Chapter 215 – Not looking good.

Roland felt like he had been in a situation like this before but this time around there was no tunnel to collapse to get away from the tier 3 monster. All of the people from the cult had combined themselves into some kind of strange abomination that was hard to describe.

The whole transformation unfolded before his eyes. After the cultists stabbed themselves with those pitch-black daggers it all started. Their bodies began turning into the same color as their weapons while quickly melting. Their skin was first to go and their muscles and organs were quickly revealed to everyone.

Everyone looked in horror at the strange phenomenon taking place, some of the commoners started to vomit the instant they saw the convulsing dead bodies on the ground. Yet this was not the end but just the beginning. The carcasses started being molded into something and quickly slithering towards one of the dark priests that would act as the core of this metamorphosis.

It was as if the bodies were being affected by some type of gravitational spell. While partially melted they started quickly flying towards one location and combining with each other. At first, it started off as a mass of mashed together limbs and organs but soon the human appendages started taking on a new form.

A plethora of tentacles with smaller tendrils coming out from then soon started appearing. All of the squishy flesh that looked gelatinous at first took the shape of pitch-black leathery skin that was this monster’s outer shell. Many large and small eyes riddle all of its body along with similarly spaced-out toothy mouths. One of these was noticeably larger than the rest and occupied the upper front of the monster along with a central eye.

“The hell is that thing…”

Nicholaus the spirit spearman called out while everyone was shocked at the spectacle. While this was a terrifying display Roland didn’t seem as affected as the others. This monstrosity was giving out strange groans as it was taking shape which seemed to be causing some form of a mental debuff. It was keeping people from reacting to the change and letting this creature take its full shape.

‘Won’t get a better chance than this.’

Roland was quick to realize that this would be the best moment to strike. Before the Abyssal Abomination fully took shape he had some time to launch a magical attack. He did not have his staff anymore and had to blow up his backpack while running away. This left him with only his armor to perform this task.

This reminded him of the clash with the dinosaur monster from the dungeon. While he would be using a similar spell-like last time it had been improved. He did not need any large external components besides one small addon that he still had on his side. While his backpack was gone he still had his little satchel with some ammo inside.

‘I can’t do this too many times, my armor won’t be able to take the load but better if it breaks down before this thing can form itself.’

He knew the dangers of straining the armor’s runic components. His mana reserve was large and with the ability to alter the spells he made it was easy to utilize it all. Even when the monster was not formed and lacked a level it was very obviously above tier 2. The longer he waited the stronger it would become, if he could not take it out now then everyone would be in danger.

Thus he stepped forward to get a good vantage point. With people being stunned from the strange low and high peated screams he didn’t need to worry about hitting them. After planting his legs firmly on the ground he moved his hand towards his chest area where a barely visible circular indentation was.

Previously he removed a red-colored gem from his satchel, this gem was quickly inserted into this depression. Almost instantly a runic circle appeared around his chest plate where he placed this jewel into. Thus the countdown began while he stood out with his chest pointing toward the monster.

His whole armor began glowing brightly, and the somewhat torn-up robe he was still wearing quickly started going up in flames to reveal the shiny silver armor beneath it. His hands were held in front of the glowing stone in his chest area to aid in the forming of the beam.

Roland felt his mana instantly being drained to activate this spell. While he would rather use some pre-prepared explosives he didn’t have any. Instead, he needed to deal the most amount of damage in the shortest amount of time.

Soon the beam was taking shape as the area around the gem started to give out arcs of blue electricity. Some people that were previously panicking had snapped out of their stupor just from the sheer amount of magical power that was being used here.

Right before the stream of energy took shape Roland quickly activated his Rune Overload skill. Instantly the blue light that was covering his whole body shifted into a dark red. The runes on his body started eating away at the metal that it was made from. Thanks to it being of high quality the process was slowed down and finally, the attack flew out.

Roland’s feet were jolted back as if he was shooting off a high-caliber rifle. The dark red beam of concentrated mana drilled its way towards the screaming monster that was still gathering the corpses of the dead cultists.

A resounding explosion that blew up lots of smoke followed shortly after this display of magical might. The monster’s groan was quickly heard by everyone, this finally managed to snap everyone out of this strange debuff effect they were being affected by. Yet before they could realize what was going on, their faces were hit by strong wind containing sand and gooey monster parts.

“What the hell?”

“Get away!”

Everyone jumped back while covering their faces from the incoming debris. While they could not move their bodies due to the stunning effect they could still see everything unfolding. After backing away all of them looked to the sparkling armored man that was still radiating energy.

‘Was that enough?’

Roland wondered while moving his hands down. The red light that was covering his body along with the sparkling runes started to dim. It was soon replaced by a bluish hue as he activated his rune mending skill. While the attack was powerful and reached into the tier 3 realm he was not sure if he wouldn’t need to fire it off again.

The jewel that adorned his chest area quickly crumbled to dust after the long-range spell had been completed. More than half of his mana was gone now and a migraine was fast approaching. Only thanks to the pain resistances he continually received was he able to still focus on the unfolding battle.

Stolen story; please report.

“Did he do it?”

Asked Nicholaus that was the highest level adventurer here. After recovering from the illusory world he had recovered his spear to fight along with the others. Seemingly Roland had managed to deliver the last blow as the monster’s shrieks had gone silent.

“Fuck, that scared me.”

Orson called out from the side while holding his large double-handed sword over his shoulder. He, along with Seena and Darlak looked somewhat exhausted after the small skirmish.

“Aye, they should reward us plenty for bringing down a cult.”

The dwarf cheered as he already could see the increase in wages for bringing this village to light. The merchants probably wouldn’t increase their wages but there was a bounty on Abyssal cultists in the kingdom. They would be rewarded for each of them slain along with any occult relics returned. With how large this helix spiral was, the amount of money they should receive would probably last them many months.

“Shut up you idiot, that thing isn’t dead yet… hey you watch out!”

But while Orson and Darlak were nodding at each other, Senna could tell that something was wrong. Due to how much energy Roland had burned through his radar system was also lagging behind. But the monster would not wait for them to reassess their situation, the only thing on its mind was to kill.

From within the dust cloud, a myriad of tentacles shot out toward the closest people to it. Unfortunately for Nicholaus, he was in the line of sight of the maddened monster that had been injured by Roland’s attack. Even though he was a high-level tier 2 class holder he was unable to react in time at all.