"!!" Crusch followed Natsuki Subaru's gaze and looked up, her emerald pupils contracting sharply.
The bright moonlight was suddenly obscured, and a behemoth slowly emerged from the clouds—
"Gods above! What is that?!"
"The White Whale... it's really the White Whale!"
"It appeared, the White Whale has appeared!"
"Heavens... it's so huge..."
The soldiers' gasps of astonishment rose one after another.
It was a white beast over 50 meters long, an entity of terror swimming through the night sky. The sharp horn on its head glinted coldly, its crimson eyes like two blood moons, and the pink circles around them were particularly striking in the darkness. The blowholes covering its body continuously spewed white mist, and every single hair was clearly visible under the moonlight.
"So this... is the White Whale..." Crusch's voice trembled slightly. Even for a seasoned warrior like her, she couldn't help but feel a shiver of dread in the face of such a colossal beast.
The giant White Whale circled several hundred meters above the ground, not yet having noticed the subjugation party below. It slowly turned its massive head, its movements seeming to confirm its position, the white mist spewing from its blowholes tracing bizarre trajectories in the night sky.
"Good! The White Whale has finally come." Unlike the others' panic, Natsuki Subaru remained calm and composed, unhurriedly drawing the Kasaka's Venom Fang dagger from his spatial inventory, its blade gleaming coldly under the moonlight.
The White Whale's appearance plunged the subjugation party into a brief moment of shock. This moment was crucial. If they didn't act in time, the opportunity for a preemptive strike would be lost. Even a powerhouse like Crusch couldn't help but hold her breath before the White Whale's majestic presence. After all, this was their first time directly facing one of the world's Three Great Mabeasts. Even with mental preparation, the sheer shock of the real thing caused everyone's minds to momentarily freeze.
"This is no time to be dazed! Attack!" Natsuki Subaru shouted sternly, breaking the dangerous silence.
Crusch instantly snapped back to reality. Years of combat instinct made her react immediately. With a clang, she drew her longsword, its tip pointing straight at the White Whale in the sky.
"All units—attack!"
The subjugation party immediately carried out the order. The well-trained soldiers quickly ignited the specially made Magic Stone Cannons.
Boom, boom, boom!
The cannons fired in succession. The magic ore loaded in the barrels ignited and shot out with a roar, carrying magic of various attributes as they blasted towards the White Whale. Flames, frost, and light bloomed in the night sky, weaving a brilliant net of death. The dark blood of the Mabeast rained down.
"Although the scene is magnificent..." Natsuki Subaru gripped his Kasaka's Venom Fang dagger, looking up slightly at the White Whale in the sky. His powerful perception allowed him to clearly capture the flow of magic within the Mabeast White Whale's body. "But the White Whale's aura has barely weakened at all."
Natsuki Subaru calmly analyzed the battle situation, his brow furrowing slightly. Although the subjugation party's surprise attack had seized the initiative, and the magical barrage exploded in brilliant sparks on the White Whale's body, its massive magical energy fluctuation remained as steady as ever, showing no signs of weakening. It was known that the White Whale's rock-like, super-thick skin and special fur had a strong dispersing effect on magic. The crowd's attacks, though seemingly powerful, actually dealt very limited damage.
As expected of a creature created by Daphne, the Witch of Gluttony, Natsuki Subaru murmured under his breath, recalling the legends about this witch. Daphne had created this monster with the reasoning of feeding many people, endowing it with almost perverse magical resistance.
At the same time.
"Activate—Night Banishers!"
Commander Crusch decisively gave the order, her voice echoing across the battlefield. Night Banishers were a special type of magic stone, their effect being to temporarily transform a designated area into daylight. Following the mages' casting, a dazzling white light erupted in the sky, instantly dispelling the darkness of the Lifaus highway. Within a radius of several kilometers, night suddenly turned into day, the blinding light forcing everyone to narrow their eyes.
In the next second, the White Whale's figure was completely exposed under the strong light, every detail clearly visible. This Mabeast, crowned with the name White Whale, was a morbid, deathly white all over. Its hide, as rough as bedrock, was covered in barbs, and its entire body was neatly covered in dense white fur. The pectoral fins extending from its underbelly were shaped like the Grim Reaper's scythe, and though its dorsal and tail fins were slightly smaller, they carried the same deadly curve. Most horrifying were the pits on its head and flanks that opened and closed as if breathing, spewing out puffs of white mist with each contraction. If not for these hideous features, its appearance was about seventy percent similar to the whales from Natsuki Subaru's memory.
However, its size completely defied common sense. Natsuki Subaru clearly remembered that the largest blue whale in his previous life was no more than thirty meters long, while the White Whale before him, just by visual estimation, was nearly fifty meters, like a white mountain floating in the sky. Every swing of the White Whale's tail kicked up a violent airflow, yet its massive body could swim flexibly in the air. This sight, which defied the laws of physics, was bone-chilling.
"What an exaggerated size..." Looking at the White Whale's mountain-like colossal body, Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but retort internally, "So this is what they mean by 'In the northern darkness there is a fish and his name is Kun. The Kun is so huge I don't know how many thousand li he measures.' Too big for one pot, that's what this is."
"However, speaking of which, the view is much clearer now..." Natsuki Subaru narrowed his eyes, looking at the Mabeast White Whale fully revealed under the bright light. "The upcoming battle finally has some advantages."
"Screee—!" The White Whale, hit by the magic attacks, let out a deafening roar. It angrily rolled its blood-red eyes, opened a mouth large enough to swallow an entire dragon carriage, revealing rows of sharp teeth, and a terrifying aura instantly swept across the entire battlefield.
"Hundred-Man—One-Sword Strike!"
Just then, an invisible sword slash cut through the air. A thin line of blood suddenly appeared on the White Whale's head, its hard hide easily torn apart, and dark red blood spurted out like a waterfall, forming a mist of blood in the air.
"Hmm?" Natsuki Subaru followed the direction of the sword slash and saw Crusch standing on the back of a white Earth Dragon, maintaining her elegant posture after swinging her sword. This was Crusch's Hundred-Man One-Sword Strike, a move that ignored distance, created by perfectly combining wind magic with sword skills.
"What an enviable long-range attack method..." Natsuki Subaru looked at Crusch and couldn't help but sigh internally. Although he possessed physical abilities far beyond that of an ordinary person, his lack of long-range attack capability was always a shortcoming. Now, he could only wait for the White Whale to lower its altitude to leverage his close-combat advantage.
At this moment, the White Whale, heavily injured by Crusch's invisible sword slash, had its offensive momentum sharply reduced, its movements becoming noticeably sluggish. Seizing this opportunity, the subjugation party's Magic Stone Cannons once again let out a deafening roar. A barrage of various magic projectiles rained down on the Mabeast White Whale like a storm. Fireballs, ice lances, and wind blades wove a brilliant net of death in the air, continuously bombarding the White Whale's wounds.
Under the fierce suppressive fire, the behemoth's altitude continued to drop, gradually falling from the clouds towards the ground.
"Maintain fire! Press the White Whale to the ground!" Crusch's voice echoed across the battlefield.
Finally, under the sustained attack, the White Whale descended to a height of only about twenty meters from the ground. This distance was already within Natsuki Subaru's effective attack range.
"This distance is enough!" Natsuki Subaru looked at the White Whale in the air, his legs suddenly tensing with power, the hard ground cracking beneath his feet. His entire figure shot up like an arrow loosed from a bow, his speed so fast that to onlookers, only a blurry afterimage could be captured.
"Is that... Knight Natsuki Subaru?!"
"Heavens... he's charging up there alone..."
"That speed... it's almost like flying!"
The soldiers let out waves of astonishment. Even in Crusch's emerald eyes, a hint of surprise flashed, but she quickly regained her composure.
"Ferris, prepare healing magic. Sir Wilhelm, be ready to support Knight Natsuki Subaru at any time."
"Understood, Lady Crusch, meow~" Ferris nodded.
The old Sword Demon Wilhelm nodded slightly, his longsword already drawn, his aged gaze locked onto the black figure in the air. "Lord Subaru... is even more outstanding than I imagined."
In the next moment—
Puchi!
The sharp Kasaka's Venom Fang dagger plunged deep into the White Whale's rough hide. The sensation transmitted through the blade made Natsuki Subaru's arm tremble slightly. This was not a long-range bombardment from magic or Magic Stone Cannons, but a real, head-on clash of cold steel and Mabeast flesh.
This strike was highly significant! For the first time in hundreds of years, humanity had truly plunged a sharp blade into the body of this long-ravaging Mabeast of Fog.
"Let's go!" Natsuki Subaru let out a low shout, his level 34 physical constitution fully erupting. His feet, as if rooted, were firmly planted on the White Whale's rough skin, and the dagger in his hand transformed into streaks of silver lightning, slashing continuously at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The White Whale's warm, black blood flowed down the blade, drawing dark red arcs in the air as Natsuki Subaru swung it.
"This defense... is much tougher than I thought..." Natsuki Subaru could feel the steel-like muscle tissue beneath the White Whale's hide.
"Roar—" The attacked White Whale let out a series of roars. Then, its wildly thrashing body kicked up a violent airflow, forcing Natsuki Subaru to stab his dagger deeper into its skin to secure his footing.
"As expected of the Mabeast White Whale, it's even more troublesome than anticipated!" Natsuki Subaru calmly assessed the battle situation in his mind, his dagger precisely pulled out, bringing with it a spray of black blood. "But this alone is not enough..."
Natsuki Subaru's sharp gaze quickly locked onto the next attack point, while also noticing that Crusch had already directed the long-range troops to adjust their formation.
Boom, boom, boom!
A barrage of magic rained down like a meteor shower, yet skillfully avoided his position, accurately bombarding the White Whale's other vital spots.
"Good coordination..." Natsuki Subaru thought to himself. "As expected of Miss Crusch, her command is flawless."
"However, speaking of which, this Mabeast's size is truly exaggerated." Natsuki Subaru looked down at the white body beneath his feet, which was like a moving mountain range, feeling the recoil from every attack. "It's almost impossible to kill the White Whale with a single blow..."
Although he had successfully gotten in close, he was well aware that this was merely a stalemate. As planned, what Natsuki Subaru had to do now was to continuously harass and wear it down. Step by step, weaken the White Whale's life force and magic reserves, creating the conditions for the final fatal blow.
It's just like taking down a world boss in a game; I have to slowly grind down the White Whale's absurdly large health bar.
"ROOOOAR—!" The White Whale let out an earth-shattering roar, the sound wave hitting everyone's eardrums like a physical object. Then, the White Whale's massive body descended a few more meters. It was now less than five meters from the ground, the gales it kicked up swirling sand and dust into the air.
"Lord Subaru, I'm here!"
Just then, Wilhelm's figure shot up like a black bolt of lightning, his longsword drawing a meteor-like trajectory in the air, the sword aura tearing through the air with a sharp whistle.
Puchi!
With the muffled sound of a blade entering flesh, black blood gushed out like a spring.
"Mister Wilhelm, you've come at just the right time!" Natsuki Subaru's eyes lit up, a joyous arc on his lips. "Let's attack together!"
"Understood, Lord Subaru." Wilhelm responded with a steady nod, then plunged his longsword deep into the White Whale's broken nose. "Fourteen years. I have finally waited for this moment."
This old Sword Demon, over seventy years of age, displayed astonishing explosive power. The firm muscles of his back tensed like a bow, and the fierce sword aura he unleashed even distorted the surrounding atmosphere, forming visible ripples.
"Now!" Natsuki Subaru suddenly shouted, simultaneously dashing forward, his dagger accurately parrying the White Whale's suddenly sweeping tail fin.
"My thanks." Wilhelm nodded slightly, a hint of admiration in his eyes.
The White Whale thrashed its mountain-like body madly, trying to shake off the two threats on its head. Its massive body rolled violently in the air, kicking up a furious airflow, its painful howls making eardrums ache.
"Mister Wilhelm!" Natsuki Subaru shouted loudly. "I'll be the main attacker, you provide support!"
"Suits me fine." Wilhelm nodded in understanding, his longsword weaving a dense, inescapable net of slashes.
The two instantly formed perfect coordination. Natsuki Subaru, like a phantom, circled to the White Whale's right, while Wilhelm steadily held the left flank. One old, one young; one fast, one steady. Like two sharp daggers, they simultaneously struck at the Mabeast White Whale's vital points. As their sword lights crisscrossed, several more deep, bone-visible wounds appeared on the White Whale's body, black blood pouring down like a torrential rain.
"You beast, don't even think of shaking me off!" Natsuki Subaru timed the moment the White Whale shook its head and added another horizontal slash to its original wound. The two wounds intersected on the White Whale's forehead, forming a conspicuous cross-shaped scar, from which black blood gushed like a spring.
"Roar—" The White Whale roared madly in pain, its giant tail fin flailing wildly, drawing semi-circular arcs in the air. However, Natsuki Subaru moved as if he were on flat ground on the White Whale's back, moving lightly, his dagger weaving a net of cold light.
Just as the White Whale was about to complete its rolling motion.
"Now!"
A sharp glint flashed in Natsuki Subaru's eyes. He suddenly leaped up, his dagger accurately plunging into the White Whale's eyeball.
___
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