Closer

"One, two, three!" Eric slashed, cutting multiple werewolves in two with a single slash. Shifting his gaze forward, he saw the countless monsters still exiting from the forest.

There were so many that even Eric himself was surprised. He didn't know that he had run from so many creatures.

He couldn't even remember for how long he had run. Was it an hour, a day, a week?

It didn't matter. Planting his foot in the ground, he then exploded in the direction of his enemy. Not even registering what enemy he was fighting, his foe was already dead.

Without a moment of rest, he concentrated on his next foe.

Right now, at this moment, due to all the buffs Eric was experiencing, he was strong and somehow getting even stronger.

He hadn't personally seen what a grandmaster was capable of, but he imagined that, right now, his physical strength was equal to, or maybe even greater than, theirs.

"More," he muttered as he slashed through the monsters like they were made of butter.

Seeing that he was beginning to lose himself, he bit his lower lip until it started to bleed.

The pain managed to keep him sane for now. But the question was, for how long?

Another ear-piercing roar was heard above him as the giant became irritated by all the monsters that were beginning to climb it. Eric grimaced.

"And with all that strength at my disposal, I am still unable to even scratch the guardian at all," he muttered.

Trying to stay focused, he repeated what he already knew.

"The giant is at least a hundred meters tall, and its body is similar to that of a human with two legs, arms, and one head."

For a moment, Eric was completely surrounded. The next, a horizontal arc flashed through the air, killing anything close to him.

Eric continued to fight without losing his line of thought.

"The giant's body seems to be made from some kind of black rock. Its mouth is able to breathe out fire, and it's somehow capable of manipulating time and space, though…"

Looking at the army of monsters approaching the guardian, Eric came to a conclusion.

"That thing is no god. It has limitations to its power, but then how does one kill such a being?!"

Opening its mouth again, the giant let out another inferno at the army of monsters.

The flames collided with the monsters at the front and began spreading around the area.

Some of the monsters were burned to a crisp, while others continued their dash undeterred.

It was almost like some were getting used to the flames and were able to tank them.

The guardian made a fist and then punched the air. In the next second, the impact of its punch moved to an area of monsters, flattening them on the ground.

Flames, monsters, and destruction were raining down from the sky, while Eric was still battling the monsters focused on him, lost in thought.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as realization hit him.

"Wait a second… its body is like that of a human?! Then that means…"

His eyes shone crimson as a grin found its way onto his face.

"I see, that could work!" he muttered under his breath as he cut through the countless monsters again.

Shifting his gaze to the nearest limb of the guardian, Eric firmly planted his foot on the ground and then exploded toward the guardian's left leg.

Passing through the wave of monsters like they were made of paper and stepping over the bodies of the thousands of dead lying on the ground, he slowly approached the guardian's leg.

"This may be my most insane plan yet!" he laughed as he continued forward.

*****

"Faster!" Aria muttered as she passed through the air like an arrow, approaching the cathedral.

"Wow," Olivia muttered, forcing Aria to shift her gaze to Eric. Her eyes widened in awe.

He was cutting through the monsters like they were made of air.

"Right now, he might be able to rival a grandmaster,"

Olivia spoke, and Aria had no choice but to agree with her. But…

"A grandmaster would still lose to that thing," she spoke firmly, quickening her steps even more.

"Why aren't we going closer?!" Aria shouted, irritated.

They had been running for so long, yet it felt like the cathedral was moving further away.

"Wait," Aria muttered, her grip on her sword tightening.

"The cathedral can't be moving away… so is it possible that we are being moved?"

"Not good," she spoke, her mind going into overdrive as she tried to come up with a solution to the problem.

"If the guardian is moving us, it means it can still sense our presence and has the strength to spare.

It seems our only options now are to either join the fight with Eric and hope for the best or… leave and never come back."

Aria couldn't be sure, but this was probably also part of Eric's plan. If the situation got too hopeless, they would have the chance to escape while he kept the guardian busy.

He would probably feel guilty, as out of the three, he was the only one who, if he failed to liberate the cathedral in time, would face the risk of his system consuming him.

So the entire reason he came up with this bold plan in the first place was because he didn't want to risk the lives of his companions.

In other words, he really was planning to sacrifice himself.

As the realization hit her, Aria gritted her teeth in frustration.

She had known Eric for a little more than a month, but the idea of him sacrificing himself so that she could live filled her with so much dread that it made her shudder just at the thought.

"That idiot, he really was planning to sacrifice himself!" Aria muttered, irritated.

Internally, she was panicking. 'Ah, I don't want to lose him.'

So she was left with no other choice. She wouldn't let what she valued be lost.

No, valued was not the right word. There was a stronger word for what she was feeling, but Aria had never experienced that emotion before, so at the moment, it didn't even cross her mind.

"Joining the battle it—"

Suddenly, Aria was interrupted as the guardian let out a roar unlike any it had before.

Previously, it sounded threatening and menacing, but now… it was almost like it was in pain.

Shifting her gaze, Aria saw that the monsters below the guardian were gone, and now everyone was solely focused on climbing the giant's body.

"Where is Eric?" Olivia muttered, until her eyes widened in realization.

Eric was currently climbing the giant's body, while the army of monsters followed him.

And even though the distance between them was too far to see many details, one thing was certain,

The madman was laughing.