Chapter 73: An Intense Battle Like No Other
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BOOOM!
Alistair’s entire body burned in agony as he screamed. Dozens of spears made of holy sun flames impaled him from every angle, piercing deep into his flesh.
“Aaaagh! W-What is this?! When did you…?!”
He slowly forced himself to stand, tearing the flaming spears out one by one. Before he could recover, Brunhild descended from above, her giant axe already swinging down toward his body with crushing force.
“YOU DAMN BITCH!”
Alistair roared furiously, baring his fangs and spitting streams of abyssal black flames directly at her. Brunhild charged straight through the flames, her body burning as she brought her axe down.
CLASH!
Alistair caught the massive weapon with his reinforced claws. Cracks quickly spread across them until they shattered completely. Brunhild’s axe continued its deadly path, slicing through his arm and cleaving it in half before heading straight toward his torso.
“W-Wait! WAIT!!!”
He screamed in panic and resisted desperately, punching Brunhild’s body and face with all his remaining strength. He conjured explosive magic inside her, attempting to make her burst from within.
But nothing worked.
Suddenly, chains surged up from the ground and rapidly bound her in place. The domain’s effect still lingered.
“GRRRR! GRAAAHH!”
Brunhild began breaking free almost immediately. She shattered the chains, grabbed Alistair’s head with crushing force, and slammed her axe into his hardened skin. Yet the axe strangely bounced back.
“N-NOT YET!”
Alistair reinforced his body with layers of hardened blood armor and the domain’s remaining chains. In an instant, he became fully encased in dark armor. He conjured blood frost and attacked Brunhild once more.
Piercing icicle spears made of frozen blood struck her from every direction, but they exploded harmlessly upon contact with her body. Her defense had reached an entirely new level of hardness.
He summoned a hardened Sacrificial Spear and poured every ounce of the domain’s power into it. Even in his weakened state, Alistair pushed forward with everything he had left.
“Abyssal Blood Spear Art.”
“First Form – Blood Shredder!”
He thrust his spear at lightning speed. Dozens of devastating strikes rained down, covering Brunhild’s body with harsh, bleeding wounds. Her ice armor shattered into pieces, unable to regenerate fast enough.
Brunhild answered with a powerful roar. Her animalistic instincts took complete control as her Spirits surged out from her body, empowered by the souls she had absorbed.
“ROOAARR!”
Ares transformed into a half-lion monstrous spirit, becoming a hulking werelion with a larger, bulkier frame. His gigantic claws struck Alistair relentlessly, generating massive explosions of red spirit flames.
“SHYAAA!”
Hermes changed into a winged serpent, hissing fiercely as he unleashed cutting wind tornadoes with every flap of his wings. The attacks rapidly weakened Alistair’s armor.
However, the Vampire proved just how superior and resilient his kind could be, even when cornered.
“Second Form – Soul Piercer!”
His aura surged violently, forming a pillar of bright light. He pierced both Spirits with his spear, and they exploded instantly, destroyed on the spot.
“Third Form – Scarlet Star!”
As Brunhild’s massive axe came rushing down, Alistair dodged with his metallic wings and swiftly concentrated his foe’s blood into his spear. He unleashed a brilliant crimson star-shaped explosion with a single, rapid thrust aimed at Brunhild’s spine.
BOOOM!!!
Brunhild was pierced straight through from her spine to her stomach. The force sent her flying backward, crashing violently into a hill and blowing it apart. Flames and destruction burned everything around her impact site.
“Haaa… Haaa…!” Alistair gasped heavily, coughing up blood and groaning in pain. His regeneration had nearly stopped, and his wounds only continued to worsen.
He needed to eat something, and he needed it quickly.
“W-Where is she?!” he growled, glaring around him. “Where are you, little one~?” he called out, his voice hoarse as he gasped for air and coughed again.
Even in such a terrible state, he remained a beast to be reckoned with, a living disaster that no one could afford to underestimate.
“Huh?!”
Then he heard a rustle in the distance. Someone was running through the bushes. He took a single step forward, blinked through space, and reached the figure in an instant.
“There you are, my precious little one! Such a stubborn little blood sack you are~! But no matter! I shall have my feast now!” he laughed maniacally. He opened his helmet and aimed his fangs at his prey, only to pause in confusion. “Huh?!”
It was nothing more than a girl-shaped snowman, trembling in fear.
“What is this?!”
He roared in anger and smashed the small snow construct into pieces. As he glared behind him, his eyes widened in realization.
Sigrid stood atop a tall tree, her bow glowing brightly. She had gathered every last drop of her draconic and spiritual power into one final, desperate attack. She fired faster than Alistair could react.
BOOOM!!!
The arrow pierced through him as the mighty roar of a dragon echoed across the battlefield. It devoured nearly half of Alistair’s body in an instant. His head and torso vanished in a violent explosion of flames, followed by spreading ice that froze everything in its path.
“Ahh… Ugh…! D-Did that do it?!” Sigrid asked desperately, staring at the vampire’s remains.
But then the burnt, half-frozen body began to move once more.
“G-GAAAAHHHH!”
With a furious roar, Alistair declared he was still alive. Almost completely drained of energy, he started siphoning mana from the environment around him. Without proper blood energy, his form twisted into something even more grotesque. His blood armor merged with his flesh as fleshy tendrils, eyes, and mouths sprouted across his new upper torso, accompanied by massive new arms ending in long red blades.
“GRYOOOOHHHHH!”
He completely lost his mind in the agony and humiliation of his new form. Sigrid screamed and ran as fast as she could toward Brunhild.
“BRUN! BRUNNN!!!”
She kept calling out while she ran. The monstrous creature’s heavy footsteps drew closer, making the ground tremble violently. Corrupted abyssal cursed fog spread from his wounds and flew toward her like vengeful specters.
At this point, the situation had become truly ridiculous. Sigrid gasped for air, growing more exhausted with every step. Her mana reserves had hit rock bottom, and her transformation had already deactivated.
She grew slower, and the monster grew closer.
“BRUNHILD!!!”
Her desperate screams across the snow-capped lands finally awakened the unconscious Brunhild. She coughed up blood, finding herself badly wounded and exhausted. Her previous transformation had vanished, but a lingering soul aura still surrounded her. The buff from her soul sacrifice had not completely faded, though she could no longer maintain that powerful coalesced form.
“Ah…! Ugh…! Sigrid…!” Brunhild forced herself to stand. She quickly opened her inventory, drank three Mana Elixirs and two Health Elixirs at once, and poured the second health potion all over her body. “F-Freyja! You there?!”
“Brunhild!” Freyja appeared beside her, glitching from exhaustion after sharing so much power. “I-I can’t help you anymore… I’m completely exhausted… Please run! That monster… vampires… they can’t be defeated…!”
“No. They can,” Brunhild replied firmly. She wiped the potions from her mouth and glared into the distance. She dropped onto all fours in the snow. As she heard Sigrid drawing closer with Alistair chasing right behind, her aura surged powerfully.
Her mind had grown clear once more. She coalesced the lingering power of her soul sacrifice. Her bloodline and tattoo transformations were exhausted for now, but that did not matter.
She still possessed the shamanistic magic her brother had taught her, along with the Beast Rune etched into her very existence from her previous class change.
[Magic Rune: Wild Beast Path]
This was the magic that allowed one to call forth the power of beasts. Hers had been quite limited until recently.
While Fenrir and Huginn fought tooth and nail against the Blood Thralls and Dhampirs…
The only thing she could do was borrow their power.
“Fenrir… Huginn…”
She connected her mind with her two familiars and saw them fiercely defending the house. Her friends Kara and Ulf lay wounded and unconscious, protected by Magnus and Astrid. Her father continued fighting inside the house, tearing through enemies even as they bit and tore at him.
In this moment, her entire family was giving everything they had.
She could not let them down.
Her familiars responded. They stopped for a brief moment, looked toward her, and nodded.
FLASH!
Flames flickered across Brunhild’s body. Thick fur grew along her arms and legs as her hands transformed into sharp talons. Wings sprouted from her back once more. Her red hair turned into burning red feathers, and wolf-like ears replaced her human ones.
Then she activated it.
“Magic Rune: Wild Beast Path.”
“First Form – Beastification!”
The spell she had struggled so hard to master awakened fully in this dire moment, when she had been stripped of all her other powers.
RUMBLE!
She took a single step forward. The ground beneath her shattered into thousands of flying boulders. A blazing trail of flames and feathers followed behind her.
“This feels… amazing!”
Within her aura, she could clearly see Fenrir and Huginn standing by her side, as if truly present. This type of beast magic felt truly beautiful.
Brunhild concentrated, her eyes blazing with renewed strength.
“Brun…! Brunhild…!”
Sigrid collapsed into the snow, coughing blood. She trembled in fear as tears flowed down her face. The gigantic Alistair appeared behind her.
“COME HEREEEE…!”
Alistair roared with a twisted, monstrous voice. His giant spider-like red legs rushed forward, aiming to impale and devour her. Jaws opened across his torso, revealing thousands of razor-sharp teeth.
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