Formidable Enemy! Formidable Enemy!

Knocked out two Skeleton Soldiers and used Divine Arts to destroy a magic seal. Gret hadn't even figured out the current situation before being swept into the northeast tower and down into the basement--

The basement held a hidden world. Gret followed the spiral staircase down, already spotting three piles of skeletons and two unidentified objects that looked suspiciously like zombies. Turning down another half-circle into the main hall, a sharp whistling sound suddenly descended from above.

"Careful!"

Someone behind him cried out. Gret instinctively dodged to the right as the person behind him rushed forward, tackling him to the ground and rolling a couple of times. Just as they stopped, a dull thud echoed from overhead, and another dark shadow pressed down.

"Aow—"

"Ouch!"

"Wally, be careful!"

The world spun. Gret shook his head, finally managing to piece together the information:

When they had just entered the hall, an enemy had appeared overhead, diving down at him from above. Because it came from above, he hadn't reacted at first. It was the Archer Thorn who tackled him away, and the Shield Warrior Wally who blocked with his shield, but it didn't hold, and he tumbled onto Gret with his shield...

Shouts and cries of pain erupted. Amidst the din, the Priest Donald's angry voice was particularly clear:

"Roman!"

"Got it!"

The Knight of Rome responded loudly, raising his sword and charging back from the depths of the hall. He moved so fast it was almost a blur; if Gret hadn't known it was a person, he would have thought a Tyrannosaurus Rex had arrived.

Gret scrambled to the side. Hiding behind a shield, he watched the Knight wield his longsword, fighting a bizarre, winged creature. The sword clashed against claws, sparking with a ping-ping-ping sound.

"What in the world is that thing?"

The Shield Warrior Wally, blocking in front of him, muttered softly. Gret rubbed his eyes, then rubbed them again, finally matching the monster before him with one from a game, and gasped:

"Good heavens, that's a big one!"

The lizard-faced creature with hook-like claws and a pair of bat wings was exactly like the Gargoyle in his memory!

Observing the battlefield situation more closely, Priest Donald was at the far end of the hall, protected by a small squad of warriors, while the outer ring of warriors were busy fighting off smaller monsters. It was clear the previous battle had pushed deep into the hall. As for how that Gargoyle had ended up at the entrance, and why the Roman Knight was charging from that direction—

Gret decided that discretion was the better part of valor and would file it away for later.

The Knight's combat prowess was indeed formidable. His longsword danced, fighting the Gargoyle to a standstill. At the other end of the hall, the temple guards were huffing and puffing their way over, two large shields parting to the sides, with two spearmen advancing behind them, seemingly about to trap the Gargoyle in the middle.

"This guy's finished!"

Little Freckles poked his head out from behind Gret and chuckled. Gret casually pushed his head back:

"Don't get careless, stay hidden!"

Before he finished speaking, the Gargoyle bared its fangs and let out an extremely high-pitched, grating shriek. The sound was incredibly sharp, like fingernails scraping glass amplified a hundred times, or like a file being scraped directly against the eardrum. Gret instinctively clutched his head, his face contorted in pain:

"Why are you screaming so loud? You're a Gargoyle, not a Siren..."

As the shriek sounded, the warriors advancing with shields and spears faltered, their faces pained. The Gargoyle seized this opening, spread its wings wide, and leaped into the air!

"Watch out!"

"Alert!"

"It's going to escape!"

Shouts echoed throughout the hall. Not only were the temple warriors raising their swords and blades, but the warriors in Gret's squad also became alert.

The Shield Warrior Wally crouched slightly, raising his shield to block in front of Gret.

The spearmen Raymond shifted his stance, holding his spear with both hands, pointing it diagonally upward.

The Archer Thorn gripped his saber, standing to Gret's left as if ready to block the Gargoyle's pounce at any moment.

Gret himself grabbed Little Freckles behind him, straining on tiptoe, peering intently at the monster from behind the shield—

The Gargoyle leaped to its highest point and began to flap its wings. Before it could change direction, a bright white light suddenly shot out from the other end of the hall, striking it heavily!

Although it was just a beam of light, it felt substantial as it shot out. The Gargoyle faltered in mid-air, white smoke rising from its body. The spot hit by the light beam immediately blackened over a large area. Seizing the opportunity, the Roman Knight leaped up and swung his sword.

Gret abruptly turned his head.

He followed the path of the white light. At the far end of the hall, Priest Donald stood tall amidst the warriors, his blond hair flying. Illuminated by the firelight, he shone as if haloed.

This cleric of the Spring Goddess was focused, his hands held before him, palms and thumbs forming a triangle. The sharp beam of light shot out from the center of this triangle, from empty space—

Is this an offensive divine technique?

So, the offensive divine arts that Level 3 priests could unleash in this world were already this powerful!

Gret marveled inwardly. Not far away, the Roman Knight had already knocked the Gargoyle to the ground and, with a swift stroke, severed its two wings. The Warriors swarmed forward, spears and greatswords raining down, quickly hacking the Gargoyle into pieces.

The Knight of Rome sheathed his sword and turned to walk towards the Priest. Along the way, his gaze swept casually across Gret's face, as if by chance. Gret shivered for some reason. Just as he was about to take his leave, Priest Donald turned his face and beckoned to him with a smile.

Gret, extremely reluctant and dawdling, walked towards them. Arriving at the end of the hall, he heard a temple guard reporting to the Priest:

"Sir, look, there's another door here—"

Before he finished speaking, a black light suddenly flashed before his eyes!

Gret lurched to the left. Compared to being tackled earlier, this was much faster. He was one hundred percent sure he had been dragged—perhaps even dragged to be used as a meat shield.

The force that dragged him didn't help him up, and Gret lost his balance, falling directly to the ground. Before he could get up, he heard a scream beside him, a heart-wrenching cry:

"Ah—"

It's a Roman Knight!

Gret's hair stood on end. Though he suspected the knight was hostile, Gret had to admit he was the strongest among them. Now that the Roman Knight was screaming like this, his opponent, his opponent...

Gret propped himself up with his elbows, forcing his head up to look. To his surprise, the formidable enemy attacking the Roman Knight wasn't human, but a beautiful, large cat. Its fur was pure black, its paws snow white, and its chest and belly were also pure white, as if it were wearing a white scarf.

The large cat circled the Roman Knight, leaping like a swift. The knight roared repeatedly, but his longsword kept missing. Instead, every time the cat pounced and flashed its claws, a spray of blood would inevitably erupt from the knight.

Gret saw clearly that the cat's every attack landed on the Roman Knight's joints. Wrists, ankles, shoulders, elbows, knees. After a few rounds, the Roman Knight fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from several places, unable to get up.

The large cat leaped. Its movement was too fast for the naked eye to follow; all Gret saw was a flash of black light leap up in the hall, pass over several people's heads, and head straight for the Priest.

Priest Donald's face turned ashen. He clasped his hands together, murmuring a prayer, as if preparing to defend himself with Divine Arts. However, at that very moment, a spell chanting voice echoed from the hall entrance, its final syllable suddenly rising, and a ring of black light exploded outwards!

The Priest stiffened from the blow. The large cat seized the opportunity, pounced on him, and bit his throat, letting out a low growl.

Wherever the black light passed, Gret, who had only half-risen, felt a chill run through him and fell back down. The twenty to thirty Warriors in the hall, along with Young Priest John, collapsed like wheat stalks being mowed down.