The black sun hangs high

Chapter 129 Defective Products

Unlike the magical bullets that caused death to permeate the beast, Hound's Fang could not continuously damage the beast's body and suppress the resurgence brought about by the life force like "Breath of Death." However, when Hugh used it to attack the beast's vulnerable points, its effect was more direct and impactful.

As the bullet struck, an enormous, terrifying gap was "carved" out of the figure, which was at least two stories tall. Skin, flesh, and everything else vanished in an instant.

With his magical vision, Hugh saw that the divine blessing within the behemoth's body, which had been supporting its growth and reorganization, had completely vanished due to the immense damage caused by the hound's fangs. Just as a massive machine had lost its most crucial core component, the altar, which had been operating continuously, immediately stopped, and the light on the magically rune chains binding the behemoth's body dimmed...

Hughes let out a heavy sigh of relief.

Judging from the current situation, it seems that he has achieved his goal—now, the ancient altar has stopped operating, and without the blessing of the Earth Mother Goddess provided by the altar, no matter how tenacious the beast's original vitality was, its death is only a matter of time.

Now, whether out of a sense of security or for what may not be a very important humanitarian reason, Hugh intends to hasten the death of the behemoth before him.

Yes, even after suffering such extreme trauma, it still stubbornly lives on with its own vitality.

However, now, that vitality is no longer the "blessing" of the Earth Mother Goddess, but rather a curse that prolongs pain and torment.

Hugh did not waste his last remaining Hound's Fang ammunition. He slowly stepped forward, preparing to use magic or Karron's Touch to finally end the life that should not have continued in the first place.

However, before it had taken two steps, the "rotten flesh" that was still writhing suddenly underwent a new change.

In Hugh's magical perception, a strange fluctuation suddenly appeared, and the source of that fluctuation was deep within the body of the giant beast.

The mist of the Mirror Messenger immediately filled Hugh's eyes, and he clearly saw that the power that had previously dissipated within this enormous body was now beginning to gather again into its depths. As this abnormal power gathered, the enormous body began to shrink and collapse at an alarming rate.

In just a few seconds, the behemoth, which was originally as tall as a two-story building, shrank to one-third of its original size, and the flesh that was originally controlled by the magic chains easily broke free from the restraints due to the severe shrinkage.

The metal disk rotated faster.

Hugh wanted to use Hound's Fang to shoot immediately, but the magic gathered in the giant beast's body seemed to have a mind of its own. It began to move around and try to hide in a position where it could avoid being shot, which forced Hugh to put down his pistol.

Without a second thought, Hugh immediately channeled a large amount of magic power into the page of the magic book inscribed with "Merlinler and the Wall of Flames".

Seconds later, another valley-level spell took effect. As the mage's hand moved forward, the spellbook page floated down onto the still shrinking "mountain of flesh." Centered on the falling spellbook page, a towering wall of magical flames was created, directly covering the behemoth's massive form. The bright flames illuminated the entire pit and the pale piles of bones that had settled there.

The pungent, unpleasant odor began to spread rapidly as the temperature rose, while Hugh's gaze remained fixed on the deepest part of the flames.

The raging rat, which had calmed down after witnessing the strange behemoth, began to stir again. Its body, which was already comparable to that of a small dog, swelled up once more, and a series of screams came from its mouth. Anyone could feel the hostility it was displaying.

Hughes observed that within the raging flames, the magic of "Merlinler and the Wall of Flames" was violently clashing with another force. Whatever that force might be, it was clearly causing continuous damage. The Wall of Flames magic was not specifically designed to kill a particular target, so its influence was relatively limited. Consequently, that other force continued to grow stronger and more active...

Finally, Hugh heard a crisp cracking sound, and then he saw something burst out of the ball of flames. The raging flames seemed to have no effect on the aggressive figure, and the speed at which it burst out completely exceeded Hugh's expectations.

Fortunately, he had been on high alert the whole time, so with his instinctive reaction, he immediately put himself into the misty state of the Mirror Messenger. Almost instantly, the huge shadow came directly to Hugh's front on the flames and then crashed into his misty body.

Even though Hugh wasn't physically present at that moment, he still felt a violent impact, and the magic attached to the shadow severely interfered with his misty body, almost causing Hugh to fall back into his physical state.

Two tentacles of Karron swept forcefully with his will, their blade-like segments cutting two grooves in the thick pile of bones. However, the shadow "born" from the giant beast's body was faster, and before the black tentacles could hit it, it had already created distance.

What surprised Hugh even more was that, in the instant the shadow swirled, it swept across the middle of his two Calron tentacles with something, instantly breaking through the hard keratin covering the black tentacles, and severing both tentacles.

Alarm bells rang in Hugh's mind, and he summoned a large number of Karron's Touches. But before they could form a defensive line, the shadow struck again, forcibly passing through Hugh's misty body.

This time, Hughes broke free from the state of the Mirror Messenger. His body staggered twice due to the terrifying impact, and he barely managed to stand up thanks to the support of the Touch of Calron.

"What the hell?"

Hugh cursed under his breath, and several black tentacles immediately turned in front of him, just like when he dealt with the attack of the palace hounds in the Dream Sanctuary. They quickly intertwined, their sharp segments all pointing outwards, forming a black shield that could cause fatal damage to any attacker.

He had intended to use these sharp tentacles to force the enemy away, but the enemy seemed completely oblivious to the threat and charged straight at him. With the sound of sharp blades piercing flesh, the shield constructed from the tough tentacles deformed instantly. The exaggerated force was transmitted to Hugh, who was hiding behind it. He felt as if he had been hit by a pendulum, and was sent flying, crashing heavily into the pile of broken bones.

The ferocious impact made Hugh's vision go black, and he could barely breathe properly. The screech of the running rat rang out, but Hugh couldn't see what was happening. He only knew that the magical connection between Sniggy and himself began to fluctuate violently—it was clearly fighting and struggling with that thing.

The metal disc, symbolizing Hugh's magic and mental stability, continued to operate. With the help of magic, Hugh quickly recovered from his dazed state and struggled to get up from the ground.

Pain was coming from my arms, back, and thighs; it was from the wounds caused by sharp bone fragments and bone spurs on the ground.

Hugh coughed twice, exhaling the suffocating air from his chest. With the help of the Touch of Karron, he stood up again. At this moment, he finally saw the true face of the thing that had "born" from the giant beast's body and launched a fierce attack on him.

He was stunned, because it was clearly a huge rat, as big as an ordinary vehicle, which was very similar to the three-tailed giant rat that Hugh had ridden in the rat swarm's dream!

At this moment, the giant rat was entangled with Hugh's running rat. Both were known for their speed, but the size difference between them was enormous. Therefore, Sniggy found it difficult to use his strength to harm this terrible beast and could only rely on his agility to buy as much time as possible.

Hugh held a magic crystal in his hand, frantically absorbing its magic power while resuming the power of the Mirror Messenger, attempting to use his magical vision to observe his opponent. Soon, he noticed the anomaly on the giant rat.

This is not the kind of three-tailed giant rat that once existed as a war beast of the ratmen.

It is incomplete, probably because it inherited a considerable number of blind rodent characteristics. This giant rat did not grow eyes, and its tail was not three strands, but only one and a half. The other half was probably destroyed by the wall of flames when it was born.

What truly caught Hugh's eye was the striking feature on its head.

It possesses horns, and these are not the magical phantoms that exist on Sniggy's body, but real, hard horns that "grow" within its flesh. It seems to be very similar to the characteristics of the Earth Mother Goddess.

"This guy can probably be considered a fragment of Mother Earth's offspring... Judging from his behavior, his bloodline is at least purer than that of the Dark Abyss's offspring."

By this time, Hugh's magic had been replenished to some extent, so he straightened up and gripped the Hound's Fang with his right hand once more.

Although the giant rat lacked sight, it clearly possessed extremely keen senses. The instant Hugh made this move, it immediately shook off the scurrying rat that was entangled around it and turned towards Hugh.

But this time, Hugh was prepared.

The mage's hand, which had been hovering nearby and had not been disbanded, had already quietly arrived in front of Hugh. With the infusion of magic, the large-scale mental shock spell "Resonance Dance," which had been marked "I don't distinguish between friend and foe" by Virin, drifted down.

Faced with the giant rat that had suddenly stopped charging, Hugh gritted his teeth and forced himself into the misty state of the Mirror Messenger once again.

The ferocious impact, carrying the power of the Earth Mother Goddess, came again. Despite Hugh's best efforts to dodge, the giant rat did not pass directly through his misty body as it had the previous two times. Instead, it grazed half of his body. After barely withstanding the impact, Hugh immediately returned to his physical form. Just then, an invisible wave of mental energy swept out from the shattered pages of the book, enveloping an area of ​​several meters in radius!
Simply being mentally prepared is not enough to alleviate the damage caused by this kind of mental shock magic. The moment "Resonance Dance" hit him, Hugh felt as if a huge speaker had been forcibly shoved into his head, and dozens or even hundreds of noisy dance songs were playing at the highest volume at the same time. The chaotic sounds hammered into his mental world like iron hammers, causing him to fall into a brief state of daze.

Fortunately, in this respect, the resistance offered by the metal disc has always been reliable.

The valley-level magic couldn't break through this solid line of defense. So after a brief moment of dizziness and nausea, Hugh's consciousness returned to normal. He gritted his teeth, raised his hand, and barely aimed the Hound's Fang at the general direction of the giant rat. He pulled the trigger hard and fired the last wolf fang bullet that he had saved until now.

The "Resonance Dance" also affected the giant rat. Under the influence of the mental shock, it fell into the pile of bones. However, it did not stop moving, but continued to struggle violently, just like a fish that had accidentally fallen into hot water.

The bullet from Hound's Fang successfully struck one of the giant rat's hind legs, and its limbs were instantly disintegrated and devoured by the power of the Dark Abyss.

Perhaps driven by a strong will to survive, or perhaps by the intense stimulation caused by the bullet's impact, the giant rat leaped into the air, managing to avoid the ever-spreading power of the dark abyss. But then, the figure of the ferocious hound appeared.

It was extremely excited at this moment. Clearly, compared to the previous ratman guards and priests, this giant rat was the real prey worth hunting.

Along with the hounds, the madly running rat Sniggy also pounced. It was now completely drawn to the power within the giant rat. If the blessings from the priests and guards before were just desserts, then this incomplete giant rat, catalyzed by the remaining power of most of the ancient altar, was comparable to a delicious feast.

It coveted that pure blessing.

As a true member of the clan with three tails and pure blood, it could not tolerate such a defective creature occupying so much power; it should belong to itself!

So, the sprinting rat seized its opportunity. The moment the palace hound successfully pounced on the giant rat, it displayed its most agile side. It climbed up the hound's long body and quickly jumped onto the giant rat's head. Its three tails swung rapidly and forcefully wrapped around the horns on the target's head, forcibly fixing itself in place.

Then, it bared its sharp teeth and gnawed hard at the giant rat's forehead.

(End of this chapter)