More and more Gargoyles gathered in the gray sky. These normally chaotic and malevolent Dark Creatures were now arrayed in perfect order, as if controlled by a colossal, unseen hand, forming a heart-stopping black formation in mid-air.
They then parted neatly to either side, like subjects awaiting their monarch. The looks of reverence and fear on their demonic faces suggested they were welcoming a truly terrifying entity.
This bizarre and shocking scene instantly captured the attention of everyone on the battlefield.
The Extraordinaries, who had been locked in combat, all ceased their attacks and involuntarily looked up toward the sky.
At the edge of the gray sky, a pitch-black figure, radiating a heavy sense of oppression, was faintly visible.
It was a dark silhouette, several times larger than an ordinary Gargoyle.
It looked like a lord that had strode forth from the deepest shadow realm. Its body was a mass of corded muscle, and it possessed a Gargoyle’s signature features: enormous bat-like wings and a menacing scorpion tail. But the most striking feature was the pitch-black Giant Sword clutched in its sharp claws, a weapon proportionate to its colossal frame.
Vincent’s Mage Corps attempted to bombard the shadowy Gargoyle. Fireballs, ice cones, and lightning bolts whistled toward it. The resulting explosions of magical light burst against its body but failed to illuminate its pitch-black form in the slightest, as if all light were instantly and utterly absorbed.
Worse still, the Magic left no visible trace of injury.
It slowly raised its head, its eyes burning with the flames of Darkness. Its gaze swept across the battlefield, carrying a suffocating pressure, before finally locking onto the bouncing figure in front of Chen Yu.
"Samuel, get back!" Vincent immediately raised his Magic Staff and rapidly cast several layers of Magic Shields on Samuel below.
"Why is it always me?!" Samuel’s scalp tingled with dread as he met that dark gaze. Without hesitation, he unfurled a precious Magic Scroll to boost his speed and took off running, wishing he could grow another pair of legs.
The sword-wielding Gargoyle let out a deep roar, beat its massive wings, and dove.
As it moved, all the Gargoyles in the sky seemed to receive a single command. They roared in unison, the sound shaking the heavens, and descended like a black tide of death, launching a frenzied assault on the Knight Order below.
However, just as the sword-wielding Gargoyle was about to reach Samuel, the shadows behind it flickered. Allen’s figure materialized out of thin air, his dagger flashing with a deadly, eerie light as he delivered a fatal strike toward the Gargoyle king’s seemingly unguarded neck.
’I got it?’ The thought had barely formed in Allen’s mind.
The next moment, the sword-wielding Gargoyle’s form bizarrely blurred and flickered, as if it had instantly melted into the surrounding shadows. Allen’s sure-kill strike met nothing but air.
Then, as if it had teleported, its figure appeared behind Allen.
"What?!" Allen’s pupils constricted as shockwaves crashed through his mind.
He felt as if he weren’t facing a Gargoyle driven by muscle and bloodlust, but rather a master Assassin whose command of stealth and shadows was second to none.
He had no time to think. His body instinctively tried to enter stealth and escape.
However, as if it had anticipated his move, the sword-wielding Gargoyle’s massive claw shot out with incredible speed and seized him by the head.
"Gah!" An irresistible force crushed down on Allen, and his vision went black.
Clutching him, the sword-wielding Gargoyle plunged toward the ground without pause.
The Magic Shield cast by Vincent flared to life just as half of Allen’s body, shield and all, was plowed into the dirt.
The Magic Shield scraped violently against the ground, sending dirt flying. Blinding flares of magical light sparked from the impact as it carved a trench tens of meters long into the earth.
Just as the sword-wielding Gargoyle raised its sword to execute the nearly unconscious Allen, Samuel, who was not far off, raised his Magic Arm Guard and slammed it into the ground at the Gargoyle’s feet.
The earth beneath the Gargoyle’s feet abruptly churned and collapsed. The creature’s massive body lost its balance as the ground gave way, causing it to falter for an instant.
Its claws loosened slightly. Driven by pure survival instinct, Allen used his last ounce of strength to break free. He scrambled away like a startled rabbit, fleeing madly into the distance, never daring to look back.
The sword-wielding Gargoyle’s delayed Giant Sword came crashing down, smashing into the empty space where Allen had been moments before.
"BOOM!"
Dirt exploded outward, leaving a deep crater in the ground.
The entire battlefield fell silent.
Monster and human alike stared, transfixed, at the beast that had suddenly burst onto the scene, their minds filled with the violent, shocking display they had just witnessed.
Meeting the gazes of the crowd—a mixture of fear, shock, and apprehension—the Gargoyle king seemed to regain some semblance of reason.
It did not pursue the fleeing Allen or Samuel. Instead, it took heavy, deliberate steps until it stood before Chen Yu.
’What is it going to do?’
Vincent floated in the air, certain that a creature with the power this Gargoyle king had displayed would never submit to anyone.
’Is it trying to challenge the king of the Slimes?’
Even Louisa couldn’t tell if the Gargoyle was friend or foe. Though her head throbbed from the exhaustion of her Spiritual Power, she forced herself to remain standing, raising her Magic Staff, ready to cast a spell at any moment.
Soon, as everyone watched, the sword-wielding Gargoyle moved.
It plunged the pitch-black Giant Sword it held into the scorched soil, which was stained with blood and residual Magic.