Chapter 151: Battle of the Graveyard

"Get back!"

Ferin's expression turned grim as he faced the bloated monster before him. The moment the creature lunged forward, he kicked Eluka away without hesitation. Then, his figure flickered as [Shadow Step] activated instantly, propelling him toward the opposite side with a trail of afterimages, moving at the absolute limit of the human eye. Even Delin tumbled back into her black cat form, leaping out in the direction Eluka had been kicked. The very instant the three of them cleared the spot, the fleshy mountain slammed down with a deafening thud right where they had been standing. The creature's gigantic, ball-like body compressed instantly upon impact, and streaks of eerie, dark green liquid shot out from the pores within its folds of flesh, instantly shrouding the surroundings in a hazy green mist.

There really was something wrong with it!

Ferin gritted his teeth as he watched the massive, trembling ball of fat. Earlier, he had sensed that the monster's physique was unnatural. Logically speaking, even if the Familiar had fused multiple people together, its size shouldn't have reached such an absurd scale. Now, it was just as Ferin had suspected: the creature's body was storing some kind of fluid, which had stretched its outer layer like a massive wine cask. His deduction had been correct.

You must not get close to a thing like this, or you'd have no idea how you died.

"Flesh... Flesh..."

Several heads, deeply embedded within the folds of flesh, opened their mouths and let out incoherent cries. Then, they snapped their heads toward Ferin in unison and charged at him with heavy, thundering strides.

So it really came looking for me? Was this intentional? Or...

Ferin's gaze shifted slightly as he looked at the approaching monster. He raised both hands and flicked them forward. Several scalpels immediately shot from his hands, flying straight toward the beast. To Ferin's surprise, although the scalpels pierced the target without the slightest resistance, they had zero effect. The thick layers of flesh were practically like rubber, letting Ferin's scalpels sink deep inside without causing any reaction at all.

"Delin, Eluka, cover me!"

Ferin frowned at the sight. Issuing an order, he quickly retreated, leaping backward to dodge the flesh mountain monster's attack and landing on the roof of the crypt it had previously emerged from. The monster swiftly spun around, opened its mouth wide at Ferin, and let out a furious roar. Several streams of dark green venom erupted from its multiple heads like water cannons, splashing toward Ferin in a blinding torrent.

Without breaking his stride, Ferin sidestepped the incoming venom, kicked off a stone carving on the edge of the crypt roof, and used the recoil to execute a backward somersault. His trench coat instantly unfurled like wings, lifting him upward just enough to clear the threat. The dark green venom sprayed by the flesh mountain monster hissed as it fell, barely grazing the soles of Ferin's shoes to splatter across the crypt structure. Several sizzling sounds echoed as the venom hit the roof, immediately beginning to smoke and forming a sizable cloud of toxic vapor in the blink of an eye.

"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!"

Having received Ferin's command, Eluka and Delin sprang into action. From Ferin's earlier skirmish with the monster, they had already realized how troublesome the creature was—melee combat meant toxic mist, and ranged combat meant venomous spray. Though they didn't yet know the exact lethality of the poison gas, they certainly had no desire to test it with their own skin.

Thus, Eluka retreated while swiftly widening the distance between herself and the flesh mountain, raising her laser rifle to unleash a relentless barrage of gunfire. Under the influence of Eluka's [Fierce Firepower], countless laser beams penetrated the monster's body. Yet, much like Ferin's scalpels, these attacks—which possessed enough kinetic force to tear a human being to shreds—failed to inflict any decisive damage on the creature. Eluka's strikes hit the flesh mountain as if she were shooting a pile of rotting meat, producing no effect whatsoever.

At that moment, Delin finally made her move.

The cat-eared maid chose not to engage in close-quarters combat. Instead, taking the form of the black cat, Delin darted swiftly along the cemetery path and arrived before a human statue not far away. Her form rippled, and she shifted back into her human shape. Raising the spiked club in her hands like a baseball bat, Delin narrowed her eyes and glanced at the slow-moving flesh mountain in the distance.

Then, with all her might, she swung the club down against the three-meter-tall stone sculpture.

"Boom!!"

The next instant, the towering "Angel of Death" stone sculpture rocketed forward like a cannonball fired from a barrel. It soared past Eluka by a hair's breadth and smashed heavily into the flesh mountain. Unable to withstand the sheer kinetic force any longer, the monster's soft, thick outer hide was utterly pulverized by the impact of the "Angel of Death." Completely ignoring the corrosive and lethal death venom, the statue drove straight through the center of the monster's body, pinning it like a giant nail against the ground in the distance.

Even so, the flesh mountain showed no signs of giving up. It flailed its arms wildly, attempting to break free. Seizing this fleeting window of opportunity, Ferin leaped gracefully through the air, descending from above. He raised his right hand high, gripping a scalpel. A streak of dark radiance instantly flickered across the blade. The moment his feet touched the ground, Ferin swung the scalpel downward with deceptive casualness.

"——!"

The invisible blade and the power of the Blade of Annihilation instantly cleaved Ferin's target and the earth itself into two halves. The struggling, shrieking flesh mountain let out a final, mournful wail before its body deflated rapidly like a punctured balloon. Pungent toxic gas and dark green venom gushed from its form like water from a broken bladder. As the fluids drained, its gargantuan body rapidly shriveled, shrank, and dissolved entirely into the green pool of poison, vanishing without a trace.

"It seems our opponent's aesthetic sense leaves much to be desired..."

Carefully steering clear of the lingering toxic gas, Ferin couldn't help muttering in resignation. However, he quickly noticed that with the death of the flesh mountain, the tombs at the center of the cemetery began to shudder. Cracks appeared on the sealed stone doors as beast-like roars echoed back and forth. The skeletons and corpses that had not yet been thoroughly eradicated were re-gathering, surging toward Ferin and his companions once more.

"For a situation like this, heavy firepower is definitely the most effective. I'm starting to miss RPGs a little..."

Ferin curled his lip as he looked at the chaotic scene of dancing monsters before him. Although he, Delin, and Eluka were all members of the DPS (Damage Per Second) squad, their skills leaned heavily toward single-target damage. Eluka was slightly better, but she could only handle targets in limited groups. Judging by the current situation, unless they scoured the entire cemetery from top to bottom, the Familiar hiding behind the scenes simply wouldn't show its face.

So, at the very least, they needed a Tank to pull the boss; otherwise, once threat got messy, accidental pulls were bound to happen... Though it wasn't impossible to fight through, keeping it up would be awfully tiring.

As these random thoughts drifted through his mind, Ferin shrugged.

Since the output wasn't enough... they would just have to add more output. Fortunately, he still had a trump card left to play.

"Franka, I'll leave this to you."