Chapter 478: A Little One?

“Bubbling Mass. Charge!”

A boy wearing a black and white skunk cloak appeared holding a slingshot and shouted cheerfully.

He looked no more than four or five years old, yet no one except Oliver paid that any attention.

That’s because everyone’s eyes were drawn to the indescribable creature the boy was riding.

It wasn’t hard to understand. Even Oliver found the creature quite impressive.

The creature, with an appearance difficult to describe, wasn’t similar to Fen’s other creatures like Boogeyman, Teddy Bear, or Nutcracker. It defied easy categorization.

But if one had to give it a name, it would be something like a rotting meat lump. A mass of decayed flesh, slimy and oozing with a foul stench.

Yet, that wasn’t all.

The surface was covered with twisted arms, hundreds of them, resembling insect legs, supporting the giant body. Between the arms were distorted faces, packed tightly in every space.

The faces, as though melted, had eyes, noses, and mouths twisted together, making them look grotesque at first glance. The only thing they had in common was a haggard, worn-out appearance, like factory workers.

The distorted faces all seemed alive, and from their deformed mouths came unintelligible groans.

“Dmdmdmdmdmd…”

“Tnlrhtlvdj…”

“Djaak…”

“Qorhvk. Qorhvk.”

“Tnadldkstnldjwu-!”

“Dkvk! Rhlfhdnj!!”

With its horrifying appearance and equally terrible sounds, even the Pinkman and the Holy Knights felt disgust and fear.

It was only natural. The creature was created using souls and human bodies equal to the number of those faces.

“······!!!”

Fen, who controlled the Guts Passage, commanded the Bubbling Mass through his mouthless shadow.

Following the command, the massive creatures charged towards Oliver and his companions. The Holy Knights closed ranks in a circular formation, directing their golden flames towards the oncoming creatures.

Rumble!! Fwooooosh–!!

Reacting to the Holy Knights’ will, the golden flames, which had engulfed the creatures from all directions, concentrated forward, rushing like a living entity toward its target.

‘This looks a lot like Devouring Fire.’

Though the flames had shrunk, their golden hue had deepened, charging fiercely at the incoming Bubbling Mass.

It was like a wave crashing against a rock. The difference was that the wave shattered, burned, and melted the rock.

‘This still might be difficult.’

Oliver thought as he watched the relentless golden flames and the many Bubbling Masses rushing towards them.

The golden flames were definitely dealing significant damage to the Bubbling Mass, but considering the quality and quantity of materials used to create it, it could withstand quite a bit.

Furthermore, their numbers were high. If they kept pushing with their mass, they might break through the golden flames.

As if to prove this, the Bubbling Mass pushed forward relentlessly, coming within striking distance.

“Requesting support.”

The Bubbling Mass closed in, and Holy Knight Anselm dove into the golden flames.

It was almost like sacrificing himself to the flames.

But surprisingly, instead of burning Anselm, the golden flames protected him, wrapping around him to form armor.

Fwooooom!!!

Swinging his flame-covered sword, the blade exploded, forming a giant fire blade that sliced the nearly burnt Bubbling Mass in half.

The flames dug into the cut surface, burning the Bubbling Mass even faster to ashes. Anselm didn’t stop and charged towards another Bubbling Mass behind it.

Bubbles rose from the rotten flesh as twisted arms emerged to attack Anselm, but they were scorched and cut by the relentless golden flames and Anselm’s fiery sword, leaving them ineffective.

It was an astounding display of power.

“━━━━━━━!!!”

As the third Bubbling Mass was sliced and burned, Fen’s shadow shrieked, jumping onto one of the Bubbling Masses.

Although it didn’t have eyes, Oliver met Fen’s shadow’s gaze and felt its intense hatred and anger.

“Oh God…”

One of the Pinkman, shielded by Holy Power, muttered in disbelief.

Fen had plunged his hand into the Bubbling Mass, exerting control over it… No, it wasn’t just exerting control that surprised everyone.

The problem was that as soon as he took control, the Bubbling Mass began merging with the other nearby Bubbling Masses, absorbing them into one.

“Tlfgdj! Tlfgdj! Tkffuwnj!”

“Tkfrhtlvdj! Tkfrhtlvdj! Djaak! Djaak!”

“Rmdkdkdkdkdkdkdk━━!!!”

“Wnrduwnj! Tkffuwnj!”

The Bubbling Masses screamed in an unknown language as Fen’s shadow forced them to merge, not only enlarging them but also changing their appearance.

It became a monster with a thousand faces and ten thousand arms.

Moreover, the lower body of the merged Bubbling Mass fused with the Guts Passage.

“Rrmdkdkdkdkdkdkdkdkdkdkdkdkdk━━━━!!!”

The merged Bubbling Mass let out a terrifying screech, which wasn’t just loud but had a physical force that made the flesh quiver, the bones vibrate, and even the golden flames waver.

It was impossible to guess how powerful this giant body had become, but Holy Knight Anselm stood firm and shouted confidently.

“O Holy Father!”

The giant creature, now merged into one, swung its thousands of arms together. Anselm enveloped his shield in flames and blocked the attack head-on.

“With the weapon and shield You have bestowed upon me, I swear at this moment!”

The creature’s burning arms were blocked by the shield as Anselm’s sword sliced through them, reducing them to ashes.

“I shall be humanity’s shield–”

The creature attacked again, but Anselm blocked it–

“–and the sword that punishes evil!!”

With that, Anselm flicked away the creature’s arms and slashed its torso.

“Rmdkdkdkdkdkdkdkdkdkdkdkdkdk!!!!”

The wound was deep, and the creature let out a massive scream, staggering as though it might collapse.

Even with the support of the surrounding Holy Knights, Anselm’s performance was nothing short of extraordinary.

Anselm charged towards the fallen creature when suddenly, Fen’s shadow mustered strength to open a shadow portal.

As more creatures poured out of the portal, Anselm, poised for the final blow, diverted some of his flames to fend them off.

Oliver watched the scene silently.

Thanks to that, the Pinkman and other Holy Knights were shielded from the creature’s ambushes, but Anselm’s strength partially weakened.

[Resentment Claw]

During the brief moment when the golden flames slightly weakened, the Unbent Knee squeezed through, casting dark magic loaded with souls. The storm of blade-like wind struck Anselm, tearing through the flame armor and creating an opening.

At that moment, the skunk-clad boy pulled his slingshot and perfectly shot a bullet through the gap.

It looked like a harmless attack on the surface. But Oliver could see it.

The bullet carried a unique and deadly Disease-Weakness Death Magic.

Even at just four or five years old, the boy was a highly skilled dark magician.

“······!”

As proof, the enormous creature that Anselm had been fighting began to falter, with purple blood vessels bulging across its body, followed by a grotesque spew of murky blood.

“Zmdkdkdkdkdk!!”

The creature didn’t miss its chance and swung its arm, smashing Anselm, sending him flying as if all his previous dominance had been a lie.

The momentum of the golden flames controlled by Anselm faltered, and creatures surged from all directions.

With Holy Power nearly depleted, making resistance difficult, Oliver formed a crude mouth with one hand and clenched it shut.

Crunch–!

Oliver’s shadow tore through the golden flames and rose from the ground, biting off the upper body of the massive incoming creature.

Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.

***

Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp…

Oliver’s shadow, elongated like a snake with a mouth, bit off the creature’s upper body and began to chew. A low chewing sound echoed throughout the area.

Everyone, including the creatures, stared at Oliver’s shadow.

The shadow of Oliver, with lips that seemed strangely thick and human-like, paired with abnormally tidy teeth, mesmerized them.

Creepy…

The mechanical chewing of the creature by Oliver’s shadow sent shivers down everyone’s spine.

That bizarre and incomprehensible discomfort seemed devoid of any emotion. Even the creatures felt fear, disgust, and dread, though for different reasons.

The fact that the creatures stopped their advance and just stared at Oliver’s shadow said it all.

“······?”

Fen, who had barely avoided being devoured by Oliver’s shadow, looked with a blank expression, silently questioning what on earth that thing was.

Oliver didn’t answer but instead controlled the shadow, swallowing and chewing the remaining half of the creature.

Shrrip… Crunch!! …Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.

As the sound of Oliver’s shadow chewing the creature echoed again, the creatures, driven by instinct, slowly backed away one by one.

“Knights.”

“…Huh?”

“Please check on Sir Anselm.”

In the midst of the tense standoff, Oliver requested the Holy Knights, and Joanna was the first to respond, moving to check on Anselm, who had been thrown aside.

“Damn it… His injuries are severe. The dark magic is far too intense.”

“We need to use Healing Holy Power.”

“Something’s wrong… The healing isn’t working properly.”

Joanna led two other Holy Knights in checking and healing Anselm’s condition.

Meanwhile, the standoff between Oliver and the creatures continued. Fen’s shadow, realizing belatedly just how frightened it was, angrily roared and forced the surrounding creatures to charge once again.

“…!!”

A silent scream accompanied the incoming creatures.

Though the golden flames had now disappeared, Oliver’s shadow slithered around like a snake, opening and closing its mouth to halt their advance.

The terrified creatures hesitated, but Fen forced them to keep pushing forward.

[Devouring Fire]

Realizing that a war of attrition was not in his favor, Oliver mixed his greed and magical energy to create Devouring Fire.

Although the merged creature earlier was too large and powerful to handle easily, the current situation seemed manageable.

As expected, the Devouring Fire burned fiercely, consuming the surrounding creatures as fuel.

Crunch…

Confirming that Fen’s shadow had lost any will to fight, Oliver clenched his hand to extinguish the Devouring Fire. It could cause harm to the people around him if it went out of control.

With the Devouring Fire extinguished, Oliver attempted to attack Fen’s shadow, but Fen had already opened a portal and was fleeing with the Unbent Knee and the skunk-clad boy.

‘That might be tough.’

Seeing Fen’s shadow and the Unbent Knee so close together, Oliver withdrew his shadow.

If he had tried to devour Fen’s shadow, he would have had to consume the Unbent Knee and the boy as well.

At that moment,

“Where do you think you’re going, you vermin?!”

The red-haired Holy Knight who had joined Joanna in checking on Anselm now charged forward, filled with murderous intent, towards the skunk-clad boy.

With his chiseled body and Holy Power combined, the Holy Knight closed the distance in an instant, swinging his axe to cleave the boy’s head.

Seeing this, Oliver instinctively slammed his foot into the ground.

Boom…!!

With a loud noise and shockwave, the axe stopped just a few centimeters above the skunk-clad boy’s head, blocked by Oliver’s Quarterstaff.

Thanks to that split second, the skunk-clad boy escaped, but the Holy Knight, who missed his target, turned his menacing eyes towards Oliver.

Before he could think, Oliver spoke.

“Oh, I’m sorry. It was a reflex.”