Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 922. Like a Grapefruit

Adam felt torn as he didnʼt know how to feel. On one hand, he was relieved that he was not wrong about the beastʼs weakness, on the other hand, he felt disappointed that the beast was not actually dead. Was he happy or sad about the current state of battle? His difficulty in discerning just grew as the fight continued.

Was he really that weak? Or was the creature of Minas Mar this strong? Should he be glad that they managed to be kind of allies with Minas Mar, or was he afraid that they had these kinds of weapons hidden in their sleeves?

His own struggle suddenly seemed so... vain, as he watched from a distance as the Promethean Eagle dominated the battle. Poison breath and death magic had no effect on the eagle, while the Questing Beastʼs powerful body could compete with the eagle either!

Every time it tried to jump and bite at the mechanical fiend, the eagle was a step quick and would grasp its long neck with its sharp claws and start trouncing it around. The bird would lift the creature into the air and smack it against the walls or crash it into the ground.

Although the beast only suffered superficial wounds, the whimpers, and cries of pain, like a suffering pack of wolves kept echoing through the facility. So what if it did suffer any great injuries, it was experiencing incredible pain, whenever the eagle hit it with lightning or physically attacked it.

Finally, the beast couldnʼt take it anymore. It had been evading the attacks of the eagle for a while, but now it decided to run. With a quick and agile jump, it fled through a passage leading away from the facility. It was the first time Adam saw it leave the facility.

“Why are you running!?” Ceres exclaimed incensed and started the pursuit.

The tormentor wasnʼt going to let the creature escape any time soon. The two powerful creatures vanished into the passage, leaving the group of adventurers behind, to witlessly look after them them. They came to their senses a minute later.

“Where does that passage lead?” Mike asked in the group.

“We closed it some time ago, but that one would lead outside after a while,” one of Adamʼs followers answered the question, clear about the fact, that the beast would probably break through the fall if it really intended to get away from the bird.

“Itʼs doomed,” Lydia commented aptly.

“Why do you think so? If it gets out, it will have more options to flee and hide,” another man of the group mentioned.

“From what the Tower Master said, Ceres was originally a storm elemental. Do you think a storm elemental could unfold its true power underground? Once they are outside, this fight will only become more one-sided.” Mike explained.

The group gulped, even Adam. It wasnʼt just them that were surprised about the eagleʼs power. Mike and Lydia were also clueless about the way it had become so powerful. They didnʼt know its current level, but it had to be high. How had Ceres managed to accumulate so much Power of Existence, when these golems were usually hidden from the public?

“Maybe we should follow them?” Adam finally suggested

“Yeah, maybe we should...” Lydia agreed and Mike agreed. Awkwardly, the group got on the move and followed the two calamities on their way through the passage and outside.

…

--- Little Sigma---

An explosion disrupted the peace of Little Sigma.

A wild chase with short skirmishes was ensuing across the gaps between the high-rising tree buildings of Little Sigma. A group of figures in white robes was chasing a young girl, barely a woman, across the city.

How had they found her? She desperately thought as he squeezed out every ounce of mana to escape. Just when everything had started turning for the better, why did they have to appear again? Why couldnʼt they let her go?

“You can not escape us! You have the Mark of Gatris and wonʼt be able to escape!”

Gatris this, Gatris that! She wished she had never met that weird priestess that night. Her family risked everything to help her escape so she could look for help back when they were captured by the weird drug dealers.

Looking back, she had been so naive. He had even cried tears of sadness when she thought that that “nice” old priestess had actually sacrificed herself to help her escape. How stupid she was! When she tried to get help, the priests of Gatris ushered her into their branch in Delta.

How glad she had been, that finally someone was listening to her, only for her childish trust to be betrayed once again. They had captured her, imprisoned her! They did nothing to help her at all, she only fell into their trap.

When the old priestess suddenly returned, she finally understood that, but it was too late. The priests put a curse on her, who was not even old enough to get a class, and together with other children they were let into a wide subterranean mass hall where she saw the face of Gatris for the first time.

Gatris, the Goddess of Dark Mercy was an ugly crone with a ripped open mouth and demonic fangs. Although she had just seen a statue, the aura it gave was one of indomitable power, despite the skinny and emaciated looks of an elderly woman.

The children were forced to go through a ritual where they slit their wrists over a massive cauldron and afterward had to drink the mixture from a golden horn. None of them knew the purpose of the strange ritual, but it was clearly nothing good. She was convinced the only reason she survived, was because a few days afterward, the church was attacked by the weird drug dealers and she managed to escape with a group of other children.

Afterward, things started turning for the better once Minas Mar started interfering everywhere. Her family and friends were saved by the golem Knights and they had migrated to Minas mar the moment they opened their borders.

After that, everything seemed well, until she got her class recently. In the room of the system god, she did not have a choice and was given the class “Lamb of Gatris”. The problem wasnʼt that it was a weak class.

On the contrary, it was quite powerful. Resembling an assassin class focused on quick kills, it came with many skills that increased her physical stats and attributes. On top of that, she was able to collect additional attribute points through a secondary power earned from killing opponents on the same or higher level with a single attack to the vitals.

However, it came at a price, a Lamp was meant for slaughter. She had just changed her class a week ago, and only two days later these people of the Church of Dark Mercy appeared at their door and demanded that her parents handed her over. Back then they left, only leaving a threat.

Today, they had actually ambushed her at the adventurer school, leading to the current situation of her running away. Behind her, several of the teachers, adventurers from the Pathworks as well and natives, had engaged the group of priests when they realized what was going on.

“Argh!” she heard the cry of one of her professors. Looking back for only a moment, she tripped and tumbled, interrupting her