In a matter of seconds, the golden Royal Centipede that should have been killed by the arrow in its heart rose into the air once again as if what had just happened didn't happen, causing the group to stare at it with dumbfounded expressions.
Arcana, who was the next closest person to the Abyss creature, quickly turned around to retreat. Being chased by the undying abomination, he look at Jinkan and the others on top of the wall and said, "I have done my part, I'm out!"
Without waiting for a response, a bright light quickly enveloped Arcana's body and his figure disappeared without a trace teleported out of the planet.
In the meantime, Eeshoo who had regained some of his energy swiftly dove towards the monstrous Abyss creature and took control of the situation one more time.
Within the northern wall of the Platoon 1 base, a muddy figure suddenly emerged from the floor. It grew to the height of a normal adult and turned into a dark-skinned man. Unexpectedly, Abrafo who should have died by Royal Centipede's attack was still alive.
Apparently, he managed to escape with a spell that allowed him to sink into the earth. However, he didn't actually escape unscathed as both his legs were crushed to a pulp. Seeing this, Lyndell quickly came over and tried to heal him.
On the other hand, Jinkan's face was still as calm as usual when she saw that Abrafo had managed to escape. The girl knew about his escape ability, thus the reason as to why she chose him to retrieve the orb.
The only thing that she didn't expect was the fact that the Abyss creature could come back to life that fast.
Suppressing the irritation in her heart, Jinkan turned her head and said, "One more time!"
The order was for Chumo and Sigurd, for them to cooperate in operating the crossbow and shoot the large metal arrow once again.
Chumo had made a mistake, although his [Eye of the Raven] did tell him about the abyss creature weakness, which was the heart that lay hiding in its back spleen. However it didn't actually kill it as it's not a normal creature at all.
What he really should be aiming for the arrow to hit was either the figure of Commander Raynor or the golden orb that lay right under the jaws of the Abyss creature.
However, with his skill, Chumo found out that the spirit energy that circulated in the Abyss creature's body was actually channeled back and forth between the two. Therefore, he couldn't decide which one they should shoot to effectively take the creature down.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtWhile he was hesitant and brooding about the matter, a familiar female voice entered his mind. "Aim at the magus corpse!"
Jinkan's words came so timely that Chumo couldn't help but suspect that she could actually read minds. Still, he heeded her words and without much thought, using his [Eye of the Raven], he calculated the arrow's trajectory and projection, taking into account the arrow's flying speed, weight, and wind speed.
However, now that there was no Arcana and Abrafo to help hold down the creature, Chumo also needed to take account of the creature's movement, which was an extremely daunting task as it was currently occupied fighting Eeshoo and moving around everywhere.
As such, the moment he finally saw the perfect opportunity, Chumo immediately shouted.
"Release!!"
Whoosshhhhh–
The metal arrow shot from the huge crossbow, streaking swiftly through the air towards the Abyss creature. But this time, as a being that possessed intelligence, the Royal Centipede was ready.
The moment it noticed and heard the sound of the arrow cutting through the air, it immediately halted its initial movement and went in a different direction.
Craacckkkkk!!
The arrow landed on the Abyss creature's body, but because of the creature's timely reaction, it missed its target by two meters. The shot still managed to hurt the creature, but not enough to make it fall like before. Instead, the attack made the creature ignore Eeshoo, its previous target and charge towards the wall where Chumo and the others were.
"Again!!", shouted Jinkan, unfazed by the approaching Royal Centipede.
The female Nephilim still maintained her calm, while Sigurd swiftly took action, once again pulling another four-meter-long metal arrow with all the strength he could muster.
At the same time, with Jinkan's order, 100 metal golems flew out of the base towards the approaching Abyss creature. They served to try to stop the creature or buy enough time until the next arrow was prepared.
The hundred 3-meter-tall golems marched towards the Abyss creatures. Each with their own weapon; shooting, slashing, piercing the Royal Centipede but weren't really able to hurt it. Alas, they were far from enough to stop the monster and were blown to pieces a dozen at a time by the creature's attacks.
Fortunately, their sacrifice brought enough time for the next arrow to be fired.
"Release!!"
With a distance of less than a hundred meters, the arrow should be able to hit its target more accurately this time.
Whoooossshhh–
However this time, it still didn't land on the intended target. It still pierced the creature's body, half a meter away from the corpse of Commander Raynor barely graze its shoulder.
Shriieekkkkk—
Even though their objective was not achieved, the Abyss creature was still seriously injured by the two arrows fired by the group. It shrieked in pain, and accelerated its movement darting towards the wall.
Unable to escape quick enough with his current condition, Abrafo decided to activate his suit's teleport function and disappeared from the place. Sigurd carried the huge crossbow on his back, while Chumo used [Dark Smoke].
Immediately after, eighteen shadow copies of his exact figure jumped out of the wall and dashed off in all directions, trying to distract the Abyss creature. Alas, it didn't seem to work.
Baaaammmmm!!!
A loud crash echoed through the air as Royal Centipede slammed its body against the metal wall of the base. The metal wall that received all the momentum that the Abyss beasts had accumulated collapsed in an instant, and the Abyss creature brought its horde into the base.
"No! The evacuation is not over yet!" shouted Jinkan, as she looked at the collapsed wall and the oncoming horde of Abyss creatures from the safety of the golden vessel that was currently in the sky.
Eeshoo approached the Royal Centipede and fired several [Sun Beam] to get its attention once again. However, his efforts were completely ignored by the Abyss creature. It just continued to move forward, towards the center of the base where the transport vessel was.
[0 hours, 16 minutes]
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmSeeing the remaining time they had, Jinkan panicked. She was no longer thinking about the millions of survivors from the base of Platoon 3 who had not finished entering the transport vessel. Rather, the fact that if the creature wasn't stopped, even all of the 3 million survivors she had gathered would die as well along with the transport.
Grabbing a communication device, Jinkan spoke to her subordinates, "Prepare for threats from the north! Defend the transport vessel at all cost!"
From the northern wall where it entered, the stage 7 Abyss creature was only 3 miles away from the construct. At this time, it was rapidly heading towards the center of the base, destroying all the buildings in its path.
Then suddenly, at this critical situation, Jinkan noticed that a figure was heading towards the base from the north at a very high speed.
"What's this now?!"
The figure looked like a ship in dark blue metal as they continued moving at such a speed. As it got closer, it then looked more like a bird with gleaming dark blue wings.
In the end, Jinkan finally saw clearly who the new arrival was. It was the figure of one of the fastest acolytes currently on the planet. The bird of prey, Vida Themary.
With her special transformation form, she was able to fly at an unbelievably fast speed. As she flew past the collapsed walls, Jinkan noticed that she seemed to be carrying something in her arms.
Only when Vida arrived right above the stage 7 Abyss creature did Jinkan know what it was. Rather, who it was.
A man in crimson armor fell in the sky and onto the head of the Royal Centipede. While in midair, a large sword could be seen in the man's hand and he thrusted the tip downwards, into the creature's head.
The man was no other than the Dragon bloodline Zach Talon
Zach shouted angrily as the crimson armor covering his body gradually changed, turning darker into jet black armor with a faint red tint.
"Bloodline Breakthrough! Rank 6!"
A surge of power flowed through Zach as he gripped the hilt of his sword and sent the blade deeper into the Abyss creature's body until almost nothing remained above. Tightening his grip once more, Zach roared as he ran across its back until the creature's tail, splitting the creature from top to bottom.
Craaaackkk!!!
"DIE!!"