Chapter 687: A Coordinated Strike

Crack!

The sound of the third golden ring breaking echoed through the Halls of Stillness.

Lian was still looking at the huge platform about a hundred meters in front of them.

The worm-like creature inside it was slowly uncurling its ring-shaped body, and with every movement, new cracks appeared in the stones beneath its body.

Its huge mouth was turned toward the four humans.

Rows of curved teeth, one behind another, continued deep into the creature’s throat, its dark natural armor also had narrow gaps between the joints of its body, and a faint red light came out of them.

Lian looked at the information in front of his eyes for a moment.

[ Race: The Withered ]

[ Rank: Fallen ]

[ Level: 45 ]

Level forty-five, huh?

But what caught his attention more was the creature’s similarity to the monsters of the First Ruined Realm.

A few hours earlier, in the memories of one of the prisoners, he had seen clear signs of the Fifth Ruined Realm.

Now, another creature stood before him, one that looked similar to the monsters recorded in the First Ruined Realm.

"Lian, the next ring is breaking too!" Rindo’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

Young Vorhelm turned his attention back to the floating platform.

At that moment, the last sealing ring cracked with a loud sound, and the golden light around the monster’s body disappeared.

The creature remained still for a moment and then compressed several rings of its body.

The stones beneath it cracked.

"Everyone, move back!"

Lian had not even finished his sentence when the monster’s huge body shot forward.

Its open mouth crossed the distance between the two platforms and moved directly toward the main path of the hall.

Rindo and Alicia immediately moved in opposite directions.

Noah also opened his umbrella and moved himself out of the attack’s path.

But Lian did not retreat, he took one step forward and activated the Core of the Fallen Star.

The gravitational pressure on the front part of the monster’s body increased.

The creature’s head lowered slightly, and a moment later, instead of swallowing part of the passage, its huge mouth crashed directly into the edge of the stone platform.

A terrible sound echoed through the hall.

Several pieces of stone broke away from the edge and fell into the depths, the monster raised its head, and the rows of teeth inside its mouth began to move.

Noah looked at the broken stones in disbelief.

"Was that thing trying to swallow all of us in one bite?!"

"Probably." Vorhelm glanced at the creature’s mouth. "But I don’t think we’d taste very good."

"Is this really the time for jokes?!"

Lian smiled, but his attention remained on the enemy.

’It compresses its body before moving.’

Rindo had noticed the same thing.

"Lian! Before every jump, several rings near the back of its body contract!"

"I saw it."

The monster compressed its body again, but this time, it did not attack Lian.

The front part of its body rested on the platform, and then it wrapped its huge body around one of the stone pillars from the side.

The pillar cracked with a heavy sound, and several pieces of stone fell from above, limiting the group’s retreat path.

’So it’s not just a mindless worm.’

After its first failed attack, instead of repeating the same movement, the creature had tried to change the battlefield.

Lian looked at the pillar for a moment, if the monster completely destroyed it, part of the main platform might also collapse.

And there were still many prisoners being held inside the sealing areas around them.

’I’d better finish this fight quickly.’

"Rindo, examine the gaps between its armor plates, Alicia, watch the left side, and Noah, don’t let anyone get trapped near the edge of the platform."

The three immediately moved.

Rindo headed toward the middle part of the monster’s body with his Ten Star Spear.

At the same time, Lian jumped over the broken stones and drew the creature’s attention toward himself.

The devourer’s huge mouth opened.

Air was pulled toward its throat, and dust and small stones around it began moving across the ground.

Young Vorhelm jumped over the edge of one of the fallen pillars.

But just as he was about to reach the creature’s back, the middle part of the monster’s body twisted toward him with a quick movement.

Hmm?

He immediately changed his path and moved his body out of the attack’s way.

The monster’s heavy body struck the pillar behind him and created several long cracks across its surface.

If Lian had reacted a moment later, he would have been trapped between the creature’s huge body and the pillar.

Of course, with his current physical strength, he would probably have survived such an impact, but getting trapped in that position could have taken away his chance to launch his next attack.

At the same time, Rindo approached one of the gaps in the armor.

[ Second Form, Piercing Meridian ]

The tip of his spear struck the connection between two armor plates with a direct movement.

The sound of a hard layer breaking was heard, but the attack had not reached deep enough.

The monster immediately contracted its body and reduced the gap between the plates.

He was forced to pull his spear back.

’So it can protect the gaps in its armor.’

He took one step back and examined the creature’s movements again.

On the other side, Alicia had moved to a suitable distance despite the exhaustion that remained from experiencing the prisoner’s punishment.

One of the armor plates moved toward her as the monster shifted its body.

The girl raised her sword.

[ Second Form, Guardian of the Ivory Throne ]

Her sword struck the edge of the armor at a precise angle.

Instead of directly resisting the monster’s huge weight, Alicia redirected the force of the attack downward while turning her body.

[ Third Form, Royal Lily Step ]

She moved past the armor plate, but just as she was preparing to counterattack, the platform beneath her feet cracked.

She looked down.

Part of the stone was breaking away.

"Alicia!" Noah, who was standing several meters behind her, immediately moved toward her.

He opened his umbrella and placed it in front of the falling stones, the stones struck the umbrella’s defensive barrier, and their speed decreased for a moment.

That opportunity was enough.

Alicia jumped away from the broken part of the platform and landed beside Noah.

"Thank you."

The young Frenchman took a short breath.

"You’re welcome."

The girl gave a small smile, but before she could say anything else, Rindo’s voice rang out.

"Lian! Now!"

Young Vorhelm turned toward him.

This time, Rindo had pushed his spear into the previous gap just as the rings of the monster’s body opened.

The blade had passed through the armor and reached the inner tissue.

The creature suddenly tried to contract its body, but the spear stuck inside prevented the plates from completely closing for a moment.

’Excellent.’

Lian immediately moved.

He focused the gravitational pressure of the Star Core on the front part of the monster.

The creature’s huge head was pulled downward, and the balance of the middle part of its body changed.

Alicia also did not miss the opportunity and approached from the left, using a precise slash to open the damaged armor plate even further.

Then she moved back.

Now the gap was wide enough.

Lian reached the point of impact with a single step, and mana gathered tightly inside his right arm.

[ Disaster Suppression Fist ]

His fist struck the gap in the armor, and for a moment, the sound of the impact echoed inside the creature’s huge body, then a wave of pressure passed through the defensive plates and crushed its inner parts.

The monster shook its body violently.

Rindo pulled out his spear and retreated, several pieces of the creature’s natural armor broke away and fell onto the stones.

The devourer tried to raise its head one last time, but the front part of its body could no longer support its own weight.

Its huge mouth remained half-open, and a moment later, its heavy body collapsed onto the floating platform, and the sound of the impact echoed throughout the hall.

Then silence returned.

Lian looked at the corpse for several seconds.

It’s over.

In truth, if he had been forced to fight alone, he could have won by using his more powerful skills.

A Level 45 Fallen was no longer considered a threat to him.

But the cooperation of the other three had allowed him to finish the fight with much less mana consumption and without causing major damage to the surrounding structures.

He glanced at Rindo.

"Good work."

"I found that gap during my first attack." The student council president smiled.

"I noticed."

Lian also looked at Alicia.

"You made a good move too."

The girl lowered her sword.

"I’m glad I was useful."

"What about me? Doesn’t anyone want to thank the person who stopped our knight girl from falling off the platform?" Noah said from behind them.

Lian smiled.

"Thank you, Noah."

The young Frenchman paused for a moment and then nodded with satisfaction.

"Finally! That’s what I wanted."

But Lian’s attention returned to the devourer’s corpse.

During the fight, he had noticed an interesting ability.

When the monster attacked the platform with its mouth, the mana pressure and the movement of the inner rings of its body were focused on the point of impact in a rotating motion.

That was why even very hard stones had quickly broken under its attacks.

[ You have killed a Level 45 Fallen ]

[ Due to a group kill, the reward is reduced by half ]

[ EXP Obtained ]

[ You have obtained an opportunity to copy a monster’s skills! ]