Divine Heritage: Only I Can Judge The gods-Chapter 77: Taming the Horde

Ark was finally beginning to feel the pressure. Without complete bombardment from the military, the beasts were slowly gaining more ground.

Normally, he would have had at least a second or two before another beast would cross the line, and so he had let his guard down. That was his mistake...

A silver claw was racing right at his face, mere moments from ripping his neck open when Ark kicked the knee of the giant, using the force of the blow to roll to the side.

Screech!

The claw cut right through his cheek, drawing blood before scratching terribly against the pavement.

Ark got to his feet and stumbled back, staring at the creature in front of him. It was a masquerade but different, this one was big, far bigger than any he had ever seen.

It was heavier and its claws far longer than the norm.

This was a beast on the verge of ascension.

The beast scratched its claws against the floor, creating a loud disturbing sound as it slowly approached Ark.

And then it charged, its body a blur as it appeared right in front of him.

Boom!

Ark blocked with his dagger, only to be lifted off the floor by the resulting force and tossed right into the air, charging right at a group of devil bats.

He struggled to wonder if it was on purpose or if his luck was just so horribly bad.

In the air he was in their territory, and with their sharp teeth, they could very well rend through his flesh in mere seconds. Only his bones would remain— if they didn’t eat that too.

His options were limited, he could use dragon strike first form to completely decimate the horde but it would cost him a sizable amount of spiritual essence, essence he was saving in case of an emergency.

But that was not the only option he had...

Sliding his dagger back into his sheet, Ark crossed his arms across his chest. The bats had long spotted him and had redirected their charge, moving towards him instead

Just as they got close, just as saliva dropped out of the first bat’s mouth in nerve wracking anticipation— Ark swung his hands at them, his five fingers extended.

Like the sound of fast moving air, an invisible force left his finger slicing right into the horde. The cloud was soon bathed in blood and limbs.

Whooosh!

Whooom!

Ark swung his fingers in every direction, each time creating a rain of blood until most of the bats were dead. Coincidentally, it was just as he began to descend.

"Argh!"

Ark coughed as he held onto his chest.

’That took far more than I expected.’

Although the second form was more essence efficient than the first form, it still took far more essence than Ark had expected, and he was not done yet...

Down below, the masquerade was still waiting for his approach, already charging towards the point at which he would land.

Ahead of him, due to his abscess more creatures were also charging forward, inching closer to the military.

Ark sighed.

"This bastard."

Just as he neared the floor, the masquerade slashed forward with all its might.

Clang!

The air shifted and a wave of wind rushed past them as its claws rocked against Ark’s dagger, the force of the blow causing his arms to ache.

Ark’s dagger cracked, and his eyes widened slightly as he blocked the next attack, this time with his arm.

Drip Drip

Even without swinging at full strength, the blow managed to rip through his armour, but just barely.

Ark dismissed the dagger but this time he didn’t summon his axe, instead he stared right into the beast white pupil-less eyes.

"Hey, I really like that dagger you know."

The beast stared at him, its eyes emotionless and then it jumped, its legs sailing above his head to deliver some sort of deranged bicycle kick.

Boom!

The foot crashed into the empty space, cracking the pavement and exposing the soil beneath.

Ark curved around its body, slashing with his hands, but not at the beast.

The invisible slash charged forward, right at the beasts that were a few feet away from the soldiers.

Just as panic was creeping into their ranks, the skeletons approaching them crumpled to the ground, their bodies split in half.

The soldiers looked around, confused as to what had happened but strangely relieved.

Ark then turned his attention to the masquerade.

"As for yo— woah!"

Ark jumped back, the masquerade’s claws moments away from gutting him.

’He didn’t even let me finish my line!’

Ark darted to the right, narrowly evading the attack, but before he could even get the proper footing, his body was suddenly slammed into the pavement, blood dripping from an open wound on his shoulder.

He stared up, stars dancing in his vision, only to lock eyes with a large skeleton lieutenant. The beast raised its large shield up and drove it right into his gut, causing Ark to reel as hot pain tore through his body.

He gasped for air as the creature pushed the shield further before finally raising it up once more, this time moving it straight at his head.

A shadow washed over him at that very moment, but it was not a saviour, instead, it was the bulky masquerade.

It had lifted its feet above Ark’s head, ready to stomp down on him as well... to make the death definite.

Ark spat out blood as both deadly forces came charging at him.

But they never made contact...

The shield suddenly shook violently and caved from bottom-up, an invisible slash tearing through it as well as the head of the lieutenant.

As for the masquerade... hot steamy blood washed over Ark’s face as well, along with seven severed toes.

"One down..."

The masquerade had managed to escape the brunt of the attack but was now disabled.

Ark sat up straight, his body groaning as he rose to his feet.

He had expected the masquerade to show a little bit of apprehension, but like the beast it was, it lunged at him.

Ark kept moving, clutching onto his stomach with one hand, almost always a second away from losing a limb.

Meanwhile, the masquerade was showing complete disregard for its own health, it was stomping away on its severed foot as though it felt no pain, madness burning its eyes as it struck repeatedly.

It was like an injured animal that had been pushed to the wall.

Ark bent downward as a wide swing came and then curved around its outstretched limb, swiftly moving to its back.

A dangerous position considering what he was facing.

The masquerade reacted quickly, swinging its body like a whip, all seven fingers outstretched.

The creature’s claws tore into soft flesh, and then right into it, emerging through the other side.

Its prey was finally dead...

And yet the beast was slightly confused, the body felt strangely different than it had expected.

It had always expected human flesh to be more— tender.

The masquerade turned around to stare at the corpse, only to see the severed body of another masquerade, oozing blood.

And then it felt five cold fingers grasp the back of its head.

"Good night."