Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 78

Episode 78

Fortunately, the pain didn’t last long. The group, horrified, rushed over and attacked the Behemoth from behind, distracting it from me.

“You bastard! Get away from El!”

“Krawaangg!”

As the Behemoth turned its attention to them, I, now free, collapsed onto the ground. My whole body trembled from the sheer force I had never experienced before.

“El! El, are you okay? Are you alright?”

Someone anxiously wrapped their arms around my shoulders. It was Trowel, his face filled with worry. Seeing his warm, golden eyes, the tension that had stiffened my body seemed to melt away.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Just a little shaken.”

He nodded, relieved but also wearing a look of disbelief. I had to admit, it was a close call. If things hadn’t gone well and I had lost to the Behemoth’s strength, I would have been forcibly unsummoned right there. I almost revealed my true identity to the entire world.

“Incredible. To think you’d charge at the teeth of a Behemoth with your bare hands. I can’t tell if you’re reckless or brave…”

Harold, who had approached unnoticed, looked down at me with a dumbfounded expression. He went over to Iril, who was lying on the other side, and helped her up.

“Hey, you okay, Iril?”

“Yeah.”

She was as startled as I was, her face extremely pale. Harold looked at her anxiously. Even though they argued often, he genuinely cared about her in moments like these. Just then, a dull thud echoed. Iril had punched Harold in the head.

“Ugh! What was that for!”

“You idiot! Can’t you do anything right? I almost died because of you!”

“Hey, come on! Is violence really necessary? I was worried about you!”

“Like you did something to be proud of! Go kneel down and apologize to El right now! It’s all your fault she got hurt! El, are you okay? Oh my god, look at this wound. How could you get hurt like this…”

“I’m fine. I’m more or less okay. More importantly, I’m really glad you’re safe.”

I said, smiling at Iril, who was frantically checking my body. Honestly, the shock of seeing the terrifying monster up close was greater than the pain from the wound. The red glint in its eyes was still vivid. It was an experience I didn’t want to repeat if possible.

“Now that I think about it, what about your whip? It’s broken.”

“Ah, it’s okay. I have a spare.”

But unlike her words, Iril’s expression wasn’t bright. It was a whip that had never had any problems, even when facing countless monsters. She seemed genuinely shocked that the Behemoth had easily broken it.

“Is this even possible? It’s made of ogre leather. It’s strong enough to withstand aura [magical energy]. What kind of brute is that?”

“It’s a Behemoth. Its teeth are probably harder than steel.”

“This is so annoying. Why did a monster like that have to fall where we are?”

At that moment, a sharp scream echoed from among the group who were still fighting. The Behemoth’s fangs had brutally bitten into Mighty’s thigh.

“Aaaagh!”

“Mighty!”

“Damn it!”

The two quickly swung their weapons and rushed forward. But crimson blood was already flowing from the bitten thigh. Mighty clutched his leg and rolled on the ground in agony. I quickly went to him and examined the bloody area. It was a severe injury, but thankfully the bone wasn’t exposed.

“El and Ly! Take care of Mighty!”

“Ah, yes!”

I supported Mighty, who was trembling in pain, and moved him to a place a little away from the battle. Meanwhile, Isana tore a piece of cloth from his sleeve and tightly bound the wound. However, the injury was too large, and the bleeding showed no signs of stopping. Isana looked at me with a pale face as he saw the blood seeping through the cloth.

“El, the bleeding is too heavy.”

“Umm…”

‘What should I do? Should I heal him?’

Mighty’s face had turned pale, probably from losing so much blood in such a short time. I knew I shouldn’t use my powers, but seeing someone collapse in front of me made me anxious. Kaitain, the priest, wasn’t here, and his injury was too severe to be resolved with simple first aid. It was obvious that the longer we delayed, the more dangerous it would become. Then, Mighty, with his lips tightly shut, opened his mouth with difficulty.

“In…”

“Yes? What is it, Mighty?”

“In, inside pocket… there’s holy water. Sp, sprinkle it on.”

‘Holy water?’

Puzzled, I fumbled inside the vest he was wearing. Then, a hard object caught my hand in the pocket. I took it out and saw that it was a small bottle about the size of my palm. It contained an unknown liquid, and the opening was sealed with a solid stopper.

As I had been asked, I pulled out the stopper and poured the liquid on the wound. Then, Mighty’s face, which had been distorted with pain, began to ease. Surprisingly, the area where the liquid touched was healing rapidly. It seemed to be a liquid with an effect similar to the healing divine power of priests.

“Damn it, that was really expensive.”

Mighty couldn’t hide his regret throughout the healing process. He seemed more focused on the liquid in the bottle rapidly decreasing than on his body getting better. It was clear that he would never have used it if it hadn’t been for this situation.

Soon, when the wound was completely healed, he shook himself off and got up from his seat. I looked at him in bewilderment as he moved as if nothing had happened.

“Are you okay, Mighty? Can you really get up right away?”

“Ah, I’m fine. I poured the price of a house into it, so of course I have to be fine.”

“Gasp, the price of a house? You mean that small bottle?”

“What, you’re training to be a priest and you don’t even know that? A drop of holy water is worth as much as a 되 [doe] of gold. Of course, it’s cheaper than the price of a life, but still.”

He grumbled and walked towards the place where the fierce battle was taking place. The group, recognizing him, greeted him with joy(?).

“Mighty! Why aren’t you back here yet? What’s taking you so long to heal such a small wound! You were deliberately stalling to use more holy water, weren’t you!”

“You bastard, you used precious holy water, so you have to do the work of ten people! If you don’t, I’ll break your leg again!”

…It was a welcome as savage as their concern for their comrade.

Unlike the exhausted group, the Behemoth was still rampaging wildly. Its whole body was covered in blood as evidence of being attacked from all sides, but it didn’t seem to be greatly affected. In fact, it was healing faster than it was getting injured. No matter how big the wound, it would be healed by the time you looked back. It was a monster with tremendous self-healing abilities.

Swaack! Kuwoong!

At that moment, the Behemoth, colliding with Hussen at the same time, fell away with a violent impact. The group, seeing the fiend slammed into the ground with blood splattering, all brightened their faces. It was the first time the fiend’s movements had stopped.

“Got it!”

Hussen also crashed roughly to the ground. He seemed to have taken a big hit as well, as he had broken through head-on. Sherry rushed to him, staggering.

“Hussen!”

“Ah, I’m fine. More importantly, what about him…”

But he couldn’t finish his sentence. It was because the fallen Behemoth was getting up again over there.

“Krrr…”

The group once again wore faces of dismay as the ominous red light flashed. It felt like they were looking at an immortal being who wouldn’t die.

“We can’t go on like this. We need to use a method that can instantly seize its breath.”

“What method against a guy whose hide even sword blades can’t properly pierce?”

“Behemoths are fiends, so stabbing and cutting attacks have their limits. We need one powerful blow rather than these small attacks.”

“Tch, if only we had a mage at times like these…”

Then Isana, who had been hesitating next to me, opened his mouth.

“I, I’ll try to attack.”

“Ly, you?”

“Could you bind the fiend’s movements for a moment?”

At his words, the group hesitated for a moment and looked at each other. They seemed to distrust spiritism.

“Okay, all we have to do is block its movements, right?”

“……!”

It was Trowel who changed the atmosphere. When our eyes met, he playfully winked one eye.

“Ah, yes! Please!”

Isana bowed deeply, and he shrugged and looked at Iril. It was obvious what that action meant in this situation. Receiving his silent gaze, she wore a suspicious expression for a moment, but soon sighed and nodded.

“Okay, I’ll try.”

As she stepped forward with her whip, Isana took a breath and focused his mind. It was preparation to summon a spirit.

“Undine, summon!”

Paaat!

At that moment, a pure white mist began to spread around him. The mist, which quickly soared into the sky, gradually began to gather into one, and soon transformed into the form of a beautiful girl. The group seemed stunned at that moment, perhaps surprised by the appearance of the spirit they were seeing for the first time. Immediately, Isana shouted, looking at Iril.

“Iril! Now’s the time!”

“Ah, okay!”

She soon swung her whip and wrapped it around the Behemoth’s neck. Thanks to this, the fiend’s movements faltered, and Isana immediately ordered Undine to attack.

“Undine! Attack that fiend!”

As soon as she received the order, Undine gently circled in the air as if dancing. Then, hundreds of arrows formed above Undine’s head. All of them were arrows made of ice. At Undine’s gesture, the arrows quickly flew towards the fiend.

Chwaaaak―! Kwajijijik!

“Krawaagang!”

With the sharp sound of tearing flesh, hundreds of ice arrows pierced through at once. At the same time, a fountain of bright red blood gushed from the Behemoth’s entire body. The Behemoth convulsed violently and twisted its body greatly in the air. Like a scene from a video where the pause button had been pressed, time seemed to stop at that moment.

When the fleeting moment was over, the Behemoth fell powerlessly to the ground. Kuwoong! A dull sound echoed heavily on the floor.

“…….”

“…….”

The surroundings were enveloped in a deep silence for a while.

What was visible was a white-haired beast twitching on the floor and Isana panting heavily in front of it. The group all had frozen faces and were moving their mouths. They didn’t seem to be able to properly recognize what had just happened. Then Isana, who had been standing blankly for a long time, collapsed to the floor. He had lost consciousness due to severe exhaustion.

“Ly!”

“He’s okay. He’s just exhausted.”

I quickly supported him and reassured the group. As Isana collapsed, Undine, who had been wandering around him, also disappeared and returned to her natural form. Seeing this, the group looked back at the Behemoth with dazed expressions again. There was no longer even a twitch in its limp body. It had completely stopped breathing. As if confirming this, a soft exclamation erupted from the group’s mouths.

“It’s over…….”

“Oh my god, is it really dead?”

“I can’t believe it.”

Compared to the long struggle, it was truly an anticlimactic ending. In fact, I didn’t think the spirit’s power would be this strong either. Moreover, Undine was only a mid-level spirit, not even a high-level one.

‘Wow, then how strong am I?’

I even had such a silly thought without realizing it. Then I saw Trowel snickering, as if he had read it. I quickly pretended to take care of Isana to avoid feeling embarrassed.

Until then, the group was still in a daze. As a result, they had caught the fiend, but they still didn’t seem to realize it. Instead of those comrades, Hussen approached the fallen Behemoth and examined the corpse. It was to check its breath. After checking his pulse and examining the eyes that had lost their light, he nodded with a meaningful expression. Only then did the group relax and congratulate each other. For the first time, a bright smile appeared on their faces, which had been stiff all along. The most excited of them was Harold.

“Amazing! We caught a fiend! Even a Behemoth! Is this really real?”

“Of course it’s real, Harold. Actually, it’s as good as Ly catching it alone.”

“I agree. Honestly, I was really surprised. I didn’t know spirits were that amazing…”

“Ahem! Nonsense. It’s all thanks to this Harold laying the groundwork so diligently. No matter how great the spirit is, it wouldn’t have been able to kill it in one shot if the Behemoth hadn’t been exhausted. In that sense, my contribution is also quite significant.”

Perhaps feeling a sense of crisis that his presence was being overshadowed by Isana, Harold quickly attempted self-praise. Then, of course, Iril’s scolding followed, as she couldn’t stand to see him like that.

“Hmph, don’t brag about something we all did together. You couldn’t even move in a critical situation.”

“What?”

“Isn’t it true? Who was the person who froze like an idiot and couldn’t do anything when I was in danger? El jumped in front of the fiend to save me with her thin arms.”

“Ugh! Th, that’s because it happened so fast that I didn’t have time to…”

“Enough? I would have died right away if it weren’t for El. A comrade who has been together for several years just stood by and did nothing in a dangerous moment. I’m really disappointed, Harold!”

“Wh, what! I’m a man who can do things when I put my mind to it!”

At first, he stuttered as if he was sorry, but when Iril glared at him with fierce eyes, he showed an angry reaction. Of course, Iril didn’t care at all and ridiculed him.

“What can you do? You’re all talk and no action, Mr. Harold, who is of no help in important moments. What a waste of that big body.”

“Eek, you witch! What about you? You didn’t do anything right! All you did was panic all day!”

“What’s wrong with that? It was this body that made the fiend unable to move so that Ly could attack with the water spirit, you know?”

“Ha― Is all you did was fix it in place with a whip that can cut through monsters in one go? Well done, Iril! Are you finally past your prime?”

“What was that again?”

A voice full of anger echoed loudly. To be able to argue so hard right after finishing the battle, they must have plenty of energy left. Sherry seemed to think the same, frowning deeply.

“Ugh, do they have to be like that even at times like this? I really can’t live like this.”

I chuckled, then laid Isana down comfortably and got up. I was planning to stop the two before Sherry got annoyed. If something strange hadn’t caught my eye at that moment.

“……Huh?”

“Huh? What’s wrong, El?”

Sherry, who had turned around at my reaction, closed her mouth. I could see shock slowly spreading across her face, which had frozen in shock. I couldn’t believe the sight I was seeing either. In the bushes right next to Iril, a beast with red eyes was slowly revealing itself.

“No way…….”

To think there was another fiend, not just one!

The two seemed to be unaware of the situation unfolding right next to them, as they were focused on arguing. It was when the shadow of the fiend reached right next to them that they realized something was wrong.

“Uh, huh? Am I dreaming right now?”

Harold and Iril stared blankly at the fiend. They seemed to have a harder time recognizing the reality in front of them, and their reaction speed was slower than usual. The angry beast’s teeth were lunging at them, and I screamed almost at the same time.

“Krawaangg!”

“No―!”