Chapter 189

Was it because he was getting dizzy? Or was his body temperature dropping from being soaked in the rain?

If not that, had the poison spread uncontrollably?

Leonardo barely held onto his wavering vision, which could have been explained by any of these reasons without seeming strange.

As he flew frantically through the pouring rain, his breathing became rapid and his concentration scattered. Because of this, even the presence of the monster fiercely chasing him was gradually becoming blurred.

Kwoal-- Kwaaang-!

After making an incomprehensible sound, the queen had been consistently targeting only him. It was the same even when the Council's commanders pursued it and poured in an all-out attack. Whether its hide was torn or chunks of flesh flew off. It seemed as if its sole purpose was to strangle him.

"...Persistent bastard."

Leonardo, who briefly glanced at the chaotic situation behind him, dodged the creature's roars stabbing at the back of his head by hiding here and there between the sheer mountain ranges. At the same time, he gradually increased his flight speed while grasping violent sparks in his hand that were growing in energy.

Although he was using his strength for regeneration, the enormous number of monsters the mother body had summoned wouldn't leave them alone.

Meanwhile, all the high-ranking commanders with outstanding combat abilities were struggling to catch just this one mother body, so the plans they had established through long meetings should be considered essentially failed. There was no way humans would have the luxury to control operations in a situation where their lives were immediately threatened.

In the end, excluding possible future events that might occur, the only way to minimize damage right now was to kill the mother body. But now, even that simple and straightforward task seemed impossible to solve.

'Wasn't the nape the creature's vital point? But if so, it wouldn't have tried to protect it in the first place...'

'Could it be that it doesn't die even when its vital point is pierced? Then how can we kill a creature with regenerative abilities?'

With his mind covered in endless thoughts, Leonardo passed through bushes that had collapsed after being burned and crossed the gap of bizarre rocks where rainwater had formed a valley and was flowing abundantly. As he nimbly passed through the obstacles before him and quietly waited for the right moment, he suddenly turned his body around when he approached a dead end.

The ancient demon, which had silently approached without him noticing, was following closely like a hell-fire incarnate, piercing through the flames spewing from its maw.

Leonardo aimed at the creature's open maw and instantly fired the lightning he had grasped into that gap. Then he immediately changed direction and ascended vertically, swiftly escaping the orbit of the mother body's charge.

Kyaaaaa-

Kwaaang-!

As if the attack had hit properly, the howl of the creature that had swallowed the lightning was heard along with the sound of its massive body colliding with the rock wall. Because of this, a landslide occurred, and large and small rocks collapsed, causing dust to rise even in the rain.

Leonardo, who had risen to a high altitude, quietly watched that area and then immediately raised his right arm to grasp a lightning spear with savage currents flowing through it. Then, to deliver the finishing blow, he threw the grasped lightning towards a fairly large cloud without hesitation.

A moment later, as fierce diagonal lines spread through the gaps of condensed water vapor, the sound of air rupturing echoed like gunfire.

As the golden sparks asserted their presence in the clouds, illuminating the darkened sky, Leonardo lowered his arm that had been stretched upwards and aimed his palm towards where the mother body should be rolling. Then, gritting his teeth with the hope of finally ending this, he chanted the spell.

"Thunder Stroke."

At that moment, dazzling light leaking through the gaps in the clouds briefly dyed the sky bright yellow. Soon after, a thick bolt of lightning fell precisely into the gap of the mountain range, causing gray smoke and bright red sparks to fly spectacularly in that area.

The flames, which didn't subside even in the rain, devoured the damp branches and gradually expanded their influence. However, not satisfied with this, Leonardo strained his neck and repeatedly cast spells.

"Thunder Stroke, Thunder Stroke, Thunder Stroke!!"

Each time he shouted, lightning struck incessantly, splitting rocks and earth and half-destroying the area miserably. Thanks to this, the area near the medium-sized peak where the mother body had collided was shattered beyond recognition of any form, and the sizzling heat of the ground rapidly cooled due to the pouring rain, scattering pale steam everywhere.

Leonardo's breathing was in disarray due to the continuous use of large-scale mana. But even in the midst of this, his cold gaze, wet with rain, was fixed on the area below where ashes were scattering. He was ready to fire lightning again to annihilate anything that might crawl out of that gap.

'If regenerative ability is the problem, we just need to not give it time to regenerate.'

However, contrary to his ambition, the mother body always exceeded human expectations.

Piiiing-

The sharp sound of something being fired suddenly lingered in his ears. As he suddenly felt a hot sensation behind his back, Leonardo held his breath and reflexively turned his head.

"Blaine!"

But before his gaze could even turn halfway, a dark shadow appeared and urgently pushed his body hard.

At the same time, a hot beam of light extended at a savage speed, narrowly grazing past the heads of the two people. It wasn't just any temperature, but ultra-high temperature energy that could threaten even a fire mage.

Kwaaang-!

About 1 second later, a shockwave similar to a huge lightning bolt striking the ground shook the surroundings. The destructive beam that had extended had flown to the peak rising on the opposite side and passed through the rock wall.

Leonardo, who had barely regained his balance after being pushed away in that chaotic situation, immediately confirmed with his own eyes the identity of the figure who had pushed him. He thought the voice had sounded familiar, and it turned out to be the 12th Battalion Commander of the Southern Branch.

"You-"

At that moment, he recalled her words saying she wouldn't be a burden, but before he could feel grateful, another threatening beam of light immediately flew in.

Leonardo's eyelids suddenly expanded wide as he instinctively turned towards it.

Beyond the approaching dazzling beam of light, the mother body, which should have been bombarded by lightning, was staring this way with its red fascia exposed.

After being momentarily flustered at seeing the creature, Leonardo spread a barrier in front of the 12th Battalion Commander who was attached to him, pushing her away forcefully while shouting.

"Get away from me!"

Then he twisted his body sharply, barely avoiding the beam flying in, aimed precisely at his head.

But the problem was what came next. His vision was dyed completely white for a moment due to the light emitted by the destructive beam. When his retina formed an image again, the mother body's raised claws had already approached within arm's reach, seizing the opportunity.

"Die."

As he heard the chilling voice, as eerie as the curses directed at him, Leonardo hurriedly pulled his body back and tried to block the incoming claws by creating a flame sword.

But at that moment, another dazzling light poured in front of him. This time, it was completely different from the light that had emanated from the beam just before.

Thick and smooth ice plates that suddenly appeared in the sky began to quickly surround the mother body as if creating a barrier. Thanks to those ice plates, Leonardo, who had managed to escape from the creature's range, watched what had unfolded before him with bewildered eyes while swiftly widening the distance in mid-air.

The triangular ice plates instantly constricted the mother body's body, forming an icosahedron shape and trapping it inside.

Having lost its target in an instant and being covered on all sides by opaque ice walls, the mother body frantically scratched at the ice trying to escape from within. The chilling sound of claws scraping against ice irritated the ears, but more than that, the sight of ice spears and battalion commanders flying in unison towards the creature caught Leonardo's attention.

And just then, Hugo's order echoed from above.

"It can move the location of its vital point! Stab as deeply as possible anywhere!"

Leonardo, who had been looking up at the sky, hesitated at that voice.

'It can move the location of its vital point?'

It was nonsensical by common sense. If that were possible, wouldn't it be ambiguous to even call a vital point a vital point?

However, Leonardo soon recalled why the creature hadn't died all this time.

The creature's absurd regenerative ability that not only perfectly restored its severed tail in an instant but also created wings that weren't there before. If it could create blood, flesh, bones, and muscles and attach them to any part, it wasn't entirely impossible to move the location of a vital point that was like a heart.

He didn't know how Agrizendro had figured this out, but if the hypothesis that the mother body could freely move the location of its vital point was true, there were only two ways to eliminate it in his opinion.

Either completely explode its entire body into powder, or pierce all parts where the vital point could move with sharp weapons.

'If so...'

Leonardo, having made his decision, immediately grasped sharp lightning spears in both hands. Then he charged towards the creature struggling inside the ice wall along with the battalion commanders.

It seemed that the opportunity to try the latter had just arrived.