will give it to you, but Dragon needs to immediately help take down this monster and protect my people."
"Very well, but that thing…"
"It is a god, but it in an extremely weakened condition. I don't want it following anyone back, so kill it immediately! Also…"
"Also?"
"Give me your universal translation device. It appears to have a language of its own."
"My translation is a part of my halo… but I do have some translation bracelets."
Loreley casually twisted the ring on her finger, which held a subspace storage, and caused several silver engraved bracelets to drop out. These were beautiful items that had countless microscopic heaven rules inscribed in the inside of it.
"Everest, you will go as well. I don't care about your issues with Aura, you will help, understood."
"…Babies…"
"Promise not to try eat me again."
"…Okay."
"Then once this task is done."
As soon as Styx equipped the bracelet, the monstrosities voice was filtered through the magic engraved on the bracelet, causing Styx to hear his words based on intent within the words. It was an ingenious design that even if the language was completely unknown, communication was still possible.
"Mana! Sweet, sweet mana! Foolish invaders, you will turn into my sustenance!" The monstrosity howled whilst swinging its giant, long hands at Aura, the remainder of the expedition force already focused on escaping.
"Death!" Aura howled in response, a giant phantasmal wolf's head appearing and trying to bite one of the arms off.
Two more hands caught that face and tore it apart, causing the wolf-eared woman to flinch before evading across the rooftops. She tried to initiate Phantasmagoria a couple of times, but the monstrosity would break it and absorb the mana without fail.
"Delicious! More! More! MORE!!!"
It swung its giant arms, crushing buildings and shattering the earth. Therina escaped into the dream realm, but others didn't have that luxury.
Only three or four people died, but with each one, it would only empower this monster even more.
Aura sprinted across rooftops and jumped from buildings so fast she was barely a blur, She struck back with phantasmal bullets and claws, but even if she damaged the monster, it would only reattached torn limbs and mend ripped flesh.
"Mortal beast, you dare defy a god!"
Dragon appeared in the sky with a roar whilst Everest flew down like a meteor and collided with it, sending the two of them tumbling and crushing everything in the area.
"Go away, invader!" Aura growled and turned on Everest.
"Who are you calling invader, child devourer!"
"You eat them too!"
"You ate them all! You ate all my children!!!"
"Enough, you are both commanded to work together!" Styx's voice cut off their argument promptly before it escalated any further.
The monstrosity slammed its limbs into the ground and caused flames to begin spreading across the streets, turning the entire city district into a blazing inferno.
"Perish! And become my food!"
The expedition force did their best to resist the flames, using as little mana as possible to keep the fire from burning them.
Therina retreated into the dream realm, whilst Kale flew up into the air with Klair in her arms. Others cast chilly domes of water or space barriers, but they were prime targets for the boss monster to absorb mana.
Aura and Everest weathered the flames with her body, small embers of flames singing holes in their clothes whilst they attacked the monstrosity with claws and poison.
Dragon swept down from the air, his tail creating a giant sonic boom as it smashed the god into the ground and created and enormous crater. He followed up by firing a beam pure white concentrated dragon flames into its defenseless back, buring it further into the ground.
"Angry! So angry! You insects dare defy me… You will feel my wrath!"
A tremendous, god-like pressure descended on the entire area just before the enormous crater exploded. Rubble was sent cascading into the sky where it floated without falling. The monstrosity god slowly rose from the crater, power seeping off its body.
The entire world seemed to dim as the tattoos covering his body lit up in an eerie green glow. Its body was covered in blood from his injuries.
Styx watched this and directly spoke to both Aura and Everest, "Immediately attack. Don't give the monster any chance to build up power."
Aura's leg broke mach speed as it approached the monster's head, but its eyes followed her and blocked the attack with its spare limbs. The wolf-eared woman relied on her tremendous flexibility to spin mid-air and rip an arm off.
The monstrosity howled in anger out of instinct, eventually erupting with divine power and forcing the Monster Lords away and crashing through the city.
"Die! Die! Die!"
The monstrosity howled and rained bright green balls like bullets and exploding bombs upon the three Monster Lords, creating even more destruction.
The fallen god's strength burst came very quickly, but it also passed just as quickly. Steam rose from every pore of its body as it glared at Aura, Everest, and Dragon, who were tearing it apart piece by piece.
All animosity eventually faded from the monstrosity's face as a faint barrier burst forth from its body and forced everyone away from itself. It's face show nostalgia and a tired expression as it looked down on Aura, and even the expedition team in the distance.
"It was a lie. It was all a lie." As its final life force reserves began to dry up without being able to absorb enough mana and lifeforce, its body was rapidly started turning into ash before scattering in the wind.
"They gave us their favor, but they never cared about us. It was all just an act, a means to an end. Once our purpose had been served, we were discarded. But I still wanted to live…"
The fallen god finally turned completely to ash, his body scattering along with the deathly wind. The fires covering the district also died down as the divine power powering them dissipated.
クリエイターの想い 
Wolfick
Wolfick Another long day of work today, 8am - 6pm, and it looks like I may be doing the same, or similar, tomorrow. I could be wrong and it could be quicker, but there is a decent amount of work I need to do and it all takes time.
I actually almost finished this chapter yesterday, but it got a bit too late and I still had a fair amount left.
Also, a bit of lore for you all.
Greytale, our fallen god here, was once a powerful god who served under the grand empire of Heavenly Elisium in the distant past when dungeons didn't exist yet. He was a magic god who spread his blessings of knowledge and wisdom across the empire, ecouraging free education and the free spread of knowledge among the population.
He participated in the construction of the Tower of Babel, connecting the mortal lands with the divine realm, enabling mortals to change their fate, and gods to touch mortals more freely.
When the catastrophe occured, and all mana dried up along with all life. He desperately used his own divinity to seal the people's life force within them, so they could still live within a dying land.
This power only lasts as long as he lived though, so he started taking sacrifices, just a few at first, but this quickly escalated as the power needed to maintain everyone's life force cage became increasingly harder.
As he fell more and more into sin, his demeaner worsened and he began absorbing as much blood as he could. In order to preserve his state, he eventually sealed himself within the dead land that not even he could escape, waiting and hoping for rescue from within his coffin.
Eons passed and this desire was eventually forgotten, overridden by an ever increasing desire to consume all his people to fuel his own existence until nothing but a monstrosity remained.
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