Reincarnated with an SSS-rank Tamer System: My Harem of Villainesses-Chapter 66 – Flame of Judgment
Ten minutes later, the situation had changed completely.
The group that had once seemed convinced they could win, those who had entered this cave eager to capture a beast stronger than Rank B, were now feeling the harsh reality of their desires.
Because the difference between wanting something and actually being able to obtain it was immense, and that lesson was costing them more than anyone could have imagined.
Sophia was leaning against a rocky formation, her face pale and her eyes barely open.
Her mana reserves were almost completely depleted, and every breath seemed to take an enormous effort.
Beside her, Lihua was in no better condition. The young woman who had once flown gracefully between the golem’s attacks could now barely remain standing, her legs trembling beneath her and her gaze clouded by exhaustion.
Gareth and Fernis were covered in cuts and bruises that stained their clothes with blood.
Their weapons lay on the ground, broken and useless after too many impacts against the golem’s stone armour.
Both of them breathed with difficulty, and their movements had become slow and clumsy, as if their bodies refused to keep obeying them.
Adam was in better condition than the others, though not by much. Nox had been healing him constantly throughout the battle, mending the most serious wounds before they could become fatal.
However, the spells he had cast and the accumulated physical effort had drained his mana reserves to dangerously low levels.
He felt the exhaustion in every fibre of his being, a heaviness that threatened to drag him to the ground if he let his guard down even for a second.
And in front of them, the golem remained practically intact.
The cracks they had managed to create in its armour had closed, the marks from the ice spells had disappeared, and those red eyes shone with the same intensity as at the beginning.
The creature showed no signs of fatigue or pain, as if the entire fight had been nothing more than a warm-up for it.
’It’s just playing,’ Adam thought as he watched the golem circle them with slow, deliberate movements. ’It knows we can’t defend ourselves anymore, so it’s just... enjoying it.’
It was a terrifying idea, but it made sense. The beast had stopped attacking with the ferocity it showed before, replacing it with calculated blows that always grazed its prey without quite killing them.
Like a cat playing with wounded mice, waiting for the perfect moment to deliver the final strike.
Adam noticed Fernis and Gareth exchange glances, and in their eyes he could see the same question everyone was surely asking themselves: would they leave this place alive?
He, however, had another question in mind.
’Where is the system?’
Because ever since this group activity had begun, the annoying window that usually appeared with missions and notifications had remained silent.
Not a single time had it appeared before him, not even when the situation had turned desperate.
And although Adam would normally be grateful not to deal with those interruptions, right now it felt strange. Suspicious, even.
’It’s always on my back with something,’ he thought while lazily dodging a swipe from the golem. ’But right now that it could actually be useful, it disappears...’
He didn’t have time to keep thinking about it, because the beast decided the game had lasted long enough.
The golem roared loudly and lunged toward Gareth, who barely managed to throw himself to the ground to avoid being crushed.
Fernis tried to distract it by shouting and throwing stones, but the creature ignored him completely as it turned toward where Sophia and Lihua were.
Both of them tried to move, but their bodies no longer responded with the necessary speed.
Adam ran toward them, placing himself between the beast and his companions as he raised his hands to conjure a barrier of fire. The shield withstood the first blow, but the second pierced through it as if it were paper, and Adam had to shove both of them out of the way before the golem’s paw could reach them.
The four remaining regrouped behind a rocky formation, panting and bleeding while the beast circled them patiently.
The entrance they had come through was on the other side of the chamber, right behind the golem.
Reaching it without going past the creature was impossible, and in their current condition, that would be suicide.
Adam closed his eyes for a second, desperately searching for a solution in the deepest corners of his mind.
There had to be something, some way out of this situation, some resource he had not used yet...
And then he remembered.
Flame of Judgment.
It was his most powerful ability so far, but if he used it he would fall unconscious immediately after casting it, completely vulnerable to any threat that remained standing.
But right now, what other choice did he have?
"That could work..." Adam murmured quietly as he opened his eyes.
Lihua, who was beside him, looked at him with curiosity despite her exhaustion.
"What do you mean?" she asked weakly.
Adam didn’t answer. Instead, he turned toward the others and spoke with urgency.
"Listen, I need you to distract that thing for two minutes," he said as he began gathering mana within himself. "Just two minutes. Don’t try to hurt it, don’t try anything heroic. Just keep it busy while I prepare a spell."
Fernis looked at him as if he had lost his mind. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
"A spell? Now? We’re all—"
"Two minutes," Adam interrupted firmly. "That’s all I’m asking."
The group exchanged glances for a second. No one said anything, but they all knew they had to do something, even if it was suicidal—maybe that way they would make it out alive.
Gareth was the first to move, picking up a stone from the ground and throwing it at the golem while shouting to draw its attention.
Fernis followed a moment later, running toward the opposite flank to divide the beast’s focus.
Sophia and Lihua, despite being on the verge of collapse, also began to move, throwing the remnants of mana they had left in the form of flashes and bursts of wind that caused no damage but did distract it.
Adam stepped away from the fight and began to concentrate.
Mana flowed from his core toward his right hand, gathering at a point that grew brighter and brighter.
It was a slow and painful process, as if he were squeezing the very last drop of energy out of his being.
He felt his body protesting with every passing second, his muscles trembling and his vision blurring, but he did not stop.
’It has to work,’ he thought as the power kept growing. ’It has to...’
The two minutes passed like an eternity. The golem roared with frustration as it chased its prey, unable to catch any of them as they moved in erratic patterns designed solely to confuse it.
Gareth took a blow to the side that sent him rolling across the ground, but he got back up immediately and kept running.
Fernis stumbled and fell, but Lihua appeared at his side to help him up before the beast could reach him.
And then, just when it seemed they wouldn’t be able to hold on for even one more second, the golem stopped.
Because it had noticed something.
A light. Intense and blinding, coming from one end of the chamber. The golem turned its enormous head toward the source, and what it saw drew a deep, threatening growl from it.
Adam was standing with his arm extended and his index finger pointing directly at the beast.
At the tip of his finger floated a sphere of fire the size of a human head, so bright that it illuminated the entire chamber with an orange glow.
The flames spun around themselves with fierce intensity, and the heat they emitted was so strong that the air around them trembled.
The golem adopted a defensive stance, preparing for what was coming.
Adam smiled.
"Let’s see if this is your size."
