The fact that the black dog could talk was one thing, but the bigger problem was that it was running wild through the sacred trees, setting them ablaze.
As the black dog dashed across the sacred trees as if scaling walls, crimson flames spread, engulfing the massive trees in fire.
The elves, in a panic, tried to stop it with arrows, spears, and various spells, but most of their attacks were swallowed by the black dog’s flames and vanished.
Even when they managed to land a hit on its body, the flames simply restored the damage, leaving the elves in despair, screaming.
“A-Ah, no…! The sacred tree… Our great tree…!”
“Watch out!”
Crash!
Burning branches began to fall one by one from the blazing sacred trees.
Elfin quickly summoned plants to form a shield above their heads, protecting the people as they evacuated.
“This place is too dangerous! Those who can’t fight, get out of here! If you stay, you’ll be crushed under the trees and die!”
“U-Understood! Everyone, move this way and head outside—”
『Do you think I’ll let you escape? The blood, flesh, and souls of this place shall all be offered to Lord Dantalion!』
The black dog, circling atop the trees as if to trap me, let out a roar before diving toward me from a diagonal angle.
“Damn it…!”
To counter its rapid descent, I swung my lightsaber horizontally at its extended right forepaw, sending a blade of light slashing forward.
At the same time, Ravi leaped into the air, delivering a punch to the same forepaw from the side.
Boom!
The burning forepaw collided with the blade of light while Ravi’s punch struck from the side, sending the black dog’s leg flying off course.
The remaining light blade sliced through its flaming body near the shoulder.
“Graaaaargh!!”
The black dog let out a roar—whether from pain or rage, I couldn’t tell.
Its body ignited once more as a cursed mist mended the wounds.
“I’ll draw its attention! Hit it again!”
Seeing this, Elfin summoned plants from all directions, including above and below, to obscure the black dog’s vision.
Though the vines and branches caught fire and burned quickly, this was Arboness—the elves’ homeland.
Here, they could summon an almost infinite number of plants.
And on top of that, Elfin was wearing the Boots of Life’s Miracle.
Right now, she could literally summon endless vegetation, so she didn’t care if the plants burned.
She simply kept calling forth more and more, gradually restraining the black dog.
『Tch… You dare play tricks on me!』
The black dog incinerated the plants in one massive burst of flames.
But that created a huge opening.
The second light blade slashed straight across its chest.
Shaaak!
The black dog’s chest was torn open in an instant.
And within that wound, I noticed something strange.
A swirling black orb deep inside its body, sending out mist that spread throughout its form.
The mist from the orb was connected to different parts of the black dog’s body, almost like nerves, as if supplying it with energy.
‘That looks just like…’
A golem’s core.
The moment I saw the black orb, that was the thought that came to my mind.
And when I really thought about it, it wasn’t all that different.
Even if I didn’t fully understand how the black dog was constructed, considering what had happened with the dark spirit last time, it was almost certain that this creature had been born through a ritual, using mist as a medium to sacrifice blood and life.
If it was a being created through sorcery, then there had to be something within its body that sustained the spell.
In the black dog’s case, that something was a small orb positioned near its heart.
The light blade had successfully cut through the black dog’s chest, exposing the orb’s location—but unfortunately, it hadn’t managed to reach it.
The attack had been partially nullified by the black dog’s counter, reducing its power.
‘To pierce that, I’d probably need Judgment… But the window to expose its weakness is too short, and I don’t have enough time to use it. Besides, at most, I can only use it twice…’
I had to finish this in one strike.
If I narrowed the attack’s range to an extreme degree and focused all my power directly on the orb, I might be able to break it.
But given the black dog’s nature—its ability to absorb damage and instantly regenerate—it was hard to guarantee a decisive hit.
I needed the others’ help.
“Ravi, Elfin, Lenis! I found that monster’s weakness. But to destroy it, I need to concentrate all my power on that one point. That means the three of you need to tear its body apart. Can you do it?”
“Where is it?”
“The chest. Around where the heart should be.”
“I’ll do my best, but I can’t promise anything. My abilities aren’t exactly well-matched against this thing.”
“Use every trick you’ve got. Lenis, can you handle it?”
“Huff… huff… Do you think my mana is unlimited or something?! I’ve been casting healing spells nonstop, I’m practically dried up!”
Lenis was visibly exhausted, gasping for breath.
He had already healed hundreds of surviving elves, and even after drinking mana potions, he was completely drained.
I felt a little guilty and couldn’t bring myself to push him further.
But Ravi stepped in to handle the situation for me.
“Lenis, please. We need you. You’re the only one who can do this.”
“Ugh… Gah…! You guys really can’t do anything without me, can you?!”
Lenis, weak to flattery, groaned but still forced himself to stand, facing off against the black dog.
『You think you can accomplish anything?! Just accept your fate and become nourishment for Lord Dantalion!』
As the black dog roared, cursed mist erupted from its body, spreading in all directions.
The mist blocked the elves’ escape routes, causing the non-combatants to scream and clutch each other in fear.
“Aaaaah! T-The mist! It’s spreading again!”
“N-No! I don’t want to die!!”
“Get away from it! If you get swallowed by that mist, you’ll rot and die just like before!”
“Combat units, focus your attacks!”
At Elfin’s command, the elves who could still fight launched a concentrated assault on the black dog.
Spears, arrows, and spells rained down, only to be swallowed by the black dog’s flames.
But those brief seconds were enough for Elfin, who pressed both hands to the ground and called out to Lenis.
“Lenis! Can you use your staff’s ability on what I’m about to summon?”
“On plants? I’ve never tried it before, so I don’t know if it’ll work!”
“Just try! I’m summoning it right now—hngh…!”
Elfin poured every last drop of her mana into the ground, focusing her mind.
From beneath the battlefield, a massive root of the sacred tree erupted, coiling tightly around the black dog’s body.
The sacred tree’s roots, far more resilient than the weeds and shrubs summoned before, caught fire but did not easily crumble.
Even while burning, they held the black dog tightly in place.
“Here I go!”
Lenis raised his winged staff, and a white magic circle appeared above it, its energy spreading over the sacred roots.
With the effect of Pain Suspension, the burning slowed significantly.
The black dog roared in fury, igniting its entire body in a fiery explosion, yet the sacred roots still refused to let go.
“Huff… It worked! But I won’t be able to keep this up for long… I’m almost out of mana!”
『You arrogant fools! Do you think trapping me means I cannot destroy you?!』
The three heads of the black dog inhaled deeply, flames gathering in their mouths before they unleashed a hellish inferno straight at Elfin.
“Damn it…!”
“Elfin!”
Elfin, unable to move after summoning the sacred roots, and Lenis, completely drained of mana, were left defenseless before the oncoming flames.
They clenched their eyes shut, bracing for the burning agony—but it never came.
Instead, Ravi had leaped in front of them, using her own body as a shield.
“Ravi, what are you doing?! Get out of there! You’ll burn alive!”
“I’ll be fine! I can take one hit!”
The knuckles on Ravi’s fists, covered in scales resembling those of ancient reptiles, absorbed the flames entirely.
It was Impact Release, the counter technique of the Primordial Knuckles—a skill that allowed her to absorb a single attack.
And the accumulated energy from that absorbed impact…
“Hah…!”
Ravi launched herself into the air, straight toward the black dog, which was still bound in place and spewing flames.
Despite the several meters of height separating them, it was no challenge for her.
BOOM!
The absorbed flames detonated against the black dog’s jaw, snapping all three of its heads upward.
Though the redirected fire caused the sacred tree to burn even more fiercely above, the attack had created a massive opening.
The scales on Ravi’s knuckles shifted, morphing into razor-sharp fangs.
She pressed her transformed weapon against the black dog’s exposed chest.
“HAHHHH!!”
BOOOOM!
It was Destructive Strike, another technique of the Primordial Knuckles—an attack that unleashed a formless shockwave from within, shattering the target from the inside out.
True to its name, an explosion erupted within the black dog’s chest, ripping apart most of its body.
『Wretched insect! How dare you?!』
The black dog immediately began regenerating, but the sheer magnitude of the damage had left the core of its spell—its very source of existence—fully exposed.
As Ravi was sent hurtling downward by the force of the explosion, the elves rushed forward and caught her.
At the same moment, I triggered my final strike.
“You guys did great! I’ll take it from here!”
I had been continuously narrowing Judgment’s targeting radius, and now that the core was fully exposed, I activated the ability.
KUKUKUKUNG!
A concentrated storm of light spears rained down in an impossibly narrow area, forming a single radiant pillar that pierced straight through the black dog.
The black orb at its core cracked under the relentless barrage of divine energy.
With a final snap, it shattered completely.
The dark crimson mist that had been pouring from the orb dissipated into nothingness, and the black dog—still trying to regenerate—let out a final, agonized wail.
『GRRKH… KRAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!』
Its body convulsed violently, writhing in agony.
Then, at last, the monstrous beast that had driven Arborenes to the brink of destruction… was no more.