Chapter 2266 – Are Your Weapons Just for Show?
“It’s a sea monster! Everyone retreat!” an experienced person shouted. As soon as they saw something emerging from the sea, they immediately turned and ran, disappearing faster than anyone else.
Those in uniform, however, immediately drew the swords at their waists and charged forward with torches, a clear distinction between amateurs taking jobs and true experts.
The sea monsters that rushed out of the water, using the Miasma as cover, launched a surprise attack. As they leapt into the air, they shot out sharp bone spurs.
They also expanded their bodies and fired a round, glowing sphere. The sphere looked like a hollow, irregular bony structure encasing a highly unstable luminous liquid. Upon breaking its outer shell, it would explode directly upon contact with air.
“Ugh!!!” A few who were too slow to react were directly hit by bone spurs, injuring their bodies. One was blown away by a light sphere, appearing to be burnt all over. The most unfortunate one was riddled with holes from the spurs.
The warriors clad in black leather armor, with silver oil lamps hanging from their waists, wielded their longswords, blocking all the bone spurs.
When the explosive spheres were thrown, they would decisively drop their torches, draw their guns, and shoot the spheres. This caused the spheres to break and explode prematurely in mid-air.
I noticed that their large-caliber pistols had casings forged from blessed silver, and their bullets were blessed demon-breaking rounds. When the sea monsters pounced, their sharp swords could sever the deformed tentacles and limbs.
Their uniforms were neat, imbued with blessings to defend against Mental Shock and direct attacks. The round hats on their heads bore emblems that seemed to consist of angel wings and halos. Two feathers were tucked into their chests for identification and decoration. Their longswords resembled ceremonial swords from court, with even the guards featuring streamlined carvings.
Combined with their extraordinary combat skills, just three or four of them could calmly eliminate the first wave of sea monsters that leaped ashore. I surmised they were likely official experts, perhaps even Demon Hunters affiliated with the state, judging by their combat style.
“Those are Judges of the Iberian Empire. They specialize in hunting heretics, ‘fallen’ individuals of high danger, and resolving Miasma incidents. Our oil lamps were modeled after theirs,” the Silver-haired Older Sister explained.
I could tell that even after discarding their torches, the oil lamps with silver casings provided sufficient light to protect the Judges. The light emanating from their oil lamps was much brighter than the soot-blackened oil lamps of the two Demon Hunter girls.
Not only did the exquisite casings indicate that the oil lamps were fine Royal products, but their construction, akin to Magic Apparatus, and the silver plating enhanced their exorcism and protective effects. Most importantly, regarding the fuel, Older Brother Jayad told me they likely burned holy oil, and the light it emitted already possessed qualities akin to Holy Light.
As the Judges charged towards the sea monsters, the monsters would be blinded by the bright light, unable to look at the Judges. Some even turned to flee, only to be cut in half by a Judge’s sword. Foul-smelling blood would gush from the fishtailed monsters’ bodies but turned to ash in the light.
Although the Judges were incredibly brave, more sea monsters then leaped from the sea. They were more powerful than the first wave, radiating an Azure blue light. They were covered in exoskeleton armor, and their attack methods were more diverse.
The amateurs who had retreated to the rear had also reacted by this time. They raised their weapons and began to counterattack, but their effectiveness was minimal.
The old-fashioned fire guns and crossbows they used had little effect on the sea monsters. Without using demon-breaking bullets, it was difficult to even pierce the monsters’ hides.
Furthermore, their own quality was questionable. The sea monsters’ speed and strength were extraordinary. When they got close, they often routed these people. Only two or three individuals, presumably Adventurers, could fight on par with the sea monsters.
“This is bad. Why are so many coming ashore today? We need to help out too. You two stay away from the shore and don’t get caught in the fight!” the Silver-haired Older Sister said.
“OK, let’s go, Isha!” the Blue-haired Girl said. Then, from who knows where, she drew out a curved sword.
I felt it couldn’t really be called a weapon. That curved sword gave me the impression of being a biological limb rather than a weapon forged from steel.
It had a black-purple sheen, with what appeared to be biological carapace on the outside and a sharpened edge on the inside. It looked like the forelimb or jaw of a large insectoid monster, perhaps from a Mantis Demon or Scythe Crab, had been broken off and used directly.
However, it had been somewhat carved and processed. For instance, a handle was carved at one end, and the blade was sharpened further, giving the semi-transparent, irregular bone blade a quenched, rainbow sheen.
I wasn’t particularly surprised that she used monster limbs as weapons. The Hunters I’d encountered often liked to forge weapons from monster parts. The vital parts of these monsters were much sturdier than alloys.
What surprised me was that despite carrying a lance longer than her body on her back, she still drew a sword. And the lady named Isha, carrying such a large stone hammer on her back, why draw a sword? Were they practicing with their full loads?
Although I wanted to make a sarcastic remark, these two female Demon Hunters were indeed formidable. They charged into the horde of sea monsters, unstoppable. Monster after monster was easily slain by them.
The black greatsword was heavy yet sharp, easily cleaving even shelled sea monsters in two with a single strike. A blow from it could smash their internal organs.
The curved sword was also incredibly powerful. When the Blue-haired Girl wielded it, the blade emitted a blue magical light, making it seem like a beam blade that sliced through anything. Sea monsters that touched it would invariably have a piece of their bodies severed.
The greatest advantage of using monster limbs as weapons was that the weapons often retained some of the monster’s abilities, such as that light blade. Furthermore, this weapon was perfectly compatible with her. When magic was infused into the curved sword, it flowed smoothly without any stagnation or waste, truly a suitable weapon for her.
However, even with the two of them helping, sea monsters continued to crawl ashore along the long coastline. No matter how fast they killed, they couldn’t kill them all.
The sea monsters that had survived and crawled ashore did not engage the Judges or the Demon Hunters in close combat; that would have just been sending more corpses. They immediately charged inland, disregarding everything else.
The amateurs in the back row dared not intercept the sea monsters, and in reality, they couldn’t. They could only watch them disappear into the darkness.
Coincidentally, one of them charged in the direction of the Yellow King believers. It was a fish-like monster walking upright, but rather than a Merfolk, it resembled a hybrid of a dinosaur and a fish.
Its back of the head was covered in tentacles, its curved spine had bones protruding from its flesh, and its long, bizarre mouth was filled with sharp teeth. Even its face was covered in coral-like tissue.
