Our Family Has Fallen

The bomb exploded right in the monster’s face. Its power could blow off an ordinary Heretic’s face and send shrapnel deep enough to turn brains into mush. Yet, on the monster, it only slightly disrupted its charging stance, causing it to slow down just a bit.

Many fragments of shrapnel were stuck in its face without penetrating the skull. As it rapidly healed, the pieces were squeezed out.

The explosion enraged it. With an unintelligible roar, it swung its arm—which had grotesquely grown bones—hitting a Heretic and sending them flying without discerning friend from foe.

Looking at the state of that Heretic, impaled by Bone Spurs, their whole chest cavity crushed by the horrifying force, even the Power of Flesh and Blood couldn’t save them.

How could anyone withstand this… Balistan’s expression grew even more grave. His palms sweated as he gripped his Shield and weapon, but he did not falter a step.

If you can’t withstand it, you must endure. Such is life!

”My Lord, please witness my courage!”

Under such pressure, a soldier suddenly roared. He thrust his Spear into the face of the Heretic before him, instantly killing them, then picked up the Spear and firmly stood beside Balistan.

That shout was like some magic power, mysteriously awakening the other soldiers. Fear itself was not dreadful; what was dreadful was being completely crushed by it.

”How could I back away just like this!”

”Hamlet Must Win!”

”For Hamlet!”

Those soldiers, whose morale was low just moments ago, now bravely advanced with their Spears at the ready, together facing the incoming monster…

Barrett had not fired with the rest. He knew bullets couldn’t hurt the monster and that he needed a better way.

His gaze fixed on the monster, observing its deformed structure, looking for that slight chance.

When the explosion burst on the monster’s face, he finally caught a glimpse of something.

It was the eye—the large eyeball protruding from the wound he had shot—which the monster instinctively turned its head and raised its hand to cover during the explosion.

Weakness spotted. Mark it. Add critical hit.

Once the target was confirmed, Barrett lifted his rifle and aimed. He didn’t know why, but the moment their gazes met, he felt as if the monster’s eye was looking right at him, creating an indescribable pressure.

”HUFF. HUFF.” Barrett instinctively averted his gaze, not realizing his breathing had become erratic. When he tried to aim again, he found himself subconsciously resisting.

By that time, the monster had shaken off the bomb’s effect and raised its hand to swat another Heretic away.

This scene greatly shocked Barrett, and the feeling that the monster was invincible surged in his heart.

But his comrades’ cries of courage revived him.

They had confronted the monster without fear, while he, perched in a higher position, was overwhelmed by terror. The title of Sharpshooter felt like a disgrace upon him!

A strong sense of shame scattered the fear. Barrett instantly raised his rifle to aim. This time, his hand did not waver; the motion was mechanical.

His eyes locked firmly on the large eyeball on its head, looking straight into it.

Stare all you want!

The monster’s advance was unaffected. It crossed the last dozen or so yards towards the battle line, swinging out its bone-spiked arm.

And at that moment, Barrett pulled the trigger.

”BANG!” Alongside the gunshot, one could faintly hear his murmur.

”Forty.”

The strangeness of that eyeball could hardly affect a Lead Bullet once it had left the barrel. The monster, attempting to withdraw its extended fist, was already too late; it could only instinctively close its eyelids.

Too bad the Lead Bullet instantly tore through the eyelid and entered. The black eyeball, the size of a baby’s fist, burst open, making the monster’s movements falter inexplicably.

This is the Sharpshooter’s fury!

But the punch had already been thrown. Even though there was a faint desire to pull back at the last moment, it still collided with Balistan’s Shield.

The moment its relaxed muscles suddenly exerted force, the expanding muscles stretched its armor taut. The Shield in Balistan’s hand met the blow head-on.

Even with mental preparation, this was still an attack that had been interrupted and slightly weakened. Yet, the force of the blow still forced a muffled grunt from Balistan. The pile of rubble beneath his feet began to shake. He could only clench his teeth and brace hard, his face turning an unnatural shade of red.

But Balistan had still blocked it. Having withstood the hardest initial strike, the monster wouldn’t be as terrifying without the momentum of its charge.

The battle was far from over. Balistan, struggling to suppress the taste of iron surging up his throat, took advantage of the monster’s inaction. He delivered a full-powered blow with his Morningstar Hammer to the monster’s ankle, bringing the dazed creature to one knee.

”Advance immediately! Drive those Heretics out—I’ll hold it back!” Balistan swung his Morningstar Hammer, aiming to inflict as much damage as possible on the monster’s joints, but gestured for the soldiers to keep their distance.

There was no choice. Their frail bodies could not withstand it, nor could the Spears and firearms in their hands inflict any damage.

Now was the time to separate the monster from the Heretics, to prevent them from joining forces.

Only then, after eliminating the Heretics, could they redirect their strength to deal with this creature. If all else failed, they’d lure it to the armory and set off several barrels of explosives.

But that presupposed he could hold on...

Balistan looked at the monster. It seemed unaffected by his many Morningstar Hammer blows, and he saw its head beginning to heal.

Suddenly, as if snapping to awareness, the monster grabbed the corpse of a fallen Heretic. With the Power of Flesh and Blood, it grotesquely twisted and visibly devoured the body, even fusing the bones into its own arm.

Nourished by the corpse, the monster’s wounds healed at an accelerated pace. It even looked as though it were about to sprout two heads. The mutation deepened further: its arms grew as thick as a human waist, with spikes of fused bone emerging.

The monster had swallowed a person whole and then integrated the corpse into itself.

This horrifying scene caused the soldiers’ morale, which had only just been rallied, to plummet once again. They instinctively distanced themselves from the beast.

”Damn it!” Balistan couldn’t hold back any longer.

After all, the battlefield was littered with corpses from the recent fight. If the monster continued to consume them, the entire outpost would be destroyed, giving birth to a terror that would march against Hamlet.

”Make way! Make way! The big one’s coming!”

An intense and somewhat frantic voice rang out as the slightly short figure of Sobray charged from behind, obviously having just run from the armory.

No wonder the explosions had ceased. Evidently, he had used up a crate and gone back for more ammo.

But this time, what he carried was no simple bomb but a glass bottle shaped like a wine flask, with a piece of cloth attached to its wooden stopper.

Sobray wasted no time with words. He lit the cloth on the bottle’s neck with a torch in his hand, then flung it toward the monster.

His aim was true. The bottle shattered upon the monster’s head, the fluid within instantly dousing its whole body.

Inside was not just liquid but a mixture of tar, methanol, and various other flammables, which kindled the flames in an instant.

The once-unstoppable monster’s upper half was engulfed in flames. Its hands flailed wildly as it let out a chilling howl.

But Sobray did not stop there. He threw another, the trailing flames consuming the creature entirely. Black smoke billowed from its body, its frantic ”dance” resembling the flickering of a flame within a torch.

Only, this ”flame” was somewhat larger.

What makes humans truly powerful is their minds: their ability to craft tools to bridge gaps and their knowledge of using these tools to accomplish their desires.

Even the monster had to submit to human ingenuity, at least temporarily…

”Quick, quick, quick! Advance!” Seeing the opportunity, Balistan didn’t waste a moment. He smashed a Heretic’s head with a swing of his Morningstar Hammer and quickly organized the troops to push the battle line forward.

The soldiers, without hesitation, followed the order. They bypassed the monster to advance, leaving the flaming creature behind them.

At this moment, many reinforcing soldiers had arrived. With the encirclement tightening and the Heretics being driven away, holding the breach was hardly an issue.

But amongst the Heretics, a figure shrouded in a black robe was not about to watch idly…