The moment the monster spoke, the entire battlefield fell silent.
Everyone could see that it wasn't the burly man himself who was speaking, but rather the changes brought about by the energy of fear that had attached itself to him.
The moment he heard these words...
Arka's heart trembled.
He had heard this name from the flower fairy just a few days ago. Anyone who could address him in this way could only be another god.
And one that had survived from tens of thousands of years ago.
However, the panic faded in an instant. Even the fallen and now recovering flower fairy could instantly tell that he had consumed a fragment of that god.
The monster attached to the burly man before them couldn't see it.
The black and red energy of fear clung to the man, coating his naked body in a layer of energy armor.
And the helmet resembled a monster's head, the mouth on the mask opening and closing.
It was it that made the sound.
Arka remained where he was, not attacking rashly, and neither did the others.
The enormous ball of fear still floated behind him.
The invisible energy channels connected to his body were like an umbilical cord running down his back.
After a moment, he seemed to notice something was amiss.
He paused, stunned.
"No, no. A familiar smell, but wrong," the monster muttered.
The sound was as harsh as the clashing of energy, like fingernails scraping against iron.
"Ah, yes, yes. You're just a mortal, um, a mortal with a promising future. You ate his heart?"
He suddenly burst into laughter.
The helmet's laughter drew its host along with it. The two distinct laughs clashed and mingled, making the sound even more piercing, causing everyone present to frown.
"Hahahaha, he's actually dead, and eaten by a mortal. What a shame."
He just laughed wildly, looking incredibly manic. His roaring laughter carried an invisible wave of fear.
He wanted to spread it around.
Alka's pink energy still served as a mental wall, blocking any attacks against their minds.
"Can you do it, Captain? I feel like he's about to discover it," Er whispered from a corner.
Lucillea's expression was focused. Her hands extended, blood-red energy mixed with magic, seemingly performing some operation.
She didn't even turn her head when she heard Er's voice. She said impatiently, "Don't talk. Keep an eye out for me."
Besides the two of them, several other puppet girls were around, helping Luillea keep watch.
They stood around the magic circle, but their figures were concealed.
Alka's mirror and the spreading mist, combined with the camouflage Lily had cast on them, allowed them to perfectly conceal themselves near this crucial area.
Hiding within the mist, operating from behind the enemy lines.
"Is Lily still awake?"
Lucelia asked, continuing her operations.
Sirou's soft voice echoed, "The leader hasn't arrived yet. She told us not to worry." She instructed the remaining Lily to move and hide him in a more secluded area.
San stared at the flickering pink spell on his arm, his energy running low.
At this moment, everyone was hiding here, and the monster's laughter echoed from the front.
But it didn't seem to bother them.
No one noticed these small figures hidden within the pink mist, even near the magic circle.
Lucelia's hands emanated blood-red energy, altering the magic circle on the ground.
She was shifting the formation above to gain an advantage ahead, but to avoid detection, he didn't change immediately, instead preparing.
Alka looked at the energy armor, which seemed eager to communicate.He asked, "Who are you?"
"Me? Haha, I am fear, your nightmare."
With that, the armor controlled the burly man to raise his hands violently.
The massive axe he held in his hands shattered in an instant. A large amount of black smoke gushed out, mingling with the shattered metal, forming an even larger black mist axe.
The invisible black mist emerged from nowhere and began to impact the pink mist.
The two began to collide, canceling each other out, like two opposing tsunamis colliding.
This mist looked so familiar, almost identical to the attacks used by the shadow monsters.
"Haha, do you understand? You damned gatekeeper bastard! This is what makes you unstoppable!" He shouted at Alka with a wild laugh, but inexplicably slowed down his black mist.
He was acting strangely out of place. He had just figured out Alka's identity, and now he mistook him for the god whose godhead fragment he had devoured.
This god's state seemed very abnormal.
And nightmares, from dreams?
Alka's antlers flashed wildly, and a large amount of pink mist billowed. They blocked the enemy's black mist attack. Even though the enemy had adjusted their attack intensity, the change in strength brought by the fifth stage still made it difficult for them to resist.
"Hold on a little longer, the Great Gardener's Ritual will be completed soon," Gilliana whispered beside him.
The sand on the hourglass used for timekeeping had piled high, with only a small amount of sand remaining on the top.
The Great Gardener was their last resort.
"Plop!"
A loud noise, like the beating of a heart, suddenly rang out.
The sphere of fear energy that had once formed the magic circle suddenly began to beat in a chaotic rhythm.
Then it began to contract, spinning in the opposite direction.
The energy that had once been channeled through the umbilical cord connecting the burly man began to reverse.
These once-transporting pipes were now like pumping water, frantically draining the original fear power from the burly man.
"What's going on? Who is it!"
The enormous figure suddenly turned around and looked in the direction of the magic circle.
In an instant, it used the black mist to see through the pink mist camouflage.
It just happened to spot a few small figures, stealthily trying to leave.
"It's you, you little rats!"
"Oh my, I've been discovered," Er scratched his head and said with a smile. "Run!"
The first enemy the massive axe aimed at was Lucelia and the others, lurking in the background.
Before the axe could strike, a crystalline figure flew down from the top, a flash of light.
Grabbing a puppet in each hand and foot, it soared into the air, tracing an arc through the air. The figure swiftly passed by the monster's ear.
The crystal, modeled after a crystal dragon, even had the nerve to spit at the monster's head.
The rainbow energy slammed into the helmet made of fear. Although it had no effect, it was extremely insulting at that moment.
"Stop!"
The massive attack was difficult to retract, slamming fiercely into the magic circle.
Not only did it fail to hit the enemy, but it also shattered the once stable magic circle. The entire magic circle began to shake wildly.
The energy originally within him began to be frantically drained in reverse, at an even faster rate than before.
Furthermore, the enemy escaped before him, even mocking him.
The energy within him began to surge wildly.
As the energy of fear was frantically drained, his strength, which had just reached the fifth stage, immediately plummeted.
Seizing this opportunity, a vast mass of pink mist began to surge forth, overwhelming him.
The black mist began to be assaulted frantically.
The gigantic, blood-red monster with a mirrored surface once again trembled and climbed from the ground.
Its body, already ravaged by the black mist, was riddled with pits and dents, but under Alka's control, it was forced to charge the enemy once more.
Its massive body, bearing a powerful weight, slammed into the enemy's torso.
"Flower, bloom!"
A flower sprouted from beneath the sturdy man, each petal covered in sharp teeth. The central pistil ejected a vast array of thorns, entwining the enemy and devouring it.
Coupled with the blood-red monster's reckless suppression, the sturdy man was instantly immobilized.
"What do you think I'm talking about?"
Alka appeared above the enemy's head, grinning.
The antlers on his head radiated a brilliant light.
Sharp, pink, crystal-like objects rained down one after another, smashing the energy armor formed from the fear energy on the man's head, shattering it.
"Damn it, damn it, you gatekeeper bastard, why do you keep trying to stop me!"
"Why!"
The shattered fear armor, under the frenzied attack and the energy drawn back by the sphere behind him, began to sputter.
With his energy drained, he seemed powerless to even resort to any means of resistance.
But the furious roar in his voice was unmistakable.
It seemed this already mad god wasn't having a good time either.
What a fate.
As the energy shell of the sturdy man was removed,
He inexplicably weakened.
His strength began to decline rapidly, and his once robust frame seemed inexplicably weakened.
He seized his opportunity.
With a flash of light, Sofia appeared above the sturdy man's head, slashing down with his right leg.
The entire leg radiated a golden glow.
He slammed down hard.
It was a fatal blow.
"Bang!"
With a resounding bang, a translucent barrier with blood-colored markings blocked the attack.
This barrier seemed to radiate a different energy from fear.
The burly man raised his head and flashed a bloody smile at Sofia above him.
He swung the axe upward fiercely.
The axe, originally composed of black mist and metal fragments, had transformed into a massive axe of flesh and blood, formed from fragments of blood vessels and some kind of muscle structure.
Blood still dripped from it, and the muscles seemed to be throbbing slightly, as if alive.
"That damn idiot, finally got out of the way."
The burly man, still maintaining his size of four or five meters, reached out and grabbed the massive blood slave on top of him, biting down fiercely.
The enormous blood slave was sucked into his body like a noodle.
"Ah~ This feels so good."
Without hesitation, he raised his axe and chopped down at the group.
The axe wasn't aimed at anyone, but simply fell in their direction.
The group didn't dare to respond and immediately retreated.
As the axe blade struck the floor, shattered floorboards and dirt flew everywhere. Veins of flesh and blood began to spread frantically, attacking Alka and the others.
At some point, the monster's strength had returned to the fifth stage.
The group resorted to various means to stop it.
Before they could even recover, another attack struck, and a large number of blood-colored muscle tentacles erupted from the burly man's body.
His body was covered in wounds, and the tangled web of blood vessels and muscle swayed through him like granulation tissue.
A large amount of blood dripped down his skin.
"Is it you? You bastard who only knows how to drink women's blood? Why don't you go find your mother..."
The face that had been sucked back into the ball of fear energy reappeared on the object.
Although he was now trapped in the broken magic circle, it seemed that the recent destruction had caused some problems.
This allowed him to communicate in a purely energy form, shouting and cursing at the burly man. But it was clear that the burly man had something strange attached to him again.
And it was clear that they knew each other.
It could only be another god.
The place had become inexplicably lively.
Before he could finish his words,
A large number of attacking vines made of flesh and blood directly penetrated the energy ball.
"What a mad dog!"
The burly man muttered a curse.
"Sabo... you... dog... you mother..."
Even after being pierced by the blood-colored energy, the energy ball continued to yell something, though the sound was intermittent and inaudible.
"Bang!"
A huge explosion echoed.
The ball of fear exploded, blasting a massive hole through the back of the greenhouse.
The blood-colored tentacle that had pierced him was also severed.
But the sturdy man didn't care.
He turned to look at Alka and the others, who were struggling to deal with the attacking tentacles.
"Alright, now that the annoying stray dog is gone, let's have some fun."
He spitted out a thick, bloody tongue and licked his lips.
The surroundings were still enveloped by mirrors and pink mist.
Alka's pink mist could only simply slow down the enemy's pace and the speed of some attacks.
Beyond that, it had no effect on the enemy.
The sturdy man's mind had long been possessed by some powerful energy body, completely unaffected by Alka's current attacks.
This tiny, desolate place.
Too much to hear of three gods, though none of them appeared to be fully formed.
It was still shocking, yet also somewhat numb.
"Little shrimp, resist fiercely! Kill!"
The sturdy man laughed and swung his great axe.
However, his attacks were not directed at Alka. Instead, he used his fleshy tentacles to continuously assault Alka and the others.
His great axe swung outward, striking at the soldiers who had already cleared out the monsters.
The muscles of the axe handle stretched like a whip.
Wailing and screaming echoed one after another.
These soldiers, who were generally only at stage two, with a few captains at stage three, couldn't withstand any attack, and even struggled to withstand the aftermath.
"What are you doing? You damned monster!" Gilliana roared, raising her thorn-covered sword and preparing to charge.
However, several blood-red vines swiftly attacked from the side and smashed her back.
"Aw, you little shrimp, mad? Then come and kill me!"
The burly man laughed and continued to attack the soldiers outside with his great axe, ignoring Alka's men.
These monsters were each more mentally ill than the last.
The blackness reappeared, shrouding the entire area in darkness.
In the darkness, Sofia left Alka and the others. In an instant, he appeared on the periphery.
, quickly lead those soldiers who hadn't died to safety.
The sturdy man's voice echoed from the darkness.
"You mortals are always like this. This is a world where the strong prey on the weak, and the strong rule everything!
Why do you always sacrifice yourself for the weak?"
He spoke, seemingly unaffected by the darkness, swinging his great axe continuously at the distance.
Numerous attacks launched into the distance, but this time they seemed somewhat chaotic, clearly showing that the darkness had not completely affected him.
The body he used was, after all, merely that of a third-stage disciple.
"The strong are respected? Clearly you're not, otherwise you wouldn't be lingering in this shattered world, but rather leaving it, right?
A mere loser from the ancient war of gods, yet here you are, spouting your might and boasting before the mortals you once looked down upon."
"I wonder if those once-victorious gods, looking upon you now, would laugh at your cowardice, loser?"
Alka's voice echoed through the darkness.
The calmness was dripping with sarcasm.
"Hahahaha, a loser among a pride of lions, showing off before a group of ants?
If I were you, I would die quietly, fearing the knowledge that I'm still alive. It would be truly humiliating.
It seems you're afraid of death too. Aren't weaklings supposed to die? Why are you still alive?"
Jason's voice echoed with Alka's words, his voice filled with amusement.
"Then why can he be so brazen as to speak of the survival of the fittest?" Mathilda asked, puzzled.
The voice was so clear in the darkness.
"Don't you think of others like that? Aren't you allowed to shout slogans? After all, the weak want to live, too." Pororo's voice echoed with a sinister tone.
Everyone jeered furiously.
"..."
Then the burly man fell silent.
At the same time, his attacks paused.
One could hear frantic panting.
"Oh, someone's angry."
"Stop talking, stop talking! The cowardly lion is about to crush the ant to death."
"Yes, yes. We're just ants. He's a skinny, sickly, cowardly lion in the pride."
"A lean camel is bigger than a horse, isn't it? Can't he use this opportunity to replenish his lost pride in front of mortals?"
"Haha, good, you're all good!"
Angry roars echoed in the darkness.