The Smiling Death-Chapter 389: The Weight of the Strong

The battlefield had turned into complete chaos.

Dust filled the air. The ground was broken everywhere. Trees were shattered, burned, or uprooted. The sounds of explosions, roars, metal clashes, and human screams mixed together into a terrifying symphony of war.

But in the middle of that chaos,

Amon was completely focused. He didn't hear the screams. He didn't see who fell. He didn't know that two people had just died.

He was far away from them, while the battlefield was filled with monsters screaming and explosions.

Right now, there was only one thing in his mind — kill the monsters. That's all that mattered.

His sword moved in a dark arc, cutting through the neck of a wolf-type monster. Black blood sprayed into the air as the head fell to the ground.

Before the body even collapsed, Amon's hatchet flew from his left hand, spinning like a black wheel. It smashed into the skull of a spider monster, crushing it instantly.

He pulled the hatchet back with shadow, caught it, and spun his body.

Slash!

Another monster's chest was cut open.

His movements were rough now, not elegant, not calculated like before. He was tired, injured, and his mana was being consumed rapidly. But he kept moving.

Shadow wrapped around his legs as he dashed forward again, sliding under a monster's claws and cutting its legs apart.

"Die… just die already…" he muttered under his breath.

He used everything he had, the sword and hatchet. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Shadow Clutch, mana bullets, Eclipse Bolt, and dark slashes. He used everything he knew, without holding back. He fought with instinct. He fought with all of his senses open.

Each time his sword moved, a monster fell dead from it.

He was burning through his mana like crazy. But he didn't stop. He couldn't stop right now.

He needed to continue this.

Because if he stopped, he might die. Malphas was fighting an abomination which could kill everyone here in seconds. Yet he somehow kept it busy, not letting it harm others.

But even after all efforts, two people died without leaving a trace.

Not far away, Ethan was fighting with his spear. He was tired. Extremely tired.

His arm was still injured from earlier, and every time he thrust his spear forward, pain shot through his shoulder. But he still kept fighting.

He blocked a claw with the shaft of his spear and kicked the monster away, then thrust forward and pierced its throat.

He pulled the spear out and stepped back, breathing heavily.

"Haa… haa…"

His vision blurred for a moment.

But then he forced himself to stay awake and looked toward the tower in the distance.

Far away, the screams of monsters and explosions were constantly echoing near the tower. That was where his father was fighting, together with Scarlett.

Against another abomination.

Ethan tightened his grip on the spear.

'Please be safe… Both of you… please be safe…'

A flying monster suddenly dived toward him.

Ethan reacted quickly. He slammed the spear into the ground and shouted,

"Earth Wall!"

A chunk of earth rose from the ground, blocking the monster. It crashed into it and fell to the side. Ethan immediately stepped forward and stabbed its head.

He pulled the spear out and leaned on it for a moment.

"I can't fall here…" he whispered.

Then he forced himself to stand straight again and rejoined the fight.

---

Meanwhile, Malphas stood behind the giant evolved monster. But he wasn't moving for a moment.

His eyes were looking toward the distance where the yellow beam had struck earlier.

He had seen it clearly. The beam that swallowed two figures, not leaving a single trace of them, turning them into ashes.

They were dead. He knew those two boys.

He had known them since they were children. He had seen them train, fight, grow stronger, become hunters, become men.

He had watched them grow up.

And now they were gone. A strange emotion rose inside him.

Rage, sadness, guilt.

'I am their leader... I am responsible for them. And I failed to protect them.'

His eyes slowly hardened.

The huge monster suddenly moved. It lifted its massive leg and tried to stomp on Malphas.

Malphas disappeared in a flash of blue lightning.

BOOM!

The monster's foot slammed into the ground, shaking the entire area. The ground cracked and sank from the impact.

Fifty meters of area around it was cracked and shattered.

Malphas reappeared on the side, lightning crackling violently around his body now. His expression was no longer calm.

It was cold. He was in pure rage.

"You've killed enough," he said quietly.

The monster roared and swung its massive arm toward him.

Malphas dashed forward instead of backward.

Lightning exploded around him as he accelerated. He ran across the monster's arm, jumped, and slashed with his lightning-covered blade across its shoulder.

BOOM!

A massive explosion of lightning erupted.

The monster stepped back slightly for the first time.

Malphas landed on the ground, sliding a few meters back.

He looked around.

His teammates were bleeding. Some were crying. Some were exhausted, while some were still fighting desperately.

Fear and sadness were everywhere. Malphas closed his eyes for one second, then opened them again.

His lightning exploded even more violently than before.

He made a decision. I cannot let this continue. Even if I have to risk my life. I must stop this monster.

He bent his body slightly, lightning gathering around him like a storm.

"I will end this... no matter what it takes," he muttered.

Then he vanished again like a bolt of lightning, charging straight toward the gigantic abomination once more.

And across the battlefield, Amon continued cutting through monsters. Ethan continued fighting with his spear. And the battlefield slowly turned into a war of survival.

---

Meanwhile, near the black tower,

There was another battle going on.

SCRREEEECHHHH!!!

The monster had cuts and wounds here and there.

But it was still standing tall and strong.

"Hah... hah..." Scarlett took long, tired breaths. Her armor or black suit was broken here and there.

Bruises were all over her body. She could heal them, but she needed blood. And right now, she couldn't use blood carelessly.

A few meters behind her was standing Mark. He was more battered and tired than her, standing on his feet by using the spear as support.

Scarlett's eyes were glowing blood red.

'I... I need to end this... I can't continue like this.'

The monster dashed at them. Its claw raised and came down towards them. Those claws shone in a dark shade of gray, indicating the use of mana.

Scarlett raised both her hands as a huge red magic circle appeared in midair above her extended hands.

'I won't give up!' She resolved herself.