Chapter 172: The First Bell Tolls

At first, I thought this truly was a prayer hall.

Then the stench of clotted blood brushed against my nose.

I realized I had been wrong.

Dark crimson gradually consumed the scenery before us, as though we had stepped into some ancient hell drenched in blood.

This wasn't a prayer hall.

It was an altar.

And the executioner was already waiting for us.

"Prepare yourselves. We're here."

Jackson announced it, though he hardly needed to.

We had already realized as much.

Morgus, the clergyman Jackson had told us about, was right in front of us.

He knelt with both hands clasped together before a statue far larger than all the others, a colossal figure whose head had been severed.

Above the statue hung seven enormous golden bells, glowing faintly as they descended in a single row, forming a magnificent arc overhead.

"Is that really… a clergyman?"

One of Gustav's team members muttered as he took a nervous step backward.

I couldn't blame him.

The monster before us looked far more like an executioner than a man of faith.

The kneeling Morgus had his bare back turned toward us.

His thick, blistered flesh was riddled with scars and deep wounds, some of them still bleeding, crimson blood mixing with some foul black substance that looked like rot.

That could hardly even be called a back.

It looked more like a massive wall of flesh, nearly a meter across. Even while kneeling, he was almost as tall as I was, making me wonder just how enormous he would become once he stood on both feet.

His hair was fiery red, undeniable proof that he had once belonged to the Heart Clan.

Even becoming a monster had failed to rob it of its color.

The upper half of his body was completely bare, while his lower body was covered by a black garment resembling a skirt, wrapped with golden chains in place of a belt.

"Stay behind me, all of you. And whatever happens, do not confront him head-on."

Jackson warned us as he moved to the front himself.

I drew my sword and took a deep breath.

I needed to focus.

I needed to give everything I had so I wouldn't become a burden to him. A single mistake here could get every one of us killed.

The moment Jackson took his first step forward, Gustav and I followed as we had planned, taking position on his right and left respectively.

The remaining two Hunters from the First Team stayed behind us, ready to provide support the moment an opportunity presented itself.

We expected a violent attack from Morgus, yet he never moved, even as we drew dangerously close. His unnatural stillness did nothing to reassure me. If anything, it only made me more tense.

"Could there be some kind of trap?"

I repeatedly scanned our surroundings as I unleashed my Aura Armor, reinforcing it with the flames of my Phoenix Blessing to push its effectiveness to the absolute limit. I also prepared several mid-level spells in advance, just in case something tried to catch us off guard.

Even then, I couldn't prepare too many.

Unlike my younger sister Luna, my mana wasn't infinite. I needed to conserve as much of it as possible for as long as I could.

"Morgus was never the kind of man who relied on tricks or traps. He was the kind who fought with his fists and nothing else," Jackson said, narrowing his eyes at the kneeling boss before us.

"I think we'll have to attack first if we want him to fight."

A monster that wouldn't attack unless someone attacked it first…

What kind of boss was this?

Certainly not one I had ever encountered before.

"Captain of the Third Team, hit him with one of your low-level spells. Anything will do," Jackson instructed.

I immediately questioned him.

"Wouldn't it be better to hit him with everything we have and deal as much damage as possible while he's giving us the first strike? From my perspective, this is the perfect opportunity to wound him."

Jackson shook his head.

"I don't think that'll work. I can feel some kind of strange power leaking from him… Just do as I say, and you'll see for yourself."

"Strange power?"

Was there really something like that?

I couldn't sense any mana coming from him at all. Still, I wasn't naive enough to disregard Jackson's judgment. He hadn't reached the King Rank for nothing, so I followed his instructions without further argument.

"Star Magic: Ethereal Swords."

I cast a simple Star Magic spell, creating five blue swords of mana that floated around me and attacked according to my command.

It was a low-level spell I often used when fighting large groups of enemies. It didn't deal much damage, but it was useful for creating openings.

I released the spell and sent all five swords flying toward Morgus.

He showed no reaction whatsoever.

I had expected the spell to barely scratch him, but the five swords struck their target perfectly and sank deep into his thick back.

"Impossible…"

The word escaped my lips in a whisper.

All five swords had pierced Morgus's body, carving fresh wounds across his back and causing even more blood to seep from his flesh.

Everyone looked surprised.

Everyone except Jackson.

He remained completely alert, almost as though he had been expecting what happened next.

Out of nowhere, one of the seven golden bells rang.

Its tremendous chime reverberated throughout the entire hall.

The instant the first bell tolled, Morgus stopped praying.

For the first time since we had reached him, he moved.

He rose to his feet.

His height seemed to double before our eyes, easily surpassing three meters. He was so enormous that even Jackson had to raise his head just to look him in the face.

Morgus slowly turned toward us.

His crimson eyes burned with overwhelming fury directed solely at us.

Then he raised both hands toward the headless statue and spoke in a harsh, heavy voice.

"God… For God, and God alone, do I labor!"

Those words shocked me more than anything else that had happened so far.

This was the first time I had ever heard a monster speak in a language I could understand.

"Did he just… talk?"

Gustav looked at me, then back at the monster, as though wondering whether he was hallucinating.

But this was no hallucination.

It was real.

"I've heard that some of the more powerful monsters are capable of communicating. Don't let it surprise you."

I tried to remain as composed as possible, readying myself for whatever Morgus did next.

He slowly clenched his fist as he faced us, and his enormous body began radiating a dazzling golden aura.

"You demons!"

He addressed us as though we were the monsters rather than him.

"Fall beneath the light of God!"

His roar grew louder as he punched forward, his fist tearing through empty air.

Even though he struck nothing solid, the force of his punch created a deafening sonic boom that nearly shattered my hearing.

At first, I thought he had done it merely to overwhelm our senses.

Then golden aura condensed in front of his fist and shot toward us in the form of a gigantic projectile of explosive mana.

I knew I didn't possess enough durability to withstand something like that head-on, so I relied on my speed instead and easily slipped out of its path.

The members of the First Team weren't nearly as fast as I was.

Avoiding the attack was impossible for them.

Fortunately, Jackson had already realized that.

He stepped in front of them and took the attack himself, reinforcing his body with his overwhelming Aura Armor.

His defense was so monstrous that the mana projectile failed to leave so much as a mark on him.

"He's coming!"

I shouted the warning.

Morgus had charged toward us the instant he threw that punch.

Despite his enormous size, he was terrifyingly fast, erasing the distance between us in less than a second.

But he wasn't faster than Jackson.

The ground beneath Jackson shattered as he launched himself toward the monster with everything he had and crashed straight into him.

BOOOOOOM!!!

The collision between the two giants sounded like an enormous bomb had detonated right before our eyes.

Both were enveloped in golden Aura Armor.

And both relied on raw physical strength above everything else.

It became a contest between two tanks, each trying to overpower and drive the other backward with everything they had.

A thunderous clash of gold against gold.