“There are no monsters ahead, charge!”
Leon shouted, immediately taking the lead.
Behind him, the Falcon warriors stared wide-eyed as they witnessed the power of that thunderous hammer strike.
They knew their young master was a Silver rank and was hailed as a once-in-a-century divine art genius, but they never imagined he could unleash such terrifying power at such a young age!
Anyone who didn't know better would have thought these Falcon warriors were the ones being protected!
Breaking through the encirclement, Leon cast Light Dust Flicker, his body streaking forward as he quickly caught up with the invisible turret monster.
Fortunately, the previous shelling had consumed a significant amount of the turret monster's energy, making its current escape quite slow.
Even as its four thick, wheel-like legs churned so fast they seemed to smoke, it failed to escape beyond a fifty-meter radius.
After locking onto the turret monster through his Radiance Force Field, Leon manifested a longbow flowing with radiance in his hand and used his mental power to construct a brilliant light arrow on the string.
Thanks to the rigorous bloodline warrior training he had received before becoming a priest, Leon was highly skilled in archery.
Even while charging at full speed, he was able to steady himself, aiming the light arrow precisely at the turret monster before releasing the string.
The light arrow tore through the air, carrying massive kinetic energy across the twenty-meter distance to strike the fleeing turret monster dead center.
Clang!
However, the expected penetration did not occur.
The light arrow hit the turret monster's armor-like shell, but most of its force was deflected by the slanted angles of the casing.
The power of the arrow's tip failed to concentrate on a single point and was ultimately deflected by the hard shell.
“Ka! Ma!”
Using the momentum from the strike, the turret monster curled its body into a ball, rolling back several meters like a bowling ball before quickly extending its limbs from the shell to flee once more.
“A monster with such intelligence?”
Leon's heart skipped a beat. He immediately stopped firing arrows and instead focused his mind on controlling the Hammer of Sacred Light hovering beside him.
A monster with such intelligence was no ordinary creature; it required a heavy-handed response!
“I decree, this hammer shall strike true!”
As soon as he spoke, the Hand of Divine Art gripping the Hammer of Sacred Light pulled back swiftly, assuming the posture of a javelin thrower.
Once the Hand of Divine Art reached its energy limit, it hurled the massive Hammer of Sacred Light with all its might—
Whir! Whir! Whir!
The light hammer spun like a top in mid-air, creating a whistling wind as it instantly crossed thirty meters to slam into the area where the turret monster was fleeing.
Boom!!!
A massive explosion echoed. Where the hammer struck, a two-meter-deep crater appeared, its edges smooth as if a solid object had been pressed into the earth.
Leon approached, and his Radiance Force Field sensed the form of the invisible turret monster once again.
Currently, the turret monster's shell was shattered like broken glass. Foul-smelling, dark green blood pumped from the cracks, flowing onto the muddy ground and producing a sizzling corrosive sound.
The turret monster was not yet dead, but it had been severely injured and knocked unconscious by the Hammer of Sacred Light.
As it fell unconscious, its ability to refract light vanished, revealing its original appearance.
It had greenish-brown, hardened skin that oozed deep green slime, looking quite disgusting.
At the front of its head was a black tube; that shell-like conical projectile had been fired from this very tube.
“Does anyone recognize this monster?”
The Falcon warriors shook their heads in unison, their faces filled with confusion.
Alicia was even less helpful; she was doing well just to recognize the lollipop styles of the Coo Coo Merchant Association.
“Could it be a new type of Abyss monster?” a Falcon warrior speculated.
Leon nodded. The small village was near the Dusk Sea, and there was an Abyss within that sea. It was highly likely these were new monsters born from it.
“Ka-ka! Ma-ma!”
Suddenly, over a dozen repetitive strange cries rang out.
The Falcon warriors became vigilant again, looking at the seemingly empty muddy ground around them.
“They aren't approaching.”
Leon did not sense the invisible monsters within his Radiance Force Field. He turned around and looked toward the small village.
In the village, the monsters that had previously been crushed into meat paste by the Hammer of Sacred Light were now floating in the air, flying toward the seaside.
“Re... Resurrection?!” A Falcon warrior looked at the scene in disbelief.
“It's not resurrection,” Leon said, his eyes darkening. “They are transporting the corpses of their fallen companions!”
While he wasn't sure of their specific intent for moving the bodies, any action the enemy attempted to achieve had to be stopped!
Leon left four Falcon warriors to guard the heavily injured turret monster while he led the rest back to the village, charging toward the invisible monsters moving the corpses.
However, these invisible monsters were exceptionally swift. Before the group could surround them, they had already moved most of the bodies and were retreating rapidly into the sea.
Since only Leon could sense their positions through his Radiance Force Field, and given the disparity in numbers and the scattered targets, they only managed to kill a few before watching the rest vanish into the ocean.
Leon did not pursue them into the water.
In the sea, Leon felt a powerful presence—one that had already reached the peak of the Silver rank.
Venturing into the sea to fight a peak Silver rank monster in unfamiliar underwater conditions was far too risky.
As the invisible monsters retreated far into the sea, a Falcon warrior asked, “Young Master, what should we do next? Should we continue searching for the villagers?”
“No, we're withdrawing.”
Leon stared in the direction the invisible monsters had vanished. Recalling their final actions and thinking of the completely missing villagers, he had already deduced the entire sequence of events.
This village had initially been attacked by merman tribes.
During the attack, another group of mysterious invisible monsters appeared. They not only slaughtered the mermen and villagers but also took all the corpses away for food.
After the slaughter ended, the intelligent invisible monsters didn't leave. Instead, they lurked in the village, waiting for more prey.
Soon after, an adventurer party that had accepted the investigation mission arrived and fell into their trap.
Facing numerous invisible enemies, the party was wiped out, unable to even send a distress signal.
After killing the adventurers, the monsters continued to wait until they encountered Leon's group.
Realizing they couldn't defeat Leon's group, they finally decided to abandon their ambush and retreat into the sea.
“A new monster race with light-refracting invisibility and long-range artillery capabilities...”
Leon's gaze grew solemn.
Besides invisibility and artillery, these monsters possessed considerable intelligence. The combination of the three made them extremely troublesome!
“Bind that turret monster and bring it to Stormveil City. We'll commission the scholars there to investigate it,” Leon ordered.
“Yes, sir!”
Leon looked away from the turret monster and checked his system panel.
The moment he saw the information on the panel, his eyes widened to the size of copper bells.
“How... how much experience?!”
【Divine Art Casting Grade: Perfect】
【Light Prayer Experience +30】
【...】
Rate on N.U.
