Facing such an inhuman monster, there was no room for pleasantries; the battle erupted instantly.
Although Vivian felt a wave of discomfort facing such a twisted monstrosity for the first time, Greg’s commands ensured she didn’t fall into a disadvantageous position.
“Ice Wall! Block the front! Move three steps to the right, avoid the earth spikes!”
Greg’s instructions were short and clear in the cavernous prayer hall.
The Thirsting Maw’s massive throat suddenly constricted, and several dark red flesh spikes with sharp tips and coated in mucus shot out from the ground, aiming directly at where Vivian had just been standing.
Vivian had already slid to the right the moment Greg spoke. Simultaneously, she waved her left hand, and a thick, curved Ice Wall rose from the ground in front of her left side, perfectly blocking an arm covered in bone blades that swept in from the flank.
“Now! Ice Crystal Spike! Aim for the gap on the left side of the third fleshy ring at the base of its throat!”
Vivian’s gaze sharpened. Almost as Greg finished speaking, the ice-blue magic circle beneath her feet flashed brilliantly!
Dozens of hardened, reinforced ice spikes shot out in a conical formation. Most were deflected by the monster’s flesh, which possessed an incredible ability to disperse force, but seven or eight of them pierced accurately into the spot Greg had indicated.
There was a slightly darker fold there—a weakness left behind after Greg had successfully corroded the surface defense with a bottle of Strong Corrosive Agent!
Pfft! Ssssh—!!
The ice spikes sank into the flesh, providing a completely different feedback of damage than before.
It was like a hot knife cutting through grease, accompanied by the faint sound of tissue being frozen and shattered.
The Thirsting Maw’s massive throat contracted violently as it let out a roar mixed with pain and fury. Its massive body stumbled back half a step uncontrollably, and viscous dark red fluid seeped from the wound, instantly frozen into eerie dark red ice crystals by the residual ice magic.
From the very beginning, the rhythm of the battle was firmly controlled by Greg’s precise commands and Vivian’s exceptional execution.
Greg acted like the most brilliant battlefield conductor, seemingly able to perceive every minute movement of the Thirsting Maw.
He could shout “Duck,” “Roll right,” or “Jump back” fractions of a second in advance, allowing Vivian to narrowly avoid the unpredictable flesh spikes or mucus breath.
He would precisely point out which area of the monster’s flesh had become relatively fragile after the last attack, or which energy node was gathering for the next area-of-effect strike, guiding Vivian’s magic to deliver the most effective blows.
As for himself, he rarely attacked the Thirsting Maw’s resilient main body directly. Instead, he constantly threw out various alchemy potions.
Stagnation glue was splashed onto the monster’s path, greatly slowing its seemingly clumsy but actually swift charges.
Flash powder and pungent smoke bombs were used alternately to interfere with the massive throat’s ability to lock onto and perceive its prey.
Occasionally, he would use a LV3 Fireball to blast small flesh tentacles trying to split off from the ground or wall shadows to ambush Vivian, or use a LV4 Water Gun to precisely wash away dark red fluids splashing toward her.
And Vivian’s ice magic, just as Greg had initially thought, showed unexpectedly excellent results when facing a monster filled with twisted flesh like the Thirsting Maw.
Extreme cold not only effectively slowed its terrifying self-healing and physical transformation speed, but once the ice crystals successfully pierced its defense, the accompanying frostbite and tissue embrittlement significantly amplified the damage of subsequent attacks.
Combined with Greg’s near-prophetic commands, they suppressed this Lord-class monster, which far exceeded them in level, leaving it roaring in frustration but unable to pose a lethal threat.
Furthermore, it was worth noting that from deep within the Thirsting Maw’s pulsating throat, besides the angry roars, some blurred and strange sounds occasionally leaked out.
These sounds didn’t seem like meaningless growls; rather, they carried the linguistic characteristics of an ancient rhythm.
In the original game, Greg had simply dismissed this as unintelligible whispering designed by the development team to create a horror atmosphere and never looked deeper into it.
But now, because he possessed the skill Ancient Language LV1, he immediately understood that it was speaking!
However, since he had no memory of these specific words, he asked urgently in his mind while dodging a sweeping flesh whip:
“Hajimi! Those grunts this ugly thing is muttering—it’s Ancient Language, right? What is it saying?”
Nightmare, within the shadows, seemed a bit surprised. “You... can actually perceive that this is the Ancient Language?”
Greg: “Never mind that for now, just tell me what it said!”
Nightmare translated: “It keeps repeating just a few words: Fragmentation, Authority, Mother Goddess, Dismemberment.”
She paused and added:
“The word order is chaotic, unlike a complete sentence or prayer. In my view, these are likely just unconscious mutterings of the concepts that left the deepest residual impressions in its chaotic consciousness. They have no specific deeper meaning.”
“Fragmentation... Authority... Mother Goddess... Dismemberment?”
Greg quickly chewed over these words but was similarly unable to piece together a clear picture immediately.
Besides, now was not the time for deep investigation, so he nodded and pulled his attention back to the battlefield.
The battle continued.
Under their seamless cooperation, the wounds on the Thirsting Maw’s body increased, and its movements became increasingly sluggish. The frequency of its massive throat’s pulsations clearly slowed, and its color turned dull.
Finally, after Vivian seized another opportunity—provided by Greg using a sticky potion to temporarily fix the monster’s lower limbs—to pour a full-power Ice Crystal Spike Array into its throat’s core area, the Thirsting Maw let out an unprecedented wail of agony. Its massive body recoiled heavily, crashing into the base of the headless female stone statue behind it, shaking loose a shower of stone fragments.
However, this state of appearing heavily wounded and near death caused Greg’s gaze to sharpen.
“Even though we were lucky this time and it didn’t use that move right at the start, it should be about time for it to come now.”
Just as Greg expected, the Thirsting Maw, having stood back up, suddenly saw its dulled throat expand violently once more!
This expansion was far greater than any before, stretching the entire head area into a nearly transparent funnel of fleshy membrane!
Deep within the throat, the spiral-shaped deathly white teeth and purple-black fleshy tongue writhed frantically. An extremely ominous energy fluctuation was gathering deep in its gullet at an unprecedented speed!
The air seemed to be sucked dry, and light warped at the entrance of the throat, forming a miniature dark vortex!
This was its most terrifying area-of-effect instant death skill—the 【Fragmentation Screech】, capable of turning all enemies within a certain range into shattered pieces!
In the game, if one didn’t interrupt it in advance or use a specific item to evade, anyone hit would almost certainly die. Its range was massive and it was impossible to dodge.
But for this terrifying strike, Greg had already been waiting for it to use it.
“Now!”
A brilliant light flashed in Greg’s eyes as he unhesitatingly activated the scroll he had been holding in his hand!
This was precisely the rare consumable, the 【Silent Covenant】, that had dropped after defeating the hidden mini-boss last time!
Buzz—!
An invisible force centered on the scroll in Greg’s hand instantly spread out, covering the entire space within a fifty-meter radius!
Within this space, everything was plunged into a state of absolute silence!
Though it would only last for a mere fifteen seconds, the effect it could achieve was already more than enough for Greg!
Rate on N.U.
