Gaaaa!!!

With a vicious roar, that enormous creature appeared there in the woods, stirring up the air. Its roars shook the woods in the surroundings, blasting leaves and dust into the air in a powerful show of force.

Shien and Lucy both reacted with alarm at the enormous creature.

Its a demonic beast that blurs the line between human and monster.

It had a huge centipede-like body. At its full height, its dozens of meters tall, and it looked very vicious indeed.

However, the centipede part was only its lower half. Its upper half however is a humanoid body. Its as if a giants upper half got merged with a centipedes lower half.

And even with all that, it also had a pair of what seems like dragon-like wings on its back. And on the humanoid half, its head was completely lacking in eyes, a nose, ears, or even hair. All there was is a maw full of sharp teeth, giving it a terrifying shocking appearance.

Just what kind of monster is that?

Lucy was completely shocked. She couldnt figure out just what that thing in front of her is.

Shien was similarly surprise.

However, what surprised Shien wasnt that shocking appearance, but its level.

[Lv. 90].

That half human half centipede with the gaping maw is not only level 90, but it even had the skills [Dragon Breath], [Berserk], [Monstrous Strength], and [Semi-Corporeal]. All the skills were at least level 8, and [Dragon Breath] was level 9. It was seriously unbelievable.

Why was there such a powerful monster hiding here of all places?

Thats what Shien was so surprise ith.

Gaaaa!!!

That monster however already has its eyes on Shien and Lucy. As it looked at the two shocked individuals, it roared out as it twisted its enormous body and charged toward them.

Gusts of wind buffeted the area, stirring up a great deal of dust.

The monster had stirred up such reactions just from running on the ground. It charged forward like a train.

And its target was none other than Shien.

Freaking hell! Shien cursed.

Whyd that thing go for me first?

Did it think that Im an easier target or something?

Fine, if it want to die so uch then!

[Tinder]!

Thus, Shien released a spell at the monster charging at him like a rampaging train.

Boom!

A sudden wave of fire blasted out into blazing flames, detonating on top of the monster.

Yet

Gaaaa!!!

That monster however completely ignored the exploding flames on it. It simply continuing charging without slowing down at all, blasting straight through the flames, still hot from the blaze, and slammed toward Shien.

Boom!

The next second, the monster slammed heavily into the position where Shien was, shattering the ground beneath it in the form of another explosion, shaking the ground and blasting up debris.

Shien!

Not far from there, Lucy, who had witnessed the whole thing, couldnt keep herself from calling out.

And an answer to her call came straight away.

Im fine!

Shien somehow appeared behind the monster. He didnt even have a speck of dust on him.

Teleportation?

Lucy couldnt help but be stunned a bit by what she just saw.

Only, Lucy guessed wrong.

It wasnt teleportation, but instantaneous shift.

It was a skill that can only be used when being attacked. Shien had used it here.

You almost got me there.

Shien looked at the monster that shattered the ground and narrowed his eyes before drawing the Holy Sword sheathed at his waist.

Gaaaa!!!

The monster immediately turned about while still in the debris field. It saw Shien and viciously roared out.

Right after that, the monster actually spewed out a hot breath from its hideous maw.

Thats

Dragon breath!?

Lucy continued to be surprised.

Shien on the other hand had been able to guess at what kind of attack the monster would do after seeing it turn back toward him, and so he was already well prepared for it.

Vrring!

A powerful wave of magic power erupted from Shiens body, and accompanying that, the sealed Holy Sword in Shiens hands also glowed crimson.

Ha!

With the Holy Sword powered by [Magic Sword] in hand, Shien yelled out and slashed down toward the dragon breath blasting at him.

Rip!

Following a continuous wave of sounds, the crimson blade of magic power cut through the oncoming dragon breath, splitting it in two and forcing it to blast past Shien by his sides.

Boom!

With a new wave of explosions, the locations struck by the dragon breath were first burnt to a crisp before then suddenly exploding.

As for Shien though, he was completely unharmed by the dragon breath.

Gaaaa!!!

Seeing that, the monster let out an enraged roar.

Just then, a figure shot toward the monster.

It was Lucy.

There, Lucy had already drawn her own Holy Sword, activated the [Magic Sword] skill, and covered her Holy Sword with a blade of crimson magic power.

Cut!

Lucy raised the magic sword in her hand high into the air and slashed down at that half centipede monster.

Rip!

As expected, Lucys terrifyingly powerful [Magic Sword] sliced right through the monsters body, cutting it in half.

However

Gaaaa!!!

The cut in half monster simply pulled together like a split wave and immediately fused back together, becoming as good as new again.

Boom!

The completely recovered monster directly blasted its dragon breath at the still in midair Lucy. The blazing breath heated up the air enveloped Lucy with its terrible heat.

Anyone who saw that scene are certain to collapse in despair.

But Shien didnt collapse.

Thats because Shien had once heard Lucy mention a certain skill that she had.

That skill could let her cancel out a life-threatening attack in any situation.

Thus, Lucy who was enveloped in dragon breath simply shook and shined with a brilliant light.

Beneath that light, Lucy seems to be covered by shining streamers of light as she shot out of the blazing dragon breath like a comet before landing on the ground.

So thats the [Protection of the Heroic Spirits] huh? Shien muttered.

[Protection of the Heroic Spirits].

This is a very special skill.

Thats because only people like royalty or nobility are capable of learning this skill.

People like royalty and nobility will generally never lack for one thing.

And thats the loyalty of others.

This is especially true for royalty. Throughout history, there has been many incidents where loyal heroes would sacrifice their own lives to protect their royal masters. Rather, thats practically the norm.

And if those heroes still had the will to continue protecting their master even at the moment of their deaths, then their magic power will integrate with the very air and continue to remain around their master. This status will even pass on to the descendants of the lord they wanted to protect.

And if the said descendant managed to prove themselves worth of their recognition, then that magic power will transform into actual might.

And that might is a special skill capable of protecting the user from any evil [Protection of the Heroic Spirits].

And Lucy has that special skill.

Thus, even without unsealing her Holy Sword, the number of individuals capable of harming Lucy are very few indeed.

This made that half centipede monster extremely mad.

Lucy had by then landed by Shiens side.

Lets attack together then.

Lucy coldly spoke up.

Alright.

Shien nodded.

The two then raised the Holy Swords in their hands at the same time.

Then, their magic power erupted from their bodies.