The Healing Solaris Cleric-Chapter 208: The Man of Darkness (4)

"Are they the ones Sora mentioned seeing?"

It was a horde of monsters arranged almost like an army. Kai could feel it for sure as he watched the approaching monsters.

They’re really like an army.

Even during the Invasion Event, the monsters attacked cities and villages like an army. However, calling them a well-organized army would have been an exaggeration.

It was just dozens of different monsters mixed together, charging forward, and that was it.

However, the monsters approaching the Holy Blood Order now were different. They were divided into flying monsters and ground monsters, for starters. On top of that, they were astonishingly arranged according to their respective attack ranges.

It’s as if someone classified the monsters by unit... Who is it?

Could it perhaps be the doing of the man of darkness Camilla had mentioned?

Kai glanced at the Holy Blood Order, who appeared anxious, and pondered for a moment.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.

We could run away if we needed to right now.

Since entering the Tuhara Desert, the Holy Blood Order had been forced back by the monsters' assault and couldn't advance even a single step. That meant that the dark red veil was directly behind them.

If he turned around and sprinted, he was confident he could escape the Tuhara Desert within ten seconds.

But if I did that, I’d never find the dwarves.

Even if he returned later, he would have to confront these monsters at some point. Moreover, it was hard to believe the dwarves would be safe by then.

This difficulty level is seriously messed up.

Holding his throbbing forehead, Kai let out a sigh rising from deep within his chest.

The holy items he had already obtained, like the Holy Pauldron and Holy Ring, were the same kind of holy relic, but the difficulty level for obtaining them had been much lower.

No, originally, even those would have been tough.

What if he hadn't acquired the Solaris Cleric class through an absurd method? What if he hadn’t had the chance to meet the mermaids or elves?

I would have had to wander the sea looking for a single ring and break through the armies of the Church of Muldine and the dark elves just to find the Holy Pauldron.

But life was all about timing! Kai had visited the two clans faster than anyone else, brilliantly destroying the Church of Muldine’s shallow schemes. Thanks to that, he was able to obtain two holy items so easily that it could be called a free gift.

However, that resulted in the current situation.

“They’re really determined this time.”

It seemed his opponent was dead set on ensuring he wouldn't be able to rescue the dwarves.

The fact that they targeted the dwarves suggests that the Church of Muldine is behind this. However, while the Church of Muldine might be able to corrupt monsters, they don’t have the power to control such a vast number.

In that case, it was highly likely that the Church of Muldine had joined forces with the Demon King's followers. He had expected this. Having faced repeated failures, the Church of Muldine had evidently made a substantial gamble this time.

“What a hassle for a single sword.”

Crack, crack.

Kai loosened his neck as he stepped forward to the front of the Holy Blood Order, looking at the approaching monsters.

“Well, well. Looks like they only sent the small fry earlier, huh?”

Kai let out a small laugh as he looked at the lineup of monsters. Usually, no matter how smart animal-type monsters were, they were less intelligent than humanoid monsters.

From poison mummies to desert ogres and the desert ghosts... It's a complete set.

Each one was a difficult, high-level monster to deal with, and even flying around were desert bats with their annoying ultrasonic attacks!

“I guess there’s no other choice.”

Kai looked back at the Holy Blood Order members and asked, “What are your opinions on the undead?”

To that question, the Holy Blood Order members glared at the approaching monsters and replied in voices filled with conviction.

“Poor souls wandering in the world even after death!”

“We must grant them death and send them to the place they should have gone to.”

“They’re monsters that we must all tear apart. That remains unchanged.”

“The undead are vile beings used only by evil people. We must slash every one we see.”

The Holy Blood Order members displayed a far stronger rejection than he expected! But thinking about it, it was natural. For the Order’s holy paladins who used holy power, the undead were their top priority to eliminate.

This is not good...

His army of dullahans was needed to somehow raise the odds of winning this battle. However, summoning them without any prior explanation would likely lead to significant backlash. If the situation grew more dire, the Holy Blood Order members could even end up attacking the dullahans.

Then should I try using that?

Kai discreetly checked the additional effect he gained as his Charisma skill leveled up to Intermediate.

[Sophistry: Confuses the listener with absurd words. However, there’s a very high chance of failure.]

Without relying on a skill like this, it would be extremely difficult to sway the minds of these faithful people.

“Ahem. Honestly speaking, the undead aren’t inherently evil. They are merely pitiful beings who couldn’t cross over after death. The ones who use them as tools of slaughter are the bad ones. Just as one cannot compare a sword held by a knight to one held by a petty thief.”

Ding!

[You used the additional effect, Sophistry, of the Intermediate Charisma skill.]

[The Holy Blood Order members feel slight confusion, but their dislike of the undead remains unchanged.]

“Fight fire with fire. Heat with heat. Poison with poison.”

Kai slowly walked forward as he continued his speech. Before he knew it, the Silent Longsword of Frost was in his right hand.

“The Patrick whom you all respect so deeply was a realist. He even left behind this famous saying.”

Kai clenched the hilt with both hands and slowly swung his sword toward the approaching hundreds of monsters.

"Victory can protect everything. However, there is nothing that can be protected from defeat."

Slash!

The massive sword wind created by Kai’s blade flew straight toward the monster army, hitting them head-on.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Grrroooar!”

Of course, the damage inflicted wasn’t significant. However, their formation was slightly disrupted.

A tightly interlocked set of gears has no reason to break.

But the moment even one component failed, all the gears came to a halt.

Kai shouted loudly to the three hundred or so Holy Blood Order members who were looking at him, "Now, make your choice! Will you trust me, who has inherited Patrick's will and mastered the Swordsmanship of the Dawn, to win this battle? Or will you choose defeat?"

“H-he’s the successor of Patrick?”

“Then his incredible strength does make sense...”

“Ah! Now that I think about it, every time we got close to the Commander, the air grew hotter. That must be a trace of the unique skill Supernova, which Patrick used frequently!”

Ding!

[The Sophistry skill successfully took effect.]

[The Holy Blood Order members still despise the undead, but they trust you, the successor of Patrick, even more.]

To Kai, the notification sounded like this: Now it’s time for my undead to run wild freely.

The Knight of Nightmare on his left hand began to emit a purple glow.

***

The start of a clash between armies was always important. Even in one-on-one battles, morale played a crucial role. Especially when comrades were dying in real-time beside them, the army's morale would inevitably plummet.

For that reason, Kai took the lead, facing the enemy vanguard head-on.

“Swordsmanship of the Dawn!”

As Kai’s sword reflected the sunlight, one of the poison mummy’s arms flashed and floated into the air. It was like the starting gun of a marathon, setting everyone into motion. Of course, his allies moved forward, while the enemy retreated, which was the difference.

Good start.

Satisfied with the opening, Kai carefully withdrew to the rear of the army to observe the situation.

The situation is manageable. But with the dullahans at level 344, they won’t be much help.

Considering the enemy monsters’ levels were close to 400, the dullahans were little more than cannon fodder, but Kai soon thought of a way to use them very effectively.

Their attack power won’t work against those monsters...

But the explosion when they died would be exceptional! Thus, Kai gathered the dullahan army around him and summoned Mimic.

“Mimic, imitate the King Sand Worm, then put each of these guys in your mouth and spit them out over there. Got it?”

“Kyuu,” Mimic, disguised as a King Sand Worm, nodded in understanding.

Then it began spitting out the dullahans one by one into the enemy lines!

This isn’t exactly a catapult, so what should I even call this?

Once dropped into enemy territory, the dullahans, due to their low health, didn’t last more than two seconds before dying. Of course, the area damage they inflicted upon death was a given!

“Ptooey!”

Boom!

“Ptooey!”

Boom!

Even though the monsters were under control, seeing their formation breaking and their allies dying in real-time left them disoriented.

No matter how intelligent they may be, monsters are still monsters. They’re probably taken aback by now.

Not that the opponent had any particular action they could take. Well, it wasn’t as if they had no options at all.

“So, they’re coming after all.”

“Kieeeek!”

Flying past the Holy Blood Order members, the desert bats soared directly at Mimic, targeting it with their attacks.

“No way am I letting my Mimic get hurt. I protect my pets.”

“Kyuu, kyuoo...”

With a voice that sounded touched, Mimic stayed behind Kai as he lowered his sword and muttered, “Wrath of the Sun.”

Ding!

[The sunlight is especially strong in this area. +50% attack power to Wrath of the Sun.]

“Dang.”

With unexpected support, the sunlight streaming down scorched the wings of the desert bats.

“Kieek?!”

“Kieeeeek!”

Thud, thud!

The desert bats’ wings fell to the ground!

Kai gathered the fallen materials and then approached the desert bats crawling on the ground.

“Kieeek!”

Laying flat on the ground, the desert bats launched ultrasonic attacks.

Troublesome attack.

The ultrasonic attacks dealt substantial damage, but the scariest part was that the skill’s range wasn’t visible. Moreover, it was too fast to even react, making it impossible to avoid.

The moment Kai’s ankle sank into the desert sand, an unknown force brushed past his body.

It’s ultrasonic.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, all the desert bats simultaneously turned their heads and launched ultrasonic attacks at him.

Hit by dozens of ultrasonic waves, Kai knelt down, blood dripping from his nose.

“Kihehehe.”

“Kieeeng!”

The desert bats laughed, mocking the foolish adventurer who dared approach them and met his end. With their vision deteriorated, the bats located their prey by the resonance of the ultrasonic waves.

“But they won’t realize it’s fake.”

Clown’s Shoes was a Unique-grade item with the special skill Confusion!

Kai’s form, kneeling in the sand and bleeding, faded away like a mirage in the desert.

“Kieng?”

The desert bats instinctively sensed something was wrong.

Positioned right in the middle of them, Kai looked around at them with a nonchalant gaze and snapped his fingers.

“Wrath of the Sun.”

It was the attack they couldn’t avoid even when they were flying freely in the sky. Now, with their wings torn and crawling on the ground, their chances of avoiding this attack were practically zero.

“Kieeeeek!”

“Kirararak!”

The desert bats screamed, but Kai calmly prepared his next skill.

“Chasing Light Arrow.”

Vwooom.

The particles of light that were spread out delicately, formed sharp arrows. And the moment Kai snapped his fingers, the hundreds of arrows formed pierced through the bodies of the desert bats.

[+374,116 XP.]

[+352,871 XP.]

[+...]

[Level increased.]

[Level increased.]

[Acquired 10 stat points.]

.

.

.

The result of instantly taking down over fifty desert bats close to level 400 was indeed sweet. Kai smirked as he watched the dullahan bombs successfully hit their mark.

“Assessing your opponent and planning a slow strategy is commendable, but four hours isn’t enough to figure me out.”

It was a small warning directed at the mastermind who would be watching this scene from somewhere.

“You messed with the wrong person.”