CHAPTER 488: CALAMITY SUMMONER [I]

Alfred was supposed to have killed the Plague Bringer by then, but instead of doing so, the Plague Bringer screamed, and everyone in the area covered their ears in pain as the Plague Bringer screamed like their lungs were about to burst. It was so high-pitched that just listening to it can make one deaf.

After the scream, everyone’s ears were ringing, and everyone felt dizzy afterwards, especially for Alfred, who was near the Plague Bringer when it screamed. His left ear is bleeding and seems to have ruptured his eardrum in the process. The moment the Plague Bringer stopped screaming, despite reeling from the scream, Layla forced herself to move and raise her staff into the air.

"A-area Heal!"

Everyone who was hurt by the scream recovered quickly, and even Alfred, who took the brunt of the scream, managed to recover as well. The blood on his ears remains, but it seems the damage that was done earlier has been recovered, and he is not in pain anymore.

But even after recovering from the pain, everyone is not relieved as they quickly took arms against the Plague Bringer.

Thankfully, despite the scream earlier, the Plague Bringer remains bound on the vine trap that Elaina had set up earlier, keeping the monster on leash. She mentally noted the durability of the trap and how it remains in place even with the Plague Bringer thrashing its surroundings.

"Damn it! How come it is still alive even after I slit its neck?! It should have been fast and fatal!" Alfred frowned and was confused about the result.

"It seems that on the last second before the blade strikes the fatal slice, the monster has used its vocal chords to scream, allowing itself to avoid the fatal attack at once and producing that painful noise earlier to hit everyone by surprise!" Elaina analyzed what just happened.

"Then we shall do it again, Mother!" Arthur is ready to do the execution, but Adelaide quickly stops him, and Alfred also shakes his head in disagreement.

"Brother, I know you really want to do the stuff and be the one to deal with the enemy, but that doesn’t mean you should be. And besides, if you do it again, doesn’t that just warrant the same reaction as we did earlier? Our father has already demonstrated the injury of doing so; we shouldn’t do it," Adelaide convinces Arthur.

"B-but..."

"I also think she is correct, Arthur. Instead of trying to hit it in melee distance, how about we hit it with long-range attacks? It is currently bound on the vines that your Mother set up; if it will not break just yet, we can attack it continuously until it dies while we keep our distance."

"Good idea. Killing it is a priority, but we also need to prioritize our health. Going reckless might just backfire on us," Elaina agreed on this.

Alfred pulls out two guns on his back that he keeps hidden underneath his adventurer coat and hands one gun to Elaina.

"I know you have no other means of using long-range attacks as you are more reliant on your sword, and I think you no longer use magic items, considering they are much expensive here compared to Luminiera Kingdom’s trades."

"Thanks. But I do keep those magic items with me; I just barely have use for them, considering our daughter can use magic just fine. But this gun uses bullets instead of mana, right? Do you have enough supply of bullets, though?"

"I do. You can fire away just fine."

Hearing Alfred’s words is what Elaina needs. She opens the chamber of the gun, revealing six bullets inside, which means she can fire this gun six more times before she needs to reload the gun once again.

"I don’t really like using guns, but since this is necessary, I shall do it."

Elaina aimed her gun at the Plague Bringer and fired the first bullet. Despite not liking guns, Elaina is not a first timer in using them, as firearms are part of her training in becoming an empress. She barely uses them as she prefers her sword instead of the gun.

BANG!

The monster reels the moment it feels the pain of the bullet, but Elaina didn’t want to stop there. Adelaide and Layla nodded as well and aimed their staffs at the Plague Bringer, launching magic attacks towards the struggling monster. The only people who have no contribution are Raye and Arthur since Arthur barely knows any magic and has barely have mana, while Raye seems to sympathize with Arthur more, which is why he is also not using magic.

Alfred also joined the fray of damage dealers and continued to fire bullets at the Plague Bringer alongside Adelaide and Layla using magic. The monster is trying its best to move away and escape, but it seems that it is not successful in doing so. It tries to scream at times, but it gets easily interrupted by either the damage it receives from the gun or the magic spells the two kids use.

And due to the countless barrages, the Plague Bringer is on the verge of death. Just before Elaina could deliver the final blow, though, the Plague Bringer screamed loudly, and everyone covered their ears in pain once again. But since they are farther from the Plague Bringer, the pain isn’t as bad as before, and no one suffered the same fate that Alfred had earlier, however, they are a bit stunned this time around as the scream seems to be enough to shake the core of their bodies.

Just before Elaina and the group can recover, Elaina sees the Plague Bringer forcefully pull off the vine trap that is currently binding it in place. At first, it is sturdy enough to keep the monster in place; however, it seems that this time around, the Plague Bringer has pushed itself to its limits as it easily yanks off its arm from the vine. The moment it managed to free itself from the vines, a strong aura quickly blanketed the surrounding area of the Plague Bringer. The black coat it once wore starts to turn white, and the eyes underneath its mask glow red. Not only that, but a staff also materialized in its hand and started wielding it like a human.

Alfred backs off immediately after seeing the changes and has now realized what happened.

"Wait...it transformed?! Don’t tell me, it was a juvenile monster all this time, and now it is already going to cause problems soon...No way...it is indeed the Calamity Summoner!"

Elaina started to get worried hearing this. It seems that the Plague Bringer before has turned into the one Elaina feared to happen, but it seems that it is fate for Elaina to eventually face off against the Calamity Summoner.