Chapter 396 – Ball Of Horrors.

The searing, blazing sun engulfed the imprisoned eldritch horror, and its writhing, monstrous form was consumed by the intense heat. The monster’s deafening roars turned into agonized screeches as it desperately attempted to break free, but the combination of the magical prison and the searing flames made it a grueling endeavor.

The immense ball of flames illuminated the entire compound, creating a light so intense that it seemed like daytime. Armand, Lobelia, and Aurdhan stood there with their heads pointed up. Some of them had to cover their faces to avoid getting secondary burns. The only one daring to approach the miniaturised sun was a flaming wolf that somewhat felt at home when next to it.

“Agni, you’ll have to lend me some of that divine mana of yours…”

“Awooo!”

Roland stood near the inferno, watching the black tentacles slam against his mana shields. Despite the monster being engulfed by the fiery prison he had created, it remained alive. It relentlessly battered against the defenses keeping it inside, and to make matters worse, the mithril cage was starting to melt. The metal couldn’t withstand the intense heat within this ball of flames. He needed to give it his all and have this monster incinerated before it was too late.

As Roland focused all his power on sustaining the fiery prison, the searing flames continued to consume the eldritch horror. Its anguished screeches intensified, and the flailing persisted. Only when Agni positioned himself directly under the ball of flames and allowed his divine mana to seep into the magical circle to empower it did they begin to see some results.

While holy energies were not as effective on abyssal creatures as they were on undead ones, they were still somewhat effective. The monster had also fused with a mass of undead creatures, which amplified the effect of this sun spell which continued to grow in size. Starting with a diameter of about five meters, it expanded to ten meters and beyond, as the flames swirled around with the addition of wind energy, making it increasingly challenging for the monstrosity to survive.

The greater spell continued to amass more power and drained all the mana reserves within his entire workshop. Even the golem batteries that were still functioning were being depleted to support the runic structures. All the years of amassing energy from his windmill farm and mana liquid from the dungeon mine were all for this very moment. Roland did not shy away from using it all, as this was his best chance of destroying the monstrosity inside.

If he managed to kill it now, then the battle would be over, and the cultists would have no way of knowing what had transpired. There was a big possibility that after this creature was destroyed, a new foe would present itself. The cult had tracked him all the way here, probably to confirm if he could affect their relics. It was possible that the cat was now out of the bag, and hiding out at this remote location would be impossible. Many worries raced through his mind, but he tried to push them back as he needed to focus on the moment.

Ten seconds passed, turning to thirty soon after. The sun spell expanded to around twenty meters and rose into the air. It started affecting the shroud of abyssal energies that created a dome shape around his entire home. The mana it was composed of began to waver as the two energies collided. The shroud grew thinner and thinner, allowing sunlight to finally shine through. It seemed that the battle was coming to an end as a new dawn arrived, forcibly created by his greater spell.

“Haha, He did it!”

Armand shouted while throwing his fists up into the air while Lobelia huffed instead.

“It’s so hot in here…”

The Guild Master stood there, leaning against the axe he had previously used. His body was covered in multiple wounds, but it was nothing his body couldn’t handle. He continued to look at the massive ball of flame with a grin, which suddenly vanished. His eyes caught some movement in the somewhat chaotic-looking sun, and before he could call out to Roland, it happened.

“Wayland watch out!”

“Huh?”

As the spell was about to clear out the malevolent energies surrounding his house, something shot out from within the flames at a tremendous speed, too fast for even Roland’s eyes to follow. Before he knew it, a sharp pain gripped his right shoulder as something pierced it. His body was pulled along with the black object that had impaled him, and as he was embedded into the ground, he identified it as an appendage belonging to the Eldritch Horror.

The appendage had stretched out from within the swirling death spiral in the sky. The creature’s ability to survive the prolonged exposure to the heat and divine energies was baffling. Roland attempted to focus on sustaining the spell, but before he knew it, his body went numb with pain, and he could barely keep himself from screaming. Even without looking at his status screen, it was evident that he had been affected by multiple debuffing and cursing effects.

The Eldritch Horror had managed to find a way to break free from its fiery prison, using its own tentacles as a means of escape. The appendage that had impaled Roland was now injecting him with a strange, corruptive energy that threatened to consume him from the inside. As his vision blurred and his senses dulled, he knew he had to act quickly.

Agni, mostly drained from his power, acted quickly by biting ferociously into the appendage that had slammed Roland into the ground. Roland called forth all the strength he could muster, aided by his body and the Overlord’s Might skill, in an attempt to pull it out. The blade he had won from confronting Emmerson came flying, along with other runic weapons, to help destroy this sturdy appendage.

“Hold on, Wayland!”

The Guild Master shouted while he swung his axe with all his strength, and together they were finally able to dislodge the malevolent whip of flesh, which was promptly yanked out of Roland’s shoulder. It had managed to go right through his bulky armor and even came out on the other side. The monstrous strength possessed by this creature was unfathomable, and now, it was poised to unleash it.

His wound was deep, and blood was flowing freely. Even though he could still use his armor to activate divine runes for healing, the multiple curses that came with the attack were actively countering these healing energies. The pain was similar to what he had felt when he was stabbed by the pale elf all those years ago, but this time it was magnified several times over.

The excruciating pain, coupled with the various curses, was finally enough to break his concentration. His body and armor had been the main conduits for this spell to keep running, and the creature had intelligently focused all of its power on singling him out. Now that the spell was wavering, it was attempting to launch a counterattack.