Chapter 223. Holy Relic (4)
“ROOOOAAAR!”
The gigantic creature that had suddenly appeared...
seemed to be Astaroth, supreme commander of the Maginot Line, transformed by the power of the Holy Nail.
The destructive beams of a Demon God-class demon were dangerous enough, but that enormous body itself was just as threatening.
She swung her arms and legs without distinguishing between friend and foe.
Every movement gouged apart the ground and brought sections of the fortress crashing down.
Even more frightening was the fact that she was still growing.
At first, she had been around a hundred meters tall.
Now she looked closer to a hundred and fifty.
If she grew any larger and moved into northern France, we could lose the territory we had only just reclaimed.
We need to finish her off as quickly as possible!
The problem was that I had no idea how.
The Knights of the Round Table were currently fighting with their holy swords and other weapons, but against Astaroth’s sheer size and regenerative ability, they weren’t dealing much meaningful damage.
This is exactly when I need Kang Yujin...!
After leaving Astolfo in the care of a healing-type Constellation, I ran across the battlefield while observing Astaroth.
I was looking for a weakness.
“Nameless King!”
Arjuna came running toward me.
He had been sniping demons from a distance with his divine bow, Gandiva, but hurried over after seeing Astaroth’s condition.
“What exactly is that monster?”
“Astaroth used the power of a holy relic, one of the Holy Nails, and transformed into that.”
“According to Galahad, it’s some kind of fusion between holy and demonic power...”
“How could that be...”
Arjuna stared up at Astaroth in disbelief.
“Arjuna, could Brahmastra damage her?”
“I’m not sure...”
Brahmastra was one of the ‘Astras,’ ranged attacks from Indian mythology.
It fired an arrow of light with destructive power beyond even the annihilation beams used by Demon God-class demons.
Saionji Keito had once defeated Kang Yujin using the power of Brahmastra.
“At maximum output... I think I could erase about one-third of her body.”
"...!"
As expected of one of the greatest heroes of Indian mythology.
It had already been monstrously powerful when Saionji Keito used it.
In the hands of its true owner, Arjuna, it could do that much?
“But Nameless King, if I fire an attack that powerful, I won’t be able to continue fighting afterward.”
“And if that creature regenerates, then we truly won’t have another option.”
“That’s true...”
“We either need enough firepower to erase the remaining two-thirds at once... or we need another method.”
Arjuna was right.
Astaroth currently seemed to possess regeneration close to Phenex’s level.
Even if Brahmastra erased a third of her body, she would probably restore it.
That meant we would need at least two more people capable of attacks on Arjuna’s level.
Is there anyone among the Constellations here who can do that?
The Knights of the Round Table.
Charlemagne’s Twelve Paladins.
Greek heroes.
We had many different Constellations here, but I couldn’t immediately think of anyone with destructive power comparable to Arjuna’s.
Princess Longji had an enormous attack range, but her raw destructive power was comparatively lower.
If only Sun Wukong were here...
Sun Wukong was currently relaxing in a peach orchard somewhere in China.
Going all the way there and bringing him back was almost impossible.
Even passing through the Spirit Realm would take time.
I had the Ruyi Jingu Bang, but without Sun Wukong wielding it, its power was inevitably lower.
Erasing one-third of that monster with it would be nearly impossible.
“Arjuna.”
“Yes, Nameless King.”
“I want to get closer and examine her properly.”
“Can you cover me?”
“Closer? Are you sure?”
“I have to try.”
“It seems dangerous...”
He was right.
It was dangerous.
My defensive barrier had been completely destroyed after taking that beam attack head-on.
“But I need to find her weakness.”
“Understood.”
“Be careful.”
I began approaching Astaroth in earnest.
Several tentacles forming her left foot stretched toward me.
But Arjuna’s arrows stopped them, allowing me to keep moving.
If my guess is right, there should definitely be a weakness somewhere...
I kept running while looking up at her.
Then one tentacle slipped past Arjuna’s arrows and came straight at me.
"...!"
I barely avoided it, but my posture collapsed.
More tentacles immediately rushed toward me.
“Too slow!”
A girl raced in from the side and scooped me up.
Atalanta.
The Greek hero famous for her running speed.
“You got into trouble because you kept staring upward while running!”
“Don’t you even know you’re supposed to look straight ahead when you run?!”
Atalanta carried me in her arms while dodging the tentacles.
She looked like a teenage girl, but she was still a hero of Greek mythology.
“I was trying to find Astaroth’s weakness.”
“Then why don’t we just move like this?”
“What?”
“I’ll carry you, so you focus on finding that demon’s weak point!”
Atalanta shouted and began moving wildly across the battlefield.
She was so fast that the tentacles couldn’t keep up.
This looks ridiculous, but if she handles the dodging...
Then I could focus entirely on examining Astaroth.
“That beam too...!”
Atalanta shouted as Astaroth looked in our direction.
“As long as I notice her turning her gaze this way, I can dodge it!”
She instantly dashed sideways.
The destructive beam swept across the spot where we had just been.
Marveling at her speed, I continued studying Astaroth.
There has to be something...
But it was difficult to identify anything with the naked eye.
In the end, I spoke to Atalanta again.
“Atalanta.”
“What?”
“This might be a difficult request... but can you climb onto Astaroth’s body?”
“Hmph! What’s so difficult about that?!”
Atalanta shouted confidently and charged toward Astaroth.
She jumped onto the top of Astaroth’s foot, then used the uneven parts of her skin as footholds to run up her leg.
To think she could do this while carrying me.
A hero was a hero after all.
“Haaah...!”
