Centaur Monsters

"High Priestess, they're coming!"

Though they were facing the undead, there wasn't a trace of fear on the Buhru people's faces.

Illaoi hoisted the idol onto her shoulder and roared, "My people, we are Chosen of the Trial! These foul creatures seek to defile the land sheltered by our goddess. We will never allow it!"

"In Nagakabouros's name!"

The moment the words left her mouth, Illaoi surged forward. Though she was huge, she was no slouch in speed. In the blink of an eye, she had charged into the Black Mist.

"In Nagakabouros's name!" the Buhru people echoed in unison, charging after their High Priestess.

The bone-claw defenses that had stymied Gangplank proved utterly useless against Illaoi.

Green light coiled around the idol as it whirled through Illaoi's hands. The undead raised their bone claws to block, but she smashed them to the ground, claws and all, crushing them to dust.

One "comrade" was swiftly dealt with, and the nearby undead turned their attention to Illaoi. Before long, a horde had gathered around her.

"Haah!"

Illaoi leaped high into the air and slammed the idol into the ground.

A tremendous boom and a blast of wind erupted. All around her, countless green tentacles burst from the earth, each four or five meters long.

Some snatched up the undead and flung them wildly through the air; others smacked straight down onto them, hitting with the force of cannonballs.

"Just as you'd expect of the High Priestess, the person most closely connected to Nagakabouros! She can wield divine power to such an extent!" one Buhru exclaimed.

"We must do our best too! Let's take the High Priestess as our example and truly feel the goddess's might!"

"The undead are attacking with greater and greater ferocity. That means the Harrowing is about to reach its peak. The hardest part is just beginning!"

Sarah shot an undead creature back and warned Ato.

Ato casually chopped off the head of an undead beside him and reassured her, "If this is the highest difficulty, then I'm about to speedrun my first dungeon in Runeterra without taking a single hit!"

"What... dungeon?" Sarah was a little dumbfounded by the word Ato had suddenly thrown out.

"Ahahahahahaha!" Aatrox let out a strange laugh.

"What a wonderful opening! What a thoroughly exhilarating battle! It's been so long since I've felt like this! Cheer for me! Applaud me!"

"Old man, what the hell are you getting so worked up about? You're being swung around in someone's hand while they chop up undead. Could you at least sit still?"

Ato now took pleasure in dousing Aatrox's enthusiasm. Their bickering was gradually becoming a habit.

"What would you know, little one? Only battle can make me forget, for a little while, the despair of being unable to die!"

Aatrox grew incredibly excited as soon as he entered battle, without the slightest awareness that his past was laid bare before Ato like a pair of pants worn on the outside.

"Chopping down those lowly pirates was no fun at all. But these strangely formed undead—this is a feeling I've never had before! A lump of mindless, rotting flesh? Ahahahahahaha!"

Like their banter, the two never stopped moving.

Ato flashed across the entire Siren, helping every sailor who couldn't hold back the undead.

They saw a flash of red, and the undead that had just put them under immense pressure was left with nothing but a body slowly crumpling to the ground.

Though the Black Mist hindered their sight, Ato could clearly sense what was happening in every corner of the Siren.

It was the result of Ato further absorbing Aatrox's combat experience through long hours of actual fighting.

At the level of an Ancient Shuriman Celestial Warrior, sight was no longer a factor in battle.

"Captain! We're out of cannonballs!" Raven shouted to Sarah.

"Damn it, no wonder it's gotten so quiet."

Sarah furrowed her brows. The Black Mist around them was still thick, and there was no telling when the Harrowing would end.

"All gunners, listen up! Abandon cannon fire and gather in the center of the deck. Meet the enemy with blades!"

Watching Ato run all over the ship, she couldn't help worrying about him, even though she knew nothing about his mysterious origins and that his strength was unfathomable.

She'd given the order to keep the crew close together and ease Ato's burden.

He really had done it.

More than half a day had passed since the Harrowing began, and not one sailor had died at the hands of the undead. In the past, Sarah wouldn't even have dared to imagine such a result.

Suddenly, the undead aboard the Siren stopped attacking and began to slowly retreat. They vanished into the Black Mist at the very edge of ordinary people's vision.

"What's going on?" Sarah exclaimed. "Could the Harrowing be ending?"

"No," Ato said, his expression serious for the first time. "Something bigger is coming."

"All of you, get back inside the ship! Now!" Ato sounded almost anxious.

"What? What about you?"

Sarah was shocked again. Just how much of his strength had this man still not shown?

Ato swung his greatsword, forcing the sailors to stagger back several steps, and spoke in a hard tone. "Go!"

Sarah took a deep breath and decided to trust him. "Understood. Everyone, listen up! Return to your rooms!"

The sailors left. Sarah walked to the door of the Captain's Cabin and looked back. Ato stood on the deck, his back to her.

His greatsword rested at his side, and he stood with the imposing air of a lone warrior holding back an army.

Sarah pressed her lips together, entered the Captain's Cabin, and locked the door. She hurried to the window and pulled back the curtains. Through the dense fog, she could barely make out the deck.

She wanted to know what had happened to make Ato take things so seriously.

"Old man, ready to face a powerful foe? Aside from those Angel Sisters, we haven't run into many truly formidable opponents."

"This one may not be much weaker than they were a thousand years ago." Ato tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"I've been ready for ages. Killing him will bring me pleasure." Aatrox's voice was brimming with excitement.

"Will we win?"

"We will."

At last, seven figures appeared at the bow of the Siren.

The central figure was engulfed in Azure Flame.

The huge hole in his chest looked like a demon's gaping maw, as if it could devour anything.

A sharp spike extended backward from his head, and he held a halberd in his hand. Most importantly, his body wasn't quite like a human's!

His lower half was the body of a massive horse! He was a centaur!

Three centaurs stood on each side of him, each holding a halberd and wreathed in flame.

They were fundamentally different in strength from the undead they'd encountered before!

The centaur in the middle raised his halberd and pointed it straight at Ato. Then he spoke in human tongue: "Behold the power of the Shadow Isles!"

The six Centaur Attendants moved in unison. All seven figures charged at Ato at once!

"What... are those things?"

Sarah's eyes widened. Creatures like these had never appeared during any previous Harrowing!