Chapter 581
Chapter 581: Yeah, Just Me. (1)
Jerome looked at the floating priests in the air and grinned.
“If it had been any later, we’d have been in big trouble.”
It took quite some time to heal the wounds and recover his mana. Even now, he felt it was a little late.
Fortunately, he had arrived just before the fortress was completely overtaken. Now, they had to hold their ground here.
“Chasing just those guys was definitely the right move.”
There was a reason Jerome had persistently pursued just the 1st Corps.
It was because of the strategy Ghislaine had told him right before they set off.
“Delay the enemies as much as possible upon discovering them. However, if there are any enemies heading towards the base, focus solely on tormenting them. If things don’t go well, prioritize base defense.”
Jerome intruded into the chaos of the 1st and 2nd Corps. Afterward, he secretly observed the directional movements of the two corps.
Once he confirmed that the 1st Corps was heading towards the base, he continued to hinder them.
He hadn’t checked where the 3rd Corps was going, but he didn’t have the time. If the 1st and 2nd Corps went in different directions, he would think about finding them again later.
Fortunately, his expectations were correct. Ultimately, only the 1st Corps had arrived here.
Now, he needed to help the Allied Forces block the enemies.
“I’m not just good at holding them back.”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As Jerome extended his arms, the ground in front of the fortress trembled, and dozens of rocks began to rise.
There was still an ongoing battle. The Army of Atrode was charging forward.
“Go!”
Boom!
The rocks were fired at incredible speed, crushing some of the Army of Atrode.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“AAAGH!”
The Army of Atrode was suddenly caught off guard. They never expected such a significant attack right before what seemed like a total victory.
Count Bifenbelt’s face stiffened.
“That guy again…”
That troublemaker had appeared once more. How much delay had he caused before?
Jerome wanted to kill him right away, but his opponent was a strong foe that couldn’t be underestimated.
“Immediately seal that champion’s magic! We must block him at the cost of our lives!”
They hadn’t completely blocked him before. But reducing his power would suffice. The tide of battle was already leaning heavily against them.
While that guy was caught by the priests, the remaining forces of the fortress could be wiped out.
Marquis Gideon shouted as soon as he spotted Jerome.
“Mages, pressure the enemy mages! Help Lord Jerome fight freely! We have to risk our lives!”
Now, the only hope left rested on Jerome. They had to hold on with him until reinforcements arrived at all costs.
To do that, Jerome needed to move freely.
The mages understood Marquis Gideon’s words. With the glimmer of hope, they encouraged each other and shouted.
“Don’t hold back your mana!”
“Aim for the enemy’s dismantling magic while attempting attacks!”
“We need to expand our magic field wider!”
The Allied Forces’ mages were truly risking their lives. They poured all their strength into raising the radius of the magic field.
Every time the Army of Atrode’s mages attempted to dispel the magic, they managed to catch it.
After all, if Jerome was harmed, they would all die. Knowing that, the mages of the Allied Forces poured their vitality into their efforts.
Due to that desperate resistance, the mages of the Army of Atrode became unsettled.
“T-this is…”
Originally, the magical power slightly favored the Allied Forces. The Army of Atrode had to block the spells cast by them as well.
They were too busy dispelling all the magic attempted within the magic field to pour all their power into Jerome.
Boom!
The mana between the two sides spread across the battlefield, mirroring the tides of joy and despair due to Jerome’s sudden entrance.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before long, Jerome was fighting alongside the priests. However, his power was a bit different from when they first met.
“Hehe, it’s so much easier when we have allies.”
Despite the Army of Atrode’s magic field, there wasn’t a significant restriction on casting his spells.
It was proof that the enemy couldn’t properly dispel his magic. At most, they could only slightly interfere with it.
However, that didn’t mean it was all smooth sailing. A whopping six priests had clung onto him.
Their battles differed greatly from typical superhumans’. They were fighting high above the battlefield.
They moved with a ferocity greater than ever before, able to fight freely in the air.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Jerome’s mana blade was radiating a rich golden hue, unlike usual.
If he faltered here, it would be over. So, he poured even more mana into it than usual.
His mana blade seemed to come alive, shining brightly and swirling gracefully with his movements.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The onslaught of Jerome’s attacks was fierce, yet the priests were not easily vanquished.
“Do you think you can keep swinging that thing indefinitely?!”
“Back off!”
“We just need to keep him occupied!”
The priests knew they were weaker than Jerome. They had fought him several times already.
Thus, they fought with great caution, complementing each other.
Boom!
The black energy they emitted spread like fog, trying to create distance to attack safely.
As long as they could keep Jerome tied down, it would be advantageous. Their strength was already inherently greater, and the Allied Forces had considerably decreased in number.
Jerome realized the priests’ intentions and chuckled softly.
“You still don’t know me well, do you?”
He mocked the priests who were only focused on evasion, dispelling his mana blade and waving his hands.
Bright orbs of light began to radiate from his body, spreading in all directions.
The priests’ expressions hardened upon seeing it.
“Block it!”
But the light orbs spread out quicker. They fell upon the Army of Atrode like shooting stars.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“AAAGH!”
The advancing Army of Atrode was met with the rain of light orbs exploding around them.
It resembled the vision of the Salvation Society used by the priests, but Jerome could use it a bit more freely.
With no choice, the priests rushed towards Jerome. However, now Jerome danced around, casting his magic everywhere.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As Jerome’s spells rained down, the Army of Atrode’s formations crumbled instantly. They couldn’t advance further.
Eventually, the priests had to exhaust even more energy to protect their soldiers.
Fwoosh!
Before long, a massive fireball soared above Jerome’s head, blazing fiercely.
It was a fire created from gathering different mana while attacking the priests and the soldiers.
The priests were alarmed at the sight of the fireball. It seemed far from easy to block. If it fell on the soldiers, it would cause immense damage.
The priests hurriedly gathered to stop Jerome.
“W-watch out!”
But the gigantic fireball didn’t fall on the soldiers. It soared towards the priest who had come the closest.
Boom!
The fireball collided with the priest, exploding upon impact. The priest caught directly in the blast was engulfed in flames.
“AAAGH!”
The priest screamed in a painful wail.
He finally managed to extinguish the flames by pulling upon his remaining energy, but his body was left in a state where bones were visible due to the flesh being entirely scorched away.
Gasping for breath, the priest realized his life was hanging by a thread.
“I can’t heal…”
In an instant, priests could overcome most wounds using their energies, as long as they didn’t die first.
However, the wound he had sustained was too grave for any amount of energy to recover from. Moreover, immense mana still remained within his body.
“That’s astounding…”
He never expected to die from a single spell as a superhuman. The priest staggered before beginning to fall from the sky.
Before he died, he scattered his remaining energy into the air.
Boom.
With that, the priest fell to the ground, dead. The dark mist spread in the sky consumed the priest’s energy, growing denser.
From that dark sky, light flashed once more.
Boom!
In an instant, a bolt of blue lightning shot down and struck one of the priests.
Boom!
“Cough…”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The green orbs of light extending from Jerome chased and struck the priests relentlessly.
Jerome’s magic was dazzlingly complex. Fire and ice flew through the air, while lightning struck.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With every direct hit from the magic, the priests were shocked severely. They found themselves with holes in their bodies or broken bones.
Still, they remained alive, having avoided most of the attacks while protecting themselves.
But a moment of neglect could lead to being confronted by a deadly spell.
Boom!
Soon, another priest was crushed by gravitational magic, dying with his body crushed.
Now, only four remained.
The priests’ faces gradually turned pale with fear.
If they got close, they were hurt, and if they distanced themselves to fight safely, the soldiers got hurt.
Neither option seemed manageable.
That magician showed overwhelming might compared to when he had interfered in their advance, and they were struggling against it.
Still, the priests gritted their teeth and tried to hold on. They had their own way to catch Jerome.
“Wow…”
Some soldiers from the Allied Forces gaped at the sight.
Jerome, fighting with flashes of light against the dark sky, looked like a god.
If nothing else, the intimidation he radiated was truly that of a top-notch mage.
Jerome, who was dominating the priests with overwhelming skill, frowned.
‘What’s their plan?’
The recently deceased priest had scattered his energy into the air before dying.
Now, the area around him had grown dark as if a raincloud had gathered. The black energy was thick like fog.
Even while fighting, the priests continued to spread the black energy bit by bit. The dead priest had exhausted his energy completely before dying.
Snap.
As Jerome flicked his fingers, a storm-like wind erupted from his body.
Boom!
The black energy momentarily receded from around him. But during the resumed battle, the black energy increased even more.
‘These guys… are they still spreading their energy while running away?’
It takes time for spread energy to dissipate. Jerome’s surroundings were gradually turning into an environment resembling the mist within a rift.
Had anyone else been in this space, they would feel an overwhelming pressure constricting around them.
‘They’re weakening.’
Not him, but the priests were the ones who were weakening. It was only natural, expending their energy while fighting like that.
There was another reason the priests were still alive.
‘Why haven’t they shown up yet?’
Even while fighting, Jerome was unable to concentrate fully on the priests.
At this level of resistance, the strongest Gathros should have appeared. Yet, he still had not revealed himself.
Thus, Jerome remained alert and kept a lookout around him.
“Fall back! Hurry, step back!”
Instead, shouts echoed from all directions as the Army of Atrode began to retreat.
It seemed the presence of soldiers made the priests unable to relax and pull back.
That meant they intended to fight with only the superhumans without any obstacles.
‘First, I need to kill the priests quickly.’
Jerome, while fighting the priests, also launched spells at the Army of Atrode whenever he had the chance. They would’ve taken considerable damage as well.
With the soldiers retreating, he had to eliminate the enervated priests before Gathros appeared.
Boom!
Once again, mana blades erupted from Jerome’s hands.
The priests looked quite worn out. So he thought aggressively to move in for the kill.
But just then—
Boom!
The black energy suddenly concentrated on one side.
Soon, it began to rise, taking on the form of a giant, just like stretching out. It was as if a half-figure made of black energy sprang forth from the fog.
“What the…”
Even Jerome, an 8th-circle mage, had never seen such a phenomenon before.
It was no mere illusion magic. It was an entity with reality and malice.
The black energy rippled, and a clear facial feature emerged. It was someone Jerome recognized well.
“Gathros.”
The massive figure of Gathros that appeared in the sky was more than enough to be called an evil deity.
The soldiers of the Allied Forces watching Jerome fight within the fortress began to tremble fearfully.
“W-what is that…?”
“That’s a demon, that’s evil!”
“O, goddess…”
Even though only its upper body existed, it was massive enough to block out the sky.
It could crush a fortress of this size with just one hand.
They thought they had grown accustomed to all sorts of monsters they had seen up until now, but that was a delusion. Their opponent was a being that transcended common sense.
Soon, that form resembling Gathros bared its teeth and smiled.
“Success…”
The Gathros swirled with black energy let out a brief sentence.
Just the sound of its voice sent a shockwave through the area, suffocating them in a heavy aura.
Swoosh…
From Gathros’s forehead, black energy began to gather rapidly.
Seeing this, Jerome turned to the fortress and shouted.
“Get back!”
But the soldiers were slow to respond.
The moment they heard Gathros’s voice, they froze in fear.
Soon, a black beam erupted from Gathros’s forehead, sweeping through the surroundings.
Boom!
A deafening boom resounded, and Jerome’s body was sent crashing to the ground, struck directly by the black beam.
