Fighting Together

"Roooaaaar!!!!" The terrifying howl came from the forest again. Unlike last time, however, a gigantic creature tens of meters tall gradually appeared in Wien's sight after the howl.

A black witch's cloak covered its entire body, leaving only its deathly pale hands and feet and enormous mask exposed. A huge Hollow Hole sat in the center of its chest, and its spiritual pressure filled the sky.

That was right. Mirot had fully evolved into a Gillian.

When he reached the place where Refas had been digging traps, Wien looked back once more at the enormous figure deep in the forest.

"A pointed nose, hollow eyes, and that clown-like mask. It's a Gillian without consciousness!" Wien's eyes lit up as he looked at Mirot.

"A chance!"

"Refas, how are the traps coming along?!"

"There wasn't enough time. I've only dug the first one a little over six meters deep." Refas had also sensed the suffocating spiritual pressure, and he spoke in a panic.

"It's only been a little while since I got the order. There was no time to dig them."

"We have no choice. Abandon the first one and focus on digging the second trap three meters deep. Then everyone get out. Parik, Jis, get ready to take flight and start obstructing his vision. Remember, the moment you hear my command, pull back and prepare to dodge the Cero!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!" With that, Parik and Jis took off together and flew toward Mirot.

"What about the two giant logs?"

"We've brought them back." Jekain looked at the Hollows beside him who had gone to cut the logs, then answered Wien.

"Good. Sharpen one end of each log. Make them very sharp. Then send four Hollows out to lie in ambush in the big trees at both ends of the trap. Fisilina, hide under a tree. As soon as you hear my command, spit silk and wrap it around Mirot's eyes to block his vision!"

"Understood!"

"Jekain, come lure the enemy with me. Inora, stay close to me. Everyone else, hide nearby and wait for my orders. Spread out!"

Whoosh!

At his command, everyone scattered at once. Wien, meanwhile, took Jekain and Minora and ran toward the Gillian Level Mirot. He needed to lure it into the trap!

"Roooaaaar!!!!!" Although Mirot had lost consciousness, he could still sense the spiritual pressure around him.

A Gillian's instinct was such that, the moment he became one, he would be summoned to the Forest of Menos and then instinctively walk toward it.

On his way to the Forest of Menos, he would encounter countless enemies of every rank. As long as he sensed their spiritual pressure, he would attack them all.

That was why it was so difficult for a Gillian without consciousness to evolve into an Adjuchas. After all, they had lost consciousness and could only slaughter one another in ignorance.

At present, every Hollow in the forest where Wien stood was Mirot's target. Now that he had finished advancing, he would devour Wien and the others as well, adding their spiritual power to his own for his evolution.

"Sssuck..."

Sure enough, the first thing the newly evolved Gillian did was rush to replenish the spiritual power in his body.

The ugly mouth on the clown mask opened, and it was as though the entire forest were being sucked into a bottomless pit.

Soul Suck was a technique Hollows began to master at the Menos Grande level. It could suck Beast Hollows, ordinary Hollows, and Elite Hollows within tens of meters into the user's mouth. As spiritual pressure increased and the user evolved through the ranks, Soul Suck's suction would grow stronger and stronger, until it could absorb even top-tier High-Level Hollows.

As Soul Suck activated, the low-level Hollows within tens of meters were sucked into Mirot's mouth. Its huge jaws crushed them, and dozens of Beast Hollows and low-level Hollows were devoured. Then another howl rang out, and a dark red light gradually lit up in front of Mirot's mouth.

"Its spiritual pressure is rising!" Inora sensed the danger and hurriedly reported it to Wien.

"A Cero without a target! Jis! Parik, pull back! Everyone, get away!" Hearing Inora, Wien quickly judged the direction of the Cero and darted away in the opposite direction.

Humm... Boom!!!!!

A muffled sound rang out as the air was compressed to bursting, followed by a massive explosion. The Cero left a huge crater in the forest. As expected of a Cero, its power was tremendous.

After dodging the attack, Wien looked up at the sky. Parik and Jis had both evaded the blast.

The Cero had not swept toward the place where Wien had set the traps, so Wien's group should not have been hurt by that attack. Still, that intense spiritual pressure had probably sent a signal of fear to everyone. He hoped no one would run away out of fear.

"Jekain, release your spiritual pressure and start luring him! Inora, run! Head for the trap! He can't fire another Cero for a short while. We have to lure him into the trap before he fires the next one!" As Wien spoke, he released his spiritual pressure. Jekain and Inora obeyed his orders as well: one released the spiritual pressure around his body, while the other darted toward the trap.

"Roar!!!!" The two bursts of spiritual pressure struck Mirot at the same time, and the familiar fluctuation in one of them enraged the now-Gillian Mirot.

The Gillian before them walked straight toward Wien and Jekain. Though its steps were slow, each one shook the earth. Its power was easy to imagine.

"It's coming!" Jekain's gaze sharpened.

"Good. Keep your distance. We'll lead it to the trap." With that, Wien turned and ran toward the trap.

Gillian Mirot followed behind him. Sensing the movement of the spiritual pressure, he pursued without stopping.

The terrifying spiritual pressure and soul-shaking howls drew steadily closer. Wien and Jekain both felt the immense threat, but neither dared stop and change direction to evade the frightening behemoth.

If they backed down, Mirot might destroy most of the forest.

Soon, Wien and Jekain saw Inora and Fisilina beneath a large tree, watching Mirot warily as he followed them. They also saw the trap not far in front of the tree.

"Quick, lead it over!" Wien sped up again once he saw where the trap was.

Boom!!!!

With a thunderous crash, the Gillian Mirot, lacking Intelligence, stepped into the trap Wien and the others had set. His whole body pitched forward and slammed into the ground, the enormous impact shaking the surrounding earth.

"It worked!" Jekain exclaimed excitedly.

"Fisilina! Interfere!" Rather than celebrating Mirot's fall into the trap, Wien immediately gave the order.

Pfft! Pfft!

Fisilina spat out two clumps of sticky white webbing that struck the eyeholes of Mirot's mask, instantly robbing him of his sight.

"Log spikes! Aim for his legs!"

Whoosh!!!

The huge spikes whistled through the air as two burly Hollows hurled them down from the trees. With two wet thuds, they pierced Mirot's legs, sending dark red blood spraying everywhere.

"Well done!" Although this was their first time working together, the Hollows possessing Intelligence had not disappointed Wien. In just a few breaths, they had deprived the Gillian of both sight and mobility.

"Jekain, get ready to attack. Break its mask!"

"All right!" Hearing Wien, Jekain began raising his spiritual pressure, preparing to land a fatal blow on Mirot.

"Roooaaaar!!!!" Perhaps because he had been wounded, Mirot let out an earth-shaking roar. A dark red light shone once again in front of his mouth.

"Wien! Watch out for the Cero!" Inora suddenly shouted.

At the same moment Inora shouted, Wien also sensed a massive fluctuation in spiritual pressure. His heart tightened, and he hurriedly shouted to the others, "Everyone, get ready to defend yourselves and dodge!"

Humm!!!!

The dark red Cero compressed almost all the surrounding air to bursting.

Mirot was pinned firmly to the ground, so even if he raised his head, his Cero would catch him within its range. After all, having lost its Intelligence, it would not consciously try to dodge.

The massive Cero exploded right in front of it. The impact of the intense spiritual pressure made blood seep from his own body, and his enormous clown mask began to crack.

Even though Mirot had injured himself, his attack remained a grave threat. After all, Wien and the others were right at the heart of the explosion.

A massive storm of spiritual pressure swept across the entire area in an instant, filling the sky with dust.

"Shadowless Strike!"

The instant the Cero struck, Wien immediately raised his spiritual pressure and flashed a hundred meters away.

But the spiritual pressure storm caused by the Cero's explosion still caught him. Before he could use Shadowless Strike a second time, the blast sent him flying.

After a long while, the dust cleared. Wien, who had been blown away, slowly climbed to his feet. He turned toward the site of the explosion and saw that the trap area, which had just been a forest, was now a wasteland. A huge crater lay in its center, and only eight of the Hollows who had fought alongside him were still visible.

He released his spiritual pressure to sense the other Hollows' condition. Of the fourteen Hollows, six had completely lost their spiritual pressure, and not even their bodies could be found on the battlefield. Three more Hollows' spiritual pressure had weakened to an extreme. Even if they could be saved, it would probably take them a long time to recover. The other Hollows had all suffered injuries to varying degrees.

"Wien! Are you all right?" A fairly steady voice called out. It was Jekain. He had used his own skill to dodge the explosion, though he had been unable to avoid being hurt by the blast.

"Yeah, I'm alive." Wien struggled to his feet and looked around.

Since Parik and Jis had been flying, they had only been caught in the storm from the Cero and had not been badly hurt. Only two of Fisilina's eight spider legs remained. If she had not spun a protective layer of silk around herself at the critical moment, she might have been reduced to nothing by the Cero.

Refas was not faring well either. One arm was severed and his tail had been blown apart. He lay in a pool of blood, gasping heavily.

Inora was in even worse condition. Every tentacle on his body had been severed, and his spiritual pressure was pitifully weak. Clearly, he had lost all ability to fight.

"The only ones who can still move are us, Parik, and Jis," Jekain said gravely. Despite their heavy losses, Jekain still asked Wien how they should fight. After all, that was their last hope. "What should we do?"

"Cough, cough. We can't let him attack again." Wien stood up and raised his spiritual pressure to its limit once more. "Attack with everything you've got! Kill him before he gathers another Cero!" Without further hesitation, Wien immediately gave the order to the three remaining Hollows. At the same time, Wien and Jekain charged toward Mirot together. Parik and Jis also dove down from the sky.

"Roooaaaar!!!!" As though sensing the threat from Wien and the others' spiritual pressure, Mirot roared again. His spiritual pressure rose sharply, and he seemed to be preparing to fire another Cero.

However, his previous attack had only just ended and had consumed a great deal of his spiritual pressure, making this Cero form extremely slowly.

"Shatter Slash!"

"Mountain-Crushing Strike!"

"Steel Feather Blade!"

"Sky-Shattering Shot!"

Four powerful bursts of spiritual pressure swept toward Mirot at once. The massive impacts and explosions once again filled the sky with dust.

This was truly the final blow. Victory meant survival. Defeat meant death!