"Waaaaah!!!"
Just like a newborn life taking its first breath, the giant infant opened its mouth the moment it took form and let out its very first cry.
However, this was the cry of the Mother of Flesh, and it was nothing like a true infant's wail. Everyone who heard it froze on the spot.
At the edge of the battlefield, the Warlocks maintaining the Reversal Magic Circle felt fresh blood trickle from their ears. The entire magic circle nearly collapsed in that instant. It was only because the Pixie appeared beside each Warlock simultaneously, slapping them frantically, that they snapped out of their stupor and resumed sustaining the magic.
It's worth noting that one of Aria's passive abilities allowed her to absorb control effects inflicted on those she considered allies. Since she viewed all these Warlocks as teammates, she should have been able to take the full brunt of the attack.
But this control effect was so overwhelmingly powerful that even Aria's ability couldn't transfer it all. She could only bear a portion of the burden for each Warlock. In other words, if not for Aria's presence, these Warlocks would never have survived that single cry, and the Reversal Magic Circle would have shattered on the spot
Conversely, Aria alone had absorbed the majority of the control effects inflicted on all twenty to thirty allies across the battlefield. She stood frozen in place, completely dazed.
Cipher glanced at Aria beside her, her brow furrowing with worry. Can a mere mortal truly withstand so many control effects from an Outer God without suffering permanent damage?
Pop! Pop! Pop!
At that moment, a series of sounds like balloons bursting in succession echoed across the field. Cipher turned to see the Druids of the Star Circle in the center of the battlefield. Though Douglas was formidable, the battle had only just begun, so he hadn't managed to kill them all.
Now, the heads of the remaining Druids were exploding like overinflated balloons—the source of the popping sounds Cipher had just heard.
But she quickly realized it wasn't just the living Star Druids exploding. The corpses of those already slain were also bursting apart. Soon, the entire center of the battlefield was carpeted in a thick, gruesome paste of flesh and blood.
Then, Cipher could clearly sense an exceptionally peculiar power emanating from this gory slurry—the divine power of the Mother of Flesh.
Strangely, this divine power didn't seem to emanate from any infant. Instead, it appeared to arise naturally from the flesh paste itself. Then, the gory slurry began to slowly coalesce.
In an instant, Cipher understood the effect of the infant's cry. A cry that symbolizes new life can grant [Rebirth] to all nearby creatures. It wasn't just a control effect; it also inflicted damage. If not for Aria, that single cry would have wiped out nearly everyone present.
Cipher quickly turned to Aria, ready to have Phainon intervene at the slightest sign of trouble. But Aria had already regained her senses, seemingly shaking off the cry's influence.
In fact, her conviction had become even purer in that moment.
In the past, Olivia possessed an ability where the more people who shared her conviction, the more their collective belief would amplify her own, boosting her combat prowess as a Paladin. Even the relatively weak faith of thousands of commoners, when combined, amounted to a considerable force.
However, Aria was not of the Oath of Overlord; she didn't possess such an ability. But at this very moment, she knew with absolute clarity that she could not fall. She wasn't fighting just for herself, but for the entire world.
Aria didn't know that Phainon was behind her as a safety net. In her mind, if she failed, countless people would die. Under such desperate pressure, some might crumble, but others would find their conviction purified to its very essence.
The commoners behind Aria might not have been able to lend her their faith directly. But when Aria "looked back" and saw the vast crowd of innocent people waiting to be saved, her own conviction soared to its absolute peak.
With the perfect alignment of timing, location, and purpose—the right time, the right place, and the right people—she was, at this moment and in this battle, undeniably the strongest Paladin in the world.
Aria took a deep breath and raised her longsword high. Golden light spiraled upward in countless motes, swirling around her blade. "Divine Smite!"
This uncharged Divine Smite was even more terrifyingly powerful than her previous, fully charged strikes
BOOM!!!
A golden torrent engulfed the giant infant before them. Cipher turned to Douglas and shouted, "You go help Aria! I'll handle those flesh piles!"
Cipher herself lacked heavy-hitting abilities, so fighting the Giant Infant Boss would be difficult for her. It was better to let Douglas, the current "Pseudo God of War," take on the main threat while she cleared the soon-to-be-reborn minions.
"Got it!" Douglas didn't hesitate. He immediately broke into a run toward the Giant Infant's position. Meanwhile, Cipher created numerous clones. The flesh piles were nauseating just to look at, and as time passed, small, normal-sized infants began to slowly take shape and appear on the battlefield.
"Are they literally being reborn?" Cipher couldn't help but grimace in disgust. The infants looked identical to ordinary babies, which made her hesitate at first, feeling unable to strike them down.
Until... she saw the first infant crawl across the ground at a speed that left afterimages, its chubby little hands casually smashing craters over a meter in diameter into the earth.
Even more alarmingly, the infants were growing at a visible rate every second, their strength and speed increasing with each passing moment.
Cipher's clones finally sprang into action, transforming into streaks of golden lightning that darted across the battlefield.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
In the blink of an eye, several infants were instantly killed. But immediately after, all the remaining infants froze and began to wail in unison.
"Seriously? You guys know this trick too?" Cipher frowned, instinctively glancing toward Aria. However, she realized the wails seemed to have no effect on her.
Cipher's mental fortitude and willpower were exceptionally strong, so the cries couldn't cause her any substantial harm. But that didn't mean they were completely ineffective; usually, it felt like mosquitoes buzzing around her, a constant annoyance she could perceive.
This time, however, there wasn't even the sound of a mosquito. It was as if the enemy hadn't attacked at all.
The reason lay at the edge of the battlefield, where Feidric calmly stated, "The shield has successfully adapted. It can now ignore all attacks of this type from the enemy..."