Chapter 177: Rise From My Ashes

The seventh bell didn’t change Morgus’s appearance any further.

But the amount of aura available to him had increased tremendously.

His power had reached its absolute peak.

Jackson glanced down at himself, then around the battlefield.

His body was riddled with wounds, blood leaking from what felt like a hundred different places. One of his hands was completely burned, an injury that would probably remain with him forever even if he somehow survived.

They had lost three hunters.

Among them was a tremendously talented young woman who had been reduced to ashes.

Only Jackson and Gustav remained.

And Gustav was beginning to break beneath the horrifying pressure radiating from Morgus.

After watching his companions die and suffering serious injuries of his own, his grip around his weapon loosened.

His shoulders trembled.

"It’s useless..."

A bitter, broken laugh escaped Gustav.

"We’re never going to defeat him..."

He looked completely defeated.

At that moment, death seemed easier than continuing a struggle that no longer appeared to have any meaning.

Then a thick hand slapped him across the back so hard that he nearly fell flat on his face.

"Don’t you dare give up."

Jackson struggled to catch his breath.

"If you do... Hooof... then the sacrifices of your team... and the sacrifice of the Third Team’s captain... will all have been for nothing."

His snake-like eyes remained fixed on Morgus.

"Remember her words."

Jackson gathered what strength he had left and stepped forward one final time.

"When one of us falls, we keep going!"

He raised his fists.

"I’ll take the front. Support me from behind."

Gustav hesitated.

His gaze wandered across the battlefield, passing over the faces of his dead companions and Moon’s charred corpse before finally settling on Jackson’s broad back, now covered from top to bottom in wounds.

The old hunter had lived for hundreds of years.

Yet he had never surrendered.

Even now, he was prepared to fight until his final breath.

Compared to that...

Gustav realized his own suffering was nothing but child’s play.

The captain of the First Team gritted his teeth and stepped forward, raising his greatsword once more.

"For those who come after us."

Gustav focused entirely on the monster ahead.

Jackson smiled and nodded.

"Well said."

The smiles vanished almost immediately, replaced by complete seriousness.

Only moments later, the final battle began.

Jackson charged forward.

Morgus did the same.

The two collided once more, tearing into each other with their fists.

The golden aura surrounding Jackson gathered around his hands in the shape of savage beasts’ maws, each one seemingly trying to devour his opponent.

But this time, Morgus completely overwhelmed him.

The monster didn’t merely attack with the fists of his four arms.

Golden spears erupted from the ground and stabbed directly into Jackson’s body.

The old hunter staggered.

Gustav immediately moved to support him, releasing the full power of his Saint-rank aura as he attacked with everything he had, screaming like a madman from the depths of his lungs.

His screams joined Jackson’s savage howls.

And the old hunter followed his lead, surging forward regardless of what struck him.

Spears pierced them mercilessly.

Their Aura Armor did little more than lessen the damage.

Before long, both men looked like pincushions, golden spears stabbing into them from every direction.

Jackson had his Beast Heart.

Its blessing granted him another surge of strength, enough to keep him standing despite everything being done to his body.

But Gustav had nothing except his will.

And will alone wasn’t enough.

First, one of his hands was torn away.

Then a spear pierced his eye and nearly drove into his brain before he managed to grab it.

Another entered his chest.

Another tore through his abdomen.

Life began draining from him.

Through his one remaining eye, Gustav’s fading vision drifted toward his fallen companions.

The sight gave him one final burst of resolve.

He screamed once more.

And attacked with every last fragment of aura he had left.

His greatsword disappeared entirely inside a torrent of mana.

Gustav thrust forward with everything he had.

Morgus sensed the power behind that final attack and caught the greatsword with all four hands, preventing it from piercing his body.

One hand pushed against four.

And somehow...

Gustav held on.

"NOW!! KILL HIM!!!"

Behind him, the giant Jackson came hurtling forward with both arms extended ahead of him.

He flew like some kind of hero straight out of legend.

Like a living missile blazing with the brilliance of pure gold.

Jackson had placed everything he possessed into that single attack.

And Morgus knew perfectly well that allowing it to hit him would be disastrous.

What Jackson and the others didn’t know was that the religious monster possessed a fatal weakness.

A weakness Ethan would have immediately discovered with his Wise Raven Insight.

The seven bells did indeed resurrect Morgus and make him stronger every time he died.

But that power came with a devastating flaw.

His health was divided into seven separate portions, leaving him with extremely low vitality during each life.

That was why he had fallen so quickly every single time.

And that was why Morgus now did everything in his power to prevent Jackson’s attack from reaching him.

His body blazed with even greater power.

All four arms pressed against Gustav while more golden spears tore through him, ripping his body apart until he was split in two.

Gustav resisted with everything he had.

He sacrificed himself to clear the path for Jackson.

But the monster before him had surpassed what his body could endure.

With his hands finally freed, Morgus turned his attention toward Jackson.

He could stop him now.

But Morgus never saw what approached from behind.

The sound of a blade piercing flesh echoed throughout the battlefield.

Both Morgus and Jackson widened their eyes at the exact same moment.

Because they had just witnessed something impossible.

Flames ignited from nothing.

And a charred corpse moved when it should never have been able to move again.

Moon Heart rose once more through the power of the Phoenix.

Her flaming sword pierced Morgus from behind.

She had exploited his ignorance of her Blessing.

Because a phoenix...

Always rises from the ashes.

Only moments ago, Moon had been nothing more than a burned corpse.

Now her features gradually emerged once again from beneath the charred remains as she clung to her sword with the last of her strength.

"FINISH IT, JACKSON!!"

No more words were needed.

Jackson, the old hunter, poured everything he had into one final, thunderous attack.

And crashed directly into the body of Morgus that Moon had held in place for him.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!!

The final collision was catastrophic.

A violent earthquake shook the entire cathedral to its foundations.

Moon was hurled away by the force of the impact, while her sword remained embedded in Morgus’s body.

Her back slammed against the wall.

Blood spilled from Moon’s mouth as her fading eyes desperately searched for the outcome of the battle.

Jackson collapsed unconscious the moment his final attack ended.

Blood poured from wounds all across his body.

Gustav was dead.

Almost nothing remained of his body.

And Morgus...

He hadn’t survived their final struggle either.

The entire upper half of his body had been obliterated after taking Jackson’s attack head-on.

Only his lower half remained.

And even that had already begun dissolving after his defeat.

Had Morgus possessed a full health bar after the seventh bell, he would have survived Jackson’s final attack.

But he hadn’t been so fortunate.

And the gods he claimed to worship hadn’t saved him.

Once Moon finally confirmed that they had won, a bitter breath of relief escaped her lips.

Then blood completely obscured her vision.

And she lost consciousness as well.

The second hunting party had entered the battle against High Priest Morgus with five hunters.

Only two survived.

And one of them was standing at death’s door.

The cathedral hunt...

Had finally reached the threshold of its final stage.