The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1140.2
Chapter 1140.2
Her already-pink cheeks turned a deep crimson. After a moment of silence, she walked right up to Chris.
“What is it, Evan—
Gaak?!
”
She quickly kicked him in the shin, then looked up at him with tears in her eyes and a deadly glare.
“Oh shit...” he muttered under his breath. He realized he’d stepped on a landmine. “Okay. Okay. Let’s just calm down, lady.”
“If you say that again, I swear...”
“Swear what?”
“I’ll tell my dad.”
That one sentence turned his face pale. He knew he couldn’t let that happen. Chris knew that if the Saint of Tionis, famous for being a doting father, heard about what he’d just done, he’d go berserk.
“
Oof.
Yeah, let’s not do that.
Uh—
hey, let’s go together, alright?”
“Quit messing around and get moving!”
“Wait, do you even know where you’re going? This place is huge, and judging by the looks of it—”
“It’s this way.”
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Her serious reply made Chris realize that any attempt to lighten the mood was pointless.
As Evangeline strode off with long, confident steps, he quickly picked up his pace to follow while thinking to himself.
‘What kind of kid has a stride that big?!’
* * *
“
Huff. Huff!
” Panting heavily, Kouna pressed down on her arm’s wound, forcing the bleeding to stop through sheer pressure.
Fortunately, no one had died yet. She couldn’t tell if it was because of sheer luck, or if someone had stepped in behind the scenes.
Her divine beast Haitai had been in a significantly weakened state before she even arrived. Though it was a powerful being, it couldn’t maintain its full strength at all times. She couldn’t help but lament that, out of all times, she just
had
to receive a rescue signal at that exact moment.
While she wasn’t officially affiliated with Korea, as a member of the Sacred Group, she had every intention of stepping in.
It hadn’t even seemed like a major issue at first. All she supposedly had to do was enter the permanent gate, clean up some monsters, and get out.
However, she never expected that the threat putting the Awakened individuals at risk would be a monster from a silence gate. Not only that—the monster was incomparable in size and strength to the others that had appeared from other silence gates, not to mention that the dark priest likely within the rift wielded terrifying power as well.
Even though it was invisible to the naked eye, its oppressive aura was enough to overwhelm even S-class individuals.
The place was crawling with monsters. Silence gates typically summoned monsters in their surroundings to defend themselves upon appearance. The problem with the one she faced was that it didn’t just summon them, but also enhanced them.
She had managed to help some of the Awakened hide, but five still remained exposed. By that point, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to hold out long enough by herself to get them through the monsters.
The other S-class Awakened individual had lost consciousness long before, safely moved to the rear. It wasn’t that he was incompetent that he failed, though. Kouna knew that for a fact.
It was simply due to a terrible matchup. He had rushed in to save others, but his abilities were focused on close-combat physical confrontations. No matter how tough the body, it couldn't block direct strikes to the soul. It was impossible to counter ambushes from something one couldn’t see or feel.
The monster had shackled his soul, just like when the streamer Wherry had died in the past. Faced with such an attack, the man had collapsed without even being able to let out a scream.
In other words, the only one left capable of fighting was her.
Thankfully, she had heightened intuition thanks to Haitai. Thus, even though she couldn’t see or feel the enemy, she had been able to narrowly avoid several attacks by trusting her instincts. Alas, even that method had its limits, as the alignment between her instincts and reality was mere coincidence that could fade away at any moment.
“
Ugh!
” A wave of dread washed over her. “Run! I can’t hold them off any longer! It’ll stop chasing us once we get out of this twisted domain, then we’ll be free!”
“Damn it! Move!”
Unlike those who had fled earlier, the remaining Awakened either hadn’t heard the news or were unable to escape due to their injuries. Fortunately, once they got out, there would be no one left in the area to rescue.
Sling!!
A sinister current surged through the air, and Kouna hurled herself to the side. She was just in his, as something invisible slammed into the spot where she’d just been standing, twisting the ground.
‘If that had hit me... I would’ve been shackled, too.’
She knew that it wasn’t normal. There was no way an attack on that level could come from something in a B-class gate. No matter how she looked at it, the thing she faced was above S-class. Its presence was similar to the Malicious Spirits she had encountered in the past.
‘Its attack patterns are changing!’
A chill ran down her spine as she launched her body to the side once more.
Slash! Slash!!
Her sword flashed once, cutting down the massive monsters charging toward her and the others. They sprayed blood as they collapsed to the ground.
‘They’re too tough. My attacks aren’t landing properly anymore.’
Her hand trembled from the recoil. She looked toward the retreating group still pushing through despite their injured bodies. They didn’t even glance back, almost as if they couldn’t care less what happened to Kouna. It was clear they were only focused on escaping.
It made sense, but it also didn’t feel great.
‘If he were here...’
She wondered if the situation would have gotten so bad if Davey O'Rowane had been there. In all honesty, she knew it was her fault for underestimating the threat of the silence gate.
That was when things changed.
“
Aaargh!!
” Someone from the group screamed at the top of their lungs.
Startled, she turned her head to see something massive and black hulking over them. Though it had been invisible just moments before, it was holding one of the individuals in its hand, its mouth moving slowly.
Its face resembled a white mask, with a body formed from black mist. Its arms were abnormally thin and long compared to its body, and it had no legs—only vague shapes that looked like feet hovering under its massive form.
It was a grotesque monster, unlike any she’d ever seen before. Still, Kouna knew what it was.
The sole monster of the silence gate.
The dark priest.
“
Grrr...
” The creature’s square jaw, which took up half its face, quivered. “Tastes... good.”
It made a strange noise as it gently set the human down, showing that they hadn't suffered any external injuries. However, just like the previous S-class individual, the man just limped on the ground as if he’d fallen into a coma or fugue state.
“W-What is that...?”
“M-Monster!”
The others nearby collapsed in fear, their expressions frozen in terror. The monster before them stood over ten meters tall, and its pitch-black, soulless eyes were enough to drive one mad just by looking into them.
“More... Food...” The creature slowly reached out again.
“Divine Radiant Slash.”
Slice!!
Kouna's sword unleashed a burst of blade energy infused with a powerful celestial aura, pouring down on the enemy. Alas, none of it so much as touched the monster.
“What...?”
Before she could process what happened, the monster had already closed the distance. Extending a long, thin arm, it snatched her by the head.
Boom!!
It then slammed her into the ground.
The sharp impact knocked her out for a moment, and once her senses returned, she let out a painful breath. She knew that if things continued, everyone there would die. In that case, she knew she had no other choice but to let Haitai loose, even if it meant losing control of it.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, she realized something strange. That monster, which should’ve already followed up with a second strike, wasn’t moving. It wasn’t attacking at all. Instead, it was staring off in a different direction, its neck twisted at an unnatural angle.
Following its gaze, Kouna then saw a small black-haired girl standing far in the distance, watching them with wide eyes.
A girl who looked like her had no business being in a place so dangerous. She was someone who absolutely shouldn’t have been there under any normal circumstances.
“Tastes... good...” the monster muttered in its sluggish voice. It pressed Kouna down with one hand and extended the other toward the girl.
It had ranged attacks, as well. Even if it couldn’t land a direct blow to the soul, it was clear that something harmful still radiated from its strikes.
Even so, Evangeline didn’t make any move. She just stood there in silence, breathing heavily.
“
Haah. Huff. Haaah.
”
Her violet eyes had already narrowed into vertical slits like a dragon’s, radiating a malicious Fear. Her overwhelming Fear spread out, pressing down on Kouna.
She could tell something was off with Evangeline. It seemed as if her sense of reason had completely snapped.
Thud!!
The monster managed to launch a strike toward where Evangeline was, yet before it could reach her, she had already moved to somewhere else.
She reappeared right in front of the creature’s enormous white mask, raising her sword Twilight high into the air.
“
Grrr
.”
Her power was especially deadly facing such beings. The monster immediately reached out in a panic to stop her, as if it had sensed the danger. Her small, pale hand grabbed its massive finger and snapped it before she slashed her blade down.
With a thunderous roar, the ground beneath the monster was split open, a massive scar tearing through the stone. The creature was cleaved apart and sent flying into the distance, crashing violently across the ground.
“
Haah. Huff.
” Evangeline stood still, panting heavily and utterly devoid of reason.
“Grrr.”
She let out a low dragon’s growl.
Kouna understood instinctively that Evangeline had likely gone into a frenzy the moment she arrived and saw that Kouna was injured.
Evangeline’s body began to shimmer, cloaked in light. From within the radiance emerged the massive head of a dragon, several dozen meters long.
With black scales and a breathtakingly beautiful figure, the awe-inspiring dragon let out a deep, rumbling growl in the direction of the monster.
.
!
Chapter 1140.2
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