Chapter 277 The Beasts
The 6 beasts were racing across the battlefield.
With their limbs on the ground, they jumped and leaped, attacking the fake goddesses as if gliding through the air.
"GRRRRRAAAAAAAAH!!"
"────!?"
Words had long been lost. Reason was completely gone. They were driven only by instinct, sinking their claws and fangs into the enemies they needed to defeat.
However, the beasts had intelligence.
──This was a hunt.
They weren't foolish enough to charge into battle without thinking.
The truly terrifying beasts watch for openings, identify weaknesses, and hunt in groups. The 6 beasts racing across the battlefield were just like that.
Without needing words, glances, or gestures, their group moved as if they were one living creature, embodying a connection that allowed them to hunt the fake goddesses.
At the center of it all was the black beast.
A beast wrapped in black fur──or rather, a black aura.
Within its long tail was a sword. The sword was called "Black Moon."
"Black Moon" dyed the beast's aura black. This aura became a heavy attribute, making it the most dangerous presence for the fake goddesses.
"GRRRRRR────!!"
The black beast sprinted.
Naturally, the fake goddesses found themselves following the black beast's movements.
But they couldn't take their eyes off the other 5 beasts.
"GRRRRRAAAAAAAAH!!"
"────!?"
In the moment their focus slipped, the 5 beasts attacked all at once, charging at a single fake goddess together.
One beast jumps dramatically and digs its claws into the [Space Barrier], blocking the fake goddess's view and drawing her attention.
In that moment, the remaining 4 beasts, which had been running silently, all charge at the fake goddess at once.
The first one bites into the fake goddess's neck and snaps it.
The fake goddesses have a very high regeneration ability, but they have discovered that losing their head or getting damage to their spine slows them down significantly, even if just for a few seconds.
After slowing down the fake goddess, they all claw, bite, tear, and chew, or change their tails into sword-like auras to slash, causing explosions of aura that tear the fake goddess's body apart.
Without allowing the fake goddess to counterattack, they keep dealing damage, and soon, the fake goddess's blood and flesh are converted into magical energy, scattering into particles of light.
"────!!"
Of course, the other fake goddesses are not just watching quietly.
It's uncertain if the fake goddesses have a sense of camaraderie, but they must understand the danger of losing their numbers. They move closer to save their comrade surrounded by the 5 beasts.
Then──
"Grroooowwwl!!"
A black beast leaps in.
The black beast's claws break through the [Space Barrier]. Of course, it doesn't happen instantly. There is a time lag of a few seconds before it breaks.
But the fake goddesses couldn't ignore the black beast, so they stopped in their tracks.
While buying time, the beasts that had devoured another fake goddess joined forces with the black beast. They bypassed the other fake goddesses blocking their way, or some attacked to hold them back, always striking in groups against a single fake goddess.
It was a hunt by the beasts.
They never overexerted themselves.
They spread out, raced around, watched for the prey's weaknesses, and if there was an opening, they all attacked together.
So far, they had already taken down 4 fake goddesses.
The hunt was going very well. Indeed, the fake goddesses were strong, their bodies tough, and their regeneration ability high. If they fought seriously, it was uncertain if the beasts could take down even one.
However, the fake goddesses, with their shooting-type magic and many area magic and long-range skills sealed, were in a weakened state.
To put it simply, the fake goddesses were weakened.
That's why the hunt was so one-sided.
────But.
That was only at the beginning.
"────."
"Gyau!?"
The beasts stopped, confused. Ahead of them, the black wings of the fake goddesses twisted and changed shape.
Wriggling, 6 pairs of 12 wings transformed.
The shape resembled black tentacles. And the variation didn't stop at just the wings.
Both arms and legs transformed into tentacles, just like wings, and at the tips of those tentacles, sharp blades like claws formed, glowing with a dense aura. Or rather, their entire bodies were covered in aura.
And then──the fake goddesses all stopped relying on the [Space Barrier] at once.
Since they couldn't depend on attack magic, and there were many on the enemy side who could break the [Space Barrier], they realized it was pointless to cling to it.
No, they judged that the risks were greater.
The barrier could block attacks from one side, but their own attacks would also be blocked by the barrier, reducing their options. Moreover, relying on defense could lead to carelessness or openings in their awareness.
These "enemies," including the beasts, seemed to have experience fighting Space magicians, as they were good at exploiting that carelessness and those openings.
So instead, they decided to abandon their human forms and fight using their enhanced bodies and aura. They judged that it would be more efficient.
That could be said to be one correct answer in that situation.
Once one of the fake goddesses realized this answer, without exchanging words, all the remaining fake goddesses came to the same conclusion. Like a meme, that knowledge spread throughout all the fake goddesses.
──All the fake goddesses transformed into monsters with black tentacles.
"GRRRRRR!!"
The beasts snarled, wrinkling their noses.
Monsters with 16 long tentacles wriggled, including their arms and legs. The [Space Barrier] was gone, but it was clear that they had become much harder to attack than before they grew their tentacles.
In the brief moment of confusion, the fake goddesses seized the opportunity.
──Bang!!
Suddenly, a sharp explosion sound rang out. At the same time,
"Gyain!!?"
One of the beasts let out a scream and was blown away with great force.
The beasts were shocked that they could barely see the attack.
The fake goddesses swung their long tentacles like whips, attacking at speeds faster than sound.
"GRRR...!!"
However, the beasts were not just going to sit there and take it. They dodged the continuing tentacle attacks. They dashed out in all directions, running without stopping for even a moment to avoid being targeted.
By paying attention to the base of the whip-like movements, they could roughly predict the attacks.
However──,
"Gugyau!!?"
One of the beasts got caught by several incoming tentacles.
There was not just one tentacle. There were many. Unlike a whip, these tentacles could stretch and shrink freely at the will of the fake goddesses. It was not easy to keep dodging.
"Gugaaau!!"
Five beasts jumped to help their captured friend, leaping at the fake goddess that had grabbed their comrade.
But that action was just what the fake goddesses wanted.
As the jumping beasts tore and bit through one tentacle, 2 more wrapped around their bodies, restraining their movements.
It swung its tail sword, trying to cut the tentacles, but by the time it sliced through one, the tentacle it had torn apart was already regenerating in the blink of an eye, wrapping around the beasts' bodies again.
Originally, the fake goddesses had an unusually high regeneration ability, and by giving up their barrier defense, they had boosted it even more by using holy magic healing techniques.
And that's not all.
While it was struggling, other fake goddesses approached, extending their tentacles toward the beasts.
Before long, the beasts were entangled by countless tentacles, unable to move at all.
"Gyawn!!"
"Kyann!!"
The sad cries of the beasts echoed.
It was hopeless. The fake goddesses pushed the beasts further into despair.
Not only did the tips of the tentacles wrap around the beasts, but sharp blades also sprouted from the parts that were coiled around them, digging into their flesh.
The beasts tried to resist, wrapping their bodies in aura, but the areas with thin aura were easily pierced, and they began to bleed from all over. Moreover, they couldn't keep their aura defense up forever. Eventually, their magical energy would run out.
"Kyoon! Kyoon...!!"
"────."
Even as the beasts cried out as if begging for their lives, the expressions of the fake goddesses didn't change. The fake goddesses, regaining their composure, smiled with a look of compassion and tightened the tentacles that bound the beasts even more──squeezing them with terrifying strength.
Even if they could block the blades, it felt like they would be crushed and suffocated. The beasts realized that their bones were creaking in pain.
────I'm going to die.
If things continue like this, they will die.
Confronted with the certainty of death, the beasts thought of their mother.
Mama...!!
Was this call for help, a plea for rescue?
──No, that’s not it.
It was sadness. Sadness and anger.
The sorrow of never being able to see their mother again if they die here. And the anger at the fact that these creatures are essentially keeping them from their mother.
These creatures are trying to take their mother from them.
Why, how, and on what authority do they dare to do this?
"GRRRRR...!!!"
Remembering their purpose in the fight, the beasts ignited their fighting spirit with their anger. They gathered their strength once more and converted their magical energy into aura.
──They had been wrong.
They had been wrong about their approach to the fight.
Because they didn’t know what to expect and because the battle might drag on, they had subconsciously limited their use of magical energy.
But that wasn’t enough to defeat the fake goddesses before them. And if they couldn’t win, they would never be able to see their beloved mother again.
──The beasts’ fighting style didn’t matter.
──They would no longer look for weaknesses or openings in their enemies.
──They would simply do everything in their power to escape this peril and see their mother again...!!
The beasts, the members of ≪White Lily Maiden≫, resolved to use their full strength and even risk their lives!
"""GRRROOOAARRR!!!!"""
They roared.
So fiercely that the atmosphere vibrated.
Immediately after,
"""────!?"""
The fake goddesses widened their eyes at the beasts’ transformation.
First variation──[Beast Mode: Heart]
Second variation──[Beast Mode: Body]
The beasts that had already reached the second variation now achieve a variation they had never reached before.
A thick aura envelops their entire bodies. Their silhouettes completely lose their human shape and transform into the form of a certain beast.
At that moment, when their figures are completely covered by the aura and change into beasts──
──Boom!!!!
Countless tentacles that had captured them burst apart.
Having escaped from their restraints, they land lightly and silently on the ground with their limbs.
Thus, they reach. A new realm.
Third variation────[Beast Mode: God]
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