Casca was a little stunned. Was the creature before her truly the same Griffith?
When she had been an ordinary peasant girl who didn't know how to wield a sword, a noble had bought her from her family and couldn't wait to rape her in his carriage.
Casca escaped, but the noble pursued her.
At that moment, Griffith suddenly appeared and threw the curved sword in his hand before her, leaving her to make her own decision.
If you are determined to protect something, then draw that sword.
Casca drew the sword and killed the noble.
Later, when Griffith and his companions were about to leave, she offered to join them, and Griffith agreed.
At that time, Griffith was surrounded by three core members: Pippin, Judeau, and Corkus. Casca was not the first to join, but through hard work and perseverance, she became Griffith's de facto second-in-command.
Casca thought of everything she had paid for over the years.
Looking within this dark space, the group of demons seethed, appearing strange and eerie. There were no living people in the Hawk Company except for them.
Finally, she looked at the so-called "Dark Wings" Femto before her.
Is this the body and power you obtained by betraying us all and sacrificing all of us to return?
Casca could have endured Griffith breaking into the princess's bedchamber that night a year ago, leaving them unprepared for the encirclement and suppression by the Midland army.
She had even thought these sacrifices were worth it. If Griffith could be saved, the Hawk Company could be reborn.
But she could not endure this—that these people who admired and worshipped Griffith, just like her, had been betrayed and sacrificed.
Anger gathered and burned in her chest.
This was the first time she had felt hatred toward Griffith.
Pippin, Judeau, and Corkus also gritted their teeth.
Guts stared even harder into Femto's eyes, gripping the Dragonslayer in his hand.
Femto met their gazes. He ignored the resentment and sorrow in their eyes. He simply smiled confidently, because he knew that sooner or later they would understand how important today's sacrifice was.
Their existence and sacrifice had served to awaken him from his dream as Griffith and become Femto. That was incredibly wonderful.
If they understood the meaning, there would be no resistance today.
Finally, Femto's gaze met Nidhogg's.
But his eagle-sharp eyes could not see in Nidhogg's eyes the anger, regret, sorrow, and fear that he saw in the others.
Nidhogg's eyes were calm as water, exactly like the indifferent gaze of the chestnut-haired girl floating behind him.
Femto's eyes dropped, staring at the golden brand that continued to glow on Nidhogg's chest. He smiled softly.
With Femto's arrival, the surrounding monsters, which had been driven back by Nidhogg and Guts, were ready to move again. It was as if they had the support of the Dark Wings, and they were no longer afraid.
Before Femto could make any move, these monsters roared at Nidhogg and the others, and finally couldn't restrain themselves and lunged at them one after another!
Everyone standing within the prayer circle of "Grace and Blessing" nervously raised their weapons and stood ready.
Nidhogg, naturally, did not hold back.
He again produced the Spirit Calling Bell. This time, he summoned Lhutel the Headless Knight, the Twin Sage Sorcerers, and the Lone Wolves. Then he poured Cerulean Tears from his Flask.
Soon, Guts, Casca, and the others saw the Twin Sage Sorcerers standing in the center of the group, waving their magic staves and shooting columns of glintstone light to pursue the fleeing monsters.
The three knights—Oleg, Ingvall, and Lhutel—along with the three wolves, were a mix of man and wolf, destroying the monsters that appeared before the prayer circle.
If any monsters could avoid the Twin Sage Sorcerers' glintstone magic and break through the front line of the three knights and three wolves, they would meet the frontal assault of Nidhogg, Guts, and Pippin!
THUD! THUD!—
Amidst the bursts of blood, the corpses of the monsters began to pile up. A low wall was almost built around the prayer circle.
At this moment, "Grace and Blessing" ended. The dispersion of the golden light startled Casca and Corkus, who were supporting the severely wounded Judeau.
However, Melina made the prayer gesture again and once more used "Grace and Blessing," allowing the prayer circle to form beneath everyone's feet, also calming Casca and Corkus.
This was already the second time Melina had acted since the Dark Realm. The power she had accumulated over a long time allowed her to activate "Grace and Blessing" several times to support Nidhogg and the others.
CRASH—!
At that moment, a monster resembling a chariot rapidly broke through the spirit knights' defensive line and crashed through the wall of monster corpses. It became the first monster to burst into the prayer circle!
Everyone was shocked. They subconsciously drew closer, wanting to protect Casca, Judeau, and Corkus, who were in the very center.
Nidhogg stepped forward and stopped before the chariot.
This monster was covered in thick scales, had six legs and a large mouth at the front, but its round head actually grew on its back.
In this form, he looked like a monster stuck in a heavy armored chariot, driving it furiously.
The others didn't recognize it, but Nidhogg immediately knew this monster. Its name was Polg. It was a rather famous monster.
It was the one that had bitten off Guts's left arm during the Eclipse, forcing Guts to cut off one of his own arms with a broken sword.
It was also the one that would become one of the subordinates of the "Moonlight Knight," and together they would attract the attention of the "Terrifying Emperor" on the frontal battlefield.
Nidhogg swapped his Golden Halberd for the Lordsworn's Greatsword, which was the most convenient in such close-quarters combat when facing huge creatures among the alien monsters.
Polg let out a meaningless "grunt" and charged at Nidhogg!
Nidhogg raised his left leg, kicked, and stepped onto Polg's scales, halting this giant's momentum!
Polg continued to thrash his six legs, but moving forward was difficult. On his round head on his back, a pair of eyes showed confusion and bewilderment!
Nidhogg raised his Lordsworn's Greatsword high. With one swing, the thick scales, flesh, and organs suddenly cracked!
Polg's monster body split in two under his greatsword, like a cracked claw, and instantly lost its life!
"Nice! Nice!" Corkus, who was being protected in the center, couldn't help but exclaim at this sight.
Nidhogg shoved Polg's body aside, forming part of the wall of demon corpses.
However, even with an extremely high casualty rate, these monsters still swarmed here like a tide. Even if their eyes were full of fear, they still launched suicidal attacks against Nidhogg and the others.
Nidhogg immediately understood.
He looked at Femto nearby. The existence of this Dark Wing was driving the demons to attack this prayer circle, regardless of life or death, to kill the sacrifices within the formation.
But at this moment, as if playing a game, he smiled at Nidhogg again, then slowly raised his hand.
Nidhogg's hair stood on end. As he subconsciously tried to be alert, he heard a crack echoing throughout the space, from high in the sky, even above the giant hand.
In the place where the eclipse should have been, a crack appeared and completely burst open. The long-lost light streamed inside.
The skeleton knight, mounted on his dark horse, appeared in the light. Without hesitation, he charged at the giant hand, then swung his longsword and slashed at Void, who stood on the giant hand's thumb.
However, another spatial crack appeared above Void's head. The skeleton knight's longsword struck inside, emerged from another overlapping spatial crack, and the blade itself pierced the skeleton knight.
The skeleton knight was not surprised. He raised his shield forward and blocked the sword.
After these attempts, the skeleton knight hesitated no longer. He withdrew his longsword, rode his dark horse, leaped down, stepped all over the giant hand, and ran toward the prayer circle below.
Even Femto, even the other four God Hands, could not foresee this, because they were all merely God Hands, not gods.
FWOOSH—!
In an instant, the skeleton knight rode his dark horse and landed before the prayer circle. With a swing of his sword, several monsters were cut in half!
"Don't worry," Nidhogg reminded at this moment. "This is my friend. He's here to help us get out of here."
Guts, Casca, and the others had already guessed when they saw the skeleton knight killing one of the God Hands and then rushing down to kill the monsters before them.
But only when Nidhogg said this did they breathe a sigh of relief. Their hearts stirred slightly, because they finally had a chance to get out of here!
While killing monsters, the skeleton knight glanced at Femto nearby and said, "I've opened a passage between the two spaces of the Storm of Death and the real world. But it's unstable. We must get out of here as soon as possible!"
He looked back at everyone again and said, "I didn't expect so many people to survive this moment of the Eclipse, which is the largest. This could be a turning point, but it doesn't help our escape."
The skeleton knight was right. Two more could ride on his dark horse. Three could ride on Nidhogg's horse. Melina and the other spirits could be ignored. That made a total of six people, but there were seven before him.
Everyone also realized this and couldn't help but sink into their own thoughts.
Among the seven, Judeau and Pippin were the first to decide to stay.
One was because he was seriously wounded and could barely stand with the support of Casca and Corkus. The other was because he was too heavy and large; one person could carry two, and he shouldn't miss this chance to escape.
However, before they could say anything, a calm, cold, dignified, and confident voice sounded among the crowd.
"Let me handle this matter."
It wasn't Melina's voice, but...
Nidhogg turned his head. Before seeing anyone, he first felt a piercing cold. Then he saw the snow-white "Moon Princess" Ranni.
She was indeed here. Nidhogg had had a premonition.
Ranni was still in her wide white witch's hat, with blue skin, a ghostly face overlapping her original face. Her four hands slowly touched, and without waiting for everyone's reaction, she chanted an incantation.
Melina supported her and withdrew her prayer circle.
Almost simultaneously, Ranni's magic circle was created and spread beneath everyone's feet. Countless complex incantation words floated smoothly, and a cold air overflowed.
Guts, Casca, and the others were astonished. Nidhogg had so many friends, and each of them seemed to possess strange abilities.
The skeleton knight had been influenced by magic for many years. Flora and the mages of the Island of Fairies had used magic before his eyes countless times. But he had never seen such grand magic about to occur.
FWOOSH—!
A cold air burst forth, freezing the monsters that instantly swirled. Immediately, a huge, icy blue sphere rose beneath everyone's feet!
It was Ranni's Dark Moon!
The massive Dark Moon lifted Nidhogg, the skeleton knight, Guts, and the others and soared rapidly!
Everyone was surprised. Nidhogg and the skeleton knight were fine; they stabilized their bodies in time. The others were not very comfortable in this weightlessness. They all lay on the cold Dark Moon, their faces pale.
Torrent the spirit steed, Oleg, Ingvall, and the other spirits also dissolved into light dust at this time and returned to Nidhogg's Spirit Steed Whistle and Spirit Calling Bell. Only Ranni and Melina remained nearby.
The moment the Dark Moon rose, Femto raised his hand and grabbed at it in the air. A terrifying magical force compressed all the monsters together, crushing them into a ball of flesh. But it couldn't touch the rapidly rising Dark Moon.
He didn't give up and aimed at the Dark Moon as it rose again into the sky. But this time, he couldn't even hold it.
Soon, Femto understood what was happening.
When he was still Griffith, when he had uttered the word "sacrifice" in his heart, one of his wishes had been to let Guts escape this. But he hadn't expected to be limited here.
This is truly fragile human nature.
Only at this stage can I understand that such human nature can only be used by others to hold me back. On the contrary, to cast off humanity and embrace demonic nature is to truly realize one's dreams.
Femto watched the Dark Moon rise in the sky.
Similarly, the four God Hands above the giant hand also watched the Dark Moon rise high into the sky, replacing the eclipse, and soon vanish into the light.
The Eclipse had been successfully completed. They didn't need to do anything extra. Everything was to be arranged by the God of the Abyss. Everything was to be within the flow of fate and the law of causality.
---
Outside the valley and the walled city, a group of people and horses looked in panic at what was unfolding before them.
There were just over a hundred of them. These were the scouts Rickert had led out, and some mercenaries who had followed the instructions in time and retreated from the walled city.
But whoever they were, they stared at this terrifying scene they had never seen before.
The sudden eclipse had brought an inverted dark tornado, completely enveloping the entire walled city in the valley, isolating it from the outside world. No one knew what was happening inside.
Rickert didn't dare approach. He could only stare wide-eyed. Even when a speck of light fell on his shoulder, he didn't notice it until the other party spoke in his ear and woke him.
"It's alright."
The goblin Puck sat on Rickert's shoulder, swinging his legs, and comforted him.
"I know these two too well. They are very strong. Though the level of evil in this storm is the strongest I've ever seen, they're fine... They should be fine, right?"
The more he spoke, the more uncertain he became.
Rickert didn't know what to do. The surviving Hawk Company members behind him were even more drenched in cold sweat and panic.
Fortunately, the storm of death suddenly roared loudly. A sphere, like a super star, floated out, but it instantly collapsed and shattered!
A cold wind howled. Countless ice crystals scattered, forming a light snowfall.
Amidst this wind and snow, several figures fell from the sky and landed right before Rickert and the others.
When the wind and snow cleared, everyone could finally see who had landed before them.
"Guts, Nidhogg, Casca..." Rickert was surprised and overjoyed. He ran over, reading everyone's names. "Judeau, Pippin, Corkus... By the way, the skeleton knight?"
The skeleton knight didn't answer. He simply sat on his dark horse, looked back at the storm of death, and said, "It's not safe to stay here long. Let's leave here quickly."
"Leave here?" Rickert was a little confused. "What about the others? What about Griffith? What about the rest of the Hawk Company?"
The one hundred surviving Hawk Company members who had followed him also looked in confusion at the core of the Hawk Company.
Guts, Casca, Pippin, Judeau, and Corkus, who had originally survived the disaster, looked at the outside world as if they were in another world. Hearing Rickert's words, they were all stunned, then fell silent.
Nidhogg also stood up.
He noticed that Melina was gone, and Ranni, who had cast the Dark Moon, had also vanished. But in his hand was a small object.
Huh?
Nidhogg looked up and saw it was a doll—a palm-sized doll in the form of Ranni, dressed as a snow witch.
Exquisite... Little Ranni?!
Hearing the skeleton knight's reminder and Rickert's question, and noticing the silence of Guts, Casca, and the others, Nidhogg put away the miniature Ranni and said:
"It is indeed dangerous here. I'm sure everyone has things to say. Now, let's find a safe place to rest, as far from here as possible, and then we'll talk about it."