Ramstein was the first Abomination Kel'Thuzad had personally created. Although neither its physical toughness nor its strength could compare to the other Abomination Kel'Thuzad had painstakingly crafted after becoming a Lich, the more advanced "God of War" Pakovich, there was no denying that Kel'Thuzad's exquisite craftsmanship had given this Abomination something different.
In Azeroth, a world of arcane civilization, not every creature could be granted a title.
Grand titles such as "Lightbringer," "Awakened," and "Life-Binder" represented not only their bearers' universally acknowledged might, but also what they excelled at.
And "Devourer" was just such a title.
Ramstein looked even more hideous as it rose from the ground. Its skull, battered out of shape and stripped of flesh by the Holy Light, frantically chewed on undead it snatched up from nearby, swallowing them raw and crunching through them without any regard for the plague viruses their bodies contained.
Yet as it gulped them down, the wounds on its body inflicted by the Holy Light burn actually healed at astonishing speed. Of course, they did not return to their original state; instead, disgusting buds of flesh rapidly sprouted anew, even sealing the hole through its face completely. This bizarre, horrifying sight made it look even more like a monster!
Its left eye, however, could not recover. That large eye had been utterly destroyed by the shot Dick had fired.
As a Greater Abomination, Ramstein naturally possessed intelligence and awareness of its own. Though rudimentary, it knew beyond a doubt that the insect before it-it was him! He was the one who had hurt it!
"Ramstein... hurts!... Ramstein, eat meat!"
The Abomination roared, a vicious gleam flashing in its one remaining small eye. The malformed limb on its back rotated, using its tremendous strength to swing the chain hooked around Dick's left leg from side to side. Like the head of a flail, Dick repeatedly slammed into the walls on either side with terrifying thuds.
Although Dick had activated Holy Light Barrier at the first impact and weathered that initial blow, he could not use holy water to replenish his Holy Power while utterly unable to control his own movements. He could only sustain the Holy Light Barrier with the pitiful 15 points of Holy Power left in his body.
How long could that last?
The answer was four seconds!
In the fifth second, on the seventh impact, his back struck the wall just as the Holy Light Barrier shattered. With Ramstein's 150 points of strength behind that blow, he felt as though his chest and back were about to flatten together. Cracking sounds came from inside him-his bones were groaning, his body screaming.
The next instant, bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Three more impacts. Dick's vision went black. Like Darion earlier, his face was covered in blood. He lay on the ground like a heap of mangled flesh, only the continued rise and fall of his chest proving he was still alive. Never mind that Dick had only 40 points of stamina-even if he had 400, those four unguarded, savage impacts would still have left him gravely wounded.
That was how things stood now. Ramstein was only a rare elite, after all, and eleven impacts had left even its malformed limb fatigued. But that did not matter. A savage light flashed in its small eye again as it pulled the chain, dragging Dick toward itself inch by inch. It was going to eat this human who had dared hurt it!
Eat it!
"Let him go, monster!"
With a furious roar, an oddly shaped greatsword blazing with fiery red light appeared before Ramstein. Even the monster's dim intelligence sensed the ferocity emanating from the sword. Its dragging of Dick involuntarily slowed, and it raised its sickle and Meat Cleaver, crossing them before itself to block the sword's heavy downward slash.
Then it flung them outward. Darion flipped in midair and landed on the ground, panting, facing off against Ramstein. Seizing this chance, Erigor and the others rushed out of King's Square and immediately ran toward Dick.
Bare-chested, Darion held the Blade of Wrath diagonally in both hands. Although he had received the most orthodox warrior legacy, his body had already reached its limits. None of the thirty-three artifacts of the eleven classes were weapons that boosted their wielders with massive attributes. Their effects were much like those of the Fire of Justice: their formidable combat strength had to be built upon the wielder's own formidable martial prowess.
Darion was not strong enough yet. Killing the Abomination earlier with a single stroke had already been an extraordinary stroke of luck.
Now, facing Ramstein, even Darion himself did not know how long he could last. But he had changed Strom'kar, and Strom'kar had changed him in turn. The pride and defiance buried deep within Darion's heart had been awakened. In this situation, he could not flee!
If he fled, not only would his newly established confidence collapse, but Strom'kar would abandon him as well. This was the drawback of choosing an artifact. Whether Strom'kar or the Fire of Justice, they always had stubborn principles in certain situations. At such times, their wielders were effectively forced into a corner by these artifacts, left with no choice but to stake everything on a fight.
"Quick! Get him free!"
Erigor knelt on one knee, one arm hanging at his side, his face and body covered in blood and grime. But he could no longer spare any thought for that. His one remaining hand pressed against Dick's chest as the knight mustered all the Holy Light within him and poured it into Dick's body.
The other paladins frantically struggled with the hook wrapped tightly around Dick's left leg. As mentioned earlier, the hooks used by Abominations were covered in barbs. Those barbs increased their lethality, making them vicious weapons. The paladins could not worry about that now. Unable to cut through the chain with their swords, they simply used their steel-armored hands to untangle the mess.
Even their steel gauntlets could not stop the sharp barbs, which pierced their hands. But the paladins did not give up. Gritting their teeth against the pain, they exerted every ounce of strength, roaring as they tried to pull the tangled hook free.
"Hurry! Hurry!"
Erigor no longer looked like his usual kindly self. His face twisted fiercely as he roared at the others. Even with Holy Light protecting Dick's body, another blow from the Abomination would certainly kill him.
No one resented Erigor's anger, for Dick and Erigor had already proven themselves in battle. Without them, these paladins would have died long ago.
Darion was no match for Ramstein in a head-on fight. He had done everything he could to stall it, but still failed to evade Ramstein's Meat Cleaver. Struck in the body, he slid more than ten meters across the ground. He tried to prop himself up with his sword, but finally collapsed helplessly.
Just then, the knights cheered. The hook had finally been freed. But in the very next instant, that long hook stirred like a venomous snake.
Ramstein! The monster was free!
"Damn it!"
Erigor seized his sword with one hand and was about to charge, but the young knights stopped him.
"Captain! Save Knight Dick! We'll hold it back! Hurry!"
With that roar, the knights grabbed their weapons and charged at Ramstein. Every one of them knew that their charge was like a mantis trying to stop a cart. But seeing Dick and Darion, their peers, persevere this far for the cause of justice had stirred courage in every heart.
No one backed down!
Nor did anyone flee!
This was courage. Long ago, humanity's ancestors had hacked their way through thorns and brambles to establish their first kingdom in the wilderness. With this same courage, they had fought all manner of beasts and the invincible trolls. Countless champions had fallen in battle, one after another, refusing to yield an inch of land, until they forcibly drove the trolls into the wilds.
They had held their war banners high and proudly swept across this cruel world. In the end, even the haughty high elves had been forced to submit behind humanity's armies.
This was courage! Heaven's most precious gift to humanity! A flame difficult to extinguish once it appeared!
Ten young paladins struggled to halt Ramstein's advance. Every moment, someone was sent flying. Every moment, someone suffered grievous wounds. Kneeling on the ground, Erigor's eyes had turned red.
"Look! Dick, look! Open your eyes, you damned fool! We need you! Open your eyes!"
His left hand pressed repeatedly against Dick's chest. Every second, Holy Light flowed down his arm into Dick's body, and that heart, whose beat had grown so faint, slowly regained its strength.
Bang!
Bang!
Those were the sounds of the Abomination clashing with the champions' weapons, and of the beating within Dick's chest.
"I... what... cough, cough..."
Perhaps heaven had answered; perhaps his spirit had awakened. In any case, a few seconds later, Dick's eyes suddenly opened. He spat out a mouthful of blood containing clots, looked at Erigor, and asked with difficulty.
"Listen! Dick, listen! This may be asking too much, but aside from the weapons you and Darion hold, we have no way to hurt this monster. Darion has exhausted his strength. Now there's only you!"
Dick raised his head with difficulty and glanced at the paladins risking their lives to stop Ramstein's advance. Struggling, he stood with Erigor's help, the Fire of Justice clutched in his blood-drenched left hand. He laboriously reached into his backpack, but before he could pull out the second bottle of holy water, it fell to the ground.
"I... holy water! Give me the holy water!"
Erigor hurriedly bent down, picked up the holy water, opened it, and held it to Dick's lips. Watching him gulp down the untreated holy water, which was absolutely difficult to swallow, Erigor drew a deep breath.
"Listen, Dick. I noticed that when you fight, you drive the Holy Light in only the most primitive way. That's wrong! The Holy Light inside you is pure, purer than any of ours, so you have to learn to use it more flexibly!"
"There's no time for you to practice slowly. Listen carefully. Don't treat it as a weapon. The Holy Light can sense your thoughts! Do you understand? It has a consciousness of its own. Become one with it, sense it, respond to it!"
"Huff... huff!"
Dick gripped the haft of the Fire of Justice, feeling the heat rising within his numb body. Gritting his teeth, he walked step by step toward Ramstein, which was slaughtering the paladins. His eyes were filled with anger. He had never been so angry.
Holy Light...
I don't know what you are.
I don't even know whether you exist.
Before this, I never wanted to serve you.
But now... I need your power!
If you can hear me... answer me!
I need your power!
Give me your power!
From this day on, I will be your devoted believer!
Give me your power!
Dick raised his warhammer, about to attack, but at that moment, a vast will surged into his body.
"Then... as you wish, my child."
Boom!
Dick felt as though his whole body would explode. It was Holy Power! A terrifyingly vast amount of Holy Power!
He did not know where it had come from or how it had poured into his body. In any case, his body remained numb, but the holy power arising from within was like water filling a barrel, urgently needing to spill out.
What method should I use?
What technique?
Dick's thoughts raced. He immediately thought of the paladins' skills in the game. Before Erigor's stunned gaze, a surge of Holy Light energy rushed from Dick's body into the ground. In less than an instant, it surged back up, turning a vast stretch of ground around Dick into interwoven channels of Holy Light, turning its surface golden.
Ramstein, about to pursue and kill the remaining paladins, let out a wail the moment it stepped onto this ground. This no longer seemed merely to be ground surging with Holy Light. To the Abomination, it was like a ring of burning fire.
Dick stared coldly at Ramstein. He pressed his warhammer to the ground with his right hand and raised his left with difficulty. From that silver-shining palm, a great mass of dense holy power gushed forth. As Dick swept his hand down fiercely, it formed a huge warhammer in the air and smashed down onto Ramstein's head like a swinging flail.
"Face judgment, monster!"